Chapter Sixty-Four: Who Do You Think You Are?

"Since My Lord has asked me to take care of you, you're in for a miserable time!" Crazy Donkey walked up to him with a ferocious look, delivering a flurry of left and right alternating slaps. "Damn it, a few big slaps obviously weren't enough for you!"

For a time, the sound of smacking echoed endlessly.

Crazy Donkey put his all into it. After landing thirty or forty heavy slaps, his hands even began to ache.

As for Flying Bear, he had long since been beaten beyond recognition.

In fact, more than half of his teeth had been knocked out.

Clearly, Crazy Donkey was someone who possessed martial arts skills.

"Stop hitting—please stop hitting—"

Finally, Crazy Donkey—wait, Flying Bear—couldn't help but start begging for mercy.

However, his speech was now whistling through missing teeth, and every time he moved his mouth, blood mixed with saliva and loosened teeth spilled out.

"Now, can you speak to this official like a human being?"

Li Wenxuan's tone remained calm, as if he wasn't angry at all.

"I'll speak—this place originally belonged to the Cui family, but I recently received word that the Cui family intends to gift this property to the Prince Consort, you..."

"Hmm? Minister Centurion Sir?" Crazy Donkey rolled his eyes fiercely, frightening Flying Bear into correcting himself immediately. "It's... Centurion Sir!"

"Now that the Centurion Sir has rudely barged in and meddled in this affair, it's making things difficult for the Prince Consort's side to handle..."

"The Prince Consort? Which Prince Consort?" Li Wenxuan sneered. "Was it the Prince Consort who ordered you to withhold wages? Or was it the Prince Consort who ordered you to arrest Zhang Xiaogui..."

Li Wenxuan tried his best not to look at Zhang Xiaogui's miserable appearance, then continued, "...and violate her?"

"This..."

Flying Bear trembled slightly, not daring to speak.

"In other words, all of this was actually done entirely on your own initiative?"

"The wages for these workers over the past half-year come out to about ten taels of silver each. Right now, there are over three hundred workers at the mine, which totals three thousand taels. The people higher up told me how to do it, and I only followed orders..."

Flying Bear had been terrified by Crazy Donkey's fierce slapping and now appeared utterly submissive.

Li Wenxuan said dismissively, "Don't keep invoking the Prince Consort at every turn. This mine still belongs to the Cui family. How does the Prince Consort compare to Cui Yuanhai, the Minister of War whose power eclipses the imperial court?"

Flying Bear instantly didn't even dare to look at Li Wenxuan.

The colossal Cui clan had collapsed overnight, all because of this young demon!

"Xu Que!"

"This subordinate is here!"

"Immediately ride back to the yamen and summon men to take over this place. Escort the prisoner back. After dawn, I will take the warrant from Lou Tou'er and go to Cui Yuanhai's residence to make an arrest!"

"Understood!"

Xu Que said with great excitement.

***

At that moment, Zhou Long walked up to Li Wenxuan holding a confession document and said, "My Lord, this is Tian Gaoyi's confession. He has already pressed his fingerprint on it."

Li Wenxuan took it, glanced over it casually, and motioned for Zhou Long to put it away.

"Tian Gaoyi, you should go get some rest first. After dawn, go find a doctor to examine you."

"This commoner is deeply grateful for My Lord's concern! I shall go rest right now!"

Tian Gaoyi nodded and stepped back with an excited expression.

"Zhang Xiaogui?"

Only then did Li Wenxuan turn his head to look at Zhang Xiaogui.

Zhang Xiaogui wore a complicated expression. He stepped forward a few paces, intending to kneel before Li Wenxuan.

"Enough, save it for now!"

Li Wenxuan turned and sat down on a chair, glancing over at Zhou Long. "Go check the mine's kitchen first. See what good food they have, and have the cook prepare a table of dishes for us."

"However, let's get one thing straight first—we are out on official business today, so the alcohol is limited to one bowl per person. Whoever disobeys orders and gets drunk on their own will receive a whipping from me!"

Zhou Long said excitedly, "My Lord, rest assured. If any of the brothers lack sense, I'll skin them myself without troubling Your Honor!"

"Very good!" Li Wenxuan nodded with a smile. "Once the business is done, naturally I will take you all to listen to the tunes at the pleasure houses..."

He raised an eyebrow, wearing a knowing, manly expression as he looked at the crowd. "There will be plenty of maidens waiting for you then!"

"Thank you, My Lord!"

In an instant, the already high enthusiasm of the secret agents became even more fanatical.

"Sit down!"

Li Wenxuan pointed to a chair beside him.

Zhang Xiaogui shook his head, saying, "Hierarchy must be observed, this subordinate—"

"I told you to sit, so sit. Why so many useless words?" Li Wenxuan frowned slightly.

Zhang Xiaogui immediately sat down, but kept his back straight as if he were ready to jump to his feet at any second.

Seeing this, Li Wenxuan did not force the issue further, knowing that this world was strictly bound by distinctions of status and hierarchy.

"I have already finished reading your booklet. This Tian Gaoyi used to be a squad leader under your father..."

At this point, Li Wenxuan paused, glanced at Tian Gaoyi who had already walked some distance away, and asked with a hint of hesitation in his voice:

"Is this fellow truly from the Imperial Guard? How could he let himself be captured by the people at this mine?"

Zhang Xiaogui smiled bitterly. "My Lord, although Tian Gaoyi is getting a bit older, his hands and feet are still nimble; otherwise, he wouldn't have become the leader of these three hundred miners."

"Those men tricked him into a room under the pretense of calculating wages, then swarmed him all at once, pinning his hands and feet before capturing him."

Li Wenxuan nodded. "And you, your injuries..."

"That scoundrel Flying Bear slashed my left arm with a saber, but it's nothing serious," Zhang Xiaogui smiled bitterly.

***

Li Wenxuan nodded. "As you heard earlier, at daybreak tomorrow, I will return to the yamen and take the warrant from Commander Lou to make arrests."

"It just so happens that this mine also belongs to Cui Yuanhai, and the person who stole your military quota back then was also Cui Yuanhai. According to what you wrote in the booklet, there are at least five hundred such cases. This will involve the heads of many people in the military rolling to the ground. So I will ask you one last time—do you still have the courage to follow me and investigate this through to the end?"

Upon hearing these words, Zhang Xiaogui dropped to both knees before Li Wenxuan and declared resolutely, "If My Lord had not arrived in time today, Xiaogui would have suffered that beast's humiliation and surely lacked the face to continue living in this world. Furthermore, investigating this case concerns Xiaogui himself as well as my late father—how could I dare speak of backing down?"

"Very well. Tomorrow, you and Tian Gaoyi will accompany me to Cui Yuanhai's residence to make the arrests."

"Understood!"

Zhang Xiaogui nodded solemnly.

"My Lord, the food has arrived!"

Crazy Donkey carried in a large tray piled high with bowls of food, and a rich aroma of dishes mixed with the scent of wine wafted over.

Li Wenxuan waved a hand. "Alright, everyone up! Sit down and eat together!"

Zhang Xiaogui wanted to decline again, but considering that Lord Li was not the type of person to stand on excessive ceremony, if he continued to refuse like this, it would seem a bit ungrateful and unappreciative of favors.

"Thank you, My Lord!"

Zhang Xiaogui quickly stood up and began helping Crazy Donkey arrange the bowls and chopsticks.

Meanwhile, inside the imperial palace, the Emperor, who was just about to go to bed, suddenly received a report from Chief Eunuch Li that Princess Sirou was requesting an audience.

"Hmm? Has she had enough of wandering around outside? Now she wants to come home?"

The Emperor let out a light snort.

Chief Eunuch Li hurried over to the Emperor's ear and lowered his voice, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Although the Princess has been living with the young Li fellow for these past days, neither of them has committed any transgression of propriety."

"Inside the room, an extra small cot was even added."

He delivered this last sentence in a confidential whisper.

The Emperor still grumbled with some displeasure, "Li Wenxuan's nerve is certainly big enough, letting my daughter sleep on a small cot..."

"Ahem—" Chief Eunuch Li gave a dry cough. "Your Majesty might not know this, but Li Wenxuan is the one sleeping on the small cot, while the Princess sleeps on the large bed."

"Very well, let Sirou in!"

The Emperor felt that if he continued to nitpick, he would really be going overboard.

Besides, it was his own daughter who had insisted on clinging to the fellow...

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got!

"As you command!"

Chief Eunuch Li hurriedly bowed and retreated, stepping outside the hall to usher Princess Sirou in.

"Father Emperor, this daughter has an important matter to report! This concern involves the stability of our Great Wu's Imperial Guard!"