mesbooks Chapter 94 The Prince of Wa
Chapter 94 The Prince of Wa
Shen Li remembered something, and looked back. She saw a tall horse galloping towards her from behind. Pedestrians on the roadside scrambled to get out of the way, and some small stalls were knocked over and their wooden structures were crushed by the horse's hooves.
A short, stocky man was riding on horseback. He wore a long black hat and his gray clothes were embroidered with patterns the size of copper coins. Although the clothes were wide-sleeved and loose-fitting, they were narrow under the armpits, making it easy to tell that they were Japanese style.
At that moment, not far from the horse, there was a five or six-year-old girl who was stunned with fear.
Shen Li remembered that in her previous life, this little girl's leg was broken by a horse.
"Peony, stop the horse and save the person!" she said immediately.
Peony was still looking for a place to buy meatballs when she heard the order. She glanced at the messenger and set off. In the instant she leaped into the air, she lashed out with her whip, aiming straight for the person on horseback.
Officials in other carriages along the road gasped at the sight; it must be Prince Heijo, the envoy from Japan who had come to offer birthday wishes.
The prince reacted quickly, turning his horse around, but because the horse was going too fast, he couldn't rein it in and crashed into a roadside stall. In its panic, the horse lurched and threw the short prince off.
The person accompanying him caught him quickly, but he was also in a sorry state. His black hat fell off, revealing his shaved head, with the hair on the sides and back combed into a bun at the back of his head.
The guards accompanying the Gu family rushed forward in time to stop the horses, and fortunately, no one was injured when the stall collapsed.
After leaping up, Peony flipped onto the roof of the carriage, then jumped down and landed right in front of the little girl. She picked up the terrified child, who was crying loudly, and returned her to her parents.
The onlookers breathed a sigh of relief. If it weren't for the girl's intervention, the child would have been run over by the horse, suffering injuries or even death.
"Baka! Who are you?" The Prince of Heijo angrily pointed at Peony with his riding whip, speaking in broken Chinese.
"You dare point at me?" Seeing his fierceness, Peony became even angrier and lashed out with her whip.
Upon seeing this, several Japanese samurai drew their swords and stood in front of the prince.
The whip then wrapped around a samurai sword, and another man slashed at the straightened whip.
"Snap." The whip broke with a sound, and Peony, who was holding the whip, took a step back, her eyes widening in shock.
"You think you're right after hitting someone? If you're so capable, then fight me one-on-one."
Peony threw away half of the whip, but Forsythia pulled her back before she could borrow the weapon and shook her head slightly.
"The other party is someone of considerable influence," Lian Qiao reminded them.
Peony bit her lower lip, her eyes reddening as she looked at the whip on the ground.
"Baka! Seize her!" Prince Heijo said, pointing at Peony.
The people of Dazhao who were watching from the roadside felt their blood boil. These people from the small border country were too presumptuous. Not only did they ride horses in the street, but they also forbade people to resist. It was outrageous.
"Wait a moment." A gentle and calm voice rang out as Gu Chang'an, dressed in a scarlet official robe, stepped down from the carriage, his cool gaze falling on the group of Japanese people.
Even with such a gentle tone, the Prince of Heisei was taken aback.
"Who are you?" he asked tentatively.
"I heard that before the Prince of Pingcheng came to Dazhao, he led his warriors in a fight with another prince of your country, resulting in the deaths and injuries of a hundred people, all for the sake of the qualification to pay tribute. Is this true?" Gu Chang'an asked instead of answering.
Seeing the other party's extraordinary demeanor and his thorough knowledge of the affairs of his country, the Prince of Pingcheng became even more wary and asked only, "This has nothing to do with you. Who are you?"
"Although the visitors are guests, the vassal states must still abide by the laws of the Great Zhao. According to the Great Zhao law, anyone who causes death by riding a horse shall be beheaded, and anyone who causes injury by riding a horse shall be punished with three hundred strokes of the cane and exiled three thousand li."
Gu Chang'an pressed on step by step: "Even if no one was injured, riding a horse is still a serious crime and a great disrespect to our dynasty. I will petition His Majesty to include this in the official document and pay tribute next year... Please send someone else from your country."
"You...you..." the Prince of Pingcheng cried out anxiously, "What do you want?"
"Pay up." Gu Chang'an's eyes were cold and deep, and his words were firm and resolute.
"Give me the money." Prince Heijo hurriedly ordered the minister beside him, who then took out a bag of gold and asked if it was enough.
Chunsheng stepped forward, snorted, took the gold, and gave it to the stall owner who had made a fortune, instructing him to divide it equally among the stall owners.
"Is that alright?" Prince Heijo asked, his breath ragged.
"Pay for his weapon." Gu Chang'an's eyes swept over the broken whip on the ground, and finally landed on the warrior who had cut the peony whip.
“Give it to him.” Prince Heijo’s triangular eyes almost creased together.
The samurai was unwilling but still stepped forward and handed over his weapon with one hand.
At this moment, Shen Li had already summoned the peony and forsythia to the back. Then, a guard stepped forward with a knife. The warrior coldly looked at Gu Chang'an, and when the guard did not take the knife, he pushed it forward again.
Although both sides appeared to have reached a consensus, the atmosphere remained tense.
The onlookers were still indignant. They hadn't expected that this Minister of Justice would be able to suppress the Japanese prince so easily. He truly lived up to his reputation as a living Yama.
However, they were not satisfied with the compensation for the weapons. They demanded that the other party pay a large sum of money and apologize publicly, as this was the least they could do to show respect to a major power.
Just as people were whispering among themselves, the guard raised his knife and, in a flash, slashed the warrior's wrist.
In an instant, blood spurted out.
"Ah!" The samurai screamed as he watched his hand, gripping the sword, fall to the ground, his wrist covered in blood.
The Japanese delegation was immediately dumbfounded.
Not only the Japanese delegation, but also many onlookers exclaimed in surprise. Some officials who got out of the car had their pupils shrink, thinking to themselves that this Lord Gu was capable of causing any kind of trouble.
“You…didn’t you just want weapons?” Prince Pingcheng looked at Gu Chang’an, whose clothes were stained with blood but whose face remained calm, and even felt a chill run down his spine.
When did such a formidable person emerge in the Great Zhao? He doesn't even blink an eye when he strikes.
"He has learned his lesson and received a minor punishment as a warning. I urge the prince to remember never to ride recklessly in the streets again, or I will not be able to save him a second time." Gu Chang'an nodded calmly: "Farewell."
As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around and got into the car.
The Japanese delegation fell into a deathly silence as they watched the carriage slowly move forward, not even knowing who to turn to for help.
They were originally led forward by officials from the Court of State Ceremonies and the Ministry of Rites, but the carriages were blocked behind them, so Prince Heisei rode forward without saying a word, accompanied only by his own country's warriors.
After Gu Chang'an left, the officials from the Ministry of Rites rushed over. They ran all the way, and it was already quite an achievement for a civil official with poor stamina to catch up.
But when they caught up, they realized something serious had happened; clearly, the samurai hadn't broken his arm while running.
"Lord Lu...who is that?" The Japanese cabinet minister asked the Vice Minister of Rites, pointing to the carriage of the Gu family.
“That is…” Old Lu could recognize his Minister’s daughter’s carriage, but he was also cunning and shrewd. He rubbed his eyes and said, “Officials’ carriages are all the same style, so it’s hard to tell whose they are. But the prince can’t leave the group again, otherwise if something happens, there won’t even be a witness.”