Chapter 182 Nonsense
After hearing this, Guo Shun was overjoyed immediately, and hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed to him, "master Cui, I'll never forget your great kindness!"
After Guo Shun left, master Cui sent a servant to send a message to the county magistrate Liu Shurong, inviting him to go to Huichun building for a drink in the evening.
Under normal circumstances, Liu Shurong would directly accept the invitation, but this time, he refused him, which made Cui Yi very angry.
"What? He wouldn't come? He wouldn't show me some respect?! Did he say why?"
The servant knew that he was angry, but now he had to answer, "the county magistrate didn't say why. Only when I was going out, a inferior official whispered to me, saying that you need to restrain yourself these days."
Hearing this, Cui Yi was so angry that he kicked on the chair. "Who do they think they are? Previously, when our Qing Jun was favored by Prince Yan, they were not like this. Now, seeing that my son's in trouble, they all want to stay away from us! Do they really think that they can just take my money for nothing? If they annoy me, I will make all of them suffer!"
The servant beside didn't dare to persuade him when he was angry, and he just wished to minimize his sense of existence.
Cui Yi smashed a pile of tea cups, then gradually calmed down, and said to the servant: "go and send a visiting post to the county registrar Mr. Wang!"
However, after a while, his family came back, "Mas... Master... Mr. Wang said he wasn't free these days..."
Cui Yi didn't smash anything again this time. He sat on the chair and thought for a long time before asking, "Did Mr. Wang send me a message?"
"Yes, sir, his words were the same as those of the county magistrate Mr. Liu. They all meant that you should restrain yourself recently."
Cui was no fool. Although the Cui family was no big deal elsewhere, they have some power in Niutou town and nearby.
It is said that the strong dragon does not suppress the local snake. The Cui family was the local snake. Whoever the local official was, he had to build a good relationship with them first.
Besides, he was a generous person. In ordinary days, these people benefited a lot from their relationships with him.
They wouldn't completely disconnect with his family just because his son had lost his official position. There was only one possibility, that was, the Cui family might be implicated.
If so, it was quite normal for those officials to cut off contact with the Cui family in order to protect themselves.
It came as no surprise that in the morning of the next day, some officials came in person to arrest him.
Their clothes were not the same as those in the county government, and their official robe were red.
Cui Yi's heart thumped. He thought that he must have guessed right yesterday. Could these people be sent by the Prince Yan?
One of the men, who was obviously higher in rank, came to him with a knife pinned to his waist and showed him his token.
"I'm Wang Fuzheng, from Bingma Agency (a military institution) of Yong Zhou City. By the order Prince Yan, I'm here to bring Cui Yi in for questioning."
When Cui Yi saw that he guessed right, he was even more panicked. He took out a few silver tickets from his sleeve pocket and stuffed them into Wang Fuzheng's hand. "Please tell me, sir, did I do something wrong?"
Prince Yan specifically asked to bring Cui Yi in. Wang Fuzheng wouldn't get himself into trouble for a little money. He stopped his action with the handle of the knife. "What are you doing, Mr. Cui? I'm just following my orders. If you have any doubts, you'd better go to Prince Yan and ask him."
Cui Yi didn't know for a moment whether to take back the silver ticket he held in his hand.
Wang Fuzheng would not show him any respect. He just waved his hand and said, "take him!"
The whole Cui family panicked. Both main supporters of the family were in trouble. Mrs. Cui was so worried that she fell ill.
Cui Yi himself was not very worried. The evidence of what he had done over the years had long been erased. Even a prince couldn't convict him without evidence. Besides, he was not really important.
He was locked up in the prison and left alone for a whole day. Prince Yan never even showed up.
Just when he thought the prince would leave him in the prison for a few more days, someone took him out the next day.
Mu Shaoling met him in person. After all, his sweet princess specifically told him about the Cui family. How could he promise her something but disobey her?
Cui Yi was taken to the hallBingma Agency. When he looked up, he saw a very young man sitting behind the table.
He was very handsome, with pressing nobility.
He had just glanced at him, and a sharp voice beside him directly scolded, "How bold you are! Don't you dare to offend the prince! Somebody slap him!"
Cui Yi got slapped ten times before he could understand the situation.
Finally, it was stopped by the prince, "That's enough. If he got beat to hard and he can't speak later, I don't have the patience to wait for him to recover."
Cui Yi suffered and dared not speak again.
This was the first time that he had clearly realized that he was nothing in front of these nobles.
Even a random servant beside them could easily execute him.
Even the state governor, who they fawned on repeatedly, was nothing to them.
Hearing the prince's words, Guan Huaiyuan raised his voice and asked, "Cui Yi, can you still talk?"
Cui Yi has been crawling on the ground and dared not move at all.
After hearing his question, he finally dared to say, "yes... Yes."
Mu Shaoling said, "Cui Yi, someone reported that you had forcibly seized civilian women and bribed court officials. Do you admit these crimes?"
How could Cui Yi admit these? If him knew who reported it, he would peel off the skin of that person!
He knelt on the ground and kowtowed for three times. "Nonsense! Nonsense, my prince! I am wronged! Please grant me justice!"
Mu Shaoling sat up there. No emotion could be heard from his voice. "Are you really wronged?"
Cui Yi naturally responded in a loud voice: "exactly! I'm just a civilian who has always been disciplined and law-abiding. Please look into this with your wisdom!"
Mu Shaoling gave a hum, and there was no sound for a long time. Only the sound of sharpening ink could be heard in the huge room.
Cui Yi's heart was beating restlessly, and he was also a little confused about the prince's intention.
After a long time in which one could finish a pot of tea, Mu Shaoling continued to speak.
"How dare you lie in front of me? How dare you!"
Cui Yi lay on the ground and only dared to shout injustice.
Mu Shaoling said, "if there was no conclusive evidence, why would I ask you to come and waste time?!"
Cui Yi couldn't tell whether he was bluffing or telling the truth.
Thinking quickly in his heart, he figured he might have to admit one of the crimes.
"My prince, please know that I didn't bribe court officials. It was just normal visiting in festivals. As for forcibly seizing civilian women, that's nonsense! I have seven concubines at home, and each of them is beautiful, so why would I bother seizing women?"