The winter sun hung high in the sky. Chang 'an City sang and danced peacefully. Only Kuishou Street was in chaos. The Imperial Guard had arrived and blocked the road to prevent the matter from getting out.
After throwing away the head, Xu Buling returned to his mansion to bathe and change into a clean white robe. He wore a jade belt around his waist. Because his crown did not reach his head, he only put a jade hairpin in his hair.
After he cleaned up everything, he heard footsteps coming from outside the courtyard. Old Xiao stood at the door with his walking stick.
"Little King, His Majesty has summoned you to the palace for questioning."
"I know. Aunt Lu will scold me tonight. Help me buy a box of rouge and powder. Xianzhi Vegetarian, osmanthus flavor … Forget it, buy all of them. I'll pick."
"Okay."
Xu Buling tidied up his clothes and quickly walked out of the mansion. He jumped on a horse and galloped to the imperial city. He did not dismount but went straight through the palace gate.
Riding horses and swords in the imperial city were the privileges that Emperor Xiaozong gave to his officials. Xu Buling had not used it before. Today, he was asking for a scolding for being arrogant and domineering, so he did not follow the rules.
Clank, clank —
The crisp sound of hooves and bells echoed and stopped at the foot of the white jade steps of Chengqing Hall.
There was a loud noise in the majestic palace. Many people were scolding him.
Xu Buling ignored it. After throwing the whip to the Imperial Guard, he strode up the steps outside the palace. There was no nervousness, remorse, or even impatience on his face.
Thud, thud, thud —
The sound of boots could be heard clearly outside the palace.
Xu Buring stepped into the palace and saw a few hundred pairs of eyes staring at him. Their expressions were all different. Only a small group of officials at the very front did not look sideways.
Among the female guests on the left side of the palace, Lady Lu sat behind the table, holding a cup of tea as if it had nothing to do with her.
The other ladies were whispering to each other.
"Crown Prince Xu is here …"
"So handsome, he won't be pushed out to be beheaded, right …"
"Even if they pushed Marquis Li out and beheaded him, they would not …"
"Shut up, you wicked girl …"
Xu Buling had a headache hearing this. He was already so cruel and there were still people worried about him? He looked over to see which girl was so considerate. Suddenly, he found that Song Yufu was sitting next to Lady Lu.
By right, with Song Yu Fu's personality, she should be extremely angry or worried when she found out that he had killed indiscriminately. But at this moment, Song Yu Fu had a strange expression on her face. She even gave him a look of affirmation, as though saying 'with me here, there's no need to be afraid'.
Buling panicked. Xu Buling's footsteps were unsteady.
This wretched lass wouldn't speak up for me, right?
Just in case, Xu Buring's eyes turned cold and he glared at Song Yu Fu, indicating for her to mind her own business.
Song Yu Fu weakly lowered her head, looking like she was wronged, as though she had a lot of things to say.
It was just a few steps, and they couldn't exchange glances many times.
He stopped in the middle of the hall and bowed. "Xu Buling pays his respect to His Majesty."
His voice was loud and clear, without any guilt.
His voice was loud and clear, full of energy, without the slightest hint of guilt.
The great hall quietened down. Everyone's gazes shifted back and forth between Xu Buring and Li Baoyi, waiting for Xu Buring to give them an explanation, or to give them a way out so that the Emperor could symbolically punish them and settle this matter.
The hall quieted down. Everyone's eyes looked back and forth between Xu Buling and Li Baoyi. They were waiting for Xu Buling to give an explanation or a way out so that His Majesty could punish him symbolically. But Xu Buling didn't seem to want to give His Majesty a way out. Was there a reason?
After a moment of silence, Song Ji said,
"Xu Buling, Li Tianlu was killed last night. His head was cut off. Today, it was thrown outside the Li family's door. You did it."
"Yes."
Xu Buling didn't have the slightest intention to escape. He admitted it directly.
"His Majesty! You have to uphold justice for me! "
Li Baoyi's eyes were bloodshot. He knew that he couldn't kill Xu Buling. He looked at Song Ji, hoping to give a fair verdict.
The officials were still watching. They didn't know the reason.
Song Ji took a deep breath and asked, "Why did you kill Li Tianlu? Is there a reason? "
Xu Buling said calmly, "I drank some wine at Changle Palace last night. I went out to relax and encountered a conflict in the outskirts. It was the Li family who hired the Wolf Guards. I helped them. I heard about the White Horse Village and went to kill Li Tianlu. "
"…"
The officials nodded. If that was the case, the reason was reasonable.
But he only heard about the White Horse Village after so long. He even went to cut off Li Tianlu's head and threw it in front of the Li family's door. His Majesty had already punished the Li family.
Li Baoyi, who was kneeling on the ground, was startled. He said sadly,
"You are slandering me! Why would my Li Family pay to kill Wolf Guards? "
Song Ji looked at Eunuch Jia and said, "Go and investigate."
"Yes!"
Eunuch Jia immediately accepted the order and let the young eunuch leave the palace.
It was impossible to hide what happened in the snowfield last night. The Department of Investigation had arrived. The only thing Xu Buling could do was to distance himself from Zhu Manzhi and act bravely instead of scheming.
Soon, the young eunuch who had gone out to inquire returned. He bowed and said,
"According to the Department of Investigation, there was a murder case in the eastern outskirts of the city last night. Two thieves attacked three Wolf Guards, killing one and injuring the other. Crown Prince Xu passed by and killed the two thieves. He found the Li family's plate on their corpses."
The officials nodded slightly. The cause and effect matched.
Li Baoyi didn't know about Li Tianlu's private hiring, but he knew his son's temper. His heart sank.
Song Ji sighed and continued to ask, "Anything else?"
The young eunuch bowed his head respectfully and said, "The remaining female Wolf Guard was unharmed. She was the one who followed Xiao Ting to investigate White Horse Village. According to her, Li Tianlu wanted to kidnap her and bring her back …"
"How dare you!"
As he spoke, an explosion suddenly resounded in the hall.
Xiao Ting, who was sitting among the young masters, was happily watching Xu Buling make a fool of himself. When he heard this, he immediately became angry.
Although the White Horse Village incident was a conspiracy between him and Xu Buling, he took the credit and the female Wolf Guard was with him. How could she be plotted against by a small Li family? Wasn't this a slap in the face to the Xiao family?
Xiao Ting wiped his mouth with his sleeve and stood up. He scolded, "Li Baoyi, I treated you like an elder brother, but you plotted against my people behind my back …"
This was a complete joke.
Xiao Chuyang didn't say a word and didn't have any intention of stopping him.
Song Ji couldn't take it anymore and raised his hand, "Xiao Ting, sit down first. This matter has nothing to do with you."
Xiao Ting's words stopped abruptly. He spread out his hand and looked at Xu Buling helplessly. He had an expression of 'it's not that uncle doesn't want to help you' and sat down.
Li Baoyi knew he was in the wrong, but how could he let go of the hatred of his son's death just because he was in the wrong? He immediately knelt and walked a few steps forward.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty has already punished my Li family because of the White Horse Village incident. My son is still young and must have been bewitched by a vile person to make such a decision. Or maybe he didn't come up with any ideas and only acted on his own to curry favor with my son. My son didn't manage his subordinates properly. His crime is unforgivable, but it doesn't warrant death! Even if he wants to be punished, it should be Your Majesty's command. What right does Crown Prince Xu have to act on his own? My entire family, old and young, should throw their heads in front of the residence! This is really … heartless! Your Majesty!! "
Li Baoyi cried out in pain and sobbed silently.
Many Courtiers frowned slightly and felt that it was reasonable.
Xu Buling wasn't Su Of Gojoseon. Even if there was a reason for his actions, acting first and reporting later was overstepping his authority. Moreover, his actions were a little too extreme.
Song Ji thought for a while and said,
"Xu Buling, We have already punished the Li family. Although you had a reason for your actions, your actions were too impulsive. You have to change your temperament in the future … Go to the Bell and Drum Tower and be grounded for a month. This will not happen again."
"Yes!"
Xu Buling coldly glared at Li Baoyi. He then walked to his table and sat down as if there was no one else present. He poured himself a cup of wine and took a sip.
His behavior was too arrogant. Many officials frowned slightly.
However, Xu Buling had such a reputation since he was young. He was brave and ruthless, but he didn't think before doing things. Killing Li Tianlu this time was not considered evil. At most, he was unforgiving. If he were to be punished according to the law, he would probably be praised as a 'righteous man', and the officials wouldn't be able to say anything.
Logically speaking, at this point, Song Ji would just comfort Li Baoyi, who had lost his son, and the matter would be over. After all, the Li family was in the wrong, and the person was already dead. What else could they do?
However, just as Song Ji was about to comfort Li Baoyi with a few words, a righteous voice suddenly sounded from the corner of the hall.
"Your Majesty! Crown Prince Xu is upright and plainspoken. He cares about the people and is a good talent of the country. He shouldn't be punished like this. "
Xu Buling staggered.
Lady Lu, who was sipping tea, was caught off guard and choked on her tea …
"Cough, cough, cough, cough …"
