Chapter 734: Surrounded

The Great King was going on and on, and only after seeing the shocked, foolish look of the surnamed Zhao did he realize he had said too much.

It seemed disadvantageous to his cover.

"Hey! What are you looking at? Our young master is seriously injured, short of breath and unable to speak, so I'm speaking for him."

Wei Shen held his chest, coughed weakly, and said, "This young master means exactly that."

The Zhao attendant glanced at the sleepwalking Liang Ben all the way through, thinking, "Even the big one hasn't said a word—where does a little kid like you get all this talk, even directing the Interior Historian's residence?"

The Great King also followed the surnamed Zhao's glance at Liang Ben, and Liang Ben realized this was a warning.

He's good at being arrogant and extravagant—he used to mess around in Everlasting Peace. His father, high and distant, can't control him and won't bail him out, but the Second Prince will help him out. Off topic—can't think of the Prince of Wide Mound.

Thinking of the Great King's recent mention of Interior Historian Jiang Zhe, Liang Ben immediately found an opening.

"If you can't figure it out, don't waste our young master's time—have Jiang Zhe come himself!"

The surnamed Zhao's face changed; seeing how each of the three was more arrogant than the last, he now truly believed they were the Grand Marshal's young master.

He hurriedly sent someone to summon Jiang the Interior Historian.

The Zhao attendant wasn't qualified to attend court, but Jiang Zhe knew the Great King. Before coming, he'd heard the case involved the Grand Marshal's residence; upon entering, he found the emperor standing there chattering, and Jiang the Interior Historian nearly tripped over his own feet.

He barely steadied his steps, his heart pounding like it would jump out of his throat. He had a strong premonition that if this wasn't handled well… he'd be doomed.

He knew better than anyone how hard it was to fool this person!

No fool would sit in that position; Jiang Zhe was perceptive, he didn't dare look at the Great King and only stared at "Young Master Dong." Upon closer look he recognized him—damn it, the Grand Marshal's young master! Isn't that the Wei young master who's always by the emperor's side? The emperor's maternal cousin? Dressed in refined elegance, he didn't react at first.

He now understood how today's affair came about—this morning he'd just laughed with colleague Zhang the Minister of Agriculture. If time could turn back, he'd have acted as a steady mute this morning.

Jiang Zhe hesitated, speaking politely: "…Directly surrounding the Fang residence—isn't that using excessive force? Let me ascertain the truth first, confirm the land was indeed illegally seized, then punishing the Yuan clan wouldn't be too late."

The Yuan family didn't like hearing that, and the Zhao attendant looked shocked too. "Is his superior crazy?!" Such an outrageous proposal actually started being seriously discussed?

The Great King just wanted to make a big scene, fearing that killing a chicken wouldn't make enough noise to warn the monkeys—so he wouldn't dislike a grand show of force.

"If Fang Jun Official and the Yuan clan flee overnight, can you take responsibility? This young master thinks it's no small matter and should be handled carefully. Besides, if you treat everyone equally, that's enough—don't just surround the Fang residence, surround the Dong residence too!"

Wei Shen: …The Grand Marshal is really miserable.

Jiang Zhe: …

The emperor spoke up—did he dare to oppose? Jiang Zhe, with a stern face, applied for a surround-and-capture order, specially noting to surround first, not capture.

Neither side wanted to settle, both having considerable backgrounds. As the sun set westward, today's work couldn't be finished; the case needed further detention pending trial, awaiting evidence and witnesses.

But the problem also lies in this detention pending trial—would he dare?

In this short while Jiang Zhe worked himself into a frenzy, anxious and agitated—he'd already committed treason by applying to surround the Grand Marshal's residence, and did he dare to detain the emperor here while he slowly gathered evidence and investigated the case?

He didn't dare.

Fortunately, the Great King didn't plan to waste his precious time experiencing a one‑day tour of detention at the Interior Historian's residence; having made a big splash, his goal was achieved, and he wanted to go home.

The Great King grabbed hold of his cousin… "Um, it's getting dark—our young master is seriously injured; shouldn't we go see a doctor?"

Liang Ben trembled, looking at him with pleading eyes: "You won't detain me as a representative, will you? No way!"

The Great King gave him a look; Liang Ben instantly understood and quickly grabbed Wei Shen's other arm, the two forcibly dragging Wei Shen out: "We're just heading back to the Dong residence—once it's surrounded we won't be able to escape anyway."

The Great King casually pointed to a guard: "You stay here and monitor developments; when we clear our names, go straight to the Dong residence to report to the young master right away!"

Leaving the Interior Historian's residence, the Great King still regretted wasting a day off for nothing, while Wei Shen and Liang Ben only felt sorry for the Dong Grand Marshal.

The Grand Marshal worked a day for the Great King; after clocking out he found his home surrounded.

This job only got more energetic the longer he did it.

Dong Fu stroked his beard; he didn't enter today's especially imposing, heavily guarded residence, but turned his heel and went to the residence next door—the Xie residence.

Great King: "Ah—choo! Darn it, did I catch a summer cold?"

Liang Ben: "No." Absolutely certain·JPG

Wei Shen: "It's the Grand Marshal scolding you." Absolutely certain·JPG

Great King: …