The prince is more stable

Chapter 528 Brothel Story
Every man has a dream of being a martial arts hero. Similarly, every man also has a dream of being pursued madly by beautiful women but unable to get their love.

When Liang Zhui said that many people outside the Dali Temple wanted to come in and visit him, Zhao Xiaoqian's mind automatically made up a sad, touching and lingering story of a talented man and a beautiful woman.

During the Shaosheng period of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Banque, a world-renowned talent, was framed and imprisoned by a villain, which shocked Bianjing.

Countless talented and beautiful courtesans and young ladies were heartbroken and gathered outside the Dali Temple, just to see Zhao Banque, express their love and swear that they would never marry anyone but Zhao Banque. Even if Zhao Banque died, they would commit suicide with him.

At worst, I'll be a widow for the rest of my life, living in bits and pieces of memories with Zhao Banque...

This story is so touching and heartbreaking that Zhao Xiaoqian feels like crying just thinking about it.

However, Liang Zhui broke his dream at an inopportune time.

"Well, most of the people gathered outside the Dali Temple are old friends of His Highness, all of them men. As for courtesans and young ladies... there really aren't any."

Zhao Xiaoqian's expression suddenly froze, and he couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes.

"According to the plot development, there should be a lot of courtesans outside the Dali Temple at this time... Why don't they play by the rules?" Zhao Xiaoqian was heartbroken.

Seeing that Zhao Xiaoqian's mental state was obviously a little unstable, Liang Zhui said carefully: "Perhaps the courtesans don't like to get involved in court affairs. After all, His Highness was imprisoned for his involvement in the incident, and the court is still investigating. The court ladies probably don't dare to take the risk and are afraid of being implicated..."

Zhao Xiaoqian sighed: "That makes sense. This should be the only explanation."

Liang Zhui said, "My old friends outside the Dali Temple..."

Zhao Xiaoqian curled his lips. "They're all men, what's there to see? Tell them to go back. What's the point of visiting me? I'm so bored. If you have nothing to do, why don't you help me beat the drum of grievance in Kaifeng Prefecture, or shout 'the world is unfair' at the court? Wouldn't these be more meaningful than visiting me?"

Liang Zhui smiled and said, "People have their own sense of justice. Honestly, even I feel that Your Highness's imprisonment is quite unfair. Your Highness is a hero of the Song Dynasty, yet you have been dragged into this turmoil for no reason. Although I don't know why Your Highness executed forty-two officials, I believe that Your Highness must have had his reasons for doing so."

Zhao Xiaoqian laughed heartily and said, "Liang Sicheng is quite sensible. I'll be relying on Liang Sicheng to take good care of me during my time in prison."

"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will serve you well and provide you with all the food, clothing, and other necessities. I will not let Your Highness suffer any injustice."

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, then suddenly fell silent and looked at each other.

After a long moment, Zhao Xiaoqian said darkly, "How long do you plan to stay in front of my cell door? Where are my soup dumplings on the first floor? You're starving me."

Liang Zhui was startled and stood up and ran out: "This subordinate deserves death, I will do it now!"

…………

On the night Zhao Xiaoqian was imprisoned, the fragrant and hot soup dumplings from Zhouqiao First Restaurant were urgently delivered to the Dali Temple prison over a distance of 800 miles.

At the same time, in the brothels and theaters of all sizes in Bianjing, from Zhouqiao to the corner towers of the East and West Cities, dozens of storytellers put down their wake-up sticks and began to tell new stories.

It has to be said that the storytellers seized the hot topics of current affairs this time. Zhao Xiaoqian had just been imprisoned during the day, and became the protagonist of the storytellers' stories at night.

"...In the second year of Shaosheng, the Prince of Hejian, under imperial order, garrisoned the border and defeated the Liao army twice, at Zhending Prefecture and again at Juma River. Listen carefully, everyone: 'twice defeated the Liao army'! In the hundred years since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, when has our royal army ever been so proud? Do you understand?"

"Who is this Prince of Hejian? How did he become so powerful? Let me explain in detail. The Prince of Hejian's surname is Zhao, his given name is Xiao, and he is a close relative of the current emperor, and the only son of His Highness the Prince of Chu."

"This prince was born extraordinary. Legend has it that when he was born, the room was filled with the fragrance of Ganoderma lucidum, the sky showed the shapes of tigers and leopards, and the land that had been drought-stricken finally received a sweet rain. At that time, it was considered a wonder in the capital..."

The storyteller spoke with great enthusiasm, and became more and more immersed in the play.

They are indeed experts in this field. When they talk about the so-called birth phenomena and the fragrance of Ganoderma lucidum, it sounds as if they have seen it with their own eyes. Their sincerity makes people unable to doubt it.

The amazing thing is that all the audience actually believed such fantastic nonsense. There's nothing you can do about it. Ancient people just fell for it. In their impression, extraordinary people must have visions when they were born. This is the standard for big figures. Without visions, it means they are not of high enough level and there is nothing interesting to watch.

The storytellers have been telling nonsense for many years, so they naturally understand what the audience likes. So they lived up to everyone's expectations and decisively blessed Zhao Xiaoqian with a vision.

After the vision was described, the storytellers got to the point. Following the plot given by Zhang Xiaoyi, they began to embellish the story and recounted in the most exaggerated way how the Prince of Hejian defeated the Liao army twice.

This was another exciting point that the spectators in Bianliang were very concerned about. After all, it was a great achievement in defeating the Liao army twice. People in the world only knew the result but not the process. The only ones who really knew the result were the bigwigs in the court.

Now the storytellers told the story of the Song-Liao War in detail, which immediately aroused applause from the audience. When it came to the key point, the storyteller suddenly stopped talking, slowly poured himself a glass of water to moisten his throat, with a mysterious look on his face, but did not continue.

The audience was impatient and, seeing this look of asking for a beating, they started to curse and yell, then reluctantly threw scattered copper coins and silver pieces onto the stage.

The storyteller immediately smiled, bent down to pick up the audience's tips, bowed to thank them, and continued to tell his story.

He clapped the wake-up stick and talked about how Zhao Xiaoqian led 30,000 soldiers of the Dragon Guard Camp to line up to meet the enemy in the north of Zhending Prefecture. His Royal Highness the Prince was a genius and had created a very sharp firearm in recent years, which was indestructible.

The 30,000 soldiers of the Dragon Guard Battalion relied on firearms manufactured by His Royal Highness the Prince to pin the Liao army fifty miles north of Zhending Prefecture. The once invincible Liao army was unable to advance an inch, but was instead annihilated by the Song army in tens of thousands, ultimately suffering a crushing defeat. In this battle, the Song army nearly annihilated all 50,000 Liao troops, leaving only the Liao general Yelu Chun and a few dozen of his personal guards to flee hastily back to Nanjing.

Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, an unprecedented victory in which tens of thousands of enemies were annihilated was achieved under Zhao Xiaoqian.

The audience was fascinated by the story, and when he got to this point, the whole room burst into applause. The storyteller took the opportunity to stop talking, and put on a smile that seemed to ask for a beating again. Amid the audience's laughter and scolding, he had to throw in copper coins and silver again.

According to Zhang Xiaoyi's account of the two defeats of the Liao army by the Longwei Camp, the storytellers were relatively objective and did not exaggerate too much.

After all, if you want a story to be believable, the first and foremost element is that it has to be reliable.

Otherwise, when two armies are fighting, if you suddenly use divine thunder to kill all the enemies, isn't that a pure insult to people's intelligence?

Next, the storytellers began to talk about the second time Zhao Xiaoqian and the Longwei Camp defeated the Liao army. There was a howling sound on the south bank of the Juma River. The Liao army tried to cross the river and launch a surprise attack, but Zhao Xiaoqian noticed it in advance and deployed heavy troops on the south bank.

In this battle, the Liao army dispatched 2,000 heavily armored cavalry, but they were ultimately no match for the firearms of the Song army. The 2,000 heavily armored cavalry were completely wiped out. In this battle, 30,000 Liao soldiers were annihilated, and the rest fled north in panic. From then on, the Liao army did not dare to go south to graze their horses. The Song Dynasty opened up a new 400-li territory, and the offensive and defensive situation between the Song and Liao dynasties changed from then on.

The audience became more and more excited as they listened, and the waves of applause almost blew the roof off the room. The owners and managers of the brothels and theaters were all smiling, as they had not seen such a lively and prosperous scene in years.

As the storyteller narrated the story, the audience was immersed in the turbulent situation on the frontier and the scenes of battles on the battlefield. As the story unfolded, the audience was so excited that they could hardly contain themselves.

Zhao Xiaoqian's personal image also became more concrete as the story progressed. The image of the Prince of Hejian that emerged in the minds of the audience had clear features and features. Even the scenes of the battles seemed to be personally present in the audience's minds, with their faces flushed with excitement.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the brothel had reached a climax, the storyteller's eyes flashed and he began to continue speaking slowly.

"Three days ago, the Prince of Hejian suddenly returned to the capital. I'm sure most of you are aware of this. To be honest, as soon as His Highness entered the city, I, an old and humble man, personally witnessed His Highness's demeanor. He was truly handsome and majestic, like a god descending from heaven, truly awe-inspiring."

Everyone present laughed, and some echoed that they had also seen His Royal Highness the Prince that day, and had given way to him and saluted politely by standing on the side of the road.

"You all only know that His Highness has returned to the capital, but do you know why His Highness has returned?"

The storyteller's question confused the audience.

After looking around, the storyteller suddenly sighed and said with a gloomy expression, "Your Highness returned to the capital because he had offended a traitor in Zhending Prefecture! Today, His Highness the Prince was brought to the Dali Temple for questioning. You all know about this, right?"

"The traitors are rampant and arrogant! They even dare to frame a great and meritorious official like His Highness. What a shameful world..."

The storyteller sighed heavily.

This sentence immediately whetted the audience's appetite. The sounds of banging tables and cursing could be heard in the brothel, urging the storyteller to continue.

All the previous stories about the great defeat of the Liao army were just prelude. It was only at this moment that the storyteller got to the point.

The Song Dynasty had just occupied 400 li of territory, and the imperial court wanted to establish new counties on the new territory, relocate farmers, and distribute good farmland.

Han Wei, the transport envoy, and 42 other officials deceived their superiors and subordinates, seized farmland, and harmed farmers. More than 400 farmers in Zhending Prefecture lost their lives at the hands of these evil officials.

The Prince of Hejian was compassionate and could not tolerate the injustice suffered by the people under his rule. Even though he knew that Han Wei and others were officials of the imperial court and held power, he refused to compromise. In order to give an explanation to the people under his rule, His Royal Highness the Prince ordered the public beheading of Han Wei and 42 other officials.

At this point, the audience became more excited and cheered loudly.

However, His Royal Highness the Prince committed a serious crime by killing officials without the imperial edict. His Royal Highness was an upright hero who took responsibility for his own actions.

After beheading forty-two criminal officials, His Royal Highness the Prince set off for the capital overnight and confessed his crimes to the emperor. This is the result of His Royal Highness being brought to the Dali Temple for questioning today.

At this point, the audience suddenly realized that Zhao Xiaoqian, the meritorious official, was suddenly questioned by the Dali Temple in broad daylight. All their doubts were answered, and the cause and effect echoed each other.

Thus, the brothel, which was originally bustling with activity, fell into a dead silence.

After a long while, a spectator suddenly stood up, slammed the table, and cursed: "The traitor killed the people, and the court turned a blind eye. The great hero who eliminated the evil for the people was imprisoned. How can this be justified!"

"Black and white are reversed, the world is unfair!"

"That's right! What did the Prince of Zhao do wrong? He simply didn't follow the rules in executing the offending official. The offending official deserved to die anyway, so it doesn't matter where he was killed!"

A curse completely ignited the emotions of the spectators.

At the same time, in the night of Bianjing, the same scene was played out in the brothels of all sizes. The whole Bianjing was boiling, and the people's resentment was rising and unstoppable.

(End of this chapter)