A thousand taels as compensation?
Many people’s eyes widened.
A thousand taels was enough for a family to live comfortably in the capital for a lifetime.
However—people quietly exchanged glances and shook their heads.
This thousand taels might cost Li Dalang his life.
Leaving aside the hardships of the long journey to the harsh land of Lingnan, what if the foolish Li Dalang followed along and was harmed? Who would know?
Soon, someone hidden in the crowd shouted out.
“The Prince’s words sound nice, but if Li Dalang is killed halfway, they’d save both the person and the money, and none of us would know…”
Many echoed in agreement: “That’s right! With such a long journey, who would know if Li Dalang was harmed on the way? Not only would they save the silver, but they might even secretly release this lecher…”
There’s safety in numbers, and with so many people gathered, they weren’t afraid of Prince Yan holding them accountable for their words.
Hmph, if Prince Yan dared to do such a thing, his reputation would only worsen.
Yu Jin listened patiently, a smile playing on his lips.
After letting the people chatter for quite a while, he raised his hand and said loudly, “May I have everyone’s attention for a moment?”
With so many people, even whispers created a cacophony, but his voice seemed to have a penetrating quality, reaching everyone’s ears.
The crowd suddenly fell silent.
They were curious about what Prince Yan had to say.
To be precise, Prince Yan’s very presence in such a setting was enough to pique their curiosity.
Having witnessed so many public spectacles, this was the first time a noble had stepped forward, making them part of the show.
The thought was truly exciting.
The excited crowd fixed their burning gazes on the excessively handsome young man in the center.
“This prince would like to invite fifty more people to accompany Li Dalang in escorting the criminal. All meals will be provided, and upon returning to the capital, each person will receive two hundred taels of silver as a gift.”
Han Ran, the commander of the Imperial Guards who was hiding in the crowd to observe, twitched the corner of his mouth.
Prince Yan really could come up with an idea. Having over fifty people accompany the officers to escort a criminal, with meals provided—was this a princess being sent off for a political marriage?
However, he could only smile and observe from the sidelines.
Prince Yan had asked him to cooperate in front of the Emperor, so what could he say?
Han Ran felt thoroughly duped, but when he remembered that Prince Yan had promised to cover the compensation and meal expenses from his pocket, he felt somewhat relieved.
Never mind, it wasn’t coming out of his pocket anyway. If Prince Yan had money to burn, let him do as he pleased.
From the capital to Lingnan and back would take about four months. With food and lodging provided, and a pure profit of two hundred taels of silver?
The onlookers, whether literate or not, quickly calculated in their heads and their eyes immediately reddened with excitement.
This was too good a deal! They couldn’t even earn thirty taels in a whole year of hard work!
What about safety concerns?
What safety concerns? There were so many of them—surely Prince Yan wouldn’t dare to silence them all? It was unthinkable.
Yu Jin swept his gaze over the crowd and asked loudly, “What do you all think? If anyone is willing, you can sign up now. We’ll count and register on the spot.”
Upon hearing this, the people went wild. Many pushed forward, shouting, “I’ll sign up! I’ll sign up!”
For a moment, no one even bothered to throw rotten vegetables at Cousin Dou anymore.
Cousin Dou blinked and tears fell from his eyes.
One thousand taels for Li Dalang, two hundred taels each for fifty people—that’s a total of eleven thousand taels.
To escort him to Lingnan, Prince Yan was willing to spend eleven thousand taels of silver… Wuwuwu, if he had known he was worth so much, would have sold himself to Prince Yan instead. At least the money would have stayed in the family.
If Yu Jin knew that “keeping the money in the family” was being used in this context, he would probably laugh in exasperation.
“Your Highness, the crowd is too chaotic. There’s a risk of a stampede.”
“Please, quiet down—” Yu Jin called out loudly.
Money moves people’s hearts, and at this moment, Prince Yan’s handsome face isn’t very effective. The people’s shouts drowned out his voice.
Yu Jin beckoned with his hand.
Erniu, who had been crouching nearby, trotted over, looking docile and obedient as he waited for instructions.
Yu Jin patted Erniu’s head: “Erniu, it’s up to you now. If you perform well, there’ll be steamed meat to eat.”
Erniu’s eyes immediately lit up. He looked around, then with a powerful push of his hind legs, leaped onto the ladder.
The ladder wasn’t originally very stable. In the morning, the actor used it to attract attention, but later it was reinforced with ropes.
Erniu moved with incredible agility, quickly climbing to the highest point, where he let out a long howl to the sky.
Yu Jin’s face darkened slightly.
This Erniu was always showing off. He had only asked it to bark a couple of times to attract attention, who knew the dog would climb so high!
Yu Jin looked up at the height of the ladder, feeling a bit dizzy.
Strange, he hadn’t felt dizzy at all when the actor was standing up there in the morning.
With this howl that was neither quite dog nor wolf, the crowd immediately fell silent.
“Look at the top of the ladder, there’s a huge wolf!”
Wolf?
The crowd instinctively took a step back, craning their necks to look.
Realizing that it had achieved its goal of silencing the crowd below, Erniu wagged its tail and quickly slid down the ladder.
My goodness, a wolf that can climb!
People’s scalps tingled with fear, but the safety of the crowd gave them courage, and no one had yet run away.
Are you scared already?
Erniu trotted to Yu Jin’s side and sat down, looking around disdainfully before opening its big mouth: “Woof!”
With Erniu’s bark, the crowd’s expressions turned strange.
So, this big fellow should be… a dog?
Erniu, dissatisfied, slapped the ground with its tail.
Stupid humans, couldn’t they recognize such a standard dog face?
Yu Jin gave Erniu a look that promised a reckoning later, then raised his voice: “I didn’t expect everyone to be so enthusiastic. It was my oversight. How about this: I’ll let Li Dalang decide on these fifty people. He can choose fifty people he trusts to accompany him in escorting the criminal. Does anyone object?”
With Yu Jin’s proposal, the spectators all shouted, “No objections!”
“Thank you all for your understanding.” Yu Jin finished, then turned to Li Dalang, “Brother, do you have any objections to this arrangement?”
Li Dalang moved his lips, his expression constantly changing.
Logically, what more could he ask for when a prince had gone to such lengths?
Emotionally—
Li Dalang muttered, “But my wife can’t come back…”
Genuine regret appeared in Yu Jin’s eyes as he bowed deeply to Li Dalang: “This prince knows that Mrs. Li was priceless to you. I offer you my sincere apologies…”
Li Dalang, a mere peddler, was immediately flustered when the prince bowed so deeply to him. He hurriedly returned the gesture, saying, “Your Highness, please don’t, there’s no need for this—”
The onlookers, watching this scene that seemed straight out of a storybook, couldn’t help but sigh in admiration: Prince Yan was truly a good person.
Those hidden in the crowd who had been sent by various households quietly returned to report what they had seen and heard to their masters.
In the Palace of Inner Peace, Emperor Jingming closed his eyes as he listened to Han Ran’s report of everything that had transpired. He slowly opened his eyes.
To think that Seventh Brother had come up with the idea of letting the victim’s family escort the criminal themselves?
This way, all the doubts the common people had about this case would be dispelled.
That rascal Seventh Brother, he dared to put on a show even more dramatic than a storybook!