Although Cui Delu was just the owner of a brothel and was not respectful when talking to him, the middle-aged man knew perfectly well that he represented the attitude of the prince and spoke for him. After pondering for a moment, the middle-aged man asked with a smile, "Even if the prince is very familiar with the censor, it will not be difficult to deal with his death at all. Why bother with someone like me to do this?

Cui Delu said gloomily: "You really don't know or are you just pretending to be dumb now?" If you really don't know, then I will never recognize you as the old Zhao of the Spring Breeze Pavilion, because you are an idiot. If you're just pretending to be dumb, I'll do the same because you're smart but don't like favors.

The middle-aged man replied calmly: "The matter of Lin Forty-seventh Street is not a big deal for me and the prince. If one day the imperial court really wants it, I will be more than happy to offer it with both hands. However, you shouldn't force me with this.

"The practice of the Chunfeng Pavilion is not the participation of the imperial court, whether it is the crown prince, or the military department and the tax department. As long as it has anything to do with these things, I try to hide as much as I can. The more you push me, the farther I'll hide.

"You, Lao Zhao of the Spring Breeze Pavilion, are the largest gang leader, in charge of thousands of people. The imperial court actually sent you to escort you, and now you want to leave this behind? Do you think you can quit smoking? Where can you hide? What about the 3 people who followed you? Where do you want to put them, in a military prison or in a border fortress prison?

Cui Delu glared at him viciously and said, "When the court was peaceful a few years ago, it was possible to leave. But now, the fourth princess is back, intending to crown her brother, forgetting that the queen also has her children! Of course, these clashes of royalty have nothing to do with you. But if you don't choose your side decisively and be docile like a dog, then neither side will tolerate you.

"Servant? Do I have to choose my host? The middle-aged man sighed, then asked, "So you want to control me on behalf of the crown prince?"

Cui Delu replied: "You are right, whoever has the right to speak now wants to force you." Why? Because you're a dog without an owner. If you are willing to make a choice, choose a side, whoever it is, anyone who wants to defeat you must be aware of who your master is and know the consequences.

The middle-aged man suddenly smiled and asked, "Can I ask a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Which side will the prince choose, the queen or the fourth princess?"

Cui Delu gave a categorical answer. "Of course, none of them are. The prince has always been loyal to His Majesty, and he will support whoever His Majesty chooses.

The middle-aged man was silent for a while, slowly raised his head, and replied with a smile: "I'm sorry, as a man living in the Tang Dynasty, I don't think I can get used to being a dog."

Cui Dele didn't expect this, suppressed his annoyance, and continued to persuade him. "People have to be dogs in life. Some people want to be a dog, but they don't have a chance.

The middle-aged man stood up, tied his sword around his waist, clenched his fist in the palm of his hand, and said, "I have to say, you are not a persuasive lobbyist because you are not familiar with my character.

Cui Delu's face was gloomy now, he stood up, and said in a low voice, "Are you afraid that you won't be able to convince your subordinates?" Don't worry, the prince said that as long as you kneel, even if you just pretend, he will ask the military department to give you two heads. Doesn't that mean that a gang leader as high as you can't rule over your men?

There is no need to use the excuse of the prince's butler at this moment. The mention of the prince has a more immediate impact. However, the middle-aged man didn't seem to have heard the prince mentioned and walked out the door. No one noticed that when he heard the words of the gang leader, he showed an unfathomable smile.

"Stop, Lao Zhao." Cui Delu stared gloomily at the back of his head. "It seems that you and your men are living too well and don't know how to respect people. I must warn you that you, the cockroach in the gutter, will never know the world in which people with status live.

The middle-aged man slowed down, but did not turn his head and walked away.

Cui Delu looked at the middle-aged man's back and said coldly: "I know who supports you." Haven't you always relied on Chang San or Qi Si, Liu Wu, Fei Liu, and Chen Qi? I know you can fight, and so do your brothers. But don't forget, Chang San and Fei Liu are the captains of the Yulin Royal Guard, Liu Wu is the captain of the heroic cavalry battalion, and Chen Qi retires from the bodyguard office. You can easily be pushed to the deepest part of the underworld, and if the big guy asks, you will never be able to get out.

The middle-aged man suddenly turned around, frowning, and stared at him.

"Many of your most reliable and best fighting brothers have died all these years. Except for the useless Qi Si, you can only rely on these guys. However, you do not understand the power of the nobility. They can easily trap the people you rely on in the barracks in a few words, verbally or literally. In Chang'an, those who have been suppressed by you for more than ten years, when they get the news, will be happy to come out and bite hard. No way?

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment, then walked out of the room, his facial expression gradually calming down.

Cui Delu smiled coldly behind him and said, "Old Zhao of Chunfeng Pavilion...... Your hand has reached too far, and it has reached the imperial court...... Now your enemies are everywhere. I'm going to see who can hold you!

The middle-aged man was silent for a while, put his right hand on the door, and said, "As long as God tolerates me, I can still live."

...

...

In a sense, the conversation that took place on the roof floor of the Red Sleeves determined the history and natural evolution of the underworld in Chang'an. When those bigwigs in the court suddenly become interested in the weeds of the world of rivers and lakes, it will inevitably become a grassland after wildfires. No matter how vigorous those weeds are, or how strong their desire to survive is, they are left with only charred black stems and roots buried in the soil. They will never be able to regain the prosperity of the past.

That's the taste of power.

The wife of examiner Zhang Yiqi has been accustomed to this smell all her life. Therefore, she couldn't accept the fact that Zhang Yiqi died suddenly. She brought Zhang's body back with a whole bunch of female soldiers who were making trouble in the brothel, and cried for two days. She then began to travel between the Dali Temple and the local government of Chang'an, which was responsible for running the capital. However, this time the smell was terrible. What a pity!

"How could my lord be so short-lived? Twenty-seven years ago, he told me that he had a national teacher who told him fortune tellers, and the national teacher told him that he would definitely live to be over 100 years old. It seems to me that my master must have been tricked to death by the vixen in the brothel! Mayor of the capital, you have to support me. If you dare to cover for them, I will go to the Prince's Mansion and ask His Highness to seek justice for my master!"

The officer sitting at the table looked about 40 years old, with triangular eyes and a red bumpy nose. A sparse reticulated beard hung from his chin. His appearance is simply not elegant. Surprisingly, the man was not sent to other counties or lower-level counties, but remained in the Chang'an local government, as Tang's officials needed to pay attention to their appearance.

He looked at the thin woman standing in the hall below, worried about what to do with the case. Fortunately, all the officials of the Tang Dynasty knew about the legendary life of the national teacher. Only then did he know that the former lord of the country was just an expelled teenager from the southern sect of Haotian Taoism twenty-seven years ago, and after careful consideration, he had not seen His Majesty. He told Zhang Yiqi the money, maybe it was just a trick. Realizing this, he said earnestly after a slight cough.

"Ahem... Madam, please restrain your grief. First of all, you have to understand that I am Shangguan Yangyu, the judicial and military supervisor of the Chang'an local government, not the mayor of the capital. Secondly, we carefully examined the remains of the examiners. He did die from the accidental collapse of the carriage and his brain was hit hard. This is not a murder at all.

The death of censor Zhang Yiqi at the side door of a brothel has been widely discussed in Chang'an, but most of the discussion has been satirical. In addition, no one links the case to an assassination attempt by officialdom. The local government of Chang'an had already decided that the case was an accident two days ago, so that the poor examiners would not make trouble in the case.

But no one expected that the examiner's wife would complain directly to Dali Temple. The job of the examiner is to offend officials. Therefore, Zhang Yiqi is not popular. Even though he was dead, no one could touch him, because the prince was still present. However, no one wants to interfere too much. So, without the slightest politeness, Dali Temple pushed her back to the local government of Chang'an again.