Geng Longtian took his visiting card and slowly made his way to the yamen to pick up his good-for-nothing son. After all, he only had this one son.
"Ah, Lord Geng!" As soon as Su Minghui, the magistrate of the prefectural yamen, saw Geng Longtian, he greeted him with a beaming smile.
"Your Excellency Su, how is my son?" Geng Longtian also put on a smiling face. The visiting card he had prepared hadn't been used yet. Judging from the situation, it might not be needed.
"Your noble son is doing just fine!" He's been treated to good wine and tea, and there are beautiful maids attending to him. How could he not be well?
"Where is the person who reported my son to the authorities? I'd like to meet this fellow."
"He's just a muscle - brained bumpkin. Why do you bother about him? As long as your son is safe and sound, that's all that matters. I, Su, am here, after all." Su Minghui gave Geng Longtian a meaningful smile.
Geng Longtian knew exactly what he meant. "Don't worry. I'll surely sing your praises to that person. Advancement in your official career will surely follow."
This old fox! He just wants me to put in a good word for him in front of the Eldest Prince. Although Geng Longtian despised this sycophant in front of him, he was just a merchant and still relied on the protection of officials.
"Hehe, Lord Geng, I heard that our Jiangnan area is now the fief of the Prince Rui?"
"Humph! The Prince Rui is just an out - of - favor prince. How can he compare to that person? Just do your job well, and I'll surely speak well of you."
"Then I must thank Lord Geng." Su Minghui shouted to a yamen runner behind him. "Hurry up and invite Young Master Geng out!"
Geng Longtian gave a soft snort from his nose.
It was fine as long as he maintained a good surface relationship with the Prince Rui. He didn't have any real power anyway. But Geng Longtian had forgotten that Du Guqing had the power of life and death over his fief.
"Your Highness, when shall we set things right?" Mei Qingxue placed a cup of tea in front of Du Guqing and then turned into the back room. It was unclear what she was doing. "How about tomorrow morning?" Du Guqing knew Mei Qingxue's temper. If this matter wasn't resolved properly, she would keep pestering him.
"No. It has to be this afternoon." Mei Qingxue's resolute voice came from the back room.
Only then did Du Guqing notice that Mei Qingxue had already changed into her formal attire and was holding the imperial edict in her hand, just waiting for him to get dressed.
"I didn't expect you... Oh well, it's also my duty to rid the people of evil."
Du Guqing had no choice but to take out his formal clothes and change. He also asked his guards to borrow two hundred ceremonial guards from the old duke to add some grandeur. He hadn't brought many people when he came, so not many people knew about him. Now, the Prince and Princess Rui were heading straight for the yamen in full regalia.
"Report... My Lord, the Prince and Princess Rui are here!" A yamen runner panicked and rushed over. "What are you afraid of?" Su Minghui wasn't afraid of Du Guqing at all. That powerless and sickly prince might die any day.
Mei Qingxue was holding the golden imperial edict in her hand. Su Minghui still had to put on a show of respect.
"I pay my respects to Your Highness the Prince and Your Highness the Princess."
"Get up." Du Guqing's guards quickly set up chairs and he sat down on one side. "May I ask what brings Your Highnesses to the yamen?"
This was a typical show of not taking the two of them seriously. Mei Qingxue gave a soft smile. There was a clear statement in the imperial edict in her hand: The Prince Rui had all the power in his fief, including the power of life and death.
"Do I need to report to you when I come to my own yamen?"
"Of course not, Your Highness. You're wrong. Now is the time for the yamen to handle official business. I don't have the time to accompany you two." It meant that the prince was just a good - for - nothing. Mei Qingxue gave a cold laugh.
"Your Highnesses only need to concern yourselves with one thing: the case of the lecher who harassed a woman this morning."
"There's no such case. I haven't received any report." Su Minghui sneered.
Mei Qingxue shook the imperial edict in her hand. "Your Excellency Su has more face than the prince. It seems that the Emperor's words don't count. Please take a look at this imperial edict."
When Su Minghui saw the clear words on the edict stating that the Prince Rui had the highest authority and all powers, beads of sweat immediately broke out on his forehead. "I, I'm blind." Didn't that bastard say that this Prince Rui had no real power? How could he have the highest authority? With the highest authority, he, the magistrate, could be killed without even having to ask the Emperor for a decree.
"We two idle people just wanted to be a nuisance while Your Excellency is handling official business." That lecher who had harassed her had been released so quickly. It seemed that that person really had some connections.
"I deserve to die! I deserve to die!"
"Since you deserve to die, I, the Princess, hereby grant your wish. Today, I pronounce the punishment of collective punishment. There will be no leniency."
Mei Qingxue nudged Du Guqing. "Collective punishment."
"Collective punishment is too light." Du Guqing said. Su Minghui's face had turned ashen. "Please spare my life, Your Highness the Prince and Your Highness the Princess!"
"Take him away, announce his crimes, and behead him as a warning to others!"
Mei Qingxue looked at the yamen runners. "Do you recognize that lecher now?"
"Yes, we do!" The yamen runners immediately took out their chains and locked back Geng Junhu, who had been released less than half an hour ago.
Geng Longtian said angrily, "Even the Prince Rui should give face to the Eldest Prince." He immediately took out his visiting card. Du Guqing gave a cold laugh when he saw the card. "I wondered who it was. It's the father of a concubine of my good elder brother."
"So what are you waiting for?"
"I want a public trial. Since this fellow tried to abduct a woman in broad daylight, it's obvious that this isn't his first offense. What do you think, Xue'er?" Du Guqing looked at his wife's face. "Next time, don't do such a dangerous thing. What if you didn't have any guards with you? Don't make me worry."
"Let me out! Don't you know who I am? You blind dogs! Look at who I am!" Geng Junhu shouted in the prison cell. But unfortunately, no one was going to help him this time. That Su Minghui had already been beheaded by the princess's order and there was no delay.
"What? You won't release him even after accepting my visiting card? That useless prince really has a lot of nerve. He doesn't even know who the Geng family is." Geng Longtian vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know what. He still didn't know that Su Minghui was already dead. Just now, he had sent someone to find Su Minghui to clarify the situation, but the servant hadn't come back yet.
Another moment passed, and the servant finally returned. "Why did it take you so long?"
"Reporting to my Lord, Your Excellency Su can't help you anymore. He's been beheaded." There was a glint of happiness in the servant's eyes. That's right. They had been oppressed by the bandits of the Geng family here. Before, they had always been blocked by Su Minghui. Others might not know, but the people in the old duke's family had no power.
Now that the backer of the evil forces, Su Minghui, was gone, he wasn't the only one who was happy.
"Ah?" The uneasiness in Geng Longtian's heart became even more obvious. His daughter had written from the capital that the Eldest Prince was sure to become the crown prince. He was just waiting to become the father - in - law of the emperor.
But wasn't it said that the Prince Rui was an out - of - favor prince?
Why was this rich area of Jiangnan given as his fief?
Geng Longtian wasn't a fool. He sorted out his thoughts in his mind. But he still wanted his son back. So he personally took his visiting card to look for the prince and princess.
"No audience!" Du Guqing told the yamen runners to block the man outside. Beheading Su Minghui had been a straightforward move, but now there was no suitable candidate for the magistrate of the yamen.
"What do you think of Guo Jun? I'm just recommending the worthy without bias." Mei Qingxue immediately thought of her cousin. Let him temporarily take over the position of the magistrate first, and then transfer him later. "You'd better write a memorial to the Emperor quickly."
The Emperor had to know about the affairs in this area. Beheading a local official was no small matter.
"I know that, but why do you think Guo Jun is qualified?"
"I don't need any reasons. I just know that he's a million times better than this Su Minghui. Let him take over temporarily first. I'll transfer him away later."
"Alright. Although he's my own cousin, we can't be lax. I'll keep an eye on him." Mei Qingxue gave Du Guqing a sideways look. There were so many corrupt officials that they hadn't investigated, but he only focused on her cousin. Her cousin was being watched by their grandfather.
"Grandfather is watching. Do we need you? Now is a perfect opportunity for him to get some experience."
"You're right. But how can we investigate so many officials?"
"That's your business. I won't care!" Mei Qingxue sat down on the grand master's chair. She was very happy to have removed a black sheep. But that person's words were really annoying.
"He's just the father of a concubine of the Eldest Prince, and he dares to act so high - handedly in front of me." Mei Qingxue got angry just thinking about it. She hated those who bullied others by relying on their power the most. If he had only bullied her, it might have been okay.
But now it wasn't just a matter of being bullied or not.
The seemingly peaceful Jiangnan area was actually a murky mess. She said she wouldn't care, and she really wouldn't.
Du Guqing could handle it by himself. All she wanted to do was to go back and have a good sleep. It had really been hard for her to get up so early in the morning. Now she was going back to catch up on her sleep.
"Xue'er, how could you bear to let me, a weak person, handle such a hard task alone?"
"From now on, Your Highness will live alone until you've recovered your health." Mei Qingxue flung her sleeves. Women weren't supposed to interfere in politics. She had already made a mistake by shouting to behead Su Minghui out of anger just now.
Now she was going home.
Eunuch Tang must have prepared some delicious food. She was going to hog it all today. The prince could just drink the tonic soup. After he recovered from his illness and finished handling the official business, she would return his privileges.
Du Guqing was both amused and helpless. It seemed that there was no room for negotiation on this matter.
"Han Chao, ask someone to take the case files back to the study." He could look through them slowly. When Du Guqing saw the large stack of scrolls in the study, his eyebrows knitted into a frown.
"Your Highness, are you really...?" Xuan Qiao knew the decision the princess had made and had already sent the prince's bedding to another courtyard. "Of course I'm serious. I never go back on my words."
Mei Qingxue lay down comfortably. It was so nice to have such a big bed all to herself without anyone competing with her. "Xuan Qiao, you can go out." "Yes, Your Highness!" After a while, Xuan Qiao's voice sounded again.
"Your Highness, His Highness the Prince requests to have dinner with you tonight."
"No way! Reject the appeal!"