Late Night Tales Of The Capital

Chapter 152 Sword Slaps
He Fei’s patience was running thin in the face of Divine Sect Seminary’s arrogance. The anger inside him was raging.

How dare an insignificant seminary on the streets openly stop an officer of the Court of Judicial Review! How dare they insult high-ranking officers of the Ministry of War! They even wanted to verify their identities! Since when did some Jianghu hooligans have such authority?

The authority behind the Divine Sect Seminary was Qian Shuxiao, the first wife’s son of the Qian clan.

He Fei had investigated the Seminary’s background before coming here. But so what?

What was so great about the first wife’s son of some merchant family? Weren’t the once-powerful General’s Manor confiscated and the family exterminated as well? Their maids and manservants were struggling between life and death in the imperial prison. What good did it bring them?

Of course, he had no idea about the relationship between the Qian clan and the Crown Prince. Neither did he know about the role the Qian clan played in helping the Crown Prince gain power and soon ascend the throne. More importantly, he wouldn’t know that the frivolous young master in his eyes, Qian Shuxiao, had entered the imperial palace last night as a Rank Three, First Class officer of the Glorious Tang Empire. Qian Shuxiao was now much more powerful than He Fei, an officer of the Court of Judicial Review.

He Fei was ignorant to all of these.

Time had long abandoned a servant to the old Emperor like him.

The Crown Prince’s era was almost here. These servants of the old were destined to be replaced; the only question was how.

He Fei chose the most exciting manner possible.

“To hell with that!”

“Scram!”

It was common for him to use such words in his life, whether to admonish his subordinates or the convicts. They were a part of his daily vocabulary. However, the same words said to other people produced wildly different outcomes. When He Fei whipped his head around with a livid expression, cold sweat immediately drenched his back.

A young woman was standing behind him.

The woman was dressed in a brocaded robe and had hair so long that it reached her waist. Her pretty face was decorated with a brilliant pair of eyes and two dimples on the corners of her mouth. She gave off a rather valiant air.

“Third-Ranked Princess Jianqi?”

Not even in a million years did He Fei imagine that Li Jianqi would be standing behind him.

The words had just left his mouth when the realization suddenly dawned on him. He immediately said, “No, it should be Princess Jianqi. Your… Your Highness, why are you here?”

He Fei stumbled over his words, perhaps out of fear of cursing her earlier. He might be an officer of the Court of Judicial Review, but he had hurled abuse at a Princess who happened to the apple of the eye of the current Crown Prince, who would soon ascend the throne. Why did he have to dig his own grave? Was he impatient for death?

“Can’t I be here?” Li Jianqi’s valiant air intensified as she frowned. She looked at He Fei and asked, “Since when does the Court of Judicial Review’s scope of authority include me? Not even my Father cares, and yet you do?”

“That’s not what I mean, Princess…” He Fei hastily explained.

“Then what do you mean?”

Li Jianqi stared fixedly at He Fei. Her expression suddenly shifted. “You stopped my Mother’s servants and told me to scram. Is that what you meant?”

“You’re quite brave, aren’t you?”

The sweat on He Fei’s forehead slid down his cheek. “Your Highness, I didn’t mean you.”

“Then were you referring to my Mother? I see how courageous you are. Not even my Father dares to scold my Mother in my face. You’re the first.” Li Jianqi’s expression turned cold.

When she looked at He Fei again, he had dropped to his knees. “Your Highness, I didn’t know it was you earlier. I didn’t know you came either or I wouldn’t have said such disgraceful words otherwise. Please have mercy on me. Just pretend that I farted and forgive this lowly servant.”

Li Jianqi chuckled after hearing what he said. “Are you asking me to pretend that nothing has happened?”

“You sure know how to daydream.”

“What about this? I’ll close my eyes and stab you once. We’ll pretend that you saw nothing.”

“Take one stab from me and I’ll pretend that nothing has happened.”

Take one stab from Li Jianqi?

What a joke!

Everyone in the court knew that Crown Prince had a little cultivator for a daughter and a talent seen once every hundred years, to boot. She had returned triumphantly from the ley lines of the sovereignty of the Imperial Mausoleum and obtained the battle soul of the Divine Ancestor, propelling her cultivation. She was now a “Taoist Immortal” in the Formless Realm. He Fei was merely an officer of the Court of Judicial Review. A Rank 1 martial artist like him could deal with Jianghu hooligans with ease, but he would be digging his grave if he went against a cultivator, much less a wickedly talented one like her.

Never mind a stab from her, he couldn’t even take a strike from her with her sword still sheathed. He wouldn’t dare to even if he could!

That was unless he was desperate for death.

He Fei raised his head and tried to say something, but he didn’t know what words could help now. He sneaked a glance at the high-ranking officers from the Ministry of War beside him, indicating for them to speak up for him. They were on the same boat now. The Ministry of War wouldn’t be let off either if he was in trouble.

The officers from the Ministry of War pretended not to notice He Fei’s glance. They not only offered no response but even looked away calmly.

This was a pit of He Fei’s own making. Did he want the Ministry of War to lie in a grave that he dug himself?

Cursing out the Princess’ mother and telling the Princess to scram?

What a novel way to seek death!

“Pa!”

A sharp, clear noise came from He Fei’s direction. Before anyone could take a better look, they saw a cyan-colored sword in Li Jianqi’s hand. She had slapped He Fei’s face with the back of her sword.

“Don’t look. How dare you try and signal them with your eyes. Did you think I’m blind?” Li Jianqi was the picture of an innocent young woman, but her words could infuriate anyone to death.

Had she slapped He Fei with the back of her sword because she thought using her hand wasn’t enough or because she didn’t want to dirty her hands?

Li Jianqi abruptly turned around and pointed her sword at the people behind her. “Are you all from the Ministry of War?”

“Thud.”

She didn’t even have to say much before the officers from the Ministry of War kneeled on the ground and lowered their heads in silence. They were high-ranking officers from one of the three main ministries, after all. They knew to surrender after seeing the circumstances. She was the Princess, after all. She was better than everyone here. It was their fault and they would admit to it. They would accept any punishment from her, be it a scolding or a beating.

Li Jianqi lowered her head to look at the kneeling officers, her gaze shifting back and forth between them. Suddenly, she pointed her sword at Ye Que in the arena and said in a clear voice, “Listen well, all of you. Take a good look. The man in the area is my brother. From now on, those who dare to make life difficult for him will be going against me, Li Jianqi. Who dares to cause trouble here can just sit still. I promise I won’t beat you to death.”

“I’ll just beat you until you can’t take care of yourself anymore.”

Li Jianqi patted the nearest Ministry of War officer with her sword. “Did you hear me?”

“Yes.” The officer immediately nodded.

“Louder.” Li Jianqi patted him with the sword again. “Did you not eat? Where did your imposing manner go? Weren’t you quite bold earlier?”

“We heard you loud and clear! We will never trouble Mr. Ye Que again! If we ever do it again, I’ll see you with my head on a platter!” the officer yelled until his voice was hoarse. He must have been frightened out of wits, for his words were beginning to turn gibberish by the end of it. If he was beheaded, how could he still see her?

Li Jianqi scoffed and then turned around to look at He Fei. “What about you?”

“Do you object to what I said?”

“Why can’t I hear your reply?”

Li Jianqi swatted He Fei’s other cheek with her sword with incredible precision. This time, both sides of his face were red.

He Fei lowered his head. He neither dared to evade nor to look up. “I dare not object, Your Highness.”

“So that means you’re against it.”

The back of the sword met He Fei’s face for the third time. His red face began to turn faintly purple. One could see blood peeking out from under his skin.

“I’m not against it. Whatever the Princess says is correct,” He Fei said in a quiet, downcast voice. It was obvious to everyone that he wasn’t at all satisfied and there was even the faintest hint of temper in it. Perhaps, this young officer of the Court of Judicial Review considered being slapped with the back of a sword to be a trample over his dignity.

The dignity of a scholar quietly erupted inside him.

He was conducting official business according to the law. Even if he had offended the Princess, he hadn’t done it on purpose. How could she harp on this? Humans needed dignity just as trees needed barks. He was an officer of the Court of Judicial Review after all. How could he investigate cases after getting slapped in public like this?

“Unsatisfied?”

Li Jianqi patted He Fei’s cheek with her sword.

He Fei abruptly looked up with clenched teeth. He was quiet, but his gaze was enough to demonstrate his thoughts.

“Gutsy!”

“You must find it humiliating to be slapped as an officer!” Li Jianqi said. “Have you ever considered whether the people that you arrest at the Seminary would feel humiliated? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. In this world, there will always people you can’t afford to offend.”

“I’m teaching you a lesson on humility.”

He Fei scoffed in dissatisfaction. “I was just following the law! He’s a serious criminal wanted by the court! The Court of Judicial Review has done nothing wrong! I don’t think I made an error anywhere!”

“Serious criminal?”

Li Jianqi muttered in disdain, “He’s not one anymore.”

“You all can leave now.”

“Do you think he’s innocent just because you say he is? Even if you’re about to become a First-ranked Princess, you can’t hold yourself above the law.” Even the officials of the Ministry of War were ashamed. Compared to Li Jianqi, the once frivolous children of the wealthy families in Luoyang were simply too powerless.

Look at how impressive Princess Jianqi was.

“Did you take my words to be air?”

No one had responded to Li Jianqi’s words earlier.

“Did you think I wouldn’t know what’s happening behind the scenes? Do you want me to say it here?” Li Jianqi bent her waist and lowered her voice to say, “It was Imperial Grandfather and Second Uncle who orchestrated the case of General’s Manor. You know better than anyone whether or not any laws were broken. Do you need me to spell it out?”

“Imperial Grandfather is Imperial Grandfather, Second Uncle is Second Uncle. My Father is different. They worked together to frame all 200,000 soldiers of the Ye Army. They’ll take responsibility for infamy for all eternity,” she said. “My Father will be a wise monarch. From today onward, those from the General’s Manor are pardoned. Not only are they innocent, but they are also heroes of our Tang Empire!”