I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 184 I only ate two bowls of noodles, and I won’t pay!
There are no impervious walls in the world.

A few days after the "crime of huge amounts of property of unknown origin" was added to the luxurious package of Han law, Zhao Yu led the court judge to the Prince's Palace to accept the assignment, and Sang Hongyang also began to select officials from the palace to study the "standardized" laws.

Everything is still in the preparation stage.

Suddenly, a vicious murder case occurred in Chang'an:

A knight-errant named Lin Wei assassinated a Confucian scholar from the Imperial Academy named Zhang Lu in the street.

Originally, this case was nothing at all. After all, there are tens of millions of Han people, and the people are relatively tough, so similar cases happen from time to time.

Moreover, the murderer has been captured by the Jingzhao Yin and will be sentenced to death after the verdict.

But the problem is that this knight named Lin Xu used to be a retainer of Bowang Garden and had some relationship with Liu Ju.

And the Confucian scholar from the Imperial Academy named Zhang Lu also had some relationship with Liu Ju.

When Liu Ju "destroyed the dikes and flooded the fields", Zhang Lu gathered at the Jinma Gate of Weiyang Palace and participated in the activities of pleading for the people with a group of Confucian scholars.

And after that, Zhang Lu publicly criticized Liu Ju on this matter on many public occasions.

They believed that even if "destroying the dikes and flooding the fields" turned out to be a blessing in disguise and Emperor Liu Che issued a general amnesty, Liu Ju's foolish and inhumane behavior should not be within the scope of the amnesty. Such treatment was unfair and Liu Ju should be deposed and replaced by another prince. Otherwise, such a prince would definitely become a tyrant who exploited the people when he succeeded to the throne in the future.

Later, as the limelight of this incident passed.

Liu Ju did more things that were eye-catching, and gradually no one mentioned him anymore.

And now the emergence of this murder case immediately brought up the matter of "destroying the dike and flooding the fields", especially this ranger named Lin Wei, who insisted that he was instigated by Liu Ju to kill in exchange for money.

So for a while.

Public opinion quickly fermented among the people, still in the tone of people's favorite conspiracy theories. Naturally, Liu Ju was at the center of the storm again and became the focus of conversation among people in Chang'an.

"Lin Wei? Did I really have such a retainer in the past?"

After Liu Ju learned about this, he was also a little confused, so he called Guo Zhen and Ji Ping over to inquire about the situation.

"To answer your question, Lin Wei was indeed a guest of Bowang Garden."

Ji Ping quickly gave the answer.

"This man seems to be from Luoyang. Although he is short and stocky, he has some martial arts skills and is stronger than an average person. He speaks loudly and is addicted to alcohol."

"When this man came to seek refuge with Your Highness, Your Highness only spoke to him for a few words and told me in private that he did not like this man, but in the end he still supported him in your house."

"It was not until last year when His Highness suddenly dismissed his retainers that he dismissed this man along with them. I have not seen him since then."

After listening to Ji Ping's description, Liu Ju carefully recalled the memories of his previous master, but still had no impression.

However, the former lord did recruit many people from the market, including some people he did not like very much. His purpose was to show that he did not care about the background of his employees and to establish an image of being close to the people. At the same time, he could also attract more talented and capable people to join him.

"So what's the situation with Jingzhao Yin now?"

Liu Ju asked again.

"The Jingzhao Yin has already imprisoned this man, and the relevant confession has been submitted. The execution should wait until the autumn..."

Ji Ping paused for a moment before frowning up again and saying,
"But Your Highness, it doesn't matter whether this man is alive or dead. He insisted that he was paid by Your Highness to kill people. This matter has been widely spread in Chang'an. Even if Your Majesty doesn't read the confession, you will probably have heard about it."

"If this continues, it will definitely have a negative impact on your highness's reputation and will also affect your majesty's impression of your highness."

"So the most important thing now is how to prove that Your Highness has nothing to do with this person and that the murder was not ordered by Your Highness. We cannot allow this matter to continue to ferment and spread."

Liu Ju smiled and asked:

"What can you do?"

"I haven't thought about it yet."

Ji Ping said helplessly,

"But I think it would be best for Your Highness to publicly clarify this matter as soon as possible. Everyone in Bowang Garden knows that Your Highness has not had this person in recent days, and they can also serve as a witness for Your Highness."

"Do you think anyone would believe this?"

Liu Ju was still smiling.

"..."

Ji Ping stopped talking immediately.

Of course no one would believe it. If the people from Bowang Garden were asked to testify for Liu Ju, it would be crazy if anyone believed it.

But this is the only solution, and it would be good if it could eliminate some of the impacts.

Guo Zhen was also a little impatient, and immediately said:

"Your Highness, how about I go to Jingzhao Yin to meet this Linxu?"

"The Jingzhao Yin should not dare to deny His Highness's dignity and will not stop me from meeting Lin Wei. As long as I meet him, I will make him confess again, no matter what means I use, to prove Your Highness' innocence!"

"Okay you."

Liu Ju shook his head and said,

"This story is well-founded, with cause and effect. Even if you force him to change his story and confess again, it will still be hard to convince people."

"Besides, if the news of you going to Jingzhao Yin spreads out, the original yellow mud falling into the crotch will become real shit in the crotch. Not only will it not change anything, it may even make the situation worse."

"Can't you see now? Someone is deliberately slandering me."

"Hiring someone to kill was just an introduction. The real purpose was to bring up the 'dam-destroying and flooding' incident in order to ruin my reputation and keep me from taking care of other things."

"If I am busy proving my innocence now, I will fall into the other party's trap and fulfill his wish."

Guo Zhen and Ji Ping could naturally understand this, but now that things have developed to this point, they can't just ignore it, right?

"But..." The two wanted to say something.

Liu Ju laughed again, showing his street manner and a bit of banditry:

"Who cares? I'm a gangster. I have a gun. I just ate two bowls of noodles. I didn't pay. Who can do anything to me?"

"?"

Guo Zhen and Ji Ping looked at each other.

What kind of riddle is this? Please, Your Highness, can you tell us something we can understand?
……

Greenhouse Palace.

"These people acted very quickly and their methods were very clever..."

After Liu Che received the news about this case, he just smiled faintly and called Su Wen over to ask,
"Have you found out? What is the prince's reaction to this matter?"

"Reporting to your majesty, everything is normal in Bowang Garden. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince does not seem to care about this matter. He still talks and laughs when he goes in and out of Bowang Garden every day, and he has not sent anyone to Jingzhao Yin."

Su Wen bowed and replied.

"This rebellious son has already gained some of my determination, and has made some progress in recent days."

Liu Che nodded and asked again,
"What about the reform of the state-run salt and iron industry?"

"It has not been affected. The Crown Prince has already sent out the court judges. Yesterday, the various groups of people left the capital with the evidence that Du Zhou had collected."

"Understood, back off."

Liu Che didn't say much, nor did he take any action at this moment. He waved his hand to send Su Wen away.

After Su Wen left, he looked towards Bowang Garden, with a hint of hope in his eyes:
"Rebellious son, this case is just a warning to you from those people."

"Their offensive will be even more fierce next time. Can you still be as calm and composed as you are now and insist on getting things done?"

"Just this once, let me see your limits and how far you can go."

"Don't disappoint me..."

……

Just a few days later.

Another piece of news suddenly spread in Chang'an:

The "damaging of dikes and flooding of fields" that Liu Ju had previously carried out was not as minor a loss as Liu Che stated in his edict. In fact, a total of 72 hectares of fertile farmland were flooded, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless.

Even in Chang'an City, hundreds of disaster victims from Puyang in Dongjun and the new river channel that flowed through the three counties suddenly appeared.

Most of these victims were women and children. They claimed that they had begged their way to Chang'an and told everyone they met about their miserable experiences after the flood.

Under such circumstances.

Some Confucian scholars at the Imperial Academy have already felt the call of their mission.

Immediately, another group of Confucian scholars gathered together and ran to the Jinma Gate to plead for the people, requesting the emperor to act on behalf of the people and punish Crown Prince Liu Ju.

Even Dong Zhongshu was affected.

Old Dong is now the Prince's Tutor and often goes in and out of Bowang Garden. In addition, he had previously admitted defeat in the debate with Emperor Liu Che, so he has been called a "traitor" by the Confucian scholars of the Imperial Academy.

It just so happened that he was also a doctoral student at the Imperial Academy and occasionally taught some courses at the Imperial Academy.

After this incident.

He couldn't even attend the class because Confucian scholars would ask him soul-searching questions during the class.

It’s not easy to go home either, as it’s easy for Confucian scholars to block me on the way and throw vegetable leaves at me.

In desperation, he simply hid in Bowang Garden and stopped going out. He squatted in the backyard all day, looking at the koi in the pond and sighing, looking like a man who had lost his chastity in his old age.

"Hey, Mr. Dong, are you feeding the fish?"

Liu Ju actually liked this look of his. After all, they had once stabbed each other in the back.

"Your Highness...Alas!"

Dong Zhongshu stood up and bowed to Liu Ju, then sighed helplessly and continued to squat down to watch the fish.

"Don't be so depressed, Mr. Dong."

Liu Ju was still laughing and joking.
"You should think positively. Just think like this. Although you have lost your reputation this time and have been called a traitor, you are not young anymore. Those Confucian scholars will not be able to scold you for many more years. Am I right?"

"???"

Dong Zhongshu turned around and looked at Liu Ju in surprise. He felt a breath of foul air suddenly filling his already stuffy chest, which he could neither swallow nor spit out.

But he is a great scholar after all, so he should not be completely unable to retaliate.

Then he stood up again, bowed to Liu Ju, and apologized to him:
"Your Highness is right. I really don't have many more years left to live. I don't care about these reputations."

"I just sighed for Your Highness. Your Highness is still young and has the potential to live a long life, but now he is being branded as foolish and heartless... How sad."

"As the Prince's tutor, I failed to guide Your Highness correctly, causing Your Highness's reputation to be ruined. I'm afraid it will be difficult to clear it up in my lifetime."

"This is all my fault. I will never be able to rest in peace even after I die."

"Please forgive me, Your Highness."

Liu Ju immediately widened his eyes upon hearing this:
"Mr. Dong, why are you talking back? Do you believe that I will order people to escort you out of Bowang Garden right now and no longer protect you?"

(End of this chapter)