Chapter 127 The Young Lady's Scented Sachet

  Only 76 votes away from catching up with San Shao, are there 76 brave warriors? One person, one vote, San Shao's chrysanthemum will definitely explode.

  Zhongshan Wangfu is known as the first mansion in Nanjing, occupying half of the southern city. Zhongshan Wangfu is located in the center of the southern city, southeast of which is Gongyuan. Further east across the Qinhuai River is the largest eastern garden of Zhongshan Wangfu.

  Nearby Mochou Lake is also a private garden of Zhongshan Wangfu, which is a forbidden area. Within five miles around, it is strictly forbidden for idle people to approach. Those who break the rules will be sent to the officials for punishment. It is said that this lake and the Shengqi Building not far from the lake were where the current emperor played chess with Xu Da. Unbeknownst to him, Xu Da arranged the chess pieces in his hand into the characters "Wan Sui" (Long Live), and he even won against Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang was delighted despite losing, and in a moment of excitement, he gave this building and the lake to the Xu family as a gift.

  Actually, these are all folk legends. How could the emperor do such unreliable things and randomly bestow the mountains and rivers for a game of chess? The Victory Pavilion and Mosou Lake were indeed owned by the Xu family, but the reason was that Zhongshan King Xu Da was the first meritorious general of the Ming Dynasty and also the only famous minister trusted by Zhu Emperor. He did not replace Zhu Yuanzhang when Guo Zixing abandoned him, nor did he abandon his own opinions and decisions when Chen Youliang attacked Zhu Yuanzhang, but instead firmly executed them.

  Moreover, after the founding of the country, he was one of the few ministers who did not become arrogant and tyrannical, corrupt and greedy for bribes, grasping for power and seeking personal gain. As a result, he became one of the few meritorious officials of the Ming dynasty to die a natural death and be enfeoffed as a king. When a king was enfeoffed, he had to have a fiefdom, and the area near Lake Mochou was the fiefdom of King Zhongshan. At this moment, a group of people were walking from Xu's private Lake Mochou towards the residence of King Zhongshan.

  The Zhongshan Wangfu has grand buildings and pavilions, with towering trees and beautiful scenery. The group of people approaching had over thirty members, except for the two white-robed young masters in the middle, the rest were all dressed in green riding attire, with swords at their waists, clearly a group of brave and fierce guards.

  Zhu Yuanzhang was a person who attached great importance to etiquette and order. Under his rule, no matter whether it was architecture, dress or ceremonial procedures, every aspect was strictly regulated and no one dared to overstep the boundaries.

  Under Zhu Yuanzhang's rule, there were those who dared to be arrogant and overbearing. His own nephew was arrogant and domineering, with a retinue similar to that of the Crown Prince. Although this nephew had always been favored by Zhu Yuanzhang, he ultimately met his demise at his hands. Another nephew, Lan Yu, also became arrogant after being appointed as the King's General. After defeating Toghon Temür, he even slept with the king's consort, ruining Zhu Yuanzhang's policy of appeasing the Mongolian nobility. When he returned to court victorious, he was dissatisfied that the city gatekeepers opened the gates too slowly and ordered his cannons to blast open the gates. Such incidents buried a murderous intent in Zhu Yuanzhang's heart.

  Now in the Ying Tian Fu, no one dares to overstep the etiquette. This group of people only has two masters, even if each person has a half-guard, they can have so many people guarding them and setting up such a ceremony, it must be a high-ranking minister with a title of Wang Gong. However, these two men are both only in their thirties, one with thick eyebrows and bright eyes, full of heroic spirit, the other slightly slender but also very handsome.

  Passersby saw him and hurriedly avoided the road, someone said: "Xu Xiaogong has returned, who is the one chatting with Xiaogong?"

  Another person said: "To be able to ride alongside Young Master and chat with him in a carefree manner, he must also be a noble of the same class as kings and marquises."

  Peng Ziqi had just arrived, her hearing was exceptionally good. She was about to rush towards the Xu Guogong Mansion when she heard these few sentences and suddenly pulled tight the reins, turned her head back, immediately turned the horse's head around and rushed towards those slowly approaching people and horses.

  "Who dares to charge into the Xu family's ceremonial procession? Halt!"

  The guards in front were all well-trained warriors, and as soon as they saw someone rushing towards them on horseback, they immediately drew their swords to meet the charge. The guards at the back quickly protected the two young masters in between, but if it weren't for the fact that the person charging was only one person on a horse, with the rider wearing a white shirt like snow and a flowing belt, being an extremely beautiful woman, they would have struck down the person already. However, the two young masters didn't panic, merely reining in their horses to look over curiously, occasionally whispering a couple of sentences to each other, with smiles on their faces, seemingly evaluating the beautiful woman's figure and appearance.

  Peng Ziqi suddenly pulled the reins, and the horse stood up on its hind legs. With a long whinny, before its front hooves had even touched the ground, Peng Ziqi had already leapt off the horse's back. The young noble with an air of elegance about him looked at him with shining eyes and exclaimed: "What excellent martial arts skills!"

  The handsome young man next to him also smiled and said, "Indeed, good kung fu."

  Peng Ziqi took three steps forward, not looking at the intimidating steel knife pointed at his neck by the guard, but instead raised his palm high and said loudly: "I have a token from Miss Xu Xiaoguan here, I request to see Master Xu Xiaogong"

  She didn't know which of the two young men in front of her was from the Xu family, or which son of the Xu family he was, so she just called him Young Master Xu. The man with a heroic air on his face looked slightly surprised when he heard this, and leaned forward to say: "Bring it up"

  One of the guards immediately dismounted and took the sachet from Peng Ziyu's hand, quickly walking to his front, presenting it with both hands. The man took it in his hand and examined it carefully, asking in a low voice: "Where did you meet my younger sister?"

  Peng Ziqi clasped his fists and said: "I met Miss Xu in Beiping Prefecture."

  The young master grunted, his expression slightly easing, and turned to another young master, saying: "Jiujiang, I have a guest at home, let's talk again another day."

  "Let's go drinking."

  He was the nephew of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty, and the eldest son of Li Wenzhong, Cao Guogong. Li Wenzhong was a famous general in the early Ming dynasty, with a profound and majestic temperament that no one could measure. He was fierce and powerful on the battlefield, and his ambition was even more evident when facing great enemies. He was well-versed in classical learning and wrote magnificent poems. Although he was slightly inferior to Xu Da, Hu Dahai, and Chang Yuchun in terms of military talent, he was renowned for his bravery and martial prowess, and could be considered the first among Zhu Yuanzhang's generals.

  He has been ill for over a decade now, and his eldest son Li Jinglong succeeded to the title of Duke of Cao. The Xu family young master who accompanied him was Xu Zengshou, the third son of the Xu family. Since the title was inherited by his elder brother, he had not been granted a title yet, but was appointed as the Left Commander of the Five Armies Commandery, an official of the first rank, which was only slightly inferior to Li Jinglong's position as Duke.

  Li Jinglong nodded and looked at the beautiful woman in front of him, who was as lovely as a pear flower. He winked at Xu Zengshou and smiled, saying: "Very pretty little wife."

  Xu Zengshou snorted and said: "That's Xiaomei's friend, what nonsense are you talking about? Get out of here quickly!"

  Li Jinglong burst out laughing and said: "Let's go, let's go, we won't disturb your good things anymore, let's go."

  He finished speaking and whipped his horse, turning it onto another road. Immediately more than ten guards followed after him.

  Xu Zengshou then turned to Peng Qi and said, "Miss, please get on the horse, follow me back to the mansion and we'll talk again."

  "It's too late," Peng Ziqi hastily said. "If we're delayed, I fear Master will have already been executed."

  Xu Zengshou was taken aback: "Your husband? What did he do and where is he being punished?"

  The treatment of Xia Xian by Wang, the governor of Ying Tian Prefecture, can be described as severe, swift and strict, fully demonstrating his style of governing with a strong sense of justice and integrity. Moreover, he was impartial, fair and incorruptible.

  Those Yang family members occupied Yang Xu's ancestral house, although there were reasons for its decline and disrepair, and they were of the same clan and family. They borrowed it without permission when no one was home, but this was still a breach of propriety that should be punished. Now, the livestock they raised in Yang Xu's courtyard have all been slaughtered and eaten, which can be considered as punishment, so this matter will not be pursued further.

  Xia Yu, seeing his home in ruins, slaughtered all the livestock of his relatives and violently beat many of his clansmen. Considering that he did it out of filial piety, he could be forgiven. However, he disregarded the law, wantonly killed the oxen, and killed nine heads at once, a crime that cannot be forgiven. According to the imperial law, whoever slaughters others' horses or cattle shall be flogged with seventy strokes and exiled for one and a half years. Xia Yu slaughtered them because of his anger, which is understandable but unforgivable. He was cumulatively punished with one hundred strokes, exile to three thousand miles away, and degradation of his official rank.

  Without hesitation, the verdict was announced, and Wang Fu ordered someone to take Xia Jiao away for punishment. At the same time, he instructed the clerk to prepare a document to be sent to the Qingzhou Prefecture Education Office, revoking Xia's academic credentials. Just as Xia Jiao was being dragged away, a class leader rushed up to the platform and whispered a few words in Wang Hongrui's ear. Wang Hongrui hesitated for a moment, then asked two more questions, and after confirming, he gave a signal to the teacher and shouted: "This official still has urgent matters to attend to, this case will be retried later, adjourned!"

  He said, and with a flick of his sleeve, he strode away. Yang Yu was taken aback - hadn't the verdict already been announced? What else was there to wait for? Before he could even process what was happening, the quick-witted bailiff had already called over a fast-footed runner, who rushed down to the courtroom and intercepted the men who were about to carry out the punishment. Xia Liu, whose pants had just been pulled down revealing his small buttocks, was dragged back up and sent back to his cell once again.

  The Yang family was bewildered, as this kind of scene would not have been attended by Old Master Yang, lest he give people an impression of being an unkind and uncompassionate elder. Yang Chong also wouldn't attend, for he took his identity as a student very seriously. It was Yang Yu who led the charge in filing the lawsuit. After the Yang family members were driven out of the main hall, they gathered around him, asking in unison: "What's going on? Didn't we already get a verdict?"

  Yang Yu was also puzzled by Zhang Er's words and hesitated, saying: "Perhaps there are still some matters that need to be announced later, and Master Fu has important things to attend to. You all know that the Prefect of Ying Tian is not a minor official in a small state or county, with many complicated affairs to deal with every day."

  "What shall we do then? Shall we... go back and wait for news? Or ask the old master to make some more inquiries..."

  In the hall where guests were waiting, Xu Zengshou was walking back and forth in the living room with a look of boredom, shaking his coral-handled whip. As soon as Wang Hongrui entered the house, he bowed deeply: "Ah, ah, young master, I'm so sorry for not coming to greet you earlier, I've been busy with official duties, please forgive me, please forgive me."

  Xu Zengshou is now the Left Metropolitan Governor, a first-rank official in the capital, while Wang Hongrui, as the Prefect of Yingdu, is a fourth-rank official. Although Xu Zengshou did not inherit his title, he still called him "Young Master", which was a very learned and respectful way to address him, making them seem closer.

  "Please sit down, young master. Young master, have some tea."

  Wang Hongrui pushed Xu Zengshou to the front of the table, bowed his waist, accompanied by a smile, and carefully pushed the poured tea water in front of him again, saying: "Young Master just said... go to my official residence to find someone named Yang Xu?"

  He stole a glance at Xu Zengshou's face and said: "The official is presumptuous to ask, what is the relationship between this person and the young master?"

  Stop right there, you haven't voted yet, where are you going?