The Flourishing Tang Dynasty: Beginning with Marrying Yang Yuhuan

Chapter 98 Qujiang Trip

Behind Li Heng, Cen Shen and Lu Lushuai followed closely with their personal guards.

The onlookers all stepped aside. Li Heng came up to Li Ju and said coldly, "Prince Guang is so arrogant. Are you going to beat up the generals in the street?"

"I...I..." Li Heng's aura and questioning, coupled with the battle-hardened personal guards behind him, made Li Heng feel a little uneasy.

Li Ju paused for a moment and said, "He, he despises me!"

"How did you despise them?" Li Ying asked back, and then continued, "I only saw someone ordering the guards to surround the court general and my wife. How did my wife also commit a crime? Where is the Jinwu Guard Street Envoy?"

The street messenger who was hiding in the crowd felt a chill in his heart when he heard Li Ying's words. He quickly stepped forward to salute and said, "Your Highness Prince Shou, Your Highness Prince Guang."

Li Ying looked at the patrol officer and asked, "Is it illegal for my wife to walk on this street?"

"No, it's not a violation." The patrol officer replied quickly.

Li Heng raised his eyes, motioned the patrol officer to look at the mess Li Ju had made, and asked, "What's going on? Is this how you patrol the streets?"

The patrol officer glanced at Li Ju, hesitating and not daring to speak.

Li Ying said, "It seems that I have to ask the General of the Jinwu Guard, the Imperial Palace, and the Jingzhao Prefecture to investigate this matter together?"

When the patrol officer and Li Ju heard this, they were frightened.

The Jinwu Guard, Taifu Temple and Jingzhao Prefecture are all in charge of Chang'an's public security. Li Ju has always been arrogant, and this is definitely not the first time he has done this. If Li Ju really wants to investigate this way and involve others, things will not be so simple. Li Ju will then be the target of public criticism, and other things might be implicated.

Moreover, they also believed that Li Heng dared to do so because this was what Li Heng did on his way to Anxi.

Li Ju instantly became intimidated and forced a smile, saying, "Eighteenth brother, don't take it so seriously. This is just a misunderstanding, nothing more."

"Really?" Li Heng looked at Li Ju, then at Li Ju's injured guards, and said, "Did they just surround my princess? And beat up the imperial generals?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ju kicked the captain of the guard in front of him and said, "Why don't you quickly ask His Royal Highness Prince Shou for forgiveness?"

Upon hearing this, the captain of the guards hurriedly led all the guards forward to salute Li Heng and said, "We were careless for a moment, please forgive us, Your Highness Prince Shou."

Li Ying turned his face away and didn't even look at him.

The captain of the guards led his men to kneel down again, kowtowed and said, "We were careless and offended the Princess of Shou. Please forgive us, Your Highness."

Li Heng then looked at them and said, "You have offended the princess and beaten up the generals of the imperial court. You should go to the marriage palace to confess your crimes. After this, I will go to the marriage palace to inquire about it. If one person is missing, I will let you know the consequences."

"Yes, thank you, Your Highness Prince Shou." The captain of the guard and his men kowtowed again before retreating.

When the onlookers saw that Li Ju's people suffered a loss, they all cheered.

As for Li Ju, not only did his people get beaten up today, but he also had to be punished. He had lost all his dignity. He gritted his teeth and forced a smile, "Eighteenth Brother, can we go now?"

"Of course." Li Ying nodded and asked, "By the way, why is Big Brother so anxious?"

At the same time, the personal guards behind Li Ying made way.

Li Ju said impatiently: "The Jinshi exam will be held in a few days. The students will gather in Qujiang. My father ordered me to give ice to the students taking the exam."

In the Tang Dynasty, ice had to be obtained in winter and stored in extremely deep and sophisticated cellars.

It is summer now, and ice is a scarce commodity in Chang'an, more precious than gold and jade. Li Longji asked people to send ice to the students to express his care and concern for them.

Li Ying said, "Then you can go ahead and do your work, Brother Bah. But I would like to remind you that although it is urgent to deliver the ice, you should not disturb the streets, especially since you are still on your way back."

"Thank you for the reminder." Li Ju replied with a wry smile and asked the guards to lead the horses and walk back.

After Li Ju and the others left, Li Heng turned around and looked at Yang Yuhuan. His expression became gentle, but he didn't know how to start. Yang Yuhuan took Li Heng's hand and said softly, "I'm sorry."

Seeing that Yang Yuhuan was still wearing a veil and had a guilty look in her eyes, Li Heng's heart softened and he said, "I told you a long time ago that no matter what happens, you must be with me. Didn't you agree?"

"I..." Yang Yuhuan gently shook Li Ying's hand and said coquettishly, "I won't do that next time."

"Have you thought about there being a next time?" Li Ying asked.

Yang Yuhuan said: "No, no."

Finally, it was a false alarm. Li Heng breathed a sigh of relief and thought that since he was already here, he might as well go to Qujiang to take a look and think about how to deal with what happened next.

Thinking of this, Li Heng said to Yang Yuhuan: "Since we got married, we haven't been to Qujiang for a visit. Let me take you to have a look."

"Yeah." Yang Yuhuan nodded happily.

Li Heng also smiled slightly, told the others to go back first, and went to Qujiang with only Li Siye, Cen Shen and a few personal soldiers.

Qujiang is located in the southeast corner of Chang'an. It is one of the gathering places for talented scholars coming to Beijing. Before and after the exams, a series of activities will be held, such as playing ball under moonlight, Qujiang banquets, Xingyuan Tanhua, Yanta nominations, etc., which are called Qushui Liushang and the place is full of distinguished guests.

Now, with only a few days left before the imperial examination, most of the talented people in the Tang Dynasty have gathered here.

Li Ying and his companions walked all the way to the bank of Qujiang River, where he met two acquaintances.

These two people are Li Heng and He Zhizhang.

As soon as Li Ying and Li Heng met, they greeted each other warmly.

Li Heng said with a smile: "Eighteenth brother has been to the Anxi frontier fortress these two years. I thought that Eighteenth brother only loved the heroic spirit in the army, but I didn't expect that he also loved the romantic style of this talented scholar."

Li Heng smiled, but in his heart he was thinking: "Could it be that he still wants to come here to win the hearts of scholars? With Zhang Jiuling as his assistant, it would be much easier for him to win the hearts of scholars."

Li Heng smiled and said, "I would also like to show off my knowledge, but I may not be talented enough, so I came here, but my wife likes the hustle and bustle, so I came here with her to have a look."

Li Heng's words were not just pretense.

There are roughly five types of officialdom for people in the Tang Dynasty: imperial examination, recommendation, patronage, chance, and military merit.

In recent years, Zhang Jiuling has been the most powerful person and he likes to employ people who have passed the imperial examinations. Therefore, there is a great chance of entering the official career through the imperial examinations.

But after this year, Li Linfu will be the only one in power, and when Li Linfu employs people, he likes to use "capable officials" rather than "Confucian scholars".

Therefore, this year should be the last glory of entering an officialdom through the imperial examination.

Li Ying came here just for a visit, not to win the hearts of scholars.

But Li Heng had no idea of ​​this. He didn't believe Li Heng's words at all and said with a smile, "My eighteenth brother is now in charge of a region. It is not enough to only use generals. It is reasonable to select some talented people, both civil and military."

"Third brother, you've gone too far." Li Heng shook his head. "I'm just guarding the border on behalf of my father. Who I choose is entirely up to my father and the Ministry of Personnel."

Li Ying's answer was flawless.

"That's right." Li Heng nodded.

On the other side, a dashing, tipsy man was coming from the north. He Zhizhang saw the man and jokingly asked, "Taibai, did you just come out of Hu Ji's wine shop?"

This person was none other than Li Bai, and the Hu Ji Tavern mentioned by He Zhizhang was the restaurant in West Market. The reason why it contained the words Hu Ji was because there were Hu Ji serving drinks.

(End of this chapter)