Chapter 26

Not only was he honest, but he was also kind.

Emperor Yu Heng was silent. With Sixth Young Master Wang’s size, he could easily kill two or three people!

“Like father, like daughter.” The emperor almost cried on behalf of Xiao Yun. He finally gave birth to someone who could fight.

To be able to send Sixth Young Master Wang flying with a kick, was there even a need to think? She was the heroine of a country. If her martial arts skills were not good enough, before she could even send him flying, her leg would have been broken there.

“That’s right. I have seen Sixth Young Master Wang before. An ordinary person would not be able to touch him.” Wei Desheng, who could tell what was going on, joined in the conversation.

Qu Yu and Zhang Yu: “…”

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This was settled?

“Official Xie, how do you think we should handle this matter?” Emperor Yu Heng asked.

“In my opinion, this matter is very simple. It’s just a gang fight.”

“Cai Zhizhang, Zhou Dun, Wang Dan, and the others insulted the other party first, then beat them up. They should be severely punished to serve as a warning to others.” Xie Xian continued to draw the main point. “They deliberately set up opposing sides to deal a blow to the lower class and divide the crowd. I believe this should not be allowed to continue any longer.”

These words were as if they were dug out from Emperor Yu Heng’s heart. He said whatever the Emperor had in mind, how could the Emperor not love him?

If he wasn’t afraid of losing his status in front of his subjects, he would have clapped and cheered.

This was what he would call standard and broad-mindedness!

Emperor Yu Heng didn’t say anything, but his eyes were filled with a divine radiance. Qu Yu and Zhang Yu didn’t dare to raise their heads as they listened to the Emperor’s teachings, but Wei Desheng could see it clearly from the side. Fine, Xie Xian had once again stimulated the inferiority and pride hidden deep within the Emperor.

The Great Liang Taizu came from a low-status family and had always felt inferior and proud towards the aristocratic families. He was extremely conflicted about how he wanted to improve the status of his bloodline through marriage. On the one hand, he used everything he had to suppress the aristocratic families’ influences. After generations of hard work, he came up with policies to counterbalance the aristocratic families’ influences.

Up till this current Emperor, he had inherited the glorious tradition of their ancestors – the hate and love for the aristocratic families.

What a torturous little vixen. Wei Desheng thought of the phrase that the emperor used to describe his favorite concubine. It was really appropriate to describe the emperor’s feelings towards the aristocratic families.

“Official Pan, what do you think?”

It wasn’t until Emperor Yu Heng asked about it that the yellow gatekeeper, Pan Shuo, who had a lack of presence in the imperial study room finally appeared in front of everyone.

Anyone could forget him, but not Emperor Yu Heng. Pan Shuo was Empress Dowager’s nephew. Now that Empress Dowager’s older brother was dead, she doted on him even more. Not only did she reward him from time to time, but she also reminded him to take care of the Emperor.

To quote Empress Dowager, he was ‘an honest one’.

If Emperor Yu Heng had to describe him, he was more of an idiot than an honest person. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to keep him under his nose when there were so many other matters to handle.

As a yellow gatekeeper, Xie Xian was the emperor’s trusted aide and was pleasing to the eye. Pan Shuo was assigned the role purely because the emperor had no way of dealing with him and was most assured to leave him by his side.

Furthermore!

Pan Shuo, this fellow, was standing beside Xie Xian. Although he had not said a word since he entered, he seemed to have been injected with stimulants. In response to Xie Xian’s every word, he would stand there, stare with his eyes wide open, then flare his nostrils and clench his fists. If not for the fear that he would behave disrespectfully, he might even swing his arms forward because of his tense elbows. Emperor Yu Heng could not ignore him even if he wanted to.

After hearing Emperor Yu Heng ask him, Pan Shuo finally let out the breath he had been holding.

His aunt Empress Dowager had already instructed him not to comment if the Emperor did not ask him. Now that the emperor had asked, he could finally speak!

“Your Majesty is wise. Just as Assistant Minister Xie said, we should punish those young masters of aristocratic families severely. Not only do they have nothing to do all day, but they are also causing trouble everywhere. The Duke of Shangxing County is currently fighting for the Imperial Court, risking his life. Yet those young masters of aristocratic families actually dare to take advantage of his daughter!”

Pan Shuo was indignant.

“How is she not worthy of Yuan Chen, that greasy-headed brat? I’ve seen the eldest daughter of the Xiao Family before. She’s really beautiful. Just because I took one more look at her, my wife even gave me a beating— Of course, I didn’t do it on purpose. I just sent my wife to the Eldest Princess’ residence to attend the Hundred Flowers Banquet and accidentally took a glance at her on the porch—”

“Get to the point!” Emperor Yu Heng couldn’t take it anymore.

He shouldn’t have asked this glutton to reply. The first half of what he said sounded like a human being, but what did he say after that?

Who wants to know why you’re looking at some young lady?

Would he die if he kept it to himself?

“In any case, I feel that Yuan Chen only knows how to write poems all day long. He’s not worthy of the Xiao family’s Young Miss at all. Those young masters from aristocratic families are slandering others and deserve to be beaten up! What’s even more infuriating is that they were the ones who scolded others first, but they started to beat others first too. Someone even stood up for justice, yet they instigated others to fight with them! They are looking down on us and misbehaving right under the eyes of the Emperor!”

Pan Shuo had delicate features and looked somewhat similar to Empress Dowager who was known for her beauty. Otherwise, Empress Dowager wouldn’t have taken a liking to him out of all of her relatives.

However, there was an air of naivety about him that suppressed his looks.

“They actually dare to insult the lower class for not even being worthy of carrying their shoes! What do they mean? Your Majesty is also from the lower class, are they implying that you are also not worthy?! In other words, they are belittling Your Majesty!”

Pan Shuo’s words successfully drew Emperor Yu Heng’s attention back to him. This time, Emperor Yu Heng was obviously moved, and his expression suddenly changed. It was so dark that water could be squeezed out.

The royal family was wealthy and had control over the people. However, they would still be looked down upon by the aristocratic families.

They were despised for being lowborn and had no rules.

In short, they were not comparable to the aristocratic family, who had an air of nobility that they’d accumulated over several lifetimes. Apart from them, everyone else was just a country bumpkin and had a bad reputation.

In the past, regardless of whether the dynasty had changed or if they wanted to conquer the world, the descendants of the aristocratic families were born with good education and produced many heroes. Unlike now, where every generation was worse than the one preceding it. They only wanted to enjoy the privileges that had been passed down from generation to generation. They did not work hard and could not distinguish between the five grains. There were almost none who were willing to work for the Imperial Court, the country, and the people.

There were very few people like Xie Xian who were intelligent, had a stance, and had character.

However, their contempt for the lower class only grew stronger with each generation.

Who gave them the courage to publicly slander the royal family?

Emperor Yu Heng naturally knew that those idiotic profligate young masters did not refer directly to the Imperial Family. However, these words were spoken so smoothly that showed that their contempt had seeped into their bones.

“Official Qu, is what Pan Shuo said true?”

Qu Yu took a deep breath. “I dare not lie to Your Majesty. Jiankang magistrate and I have indeed heard many witnesses pointing out that there was someone among the young masters of the aristocratic families who said this, but they could not clearly say who it was—”

Before he could finish speaking, he heard Emperor Yu Heng laughing coldly.

“Hah.”