"How could you find such people? They're simply lowering my status," the princess said as she saw that her plan was almost in place.
"Don't be so disdainful, my lord. It's precisely such people that make it seem more genuine. If we had chosen others, we couldn't have deceived the Empress Dowager and the Emperor. Let's wait a while. Maybe these people will bring us better results than expected."
Since things had reached this point, they could only go all out.
Prince Lian pursed his lips, sat back in his seat, and patiently waited inside the carriage.
The commotion outside grew louder, and the guards were no longer able to stop the crowd.
The young emperor and the Empress Dowager naturally didn't miss this commotion. Both of them were puzzled and wondered what tricks Prince Lian was up to this time.
Shi Muyuan wasn't too surprised. "I knew that this prince of ours has no intention of curbing his ambition. His actions are becoming more and more unseemly."
Ji Heng frowned. "It seems that this little punishment isn't enough for him. In that case, I'll go and take a look myself. Mother, wait here in peace. This time, I must teach him a lesson."
"Go ahead."
After saying that, the young emperor stepped out of the carriage. He walked straight to the front of the procession and looked at the people blocking the carriage. The anger in his eyes was obvious even to a fool.
"Get rid of these people immediately. Otherwise, if you delay Prince Lian's journey to Luolin, I'll have your heads."
The young emperor's serious demeanor startled everyone, but the guards looked miserable.
"Your Majesty, it's not that we don't want to drive these people away. They're just too persistent. They've been here all the time and won't leave no matter how hard we try."
Just as the guard finished speaking, one of the captured farmers tried to pounce on the emperor. If the emperor hadn't been quick - witted, he might have been knocked down today, which would have been a huge laughingstock in the capital.
He cast a disapproving look at the speaking guard and looked down at the man kneeling at his feet.
"Who are you? Why are you blocking the way?"
The man wiped away non - existent tears.
"Your Majesty, why are you letting Prince Lian go? He used to take good care of us farmers in the suburbs. We've never seen such a kind - hearted prince."
Ji Heng stepped back a bit and told Fu Lu to help the farmer up.
"Answer my previous question."
Although the farmer seemed to be telling the truth, based on his intuition, this incident was mostly related to the person in the carriage beside them. And the farmer's words confirmed his suspicion.
"Your Majesty may not recognize us commoners, but we've always remembered the prince's kindness. If it weren't for the prince's repeated help, our whole family might not be here today."
As soon as this man finished speaking, several others couldn't wait.
"Yes, the prince is the kindest person to us besides our own relatives. Please let him stay, Your Majesty."
The young emperor rolled his eyes. Some people would stop at nothing to stay, but such petty tricks were nothing to him.
"The court's arrangements have nothing to do with you. You commoners should just focus on living in peace. I don't want such things to happen again. I won't bother with you today. Go away."
His tone was indisputable. The farmers didn't expect such a result. Finally, they glanced at each other and decided to use another strategy.
So, while the guards were about to step forward, they pounced on the carriage and held on tightly. "If Your Majesty doesn't agree, we'll just stay here with the prince's carriage."
When the young emperor turned around, his eyes had turned gloomy.
Prince Lian had crossed his bottom line by involving the common people.
"Is the prince still not coming out? Does he want me to solve these problems for him?"
Prince Lian in the carriage was on pins and needles. He never expected things to turn out like this. Thinking that his wife was the culprit, he glared at her instinctively.
"I'll settle the score with you when I get back. The acting of these people is so bad that even I can't stand it."
The princess felt wronged.
"I didn't expect things to develop like this either."
"Fine. Stay in the carriage."
The servant lifted the curtain, and he walked out pretending to be sad. Looking at the farmers, he tried to appear approachable.
"Why are you here? Didn't I tell you not to come out today? I'm just going to the ancestral mansion for a while. I believe the emperor will let me come back soon."
The leading farmer was the first to react.
"My lord, you can't leave. What will we do if you leave? Besides, no matter what mistakes you've made, the emperor shouldn't let you leave the capital."
They shifted the blame, and after hearing this, Prince Lian, who was impatient at first, finally showed appreciation. These people seemed more and more pleasing to the eye.
However, on the surface, he still had to maintain the young emperor's image.
"Your Majesty, don't listen to these farmers' nonsense. I'll have them driven away immediately. They didn't do it on purpose. They didn't mean to oppose Your Majesty."
Prince Lian appeared very considerate. There were always common people paying attention to the situation here. After hearing his words, many people cast their gazes over, and the emotions in those gazes were obvious to everyone.
The young emperor knew his intentions very well. A sneer appeared on his face. "Although that's true, accusing me in front of everyone is still an act of insubordination. I have to consider the laws of the Great Liang. Otherwise, won't everyone be able to challenge me in the future?"
Hearing this, Prince Lian had a bad feeling. It had to be said that his premonition was quite accurate.
The young emperor continued, "The key is that I can't punish all these commoners. Otherwise, it would seem inhumane. How about this? Since Prince Lian is so considerate of them, why doesn't he take the punishment for them?"
Prince Lian's heart skipped a beat. So, had he dug a hole for himself? He thought he could drag the young emperor into trouble and shake the people's trust, but instead, he had shot himself in the foot.
This punishment would surely be neither too light nor too heavy and would have some impact on him. He definitely didn't want to take it. But with the common people watching, he couldn't find a proper reason to refuse.