The Beacon of Kyushu

Chai Yuxi didn't know that Zhao Tingmei was actually in the team, and he didn't stop his guards from talking nonsense. At this moment, he saw Zhao Tingmei questioning him angrily, and his face turned ugly, "Prince...Prince, I am ignorant and offended you with nonsense. I really deserve to die! I hope that you will forgive me this time."

Zhao Tingmei slapped Chai Yuxi hard on the face and said angrily: "Although I am far away, my ears are not deaf. How can I not hear your voice? I tell you, the relationship between me and the emperor is deep, how can a dog slave like you know it! If you dare to talk nonsense again in the future, I will tie you up and bring you to Kaifeng Prefecture to prosecute you!"

Chai Yuxi nodded repeatedly in fear, but Zhao Rong couldn't bear to watch it anymore. He took out the secret decree from his bosom and held it high above his head, "King Wei, what we said was a bit excessive, but we have the secret decree with us. Seeing the imperial decree is like seeing the emperor. If it were any other day, it wouldn't matter if you killed us ministers, but now if you hit us, you are hitting the emperor! As the prefect of Kaifeng, you can't be unclear about how to sentence the crime of deceiving the emperor."

Zhao Tingmei glanced at the imperial edict in Zhao Rong's hand, stamped his feet and said, "Okay, you just wait for me. When you hand in the imperial edict, I will take you to Kaifeng Prefecture and punish you for your rebellion!"

Zhao Rong smiled coldly and whispered, "What's so great about Kaifeng Prefecture? If you ever lose the prefect's seal, the government will be the first to chop off your head!"

Chai Yuxi glared at Zhao Rong and said, "Don't talk nonsense, or you'll get into trouble!"

Zhao Tingmei knew that these people, relying on the imperial edict, would definitely not take him seriously, so he had to return to the sedan in a hurry and ordered the team to turn around and search Bianhe Street first. When Chai Yuxi saw Zhao Tingmei leaving, he immediately raised his head and chest, looked arrogant, and spat in the direction where the yamen runners were going away with disdain, and then continued to move forward with the team.

On that day, Zhao Tingmei searched Bianhe Street and Caomen Street carefully, from Xiangguo Temple and Jingling Palace to every household and shop. This search caused quite a stir, and at least everyone knew about it.

The next morning, Zhao Tingmei got up very early, but he was in no mood to eat breakfast. He sat alone in the lobby of the government office and sulked, "Chai Yuxi, Zhao Rong, what's so great about you two? You just relied on your past work experience in the Prince of Jin's mansion. You are more arrogant than a dog with a bald tail. You even want to murder the prince. How many heads do you have!"

Zhao Tingmei was talking to himself angrily when he suddenly remembered that Zhao Rong had said something like throwing away the seal of the prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture before he left yesterday. He felt a chill rising from the soles of his feet to his back. "The Eighth Prince looks at his precious golden mace every day and even holds it in his arms when he sleeps. It was stolen anyway. Who knows, my seal might be stolen too?"

As he spoke, he quickly opened the black lacquered nanmu seal box on the table and looked inside cautiously, fearing that the prefect's seal had really been stolen. However, he was so frightened that he almost fainted when he looked inside. The seal box was intact, but the seal inside had long disappeared, leaving only a stone seal.

Zhao Tingmei stared at the stone seal in a daze, and was completely stunned. He couldn't come back to his senses for a long time. It was not until Lu Duan came to remind him that it was time to set out to continue the search that he grabbed Lu Duan's hand and said with tears in his eyes: "Yi Zhi, I have lost my seal, how can I have the time to look for the golden mace!"

Lu Duan was also stunned when he heard this. He subconsciously picked up the stone seal and saw that the text engraved on it was exactly the same as the lost seal. He hurriedly comforted him, "Your Majesty, this stone seal is very realistic. I believe that the seal made from it will definitely be indistinguishable from the real thing. As long as you catch the thief who stole the seal in the next few days and get it back from him, it will not be too late."

Zhao Tingmei slammed the table and said angrily, "Yi Zhi, yesterday Zhao Rong said that my seal would be lost, and today it was really lost. I think it was probably this guy who did it. As the prefect of Kaifeng, I am in charge of the public security of Tokyo. In other words, I have the right to kill all criminals in Tokyo, even if they have an imperial edict in their hands!"

When had Lu Duan seen Zhao Tingmei so angry before? He hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, do you mean to arrest Zhao Rong and take him to Kaifeng Prefecture to be punished? Zhao Rong is a close minister of the emperor, and Zhao Rong is a close minister of the emperor. If you arrest him, you will be challenging the emperor, and the consequences will be disastrous!"

Zhao Tingmei shook his head and said, "I can't care about that anymore. Let's send a subpoena to arrest him first. If he really stole the seal, even the emperor can't tolerate him. If not, the worst that can happen is that I will apologize to him. Can the emperor execute his own brother just because of a little Zhao Rong?"

Lu Duan said stubbornly: "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance, please think twice. In my humble opinion, we should first..." Zhao Tingmei glared at Lu Duan and said unhappily: "Yi Zhi, do you dare to disobey my orders? If you don't follow my orders again, I will punish you first!"

"Alas..." Lu Duan sighed and said, "I obey your command."

Zhao Tingmei waved his hand at him and ordered, "That's good. Before noon today, you must capture Zhao Rong and Chai Yuxi and bring them to Kaifeng Prefecture for me, otherwise I will not let them off easily!" Lu Duan nodded slightly and slowly walked out of the hall.

Time is a very strange thing. Sometimes you try your best to make it go slower, but it still flies by in a flash; sometimes you try your best to make it go faster, but it still feels like a year.

Zhao Tingmei sat in the hall, not in the mood to interrogate the criminals who came to file a complaint today. He just wanted to wait for Lü Duan to arrest Chai Yuxi and Zhao Rong. Even if he couldn't get the seal back from them, at least he could let them suffer some physical pain during the interrogation, and vent his anger for being humiliated in the street yesterday.

But Zhao Tingmei waited for a long time, but Lu Duan did not catch the two men, and even he himself did not show up. If his family had not been still in the mansion, Zhao Tingmei would have thought that he was unwilling to complete the order and had escaped.

Zhao Tingmei looked at the sun in front of the hall, which had just risen, gradually reached the middle of the sky, and then gradually tilted to the west. He still hadn't waited for Lü Duan, Chai, and Zhao. He was very angry and anxious. He hadn't eaten anything all day. He was so hungry and thirsty that he couldn't stand it any longer. Just when he wanted to tell the servants in the mansion to prepare food, Lü Duan finally came back with heavy steps to report.

In the past, whenever and wherever Zhao Tingmei saw Lü Duan, he was always so energetic and seemed to have endless energy. But today, Lü Duan's face was full of fatigue, and his steps were a little staggering. He walked step by step to Zhao Tingmei, as if he would fall down at any time.

Zhao Tingmei stood up quickly, walked to Lu Duan's side, and asked, "Yi Zhi, what happened to you? Where are Chai Yuxi and Zhao Rong now?"

Lu Duan said weakly, "Your Majesty, I went to find the two adults, but they refused to come no matter what and insulted me. I could tolerate all this, but they relied on the imperial edict, saying that Your Majesty was making trouble without reason, and issued a letter of challenge, inviting us to fight outside the city tomorrow, and the losing party is not allowed to interfere in the case again. I know Your Majesty will not tolerate it, but we in Kaifeng Prefecture really don't have any experts, so I have to go to the palace to report this matter to the emperor."

Zhao Tingmei gnashed his teeth and said, "It's a rebellion, it's really a rebellion! What does the government say?"

Lü Duan was helpless and said, "When I went there, the emperor was seeking immortality with the Taoist master Chen Tuan and refused to let me see him. I waited for the emperor for several hours but still could not see him, so I had to leave the palace. Later, I thought that the prince had a good relationship with the king of Chu, and the king of Chu was a great martial artist. If I could find him, I might be able to resolve the matter. Unfortunately, the king of Chu was not in the city, nor did he go to the several manors near Tokyo. He was probably still practicing swordsmanship in Taihu Lake. I had no choice but to come back and report."

Zhao Tingmei gritted his teeth and said viciously: "Chai Yuxi, Zhao Rong, you are really going too far! I am a prince, a brother of the emperor, not a gangster. You actually challenged me. You don't take me seriously!"

Lu Duan asked tentatively: "Your Majesty, are you going to fight?"

Zhao Tingmei said without thinking, "Go, you must go! If I don't go, people will still think I am a prince who is afraid of Chai and Zhao! Tell the servants in the palace that there is no need to leave anyone behind to guard the palace tomorrow. Come with me to fight. If I don't beat them to a pulp, I will take their surname!" (End of this chapter)