Chapter 30
Chapter 30
The gang fight between Xiao Baoshu and the young masters of the aristocratic families had spread throughout the entire Jiankang City. Not to mention that they had even been captured by Jiankang’s county office, and the matter had blown up to reach the emperor.
The aristocratic families did not dare to openly block the way to the Imperial Palace. If they went to the county office in person, it would degrade their status, so they all sent out carriages to wait outside the office.
When Madam Xie found out about this matter, she was so frightened that she almost fainted. She hurriedly sent people to wait outside the gate as well. She even sent out guards and maidservants to fetch them and gather information. Just the number of people she sent alone was more than twenty.
Tang Li and You Mei came out with Xiao Baoxin, but they were not captured with the rest.
The two of them stood guard outside the office the whole time. As they had arrived early, they obtained the most advantageous position and saw Xiao Baoxin coming out with a big red face at the first moment.
While calling for their Miss, they quickly surrounded Xiao Baoxin to protect her.
You Mei relied on her brute force to rush out of the crowd and escort Xiao Baoxin onto her cow cart.
Yang Shao, who was following behind her, was dumbstruck. He even rushed out, wanting to block the crowd and protect her no matter what. In the end, he didn’t even need to protect her. The two maidservants were just like living shovels, cleaning up all the irrelevant things.
When Yang Shao turned back to look at Xiao Baoshu, he felt more balanced. Her brother also had a confused look on his face. It wasn’t that he was ignorant.
Men and women could not sit together after they were seven years old, not to mention carriages. The reason Xiao Baoxin and Xiao Baoshu sat in the same carriage previously was because they tied Xiao Baoshu up and threw him into the carriage to escort him back home.
However, it was different this time. Although Madam Xie hated Xiao Baoshu for acting up and implicating his elder sister to enter the government office, she was also worried that he would suffer, so she sent two carriages.
Xiao Baoshu invited Yang Shao. “I’ll send Brother Yang back.”
“Brother Xiao, you don’t have to be so polite with me. I’m a grown man. I don’t need you to send me off. I’ll just walk back on my own two legs.” Yang Shao waved his hand and left.
Xiao Baoshu shook his head, feeling admiration in his heart.
This was what a man should be like. His every action was much better than those flirtatious and cheap people in Jiankang City.
“I’ll treat Brother Yang to wine another day!” he shouted, waving his hand.
There were many carriages belonging to the aristocratic families parked outside the government office. Even though Xiao Baoshu’s face was swollen like a pig’s head, his attitude was extremely arrogant and domineering, as his eyes shot daggers.
However, they could only be angry but did not dare to say anything. Putting aside the guards who had swarmed up to surround the Xiao siblings the moment they came out of the office, just the two maidservants who had created a path for them using their bodies might not be their match.
Xiao Baoshu did not realize that he had become a thorn in the eyes of others. He got into the car and shouted.
“Return to the residence!”
The ox cart started slowly, and Xiao Baoxin’s burning face finally returned to normal. She then heard a commotion outside. Each of the servants were asking about their young master’s whereabouts.
Xie Xian and the others must have come out.
Xiao Baoxin’s face started to heat up again. She was not a delicate and weak girl in the backyard, but she could not stand Pan Shuo who was a hothead trying to matchmake her.
Bah!
In the past, she had always felt that rumors about him were not necessarily true. She was also skeptical about legends about him.
Now, she had tested it out herself. This fellow was indeed that ridiculous!
This time, the emperor did not pursue matters with Xiao Residence. Instead, he criticized the young masters of aristocratic families who outnumbered them. This matter itself was thought-provoking enough. Sending Xie Xian to deliver the decree made sense.
Firstly, Xie Xian was a yellow gatekeeper who did this kind of work. Secondly, Xie Xian was from an aristocratic family and his status was higher than most aristocratic families.
However, Pan Shuo’s appearance was very puzzling.
Was the emperor afraid that offending the aristocratic families wasn’t enough? Did he want him to add fuel to the fire?
From what he said, not only did he receive the imperial decree, but he also personally supervised the entire execution process. With Pan Shuo’s unrestrained personality, Xiao Baoxin could imagine how high-spirited he was back then.
Didn’t she hear that he wasn’t even going to let go of the Wang family, who had injured his hands from her kick, and was going to personally visit them to beat them up?
The aristocratic families of the previous dynasty ruled over the country, the military, and had political power. They even controlled the imperial power. Liang Taizu came from a poor family and used military achievements to seize the world. After he ascended the throne, he greatly weakened the military and political power of the aristocratic families.
This policy of Taizu had passed through the entire Liang Dynasty, and it was the same for all the previous emperors. Even though the aristocratic families still held high positions in the imperial court, most of the important departments had been taken away, and the specific tasks were left to the lower class.
Emperor Yu Heng could be said to have surpassed the previous emperors in the way that he suppressed the aristocratic families.
Why? Could it be that he couldn’t wait for Pan Shuo to stir up trouble for the aristocratic families and round them up together?
… It shouldn’t be because he couldn’t stand Pan Shuo’s stupidity and wanted to kill him with the help of an aristocratic family, right?
Xiao Baoxin was also confused. Pan Shuo was like an uncontrollable blade. He would hurt others if used well, but hurt oneself if used wrongly – this weapon was too unreliable and could injure others accidentally. For example, her.
Just like this, she thought the whole way back, but she still could not understand the purpose of Pan Shuo even until she reached the Xiao Residence.
Xiao Baoxin lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage. At this time, the sky was already completely dark, and lanterns were already hung in front of the Xiao Residence.
She had just walked up the stairs when Tang Li, who was behind her, walked up to her and said in a low voice, “The guard said that he didn’t know if he should report something to Miss. Soldier Yang had been following behind our carriage the whole time.”
Xiao Baoxin raised her brows and said, “Don’t bother about it. Just treat it as nothing happened.”
“Sister, wait for me!” Xiao Baoshu jumped out of the carriage and caught up with her in a few steps. He asked mysteriously, “Sister, what happened just now? My guards are all looking towards the east. Are those people from aristocratic families trying to ambush us and take revenge?”
Revenge?
In front of the Xiao Residence?
Where was his brain?
She didn’t know what Yang Shao was planning. When Xiao Baoshu said that he wanted to send him off, he pretended to be cool and left by himself. In the end, he turned around and followed behind their carriages. Don’t tell her that he just wanted to take a look at the Xiao Residence’s main gate? How many people in Jiankang City didn’t know how it looked?
She did not want to know his motive and could not be bothered to guess. Since he was sneaking around, she would just pretend that she did not know. In the end, she was trying to act smart and did not want to alert the enemy but her own guards had already sold her out.
“Don’t think about all this nonsense. With Father’s guards around, who else can hurt you?”
She could not bear to look at Xiao Baoshu’s pig-like face. It was beaten up much more ruthlessly than she had, but why did he act like nothing had happened? Did he get used to it because of her beatings?
“… You should think about how you’re going to explain yourself when you see Mother. You’ve caused such a huge trouble that even the emperor was alarmed.”