When Cen Yelan was discussing matters, a servant came to report that Yuan Zheng had left the mansion without permission again.
The surroundings were all quiet, and the generals all turned their eyes to Cen Yelan. He had no expression on his face, and with one hand on the sand table, he calmly said, “Let him go.”
“Let’s continue.”
They looked at each other, they were all old friends of Cen Yelan. Thinking of the one who came from the capital, they all sighed in their hearts, feeling disdainful.
The emperor sent such a useless dandy to the border, it seems he was really exiled.
Yuan Zheng is the son of the late Empress, the only legitimate son of the Emperor, he was seventh in line. The late Empress passed away early, and the Emperor doted on this legitimate son and once intended to make him the crown prince. Unfortunately, the clever and young Seventh Prince became more and more reckless as he grew older, like a dandy boy. The Imperial Censorate has piled up a thick stack of memorials impeaching him.
Two months ago, Yuan Zheng had a fight with the son of the minister of the Ministry of Revenue in a brothel. The emperor heard about it and was furious. He sent Yuan Zheng to the border in the name of military supervision.
Although he was the military supervisor, but he was a prince without any real power. Coming to such a remote place was like being exiled.
Besides, there was also Cen Yelan at the border.
Everyone knows that the Cen family is now the dominant force on the border, and almost the entire border army has become the Cen family’s army.
Yuan Zheng was not a law-abiding person even when he arrived at the border. He acted recklessly and caused trouble, which caused a lot of criticism. Cen Yelan was always patient and watched his little fights coldly without getting angry. But a few days ago, Yuan Zheng gathered people to gamble on the training ground, making the whole training ground a mess.
Cen Yelan ran into him as soon as he entered the training ground. With a gloomy face, he ordered his men to tie Yuan Zheng up.
Yuan Zheng was young, only seventeen or eighteen years old, with a good-looking appearance that showed nobility, worthy of being a member of a noble family.
He sat lazily with one leg propped up, looking into Cen Yelan’s eyes. Beside him were his study companions and personal attendants, all of whom were from the capital, and the two were facing each other.
“How dare you! I want to see who dares to move?”
Cen Yelan said sternly, “Capture him and deal with him according to military law.”
How could the people brought by Yuan Zheng be a match for the border troops who had been trained in the war? They were all knocked down. Even Yuan Zheng did not expect that they would really dare to go against the superior. They lost the initiative and were pressed on the wooden steps, looking very embarrassed.
Yuan Zheng was furious, his face flushed with anger. “Cen Yelan, how dare you!”
Cen Yelan’s face was calm as he spoke, “If the emperor breaks the law, he must be punished as an ordinary person1Everyone is equal in front of the law.. Your Highness, what is there that I do not dare?”
Yuan Zheng said, “Going against one’s superior is a capital crime! If you dare to hit me, it is a capital crime!”
Cen Yelan was wearing a black uniform and had a horsewhip on his waist. The whip was given by the emperor. The Dayuan once presented a fine horse, it was a rare thousand-mile horse, a good colt, and it was also a fierce one. At that time, Cen Yelan and Cen Xi returned to the capital to report their work and coincidentally happened to catch up with the envoy of Dayuan. The confident and heroic demeanor of the young general training the horse became a topic of conversation after drinking and became popular for a while. The emperor also specially gave his own whip to Cen Yelan.
The whip handle was inlaid with ink-colored gems, gold, and jade, and it was particularly beautiful against the bony fingers.
Yuan Zheng was a prince after all.
Cen Yelan looked at him silently. Yuan Zheng was young, with his head held high, and his eyes were full of arrogance and domineering. Cen Yelan smiled suddenly. This man was as cold as a knife. When he smiled, it was as if the ice and snow had melted and the flowers were blooming—just like a gorgeous red plum blossom on a branch. Yuan Zheng suddenly thought of this sentence, and he was stunned. Before he could recover, he was whipped on the back.
Yuan Zheng: “…Ce Yelan.”
He gritted his teeth and was hit again unexpectedly, his body trembling. Unbelievable, Cen Yelan dared to whip the prince in public. The people brought by Yuan Zheng were frightened, among them was a personal attendant, Fang Jing, a Junwang’s2Junwang lit. County King is a second-rank prince son, who struggled and said angrily, “Cen Yelan, you are so bold—”
Cen Yelan tilted his head to look at him and stopped Fang Jing’s angry scolding and then said lightly, “What’s the matter?”
“This place is the border, this is Hanzhou. In here…” Cen Yelan looked at Yuan Zheng, the gemstone on the whip handle reflecting a cold and dazzling light. “You have to abide by military rules.”
Yuan Zheng was extremely humiliated and stared at Cen Yelan with hatred, but Cen Yelan didn’t even blink and whipped Yuan Zheng 20 times. Every whip hit his back, and his embroidered clothes were torn into pieces. He was bleeding and his torn back was exposed.
Finally, without changing his expression, he glanced at the silent and embarrassed youth, turned around, and called the military physician, “Chenzhao, send His Highness the Seventh Prince back to recuperate and keep him under house arrest for half a month.”
“The rest of them shall be punished with sixty strokes of the military baton.”
Yuan Zheng’s face turned pale. He looked around the silent training ground and said hoarsely, “Cen Yelan, our matter is not done.”
Cen Yelan did not comment.
Now that the half-month period has not yet arrived, Yuan Zheng has actually forgotten Cen Yelan’s house arrest order.
D@mn ce yelan goes hard man means business okayyy he put that prince in his place 🔪🔪🔪