Chapter 216: Grounded

"Your Highness the Commandery Prince!"

Li Jiang hurriedly knelt to the ground.

Zhu Yunxu's face darkened as he snorted: "Such a trifling matter dragged out to this very day—what use do I have for you! Slap yourself ten times!"

Hearing this, Li Jiang immediately raised his right arm and slapped his mouth heavily. Before long, the ten slaps were done, his mouth already swollen, with traces of blood seeping from the corners of his lips.

"Get up! Quickly drive these base commoners away! It must be done today!"

Zhu Yunxu said impatiently.

Li Jiang scrambled to his feet, one hand covering his mouth as he shouted indistinctly: "Are you all deaf? His Highness just said that after today's task is done, you will all enter the prince's mansion to await orders! Get up there now and drive these stubborn commoners away! Life or death, it matters not!"

The crowd of ruffians, hearing they now had backing and no longer needed to fear those constables and yamen runners, howled and pounced upon the commoners across from them.

Those yamen runners of Wuchang Prefecture, seeing the Chongyang Commandery Prince arrive in person, were so frightened they immediately slipped away to hide to one side.

Though the commoners here numbered over a hundred, they were old and young alike, and bare-handed they could hardly withstand the beating of these ruffians accustomed to brawling. In but a moment, many were knocked to the ground, many had faces covered in blood, and the scene was filled with cries and wails of misery.

Zhu Yunxu laughed heartily from the side, occasionally raising a hand to point and discuss something with Li Jiang beside him.

Suddenly a great booming sound came from not far away. The people in the midst of fighting were startled by the thunderous noise and stopped one after another, turning in unison toward the direction from which the sound came. They saw that over a hundred paces to the east, a great mass of thick smoke floating in the air was slowly dispersing, and several dozen soldiers in armored vests were clustered around two war horses, glaring fiercely at both sides of the brawl.

Dong Cheng thrust the flintlock pistol he had just fired into the saddlebag on his war horse, then urged his mount slowly toward the crowd. Zhou Jie turned his horse to follow behind, with fifty officers of the guard close behind.

Amid the clatter of hooves, the distance of a hundred-odd paces was covered in the blink of an eye. Dong Cheng waved his hand: "Arrest all those holding clubs and staves! Kill any who dare resist!"

The fifty officers quickly split into two groups and swept around from left and right. Those ruffians had never seen soldiers in such uniforms. Seeing the men charging straight at them, they were hesitating over whether to resist when they heard the other side shout: "The Embroidered Uniform Guard is conducting official business! Kneel on the ground at once! Death to any who resist!"

One ruffian, having just worked himself into a frenzy, saw a man charging at him and instinctively raised his club to resist. With a thunderclap-like bang, this ruffian fell flat on his back, the club dropping from his hand, blood gushing from his chest.

An officer of the guard a few paces before him, while warily scanning his surroundings, used a ramrod to clear the pistol, then put the ramrod away, drew an oil-paper packet from the pouch at his waist, brought it to his mouth and tore it open with his teeth, poured a little of the gunpowder inside into the flash pan, then stuffed the paper packet into the barrel, used the ramrod to push it all the way to the bottom, put the ramrod away again, and returned the pistol to its cocked state.

This could only be done when there was no major threat in the vicinity; had the loading been this cumbersome on a battlefield, the enemy would have already reached them.

Still, the deterrent effect of that single shot was considerable. Before the officer had even finished reloading, whether ruffian or commoner, all knelt prostrate on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.

"Who are you? Why do you not kneel when you see this prince!"

Zhu Yunxu bellowed.

Though startled that the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who should have been far away in the capital, had appeared in Wuchang, Zhu Yunxu did not put Dong Cheng and his men in his eyes after hearing them claim to be the Guard.

So what if they were the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Were they not still slaves of our Zhu family?

Seeing Dong Cheng sitting leisurely and at ease on his horse, showing no intention whatsoever of coming over to pay respects, Zhu Yunxu flew into a rage.

The officers on the scene easily distinguished the ruffians from the commoners, and went about their own business binding the several dozen ruffians and leading them off to one side, paying Zhu Yunxu no heed at all. Only the groans of the wounded commoners could be heard on the field; even the slightly older children were too frightened to make a sound.

Those few yamen runners had long since learned that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had come to Wuchang Prefecture. Their superiors had strictly ordered that upon seeing the Guard, they should quickly avoid them and not provoke these fierce gods, lest disaster befall them.

Now seeing the Chongyang Commandery Prince's fury directed at the Embroidered Uniform Guard, those few yamen runners hurried over to check whether any commoner had been beaten to death. After all, they had been sent by their superiors to keep order at the scene; if a death occurred right under their noses, they would surely receive a beating from their superiors upon returning.

Dong Cheng and Zhou Jie dismounted one after another and slowly walked to stand a few paces before Zhu Yunxu. Looking at Zhu Yunxu, who glared at them with fury, Dong Cheng clasped his hands in greeting and said: "Greetings to Your Highness the Commandery Prince! I am Dong Cheng, Centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard stationed in Wuchang. This is Zhou Jie, a clerk of the Court of the Imperial Clan stationed in Wuchang!"

Dong Cheng's rude behavior thoroughly enraged Zhu Yunxu. He lowered his head and looked around, and seeing a wooden club on the ground a few paces away, he loudly commanded: "Bring me that club! Today I shall beat this dog slave to death!"

Li Jiang ran over, picked up the club, and was about to hand it to Zhu Yunxu when Dong Cheng turned sideways and delivered a heavy kick. With a muffled grunt, Li Jiang was sent flying several paces, the club dropping from his hand to the ground, and he squatted down clutching his stomach, groaning in pain.

Before Zhu Yunxu could speak again, Dong Cheng loudly commanded: "Men! Bind him!"

Several officers rushed over and in the blink of an eye bound Li Jiang tightly, then led him off to one side.

Shocked and enraged, Zhu Yunxu stepped forward and raised his hand to strike Dong Cheng across the face.

In his understanding, apart from those of the Zhu family, all other civil and military officials were but servants of their house. Especially within Wuchang city—apart from a Prince of the blood like the Prince of Chu, even the Prefect of Wuchang had to step forward and pay his respects properly upon seeing him. He had never imagined that a mere Centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard would dare be so rude to him, and even beat and bind the steward of the prince's mansion right before his eyes. Was this not turning the world upside down?

Dong Cheng sidestepped to dodge the blow. Zhou Jie, standing to the side, stepped forward to face Zhu Yunxu directly and said in a deep voice: "In the presence of the Chongyang Commandery Prince: the Court of the Imperial Clan has received reports accusing you of forcibly seizing commoners' fields and property, and of beating and injuring people, causing several deaths. In accordance with the provisions of the Imperial Edict and Ancestral Instructions, I hereby order you to immediately confine yourself at home to reflect upon your errors. Until the Grand Patriarch in the capital issues his order of disposition, you shall not take a single step outside the prince's mansion!"

For feudal princes like Zhu Yunxu, the Court of the Imperial Clan managed matters of the imperial clan's legitimate and illegitimate children, names, titles, hereditary ranks, dates of birth and death, marriages, posthumous names, and burials—all important matters intimately connected to their daily lives. Though Zhou Jie opposite him was not of high rank, he represented the Court of the Imperial Clan, which held direct authority to punish members of the imperial clan. If he dared disobey, even severer punishment would follow.

Zhu Yunxu, his face ashen, turned and walked toward the eight-bearer palanquin not far away, with several young eunuchs hastily following.

Dong Cheng called out to the few yamen runners of Wuchang Prefecture who stood to the side murmuring among themselves. Those men quickly stopped their discussion and trotted over to bow in salute.

"How many of those commoners are wounded? Are any in danger of death?"

Dong Cheng asked.

"To answer the officer: we have just gone forward to examine them. The wounded commoners number over fifty, of whom twenty-eight are seriously injured—some with broken arm or rib bones, some with head wounds bleeding from club blows. The rest have lighter injuries!"

An older yamen runner replied with a bow.

"You are yamen runners of the government, yet you cannot even handle the street scoundrels of the city—could it be that you have been taking their bribes all along? I will inform you now: since you serve the court in official capacity, your consciences must remain upright. If I ever learn that you have oppressed the good and honest or aided the wicked, then I shall let you taste the methods of the Embroidered Uniform Guard! Two of you will remain here to await orders. Take these prisoners back and lock them in the prefectural prison. As for how to deal with them—surely I need not teach you that?"

The few yamen runners, trembling with fear, bowed and accepted the orders. Three of them were assigned to escort those ruffians back to the prefectural prison. The fate of those ruffians needed no further explanation—dying of illness in prison would be their final end. Li Jiang, due to his status, though he would not die in prison, would likely spend the rest of his life in a cell, with no one to speak up for him.

"Liu Shi'an! Take ten men to the Chongyang Commandery Prince's mansion and have them produce three thousand taels of silver to treat the commoners they beat and injured! Tell those in the mansion that if they refuse to produce the silver, then from this day forward, all purchasing for the mansion shall be cut off. Should anyone take so much as a single step outside the mansion gates, arrest them immediately and throw them in prison!"