"Aye! Niang! Sister! How are you all?"
The young girl cried out and rushed over in a flurry.
She had made an agreement with her elder sister. Her elder sister would go to the fields with their parents, while she went to call for help.
At the same time, the bare - foot doctor in the village also came. After examining the middle - aged couple, he said, "It's just ordinary skin injuries. They're quite severe, though. They need to apply some ointment and have a good rest for a while."
"That's good. As long as there's no serious problem." The two sisters linked arms and were overjoyed.
The village head could tell that these people were of extraordinary status. He bowed and said, "I'm Feng Yan, the village head here. Although I don't know your identities, on behalf of the Sun family, I'd like to thank you all for your help."
"My name is Li Yin. This is my younger brother Li Zhen, and this is Princess Chengyang, my younger sister."
Li Yin stopped Li Jingyun, who was about to introduce her name. A princess's baby name couldn't be casually told to outsiders.
"Greetings to the three highnesses!"
The village head and the people behind him knelt down.
It was really rare that a prince and a princess would come to their small place!
However, to handle this matter fairly, it had to be reported to a higher - level official. Feng Yan, a mere village head, had no qualification to make decisions in front of these high - ranking officials and nobles.
So, the matter was presented to Wang Zhihe, the magistrate of Chang'an County.
Sun Rong'er, the youngest daughter of the Sun family, also attended the court session.
Li Jingyun insisted, "Your Honor, Cui Xian has committed a crime and should be punished. Otherwise, wouldn't the beating that the Sun family endured be in vain?"
The Cui family was indeed powerful, with several high - ranking officials in the court. But her father had said that even the Son of Heaven should be punished as a commoner if he broke the law, let alone a son of a powerful family?
"It won't be in vain. How about giving this piece of gold to their family? Your Honor, what do you think? They'll get one tael of gold just for being beaten up! What a great blessing! Maybe there will be people lining up to be beaten by me later!"
Cui Xian took out the gold he had intended to give to Li Yin, waved it in the court, and deliberately showed it to Sun Rong'er. Seeing the envy in her eyes, he laughed heartily and then put the gold back into his bosom.
He was extremely arrogant in front of the magistrate.
The Cui family was a noble family. A mere county magistrate wasn't even qualified to wipe their shoes at their family's door, let alone interrogate him at this moment.
"Princess, I advise you not to meddle in other people's business. Maybe they don't even want you to interfere. If they take this one tael of gold and let the matter rest, the Sun family won't have to worry about food and drink for ten years. Do you think they want this gold or to see me be held accountable?" Cui Xian continued.
"Getting the gold and holding me accountable aren't mutually exclusive."
Li Jingyun's light - hearted words silenced whatever Cui Xian was about to say next.
Did he really think she knew nothing? She had been raised by her father, and had seen him handle so many political affairs!
"You!" Cui Xian was furious. How could this princess be so shameless?
Was she led astray by Li Yin and Li Zhen? Could they be good people?
The things they had done were hidden from their younger sister!
The princess probably didn't even know that Li Yin and Li Ke were in a similar situation to his back then. Li Ke had even been dismissed from his official post and had three hundred households' fief removed because of such a thing.
"Bold! How dare you roar in the court!" Wang Zhihe, the magistrate sitting at the upper seat, quickly shouted to stop him.
The people in front of him were all of extremely noble status, and he couldn't afford to offend any of them. He was sweating profusely, not knowing how to judge the case.
After he shouted, Cui Xian did calm down.
It wasn't because of him, but because of Cui Gan and Cui Tian at the door.
Oh no!
Why did his elder sister and his uncle come together?!
Wouldn't he be punished when he got home?
Why hadn't Cui Xian's parents shown up? It was because they weren't as powerful as Cui Gan. Even if they came, they were just ordinary people and couldn't say much.
"Greetings to the three highnesses." After Cui Gan came, he first bowed respectfully and then admitted his mistake. "It's my fault for poor discipline that made Cui Xian do such evil things. I'm willing to pay two thousand coins for the Sun family's medical treatment."
"I've been warning you again and again every day, but you still did this! You're really disappointing me! Hurry up and come home with me!"
Cui Tian slapped Cui Xian on the back and was about to take him away after saying that.
Wang Zhihe looked at Li Jingyun's expression and the faces of the two princes behind her, and quickly stopped them. "The matter hasn't been resolved yet. How can you take him away?"
Li Jingyun compared the value of one tael of gold and two thousand coins in her mind.
Of course, one tael of gold was more valuable! One tael of gold was equivalent to six thousand coins!
This person was so shameless. He even tried to bargain down the compensation. Where was there such a principle in the world?
Moreover, was this how Cui Tian scolded her younger brother at home? It was the same overbearing manner as when she participated in the beauty pageant.
"Your Honor Wang, the kid is just being naive. I'll discipline him when I get home. Please be kind enough to let us go." Cui Gan accompanied his words with a smile and pleaded.
This kid really didn't know his own limits. Why did he try to show off in front of the princess in this place?
If he didn't leave quickly, he'd be well - behaved once he was taken in front of the emperor. Everyone in the world knew that the emperor was extremely protective of his children.
Back then, when Li Ke, the Prince of Wu, was impeached by the censor Liu Fan for damaging others' fields, the emperor actually wanted to behead the chief official of Li Ke's mansion as a scapegoat. He also said that the chief official was supposed to serve and teach Li Ke, and since such a thing had happened, it was his failure in teaching, so he should be executed. It was Liu Fan who persuaded the emperor to change his mind.
It was worth mentioning that this unlucky chief official was now transferred to serve in the mansion of Li Yin, the Prince of Shu.
Li Jingyun was even more unhappy. She directly blocked their way. "If he's a kid, I'm much younger than him! I know that the grain shouldn't be trampled on. Why doesn't he understand? He trampled on the grain and beat people today. What if he kills someone tomorrow? Can he still say that he's too young to understand?"
"Good!" This was Li Yin.
"You're truly my sister! You're so eloquent!"
This was Li Zhen.
The two brothers felt a bit guilty during the court session, but their younger sister's words were really satisfying. They still had to support her.
If they weren't in the court, they might have even clapped and cheered.
"Killing someone isn't a big deal either. You don't..." Before Cui Xian could finish his words, he was slapped by Cui Tian.
The slap was so loud and clear.
Cui Xian touched his head and looked at his angry elder sister beside him. Only then did he seem to realize that he had spoken carelessly.
Hearing this, Sun Rong'er knelt on the ground and cried. She looked extremely pitiful. "Your Honor, did you hear that? If we offend this young master of the Cui family, our whole family will be in danger! You must make the decision for us!"
"What are you talking about? Don't you know that human life is precious? Have all the things you learned in the Hongwen Academy gone to the dogs?" Cui Gan kicked Cui Xian hard. He had a premonition that he would be impeached because of this incident.
He had been diligent and conscientious for so many years, but in the end, he would be impeached because of such a kid. His official career was really a failure.
The key was that their relationship wasn't that close. He and Cui Xian's father were cousins. He had come here just because this guy carried the title of a member of the Boling Cui family.