She thought that the other party had guessed that she was looking for a spy under the pretext of holding a storybook contest.
Unexpectedly, the other party continued: "What happened on the night of the Lantern Festival made everyone in the capital panic. I also know that the court is under great pressure, but...is such a high-profile and frequent search too much?"
Li Huang was busy running to the Criminal Department these past two days, focusing on the people in Dongyu, so he didn't pay attention to other things at all.
At this moment, hearing Mrs. Xu say this, she couldn't help but frown: "You said people from the imperial court frequently searched the streets of the capital?"
She really didn't know about this.
Mrs. Xu seemed to be really unaware, so she recounted the events of the past two days one by one.
"At first they only came to search once or twice, but then they wanted to come seven or eight times a day. Moreover, they said they were searching for suspicious items, but after entering the store, they imposed fines under various excuses."
"The civilian woman thought, if the imperial court really wants to search for suspicious items, we, as the people of Dayuan, will naturally be willing to cooperate. But they have been like this for several days, and now the streets are empty, which is better than when they stayed up on New Year's Eve on the first day of the new year.
It’s still deserted.”
Li Huang turned to look at Ling Yuan, who immediately reported: "Your Highness, I have heard some of these things before, but in the past two days, I have been trying to catch those fish that slipped through the net in Dongyu, so I didn't pay much attention to them."
When talking about the latter part, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty.
As Li Huang's most capable helper, no matter what happens in the capital, she should report it to her master.
However, she neglected it.
However, fortunately, Li Huang did not blame her, but asked Mrs. Xu: "Are you sure that is someone from the imperial court?"
Mrs. Xu said with a determined look, "Your Highness, the guard uniforms those people are wearing seem to be from your house."
Li Huang: "!!!"
Her eyes widened.
From her house?
Lingyuan couldn't help it anymore and asked: "In our house? Madam Xu, can you see it for real? The guards in the princess house all wear similar clothes."
She thought to herself, maybe it was Li Chuchu who did it again and passed the blame to their Highnesses.
But Mrs. Xu shook her head: "No, the guard uniforms of the eldest princess's palace are embroidered with peony leaves on the skirts and cuffs. The civilian women can see it for real. There is no mistake."
Li Huang was surprised at first, but his expression soon turned cold.
Lingyuan was shocked and said: "Your Highness, someone has eaten the courage of a bear and dared to pretend to be someone from our house to cause trouble."
Li Huang put down the tea cup and stood up: "It seems that regarding this matter, I have to go out of the house for a walk in person."
Mrs. Xu saw this and quickly followed.
Lingyuan tightened her grip on the sword in her hand.
Li Huang did not take the carriage, but planned to take a walk along the street.
A few people had just been shopping on the street for less than two quarters of an hour when several people came over to meet them.
All of those people had knives on their waists and looked very heroic.
As they walked, they shouted: "Routine search, take out all the things and put them in front, hurry up!"
As the voice of the shouting fell, the companion behind him drew his knife and chopped a vegetable stall into two pieces.
The vendors nearby were so frightened that they ran away and some were timid and even screamed.
"What are you shouting for? What are you shouting for? I asked you to put all the vegetables in your baskets in front of you. You don't understand people, do you? Whoever shouts again, I will split him in two immediately!"
The crowd immediately fell silent, and then looked at those people in fear.
Those people said it was a search, but in fact they were deliberately sabotaging. Without even bending their waists, they picked up the vendors' items with the tips of their knives and split them into pieces in a few strokes.
Everyone dared to be angry but dared not speak out.
Lingyuan looked at it for a few seconds before she became furious.
"Your Highness, this servant can't bear it anymore."
These people don't look like members of the imperial court, they are just scoundrels.
Li Huang nodded to her: "Go."
After receiving the order, Ling Yuan immediately jumped up, came to those people, drew his sword and stabbed them.
Those people didn't expect that someone would suddenly rush out and attack them. They couldn't react in time and she stabbed two of them. After they reacted, they all raised their knives and slashed at her.
However, it turns out that gangsters are just gangsters, and the skills of a three-legged cat are not enough for Ling Yuan to sweat.
In less than a cup of tea, all seven or eight people were knocked down.
Ling Yuan stepped on the chest of one of them and asked sternly: "Tell me, which family are you dudes from? How dare you pretend to be members of the imperial court? Also, where did you get all the skin on your body?"
Mrs. Xu couldn't tell it to an outsider, but she could tell at a glance that the clothes they were wearing were fake, both in material and workmanship.
The embroidery work on the skirt and cuffs is very poor.
The man was first stabbed with a hole by Ling Yuan's sword, and then the wound was stepped on, causing him to show his teeth and crack his mouth in pain.
"Woman, please spare your life. If you have something to say, say it well. If you have something to say, say it well."
Li Huang looked at these people condescendingly and asked in a deep voice: "Who in the world ordered you to ruin the reputation of this palace and do these things that are resented by others?"
As she finished speaking, the people who had just been bullied realized that these people were not from the imperial court!
Ling Yuan thought about how these people had been doing mischief on the streets these past few days while they had no time to be around, so she couldn't help but increase the strength on her feet.
The man screamed in pain and quickly confessed: "I said that the heroine was merciful because someone gave us a sum of money to do this. That person also gave us these clothes."
Lingyuan crushed the dish with her toes and squeezed out a sentence through her teeth: "Who is that person? What does he look like? Which country is he from?"
When everyone heard her question, they instantly remembered what happened on the Lantern Festival, and the anger in their eyes almost burst out.
These small and small countries are really hateful, causing them no peace these days.
At this moment, if they weren't afraid of Ling Yuan's strength, those people would have rushed up and beat these people violently.
"I don't know who he is. He's wearing a mask, so he can't see his face clearly, and his accent doesn't sound like someone from another country."
"Xia Xia, please spare us. We are just trying to make ends meet. There is nothing we can do."
Li Huang waved his hand at her, and Ling Yuan retracted his foot, put the sword back into its sheath, and stepped away.
"Your Highness, these people seem to be from outside the city, why not send them to Dali Temple."
When those people heard that they wanted to send them to the official, they didn't care about their injuries. They got up and knelt down and kowtowed.
"My noble man, please let us go for the sake of the fact that even the little guys are under the orders of others."
If they had known that they would be arrested just for showing off their power in the streets for a few days, then they would have refused to accept each other's money even if they were beaten to death.