Chapter 131: Who Will Take the Fall for This Enormous Blame?

“What of it? I am in the right—what have I to fear? I simply cannot stand this sort of petty, underhanded behavior. It is true that the barefoot have nothing to lose, but does that mean the shod deserve to suffer? I must go.”

Do the weak have the right merely because they are weak? Su Jingluo felt that the more such shameless behavior was indulged, the more brazen it would become. One harsh lesson should be enough to make everyone think twice.

Seeing the righteous indignation on Su Jingluo’s face, Xiao Jingxuan understood that there would be no persuading her, nor dragging her back. She was determined to settle this matter with those maids.

“Then I shall go with you.” Xiao Jingxuan had never released Su Jingluo’s hand; now his grip tightened.

“You just said it would be beneath your dignity. There is nothing improper about my going alone—I am a woman of the household. But if you come too, it will hardly be appropriate.” Su Jingluo was not opposed to Xiao Jingxuan standing up for her. The matter was simply too trivial. If he intervened, the pressure would be overwhelming. Even if they were in the right, everyone would inevitably sympathize with the weaker side.

“I am going. I want them to know exactly what the wrath of thunder means.” Xiao Jingxuan had originally intended to settle the matter quietly. The shadow guards had already reported everything that had happened that day. Though he had not paid much attention at the time, he had vaguely sensed that Lin Feifei must have done many disgraceful things behind the scenes. Resolving the matter privately would have been best. But Su Jingluo insisted on handling it openly, and he feared that Lin Feifei, hidden in the shadows while Su Jingluo stood in the light, might take advantage of her.

“If you insist on coming, then come. Keep your temper in check and do not throw your authority around. Otherwise, you might as well stay home.”

Su Jingluo could not change Xiao Jingxuan’s mind or actions, just as he could not change hers. All she could do was let him come along. Besides, if she told him not to, would he really stay behind? Unless she had the strength to break both his legs herself.

Su Jingluo glanced at Xiao Jingxuan’s sturdy, endless legs and decided against it. The task would be far too difficult. She only hoped that when the time came, he would not prove useless at everything except causing trouble, at which he would surely take first place.

Prefect Zhang Yi had never expected the Princess Consort of Jing to actually come. He had calculated that the constables would certainly return after giving her a beating. Who could have imagined that they would bring back not only the princess consort, but also Jing Prince Xiao Jingxuan as a bonus?

The prefect adjusted the black gauze cap atop his head. What had happened to Prince Jing’s temper? Why had he suddenly changed his ways and stopped playing by the old rules?

Zhang Yi had no time to think further. Shuffling along in his slippers, he hurried toward the gate. Before he even arrived, his warm and ingratiating voice rang out from within the prefectural office.

“Oh, is that not Prince Jing and the princess consort? My apologies for not receiving you sooner, my apologies indeed! Quickly, quickly, please come in and have a cup of tea.”

Prefect Zhang Yi looked to be in his thirties, with an entirely amiable and respectable air. He came out with a broad smile plastered across his face, like the very embodiment of warm spring sunshine.

“Do not pretend that I have come merely to pay a social call. Were you not the one who sent the constables and the clerk to arrest my princess consort?” Xiao Jingxuan had no patience for the convoluted courtesies of officialdom.

Su Jingluo glanced at the prince’s displeased face, then at Zhang Yi’s embarrassed, apologetic smile. He was not angry in the least. This was the difference between military and civil officials. A military man wore his displeasure plainly on his face. Most civil officials spoke the gentlest words while wielding the sharpest blades. They killed without spilling blood, yet every cut struck the vital point.

Su Jingluo looked at Xiao Jingxuan worriedly.

“How could I dare? Your Highness, what are you saying? You and the princess consort have honored our humble prefectural office with your presence. Otherwise, even if you had beaten that pack of worthless constables to a pulp and driven them out, I would not have uttered a word of protest.”

As expected, Zhang Yi had begun shifting the blame onto someone else.

In truth, there was some logic to what Zhang Yi said. It was not as though Xiao Jingxuan had never done such a thing. He had been young when he first went to war, and no one had thought much of that imperial prince. He was neither favored nor especially outstanding. But when he returned from the battlefield, he came back laden with military achievements—and steeped in a fearsome aura of violence. Who would dare provoke him?