Married To The Cruel Crown Prince

Jian Guozhi narrowly gazed at Commander Yang and left with him. However, before leaving Jian Guozhi took a good look at Zhe Yan since he had thought to converse with him later.

They both halted near an old shop where a few men with weapons could be seen. They all were dressed in brown robes, with black shades on their cheeks.

Commander Yang pulled Jian Guozhi behind a wall of the shop adjacent to this one. "Your Highness, they are from the other village. It seems they work for…"

"For Lord Lian," Jian Guozhi completed his sentence and they both peeked out, careful enough not to get caught in their eyes.

"Why are they here?" Jian Guozhi questioned him.

"Your Highness, they are planning to gain control over the fish market," Commander Yang said.

Jian Guozhi stepped forward when Commander Yang stopped him. It was dangerous to go close to them when Jian Guozhi assured him that nothing would happen to him.

He walked past them and tried to go inside the shop when a man taller than Jian Guozhi, stopped him.

"You cannot go in." The man forbade Jian Guozhi from going inside.

"Why can I not go inside?" Jian Guozhi peeked in and found an old man surrounded by a few. "This is a public shop and as a customer, I can surely go in," Jian Guozhi pronounced.

"This shop is sold to us from this moment. You can leave," the man informed Jian Guozhi while scowling at him. He tried to intimidate Jian Guozhi but he had no idea that the First Prince had a shorter temper.

Jian Guozhi, however, did not say anything to him as it could bring trouble to them. He apologized for disturbing them and turned to leave but stopped.

"Brother, I heard an announcement regarding taxes. Will Lord Lian really make Changying tax-free if we go on his side?" Jian Guozhi asked him.

"Yes. Support Lord Lian and get the waiver from the taxes. In the Han Empire, taxes are too much and the huge taxes exploits most of us, so to prevent the people like us from it, Lord Lian has offered a deal," the man described him.

Jian Guozhi looked down at the sword in the man's hand.

"Sure!" Jian Guozhi said and bowed before them. He silently walked away while Commander Yang followed him after a few seconds.

"They will take control over the Fish Market soon," Jian Guozhi deduced and informed the same about Commander Yang.

"We need to send a message to Luoyang and tell His Majesty that I would enter the village where Lord Lian is residing," Jian Guozhi then said in a low voice. Commander Yang nodded and they were now at the same place, where earlier crowds had gathered.

Jian Guozhi looked for Zhe Yan but could not find him around. They searched at a few shops for him, but could not find him. Jian Guozhi did not either want to ask anyone as Zhe Yan would have gotten skeptical if found later that someone searched for him.

They came out of the fish market and strolled in the few other areas of the market. Everywhere in the market, the announcement of 'Tax-free Changying' had spread.

"Your Highness, most of the people are turning to Lord Lian already. It is strange. Don't they have faith in our Empire? The Han protected them from invasions of foreign entities and today they are turning to the enemy side," Commander Yang was angry at the people.

"That's because Tax is the most concerning issue among the people. The new tax system is better yet they don't want to pay. The reason is simple! They are being misguided by Lord Lian," Jian Guozhi explained to him.

Till lunch, they had gathered a lot of information from various sources, but the most important information about Lord Lian was still missing.

~~~~~

Sheng Li re-read the scroll that Wang Hao gave him. It was the spy who sent the message to them.

"Your Majesty, allow me to go to Changying," Wang Hao requested to Sheng Li, who furrowed his brows together.

"No. I will go to Changying," Sheng Li had made up his mind. "Stay in the Capital and protect Luoyang," Sheng Li decided.

"Your Majesty, you are the Emperor. You must stay in Luoyang," Wang Hao affirmed and bowed. "I will go and–" He stopped as Sheng Li interrupted him in the middle.

"I am the Emperor, so my order is supreme to you. I am leaving for Changying in the evening. Don't let this go out. The Court Ministers will know about this but apart from them, no one must find out this. If you find anyone spreading this out, kill him," Sheng Li passed the order.

"But the Empress is pregnant. His Majesty shall stay in Luoyang," Wang Hao said worriedly.

"This is what Lili wants too. I must not step back from my duty. The spy has not sent the message if the situation could be controlled by the Princes and the others. Only I can solve it," Sheng Li asserted.

Wang Hao could not help but acknowledge the order of Sheng Li. His grip tightened around the sword in his left hand when he heard Sheng Li say,

"Even your wife is pregnant. You don't need to risk your life every time," Sheng Li reminded him.

Wang Hao lifted his head to look into Sheng Li's eyes.

"My life is for you and the Han before my family. His Majesty knows why trained hard to become the General," Wang Hao said with a firm tone.

Sheng Li smiled. "You became the General to protect me. However, I trained hard to become the Crown Prince first and then the Emperor! I became the Emperor to protect my people, which include you as well, Wang Hao," Sheng Li affirmed.

"Don't argue with me anymore. I will punish you," Sheng Li threatened him, but General Wang did not get scared. He knew that Sheng Li would never do that.

"His Majesty can punish me," Wang Hao stated.

"Then, your punishment is to stay in Luoyang," Sheng Li pronounced. "Nothing will happen to me. Sheng Li won't die easily," he said when Wang Hao told him to not say such a thing.

"What has happened to you, Wang Hao?" Sheng Li chuckled.

"When we were in the Northern Province, you almost got into danger. We lost Hu Jingguo. That blade could have pierced you," Wang Hao suddenly turned emotional.

"I won't let anyone die at my place, to get harmed because of me," Sheng Li stated as he patted Wang Hao's shoulder.