Chapter 17 Arrogant at first and respectful at the end

When Fang Qian and Wu Yizhi saw Zhao Ji and Qiao Tai, they couldn't believe it and felt that something was wrong. The imperial envoy contacted the chief secretary without the governor's knowledge, which was not a good sign.

Zhao Ji stared at Fang Qian with a sharp gaze, and shouted expressionlessly, "Where is the governor of Youzhou? Why don't you kneel when you see the imperial edict?"

This shout was like a loud thunderclap. Fang Qian and Wu Yizhi woke up as if from a dream. They hurriedly walked from behind the governor's desk to in front of Zhao Ji and knelt on their knees.

"Your servant...your servant Fang Qian accepts your order." Fang Qian's voice trembled, revealing an unconcealable panic.

Zhao Ji glanced at Fang Qian, slowly unfolded the imperial edict, and read aloud: "Since the Three Sovereigns ruled the world and the Five Emperors established the laws, ... I order Di Renjie, the co-prime minister of Fengge and Luantai, to be appointed and demoted, and concurrently the Grand Commander of Youzhou, to patrol on behalf of the emperor, inspect the administration of officials, and act as he sees fit. Wherever he goes, it is as if I am personally present. I decree this."

After Zhao Ji finished reading, he handed the imperial edict to Fang Qian, but he knelt down and trembled like a sieve.

There was a hint of teasing in Zhao Ji's voice: "Master Fang, please accept the order."

Fang Qian took the imperial edict with trembling hands, his voice almost inaudible: "Your Majesty... accepts the order."

"Master Fang, why don't you verify the authenticity?" Zhao Ji asked sarcastically again.

Fang Qian was about to stand up when he heard this, but he was so frightened that he quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly: "I dare not...I dare not, I did not know that Lord Di was coming, and I spoke rashly, I hope Lord will forgive me."

Di Renjie spoke coldly at this moment: "Lord Fang is so powerful. Since entering the court, have you ever asked for my name?"

"Please forgive me, sir. Please forgive me, sir. I deserve to die!" Fang Qian regretted it too late and just kowtowed.

Di Renjie felt that the time had come and he stopped making things difficult for Fang Qian: "Forget it, get up."

Fang Qian wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, stood up tremblingly, staggered, and almost fell again.

Di Renjie looked at Fang Qian's ugly behavior and said sarcastically, "He was arrogant at first but respectful later. It's really funny to think about it."

Fang Qian dared not say a word and lowered his head, pretending to be dead.

Di Renjie no longer bothered with him and introduced Hu Jinghui and Zhao Ji to Fang Qian: "These two are the emperor's personal honors, Hu Jinghui, the General of the Guards, and Zhao Ji, the personal attendant."

Fang Qian hurriedly tried to greet Hu Jinghui, but Hu Jinghui stopped him with a wave of his hand: "Hey, Mr. Fang, let's talk later."

Hu Jinghui walked into the crowd, and the captain who was hiding behind the crowd was pulled out like a chicken.

“General, please spare me, General, please spare me…” The captain was so scared that his face deflated and he kept begging for mercy.

Hu Jinghui sneered, a hint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes: "Haha, spare my life? What is the crime of beating the imperial envoy?"

Zhao Ji, who was standing nearby, echoed the words, "He who assaulted the imperial envoy should be punished by slow slicing and death, and the extermination of his entire clan."

Fang Qian did not see the captain slap Hu Jinghui in the face. He just thought it was a conflict when arresting someone, and he was pleading for mercy.

He smiled and said, "General Hu, it is said that ignorance is not a crime. I'm sure the soldier didn't mean to do that. Can you let him go?"

This captain is actually Fang Qian's confidant, otherwise Fang Qian would not have entrusted him with such an important task as arresting Li Er. Now that the captain is in trouble, Fang Qian still wants to protect him.

Di Renjie was dissatisfied with Fang Qian's words and asked, "Is ignorance not a crime?"

"Does he oppress the people and take their lives lightly? He is not guilty of ignorance? The death of this thief is not enough to appease the people's anger!"

Seeing Di Renjie angry, Fang Qian's heart tightened, and he quickly ordered: "Catch this thief, put him in jail, and execute him at noon tomorrow."

When his first plan failed, he came up with another one, intending to delay time and fake his death to escape tomorrow.

Hu Jinghui secretly cursed Fang Qian for being stupid. The thief had already revealed his weakness in Lu Dayou's house. If he was not killed as soon as possible, Di Renjie would be caught by the time he reacted.

"Wait." Hu Jinghui waved his hand to stop the soldier who was about to go forward to arrest someone.

"There's no need for Lord Fang to do anything!" He had already made up his mind to kill the witness to silence him.

Hu Jinghui slowly walked towards the captain. The captain's body went limp, he fell to his knees, and kowtowed: "General, please spare my life! Please spare my life!"

Hu Jinghui completely ignored the captain's pleas for mercy and pulled out a steel knife from his waist. He blew on the blade and said, "I told you just now, when the time comes, don't blame my grandfather for having a fast knife!"

"General, please calm down. Let's not use swords in court." Fang Qian said. He was also stupid to a certain extent, and he still tried to obstruct.

Di Renjie's eyes flashed, and he slowly said: "Jinghui, how about this thief be handed over to Lord Fang for disposal."

But this time, Hu Jinghui did not obey Di Renjie as usual.

He said, "To be honest, I don't trust Lord Fang. If he is arrested now, he might be released by tonight. Why are you still talking about a fair punishment?"

Fang Qian's expression suddenly turned ugly, and he said unhappily, "General Hu, what do you mean by this? I don't understand."

Hu Jinghui was very angry at Fang Qian's stupidity. He looked at Fang Qian with eyes that seemed to want to eat him. He was slapped and kicked, but he couldn't vent his anger!

"What's there to not understand? Publicly assaulting the imperial envoy is a crime worthy of death. Just drag him out and chop him off. What's the point of saying it's a formal punishment? Isn't Lord Fang trying to excuse him?"

Hu Jinghui's face was full of anger, and he slowly approached Fang Qian with a knife.

Fang Qian was frightened by Hu Jinghui, and his voice trembled a little: "Your subordinate, I have absolutely no such intention."

"This villain slapped me, the General of the Guards, just like slapping the emperor in the face. What should I do if I slap the emperor in the face?"

Hu Jinghui's towering figure stood in front of Fang Qian. Fang Qian was frightened like a dead soul, and stammered, "Damn... Damn it."

Hu Jinghui said sternly: "Wrong, the three clans should be exterminated! I am giving face to the governor by killing him alone."

After saying that, he chopped the captain to death with a lightning speed. The captain didn't even have time to scream and fell in a pool of blood.

No one in the room expected Hu Jinghui to suddenly attack and kill people, and they were all stunned.

Fang Qian and Wu Yizheng felt the same way, as if the knife was actually hitting themselves.

Qiao Tai was also shocked by Hu Jinghui's thundering methods. He glanced at Zhao Ji obliquely, as if recalling the bloody scene in the rainy night.

Zhao Ji Ze noticed his gaze, turned around and gave him a smile that he thought was amiable. Qiao Tai was horrified and quickly lowered his head.

Regardless of the crowd's reaction, Di Renjie took advantage of Hu Jinghui's shocking words to announce: "From today on, any official who dares to bully people, run rampant in the countryside, and oppress the people will be punished like this thief!"

All the Youzhou officials in the court bowed down and shouted, "We will obey your orders!"

Di Renjie pointed at Li Er who was lying on the ground and said, "This man will be temporarily detained by me. After he recovers from his injuries, I will personally interrogate him."

Fang Qian and Wu Yizhi looked at each other and felt something was wrong. They hurriedly tried to stop him, saying, "Sir, this man killed an official and escaped from prison. His crime is extremely serious..."

Di Renjie opened his eyes wide and interrupted, "Why, Master Fang, do you have any objections?"

Zhao Ji and Hu Jinghui stepped forward. Fang Qian looked at the captain's body on the ground and shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, no, I have no objection."
-
Xiaolianzi Mountain, a small and fragrant house.

When Jin Mulan heard what happened in the governor's court, she was stunned, screamed, and fell into her chair.

Yu Feng was still calm. He warned, "Master, Li Er is now in Di Renjie's hands. Once he opens his mouth, everything will be over!"

Jin Mulan was in a state of confusion, shaking her head, unable to accept the reality: "Di Renjie and Li Er actually bumped into each other, how incredible!"

Yu Feng's idea was very simple. He said fiercely, "Let's go all out and kill Di Renjie to eliminate this trouble forever!"

Jin Mulan's face suddenly changed when she heard this, and she angrily shouted, "Killing Di Renjie is easy for you to say! This is equivalent to telling the court that we are in Youzhou. There is no news about Kui Wenzhong's list, and the Turkic foreign aid has not arrived. When the court army arrives, you and I will be turned into dust."

"Then what should we do?" Yu Feng asked.

Jin Mulan's eyes flashed with a cold light. She paced slowly, thought for a moment, and finally spoke:
"We still have to kill Li Er and stop him from talking. Di Renjie doesn't know Li Er's identity. Once Li Er dies, Di Renjie will be powerless to save the situation even if he is very capable."

Jin Mulan had made up her mind and ordered, "Quickly inform Viper and tell him to get rid of Li Er at all costs."

　Famous scenes and classic lines in the original play.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)