At the Second Prince’s residence, the Prince pulled Su Wen in as he laughed loudly. “Brother Su, what brings you here?”
This was the first time Su Wen took the initiative to visit.
The two of them entered the guest hall as Su Wen smiled, “It’s like this. Didn’t you say last time that Xie Dajia had invited all of the princes for her performance? Coincidentally, the matters at the patrolling office have already been settled. I wouldn’t mind going to take a look as well.”
The second prince chuckled, “I was wondering what it was about. If it’s just about this, no problem!”
Su Wen continued, “Wu Muyu also wants to go. She’s Wu Kunhu’s daughter. Will there a problem?”
The second prince furrowed his brows upon hearing Su Wen’s next words.
He replied, “I’m afraid that will be difficult to handle.”
“Why?” Su Wen was a little confused. Although Wu Kunhu currently did not have the authority to deploy troops, he still possessed the title of General.
Someone that important definitely had a say in court assemblies.
Logically speaking, this was a good opportunity to pull connections.
The second prince smiled bitterly, “I just promised my Fifth Sister that I would bring her along today, so there’s only one spot left.”
Su Wen roared with laughter, “I was wondering what kind of difficulty it would be. Your Highness, call Zhao Rui over. I’ll advise him to give up his spot.”
“That’s not very appropriate, is it?” The second prince was slightly hesitant.
Su Wen smiled. “Don’t worry, Zhao Rui knows nothing about music. It’s fine even if he doesn’t listen to it!”
The second prince immediately dispatched his men to look for Zhao Rui.
After roughly an hour, Zhao Rui arrived. When he saw the second prince, he heartily greeted the other party, “I wonder why Second Brother is looking for me?”
Su Wen smiled and said, “His Highness is not looking for you, it’s me that has something to ask of you.”
Zhao Rui was surprised. “Why are you looking for me, Brother Su?”
“I’ve always treated you well, haven’t I?” Su Wen said without shame. After all, this was the standard line one had to say before making others suffer.
Zhao Rui: “????”
Where did this come from?
Su Wen said, “It’s like this. I want to bring Wu Muyu over to watch Xie Dajia’s performance. As for your second brother, he doesn’t have enough headcount.”
At this point, Zhao Rui understood Su Wen’s meaning. He said with difficulty, “Brother Su, I’ve long heard of Honorable Xie’s unparalleled zither skills and have long anticipated it… This…”
Su Wen shamelessly grabbed Zhao Rui in a bear hug.
He smiled and whispered, “Have you heard? Recently, there’s a lady named Han Yan in the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. I heard that she’s quite athletic and fit, and even possesses a pair of long and toned legs!”
Zhao Rui’s eyes lit up. “There’s such a woman?”
“I’ve been short on money recently, but here’s twenty thousand taels of silver…”
Zhao Rui immediately grabbed onto Su Wen’s hand and said righteously, “Brother Su, what are you saying? You are my brother and Muyu is my sister. I am not good at music originally, so I will give up my spot to you.”
Su Wen praised loudly, “Good brother, you’re a true brother!”
The second prince’s lips twitched as he chimed in, “How loyal! Your righteousness is as high as the skies!”
…
The next morning, Emperor Zhou sat on the dragon throne once more.
He was prepared to argue with the officials. He had to push forward with the re-establishment of the Secret Shadow Guards.
As soon as he sat down, he discovered that the Profound Literature Pavilion Head, Fei Chi, seemed to be extremely tense today.
“This old fellow has something to say.”
Emperor Zhou immediately came to this conclusion.
Sure enough, just as the eunuch announced that the court assembly be adjourned if there were no other matters to report, Fei Chi took a step forward and knelt on the ground. His face was full of emotions as he exclaimed, “Your Majesty, you have to uphold justice for us scholars! I want to sue that Eastern District’s deputy commander, Su Wen!”
Tears streamed down his face as he spoke.
By the side, Su Changqing raised his eyebrows.
What did that fellow do this time?
He still wasn’t aware that Su Wen had beaten up Guo Bin and Zhuang Qingbei!
At this moment, the Assistant Minister of Revenue, Zhuang Yi also stood up and knelt on the ground. He wailed, “Your Majesty, I also want to sue that Eastern District’s deputy commander, Su Wen!”
Emperor Zhou rubbed his brows and said, “What did Su Wen do this time?”
Fei Chi recounted the incident of Su Wen beating someone up with snot and tears. However, this old fellow was extremely scheming. He left out their discussion about the Secret Shadow Guards, as well as Guo Bin and Zhuang Qingbei slandering Su Changqing. He only mentioned that Su Yu and him had a few disagreements, which led to Su Wen coming in to beat someone up!
After Fei Chi finished explaining what had happened, he said, “Your Majesty, that Su Wen is simply lawless. Elder Guo was slapped so hard by his guard that he couldn’t even speak. Right now, he’s lying at home, his fate unknown.”
Zhuang Yi also cried and complained, “My son is the same. That person was extremely ruthless. My son’s cheeks are red and swollen, and they have yet to fade!”
As soon as the two of them finished speaking, Emperor Zhou angrily slapped the dragon throne and scolded, “Are you two blind? What kind of place is this? This is the Great Zhou Imperial Hall! A place to discuss state affairs! You even dare to talk about private fights? What crime did Su Wen commit? You can just report him to the government office! Why do you have to look for me for such a thing? Could it be that all of my officials are dead?”
Although Emperor Zhou’s words seemed fair, they were actually not true.
His words basically confirmed the situation. A personal brawl!
And any sort of fighting involved the problems of the parties involved.
Basically, with such a classification, one’s sentence would definitely not be too severe.
Fei Chi kowtowed heavily on the ground as blood flowed from his forehead. He said loudly, “Your Majesty, you can’t do this. The Roc’s Journey Banquet is a grand occasion in the Great Zhou’s literary circle. It has created countless famous stories in the literary circle. Guo Bin is also a great scholar in the literary circle. Now that Su Wen is doing this, how can this be considered an ordinary fight? He is simply slapping the face of the Great Zhou’s scholars. Your Majesty, please punish Su Wen severely!”
Zhuang Yi was a little terrified. To put it bluntly, his son had indeed been beaten up. However, Emperor Zhou’s attitude clearly indicated that he did not want to punish Su Wen. He was not afraid of Su Changqing, but he did not want to provoke the Emperor!
However, Fei Chi gritted his teeth before rushing forward once more as he pressed, “Your Majesty, please punish Su Wen severely!”
Emperor Zhou pondered for a moment and said indifferently, “Send word to Su Wen, summon him to the palace!”
An official immediately went to pass on the decree. Not long after, Su Wen came up to the palace.
After the customary greetings, Emperor Zhou went straight into the topic, “Su Wen, what do you have to say now that Fei Chi has accused you of causing a ruckus at the Roc’s Journey Banquet and beating up the scholars?”
Su Wen raised his brows and said, “Your Majesty, what are you saying, this subject doesn’t even know what the Roc’s Journey Banquet means!”
Fei Bin was furious and scolded, “You brat, you dare to do it but don’t dare to admit it? Did you go to the Immortals’ Abode Pavilion yesterday?”
“Yes!” Su Wen admitted frankly.
“Did you hit anyone?”
“Yes!”
“Then why did you say you don’t know about the Roc’s Journey Banquet?”
Su Wen smiled and said, “But I think His Majesty didn’t give this banquet a name. Do you think that just because you’ve called it the Roc’s Journey Banquet, this is really its title now? I think the event last night resembled more like a banquet for strays.”
“You! You! You!” Fei Chi was so angry that he was trembling. He pointed at Su Wen and was speechless for a long time.
Emperor Zhou coughed dryly and said, “Don’t talk nonsense!”
Fei Chi kowtowed and said, “Your Majesty, this brat has already admitted to beating someone up. Your Majesty, please punish this madman!”
Emperor Zhou asked, “Su Wen, do you have an explanation?”
Su Wen said in a solemn voice, “Your Majesty, I have indeed hit someone, but even if I do it again, I will still hit them. Because I am the son of Su Changqing, Your Majesty’s subject. To such people there who has neither a ruler nor a father in their eyes, even if I die, I must hit him!”
