Chapter 53
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“Xiang Er, don’t be afraid.”
Ling Rui, held tightly by Xiang Er, was a bit uncomfortable but remained obedient, not struggling. He could tell Xiang Er was more scared than he was.
Xiang Er also saw the group of kids.
But in her eyes, they were of no use.
She knelt on the ground, holding the child, and pleaded: “It was my fault for being bewitched and hurting the master. Please, Master, be merciful and spare me this time.”
She kept begging for mercy.
The master, with a bandage on his head, walked over. He looked at the kneeling Xiang Er, the child in her arms, and the one beside her, as well as the group of children not far away.
These children had pockets full of fruits.
The master was furious: “This is outrageous! A bunch of little brats stealing, and Xiang Er, you traitorous wench, daring to side with them against me!”
The old master was truly furious.
He kept calling them little b*stards, which made the few kids there quite angry as well.
Ling Rui understood what little b*stards meant; it was a curse word, and it insulted his dad too!
“I am not a little b*stard!”
With his group around, Ling Rui wasn’t scared at all. He stared angrily at the old master with his round, pretty eyes: “I have a dad and a mom!”
The old master didn’t recognize him, but he did recognize Zhuzi and other kids from the same village.
Thinking that anyone playing with Zhuzi wouldn’t be a particularly noble child, the old master sneered, “So what if you have parents? You dared to injure me, not even the county magistrate can save you!” The old master had been a local tyrant for many years and considered himself the ruler of the area.
Ling Rui, seeing him yell, raised his little face and shouted back even louder, “I can hit you!”
His parents and brothers had told him that as a prince, he shouldn’t be bullied!
Anyone who dared to bully him was breaking the law and would be punished!
Last time, when Ling Xing bullied him, he even lost his title as shizi.
With this in mind, Ling Rui felt more confident. He gently wriggled and had Xiang Er put him down on the ground, “Jiang Jiang, lock him up, put him in jail!”
Jiang Yan’s face turned serious, and he rushed forward.
He looked up at the group of adults in front of him and sneered, “Your good days are over! Today is the day you go to jail!”
As Jiang Yan spoke, he pulled Ling Rui and Ling Fu behind him.
Hearing such arrogant words, the old master laughed angrily, “In all my years, this is the first time someone has dared to threaten me with jail! You really have guts.”
The old master had no pity for children.
He couldn’t be bothered to say more, and directly ordered his servants and thugs, “Beat them all up, remember, I want these three little b*stards to bleed!”
The three little b*stards he referred to were Ling Rui, Ling Fu, and Jiang Yan.
But these three kids were no ordinary children; two were sons of the emperor, and one was from a noble family.
The old master had unwittingly chosen the most valuable targets.
The thugs and servants rushed over with sticks, but before they could land a blow, they were kicked away by the emperor’s guards who had arrived.
The guards had been sent outside to dig worms, as the kids had said they wanted to fish at night.
Against the royal guards, the old master’s thugs and servants stood no chance.
In no time, the guards had the servants and thugs lying on the ground. Ling Rui pointed at the old master, whose face had turned pale, and ordered, “Hit him! Break his legs!”
The old master had wanted to break their legs just moments ago.
Normally, Ling Rui was a well-behaved child, looking very gentle, but he had no mercy for bad people.
The guards hesitated at first at Ling Rui’s order.
But then Ling Rui puffed up his cheeks and complained to them, “He called me and my sixth brother little b*stards.”
The guards: “…”
The guards clenched their fists and directly broke the old master’s legs.
The old master was in a sorry state, with a bandage on his head, bruises on his back, and now broken legs. He sat on the ground, trembling with rage, “You…you dare—”
Ling Rui interrupted him, “Of course I dare. You’re finished.”
When Ling Rui said he was finished, he meant it.
The guards took the old master away, leaving two guards behind who asked Ling Rui and Ling Fu, “Sixth Young Master, Seventh Young Master, do you want to keep playing or go back?”
The two princes were playing under the guise of young masters.
Ling Rui had lost interest in playing. He raised his little chin and said, “Go home. I want to see my dad. Sixth brother, let’s go together.”
“Okay.”
Ling Rui was eager to go back and complain.
The events in the orchard spread before nightfall.
People only knew that the owner of the orchard, the old landlord Qian Jin, was mysteriously sent to the authorities with broken legs and untreated injuries.
Many were curious about the reason but didn’t know where to find out more.
Even in the village, the adults talked about it.
“It’s really heaven’s justice. That evil Qian finally got what he deserved! I hope he never gets out!”
“Qian has strong connections. We shouldn’t get too happy. He might be out by tomorrow.”
“I don’t think so. If his connections were that strong, he wouldn’t have gone to jail in the first place. Who took him down this time?”
The villagers had mixed reactions, some happy, some puzzled, and some indifferent.
Zhuzi’s parents were also talking about it, and he couldn’t hold it in anymore, “I know why he got taken down.”
His mother was startled, “You, a child, can’t know about this. Don’t talk nonsense!”
His father frowned and scolded him, “Even if you’re joking, be careful. How could you know what happened to Old Qian?”
Zhuzi, unhappy after being scolded, pouted, “Of course I know. I was there when he was taken away!”
Under his parents’ surprised gazes, Zhuzi explained what happened in the orchard.
“Little Six and Little Seven brought some amazing people with them.”
“Little Seven said to break Old Qian’s legs, and those big guys really did it.”
“When Old Master Qian was being taken away, he was still shouting that they would regret it.”
“But I heard Little Seven muttering, saying that he definitely wouldn’t regret it.”
“Little Six also muttered something, saying that Old Master Qian dared to curse them, committing a capital offense.”
Zhuzi recounted these events in detail to his parents. After he finished, his parents exchanged glances, speechless.
After a long while, Zhuzi’s father finally asked, trembling, “Zhuzi, who exactly are these Little Six and Little Seven?”
“I don’t know.”
Zhuzi only knew that these little young masters were very wealthy, but he didn’t know their exact background.
He could tell that among the group of little young masters, Little Six and Little Seven were the most respected, and Little Six took good care of Little Seven.
“Zhuzi, I think you should interact less with these little young masters. We are of different statuses. What if you accidentally offend them and they come after you?”
“Mom, they wouldn’t do that. They’re all very nice, especially Little Seven. He’s very well-behaved.”
Zhuzi defended his friends, especially fond of Little Seven.
Little Seven was not only good-looking but also well-mannered, with no spoiled temper, and he even let Zhuzi carry him.
“Mom, Dad, I’m not talking anymore. I’m going to dig up some ground cherries to eat. Mom, which ditch did you say had ground cherries last time?”
“The one at the far west end, next to Old Third’s land, there’s a ditch. There were ground cherries there last year.”
Knowing the place, Zhuzi ran out the door, not wanting to stay home.
Zhuzi’s mom watched his back and sighed, “He’s going to dig up ground cherries to give to those little young masters. Honestly, little young masters don’t care for our wild stuff…”
The couple were honest people, and they were both worried and scared about their son suddenly playing with noble children.
Meanwhile.
Ling Rui was sitting in Emperor Ling’s lap, listening to him discuss matters with his officials.
Normally, such occasions were not suitable for bringing him, but the little guy had just napped with the emperor. While he was napping, he rolled off the bed, and Emperor Ling hadn’t caught him in time.
He fell and bruised his eye.
Emperor Ling coaxed him for a long time, feeling both guilty and heartbroken.
The little guy’s fair skin and tender face now had a bruise at the corner of his eye, looking very pitiful.
Feeling guilty and protective, Emperor Ling hadn’t yet sent the little guy back.
Noble Consort Yi wasn’t aware of the little guy’s injury yet.
After his cry, the little guy, perhaps still uncomfortable with his eye, clung to Emperor Ling, who applied medicine and brought him along to deal with affairs.
“Be good and go back to sleep. You just napped for a bit.”
Emperor Ling listened to his officials while whispering to the little guy who wasn’t sleeping in his lap.
The little guy sat on his lap, wide awake, playing with the emperor’s big hand with his little hands.
Seeing him not sleeping, Emperor Ling continued listening to the officials.
The issue at hand was Old Master Qian’s case.
Emperor Ling knew about it because his guards had sent Old Master Qian to prison, and he had been informed.
Ling Rui and Ling Fu had promptly complained, so Emperor Ling knew quite a lot.
He ordered Old Master Qian to be jailed under the pretext of hoarding and overpricing grain.
As for offending the royal family, that was a charge yet to be settled.
This time, the court released grain on Emperor Ling’s orders, which happened after Little Seven went missing.
Although Noble Consort Yi didn’t say it outright, Emperor Ling noticed her mood changes. To comfort her and respond to Ling Chen’s repeated requests, he ordered the court to release grain for disaster relief.
This act was also meant to accumulate some good karma, hoping for the missing Little Seven’s safe return.
Now, the grain he released was being sold. Selling royal grain involved many officials.
Today, these officials dared to sell his royal grain, showing their disregard for royal authority and him as the emperor.
Emperor Ling couldn’t tolerate this.
Without making a fuss, he had Old Master Qian arrested for this fault, planning to investigate further through him.
Anyone who dared to intervene for Qian Jin would face a capital offense.
The little guy perked up his ears, listening to his father and the officials talk, though he didn’t understand much.
But he could sense his father’s displeasure.
After a long while.
Emperor Ling dismissed the official, who left with a grim face.
The official had come to plead for Qian Jin, arguing that although Qian Jin was guilty of hoarding, he had done many good deeds locally and was known for his charity.
He earned money abroad to improve roads locally.
After listening, Emperor Ling coldly replied, “If he loves building roads so much, then confiscate all his family assets. Half for disaster relief and half for road construction.”
In the end, the official left with Qian Jin still in prison and all his assets confiscated.
“Father, did you punish the bad guy?” After the official left, Ling Rui looked up and asked Emperor Ling.
Emperor Ling rubbed his little face, saying, “This bad guy has many others behind him. I’ll catch them all and punish them together.”
“Father, you’re great!”
Ling Rui smiled, clapping his little hands in applause.
After chatting for a while, Ling Rui proudly asked, “Wasn’t I great?”
He had discovered the bad guy!
Emperor Ling looked at the little guy seeking praise and smiled, “Little Seven did well this time.”
If it weren’t for Little Seven’s accidental discovery, he might not have uncovered this major case.
“Father, Little Seven is even greater!” Ling Rui said proudly to Emperor Ling.
His words implied that he wanted to go find more bad guys and do another good deed.
Emperor Ling hesitated for a moment.
The little guy was still too young; it was obviously not acceptable for him to go looking for bad guys. But with his hidden identity, it was indeed easier for him to notice problems outside.
Emperor Ling didn’t want to act like a righteous official, but while living in Luocheng, he didn’t want to be blind to the issues around him.
“You and your Sixth Brother can still go out and play, but when you do, you must be careful and not send the guards too far away.”
“Mm! I understand!”
The little guy happily shook his chubby feet after receiving his father’s permission.
Seeing his cheerful expression, Emperor Ling didn’t remind him that soon he and Little Six would have to settle down and attend classes.
Playing outside all the time wasn’t quite proper.
Unaware that he would soon have to attend classes, the little guy played for a while in Emperor Ling’s palace before asking him to take him to Noble Consort Yi.
Originally, Emperor Ling intended to let Lu Guang take him.
But Ling Rui clung to his neck, refusing to let go: “I want Daddy to carry me! I want Daddy to take me!”
Emperor Ling: “…”
Looking into his eyes and then at the bruise near his eye, Emperor Ling fell silent.
Fine.
He would take him.
Not long after, Emperor Ling, having delivered the little guy, unsurprisingly heard Noble Consort Yi’s exclamation.
“What’s wrong with his eye? Where did he fall?”
Holding the little guy in her arms and looking at the bruise near his eye, Noble Consort Yi felt a bit scared: “He almost hurt his eye.”
Emperor Ling remained silent, listening to her.
While Noble Consort Yi examined his eye, Ling Rui admitted his mistake obediently: “I fell myself.”
He fell off while sleeping.
Although the little guy bravely took responsibility, Emperor Ling still sensed Noble Consort Yi’s dissatisfied gaze directed at him.
That night, Noble Consort Yi didn’t invite him to stay.
He didn’t mind her small temper tantrum.
Compared to the many compliant consorts in the harem, he preferred Noble Consort Yi’s occasional outbursts.
After staying quietly in the palace for just one day, the next day, Ling Rui and his Sixth Brother formed a little group and went out to play again.
They even went to play with Zhuzi.
Zhuzi brought them some ground cherries. As Ling Rui ate the ground cherries, his cheeks puffed out, making him look adorable.
“Little Seven, what do you want to play today?”
“I want to catch bad guys.”
Ling Rui climbed onto a broken wooden stump, clutching a cherry in his little hand, and loudly declared: “From today, let’s go catch bad guys together!”
Zhuzi: “…”
Zhuzi understood.
Little Seven wanted to form a gang, just like the ones in the storybooks!
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