The middle-aged man opposite heard Li Ke refer to himself as "this prince" without any trace of worry, instead becoming even more rampant in his curses.
"You dog! I may not know all the princes of our dynasty, but I know most of them!
Where did you scum pop out from to dare call yourself a prince?
Just based on that, I can strike first and report later!
Listen clearly with your ears, I am the eldest son of the current dynasty's maternal uncle's family, Zhou Han!
The current emperor's elder brother-in-law, if you don't want to die, do as I say!"
Upon hearing this fellow announce his family, Fang Er jumped down from the cart and sauntered over to Zhou Han.
He first sized him up from head to toe, then spat a sunflower seed shell at him.
*Pfft~*
"I thought who it was, turns out it's the offspring of Zhou Kui.
If it weren't for today's matter, I'd really forget about him, this number one leech of the Great Ming~!"
Zhou Han wiped the sunflower seed shell and saliva from his face and roared at his subordinates in a rage.
"Presumptuous! How dare you disrespect this maternal uncle! Guards, seize them and beat them!"
The thugs behind him immediately rushed out, their clubs directly aimed at Fang Er's head.
*Bang bang bang~~*
Fang Er remained standing still. Li Ke and Li Tai, brothers, opened fire with their guns. The subordinates were taken down one after another after only a few steps.
Zhou Han stared blankly at everything before him, a bad premonition suddenly dawning in his heart.
"You, you, you, who exactly are you!"
"Them? They are people who can drag the Emperor down and rub him on the ground!"
Three Jin Yi Wei guards walked in from the alley entrance. Leading them was the commander Chonglou.
As he passed by Zhou Han, he quietly threw a sentence and ignored his reaction, then walked directly to Fang Er's side and bowed.
"Duke Fang, you've made it quite difficult for this subordinate to find you~"
"Something's wrong?" Fang Er asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uh, hehe, nothing's wrong. It's just that I've been following you for so long, and when I don't see you, this subordinate feels a bit unaccustomed."
Chonglou scratched the back of his head as he answered Fang Er's question, then pointed at the injured and disabled on the ground and asked Zhou Han.
"Maternal Uncle, you'd best explain to this thousand-household officer what's going on!"
Following Fang Er, he felt full of confidence. Let alone Zhou Han, even his father Zhou Kui, he dared to confront.
Before Zhou Han could answer, Li Tai chuckled sarcastically from the side.
"What's going on? Heh, this fellow's subordinates blocked this father and daughter in the alley in broad daylight. What do you think is going on?"
Zhou Han completely disbelieved Chonglou's words. What about dragging the Emperor down and rubbing him on the ground? In his opinion, it was pure nonsense!
The Great Ming still bore the surname Zhu, who dared to lay hands on the Emperor?
These Jin Yi Wei were, in the final analysis, the Emperor's household slaves, his own people. Thus, he cursed with an even more arrogant tone than before.
"You bastard, it's her fortune that I fancy this woman! When did such a thing appear in the Forbidden City that you dare to meddle in my business?"
After speaking, he looked at Chonglou again.
"You few, if you still want to serve in the Jin Yi Wei, then arrest them all for me!
If I don't skin them, then my title as maternal uncle is for naught!"
Chonglou didn't pay him any mind at all. Hearing Li Tai's words just now, and seeing the woman wrapped in Li Ke's clothes, he instantly guessed the cause and effect. He cupped his hands towards Fang Er and asked, "Duke, how should this matter be handled according to your judgment?"
Fang Er threw down a sentence, turned, and walked towards the alley entrance.
"Return to the palace! Send someone to bring his father into the palace as well. In front of Emperor Chongzhen, this Duke will have a good talk with him!"
Zhou Kui, that bastard. His own daughter, Empress Zhou of Chongzhen, knew his stingy nature well. To cooperate with the donation of funds, she sold all her jewelry and, with her private savings, raised five thousand taels of silver for him to set an example by donating it in court.
As a result, this guy actually withheld two thousand taels of that money for himself, only handing over three thousand taels!
Finally, after Li Zicheng broke through the city and entered the capital, under severe interrogation, hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were searched from the Zhou family!
What's the point of dealing with Zhou Han? If you want to deal with him, deal with his father as well!
Chonglou decisively ordered Zhou Kui to be bound and then said to the Zhou family's servants, "Go back and tell the maternal grandfather, if you don't want to send your maternal uncle to his funeral, then hurry to the palace to see the Emperor!"
Zhou Han was utterly bewildered. When had these Jin Yi Wei, whom he usually saw and would have loved to fawn over, become so defiant?
"Let go! Are you trying to rebel!
This Great Ming is still the world of the Zhu family, and the maternal uncle's own sister is the current Empress!
Don't let this maternal uncle know your name, otherwise, I'll have Luo Yangxing flay you alive!"
But he was just a loafer, a useless fellow without the strength to truss a chicken. His resistance was utterly useless, and the Zhou manor servants also dared not confront the Jin Yi Wei.
Chonglou took his words as mere air. Following Fang Er, his confidence was extraordinarily strong.
Everyone rushed towards the imperial palace in a flurry. Zhou Han was somewhat confused. How could a dignified Jin Yi Wei thousand-household officer be so obedient to the person in front of him?
Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, seeing so many people pouring in, especially the Emperor's maternal aunt's brother, Zhu Youjian was inexplicably puzzled.
"Duke Fang, you are…?"
Li Shimin sat nearby sipping tea. He was not concerned about Zhou Han and the others, but when he saw Li Ke, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Good boy, you've learned how to pick up girls already? Have you truly inherited my legacy?"
This woman's looks were quite good, but he didn't know about her character, whether she could match Ke'er's status.
Although he had guessed some of it, he still deliberately asked.
"Come, come, Ke'er, tell me, how did your clothes end up on that young lady?"
Li Tai went forward first and reported to his father.
Meanwhile, Chonglou also went up to Zhu Youjian and explained the situation.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian instantly flew into a rage, grabbed the paperweight on his imperial desk, and hurled it at Zhou Han.
*Bang!*
Zhou Han instinctively dodged. The porcelain paperweight smashed onto the ground and immediately shattered into pieces.
Zhu Youjian angrily said, "Go, invite the maternal grandfather! I want to ask him how he disciplines his sons!"
"And also, summon the Empress as well!"
These days, he had been acting subservient and taking blows, only to gain some favor with Emperor Taizong. Now, this blind elder brother-in-law dared to abduct people in the street at this time!
What's more, he was caught red-handed by Taizong's people. If this lowered his evaluation in Taizong's eyes, exterminating his entire Zhou family would not be excessive!
Someone had already gone to the maternal grandfather's manor. Wang Cheng'en personally went to the inner palace to escort Empress Zhou.