Chapter 326: Nowadays, Liangzhou Doesn't Buy Your Act

At the entrance of the Liangzhou Prefecture, there was an uproar.

This Third Prince was so aggressive, bringing thousands of troops with him, clearly acting as if he did not hold the Liangzhou Prefecture, the Prefectural Governor, or even the Western Regions Commissioner, Liu Dahao, in any regard.

Admittedly.

As the current imperial court's Third Prince, the person most likely to inherit the throne after the Crown Prince, he had the capital to do so.

But...

If he were merely being rude to the Prefectural Governor, that would be one thing. But the current Liu Dahao is a dignified Western Regions Commissioner, and also the Prefectural Governor of Liangzhou.

A First-Class Earl of the Longyan Dynasty!

Yet the Third Prince, at this moment, did not even hold a princely title, so aside from being a noble prince, he had no advantage in terms of official rank.

One must know that in the Longyan Dynasty, there were only nine Commissioners, and at this time, this Liu Dahao was already the most formidable among these nine.

Even an ordinary prince should pay respects upon meeting him.

So, Xie Ling's extreme agitation today was partly because he was genuinely worried about the safety of the Zheng Family, his relatives by marriage, and partly because he had come to wreck the proceedings!

This day.

The public trial was still ongoing at the entrance of the Liangzhou Prefecture, and the citizens concerned about this corruption case were still packed in three layers inside and three layers outside, blocked tight.

Under such circumstances...

For the Third Prince to bring troops here and point fingers at the Liangzhou Prefecture was truly overstepping and absurd.

"Your Highness..."

The Prince of Lu was beside him, sweating profusely, and finally offered a word of advice.

"What is it?"

Xie Ling sneered: "I am a dignified prince of Longyan, born of noble blood, representing the majesty of the imperial family. What, do these Liu father and son want to oppose me?"

As he spoke, he swung his horse whip hard, striking the face of a Liangzhou Army soldier who had come to block him. The soldier let out a cry of pain, his face a bloody mess.

"To hell with the trial, release my Zheng Family people!"

Arrogant!

Overbearing!

The onlookers were all furious.

At this moment, Liu Zheng, who had been sitting at the entrance continuing the judicial process, finally stood up slowly and stared coldly at Xie Ling.

The scene fell silent at once.

"Young Master..."

"Prefectural Governor Liu..."

Many people sensed the anger in Liu Zheng and whispered to advise him from the side. Especially Grand Eunuch Zhou, who was now suffering immensely. It seemed that these few confrontations had pushed the usually deep-scheming Xie Ling to his limit, and he was now relying on his status as a prince to come and humiliate Liu Zheng severely.

Liu Zheng was very angry.

That's right.

He knew that the majesty of the imperial family could not be offended. Therefore, since ancient times, the unspoken rule of the Longyan Dynasty's officialdom was that princes and nobles held a transcendent status.

Even if a prince held no official rank, he symbolized the image of the imperial family. An ordinary Commissioner would truly not dare to provoke one.

But...

That was other people's perspective!

Liu Zheng came from a later age, and the idea that all men are created equal was deeply ingrained in him. If you have ability, I will yield to you; if you have no ability, in my eyes, you are not even as good as a pig or a dog.

Now that they held Liangzhou in their hands, the hearts of the people were with them.

Various reforms were already in full swing, and the situation was excellent.

Today's trial was even more critical to the success of Liangzhou's future judicial independence.

And you come here with "Imperial Power is Supreme"?

He looked coldly at Xie Ling.

Xie Ling also looked over coldly.

In the eyes of the two young men, sharp light flashed simultaneously.

For the first time.

It was the first time Liu Zheng had confronted the Third Prince head-on, immediately causing many onlookers to be as silent as cicadas in winter, not daring to let out a breath.

"What do you want to do?"

Liu Zheng asked expressionlessly.

The cold voice filled the entire area. Upon hearing this tone from Liu Zheng, Grand Eunuch Zhou's face changed. It looked like this was the rhythm of a hard confrontation!

And Ying Rong, who had come out to testify again, was overjoyed at this moment.

The Third Prince had come to save him!

Sure enough, his previous offerings were not given in vain. At the critical moment, his savior had arrived. He did not believe that no matter how powerful this Prefectural Governor Liu was, he would dare to defy a prince?

Xie Ling snorted coldly: "Prefectural Governor Liu, you are not worthy of speaking to me. I suggest you call out the Prefectural Governor! Today, this matter must be given an explanation to our imperial family!"

Imperial family again!

Today, this Xie Ling was determined to pin this big label on Liu Zheng, making it impossible for him to shake it off!

Who knew, Liu Zheng chuckled: "Zheng would like to ask, in what capacity does the Third Prince come to question the Liangzhou Prefecture today? Is it in the capacity of a plaintiff, or a defendant?"

This question immediately left Xie Ling dumbfounded.

Where had he ever heard of this? What litigation, defendant, or plaintiff?

Seeing him speechless, Liu Zheng sneered: "Then I am sorry, Third Prince. In the judicial system of the Liangzhou Prefecture today, there is no distinction between prince and commoner, only the distinction between plaintiff and defendant."

He looked at Xie Ling, who was riding on a War Horse with an arrogant face, then glanced at the Prince of Lu beside him, and shouted coldly: "This is the special privilege granted to Liangzhou by the Emperor!"

"Judicial independence!"

"Nowadays, let alone the Prince of Lu, let alone that you are merely a third prince, even if the Crown Prince himself came, he would have no qualification to speak to my Liangzhou Prefecture in such a condescending manner!"

He twisted the corner of his mouth and shouted sternly: "The Liangzhou of today does not buy your third prince's act!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole scene was in an uproar.

Domineering!

Mighty!

Every word was sonorous, ignoring Xie Ling.

Grand Eunuch Zhou was so frightened that he had almost knelt on the ground, covered in cold sweat.

Everyone present was also dumbfounded.

My goodness...

This Prefect Liu is extremely domineering!

You must know, if this were an ordinary prince, it would be one thing for a Jiedushi not to give him face, but Xie Ling was representing the Empress at this moment! Yet he was rebuffed by Liu Zheng on the spot just like that.

This...

This...

The Prince of Lu was even more flushed with anger from being rebuffed by Liu Zheng on the spot, almost losing his composure—but he knew deep down that his Pingzhou was currently no match for Liangzhou at all... If Liu Dahao did not give him face, he would not dare to let out even a fart.

This is hard power!

"Good, the young master is domineering!"

"Young Master Liu is mighty!"

The common people also became hot-blooded. The folk customs of Liangzhou are fierce, and being stirred up by Liu Zheng like this, the eyes with which these people looked at Xie Ling immediately changed.

"You, you, you..."

Xie Ling was even more stunned.

Audacious!

Is this an attempt to rebel!

Ever since this third prince was born, wherever he went, he was the object of everyone's flattery, for no other reason than that he was the Empress's son! Therefore, he had never imagined that someone would actually confront him so head-on to his face!

"Prefect Liu, offending the royal family, your heart is punishable! Take him down, take him down!"

He was so angry for a moment that he became somewhat incoherent.

Liu Zheng sneered coldly: "Liangzhou respects the Emperor, the Emperor is supreme! The Emperor reaches up to the heavens and down to the netherworld; he granted Liangzhou judicial independence, knowing that today there would be lawless intruders, so he bestowed upon me an imperial thumb ring. To see it is to see the Emperor; who dares to disobey?"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Liu Zheng held up an emerald green thumb ring, and the expressions of everyone present changed.

Including the third prince and the Prince of Lu, they all knelt down one after another, shouting "Long live" like a mountain of calls and a sea of cries.