In his memory, this place was rife with bandits and the people suffered greatly.
But the current situation has proven him wrong; everything here has changed dramatically. It seems Bai Zizai has indeed worked hard these past two years, and these are all changes.
"Hmph, who said this is Bai Zizai's achievement? It's all thanks to our young master!"
"No, it should be credited to our Prince of Xiliang!"
"The bandits were dealt with personally by the Prince of Xiliang, and these cities and houses were also built for us by His Highness the Prince of Xiliang. Without him, we would still be living in dire straits."
"Watch your mouth from now on. Although our Prince is kind and approachable, that doesn't mean you can disrespect him. Or we'll beat you up!"
These are the original inhabitants of Xiliang Commandery, and the people who personally witnessed the Crown Prince sweeping away the bandits and outlaws of Xiliang Commandery. In their hearts, the Crown Prince is no different from a god.
The Crown Prince has given them the happy life they enjoy today, and they will never forget it. Anyone who dares to disrespect the Crown Prince is their enemy.
Forehead!
Hearing these words, Wang Zitao and the butler were dumbfounded, and even Wang Zijin was shocked. She never expected that the scoundrel from back then would achieve such success.
She lifted the curtain of the carriage and glanced inside. Her eyes lit up at the neat and orderly streets; it was hard to imagine that this place had once been so chaotic.
She murmured to herself, "If Lin Yi created all of this, then he does have some talent. However, compared to the current Crown Prince, a small Xiliang Commandery is still lacking."
She spoke very softly, and apart from the maid beside her, no one else heard her.
Wang Zitao, on the other hand, ignored all of this and said smugly, "Don't you dare do anything reckless. Your prince and I are buddies. When we went to the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion together, I always paid for everything!"
He was somewhat smug. "We're Lin Yi's buddies, so we should at least get some preferential treatment here. Otherwise, what's the point of coming all this way?"
"What? You're one of our Prince's friends, and you even went into the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion with him?" The group of commoners stared wide-eyed at Wang Zitao.
Wang Zitao laughed heartily, patted his chest, and said, "Haha, of course it's true! Otherwise, ask your prince!"
"Ask your grandpa! Beat him up! How dare he frame our Prince!" One of the men grabbed an egg and threw it at him. This Little Wang dared to accuse the Prince of going to a brothel; it was an insult to the Prince.
Another woman was also furious, shouting, "Everyone knows that the Prince personally ordered the closure of the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion! How dare you say you went to the Wafting Fragrance Pavilion with the Prince? I think you're a spy!"
"Spy?"
"Beat him up! This guy's either Northern Barbarians or a piece of trash, smash him to death!"
The people all joined in, throwing eggs and vegetable leaves everywhere, making Wang Zitao question his existence.
Holy crap, what did I say wrong?
Wang Zitao's face turned green. Forgetting he was the brother of the Prince of Northern Liang, he climbed into his sister's carriage and shouted, "Run! We need to go to the Prefect's Mansion! It's too dangerous here! These unreasonable commoners are utterly wicked!"
I clearly went to the brothel with Lin Yi, how can you be framing your prince!
"Young master, stop talking! We need to get out of here!" The steward, a man who had been robbed five times before, reacted instantly, jumped onto the carriage, and sped off.
We must leave this place; it's far too dangerous.
It seems that the development of Xiliang Commandery is just a facade. The claim that the mountain bandits were wiped out is false. In fact, the mountain bandits have become ordinary people. This is too cruel. There are even people throwing stones at them.
Wang Zitao was furious inside the carriage, shouting, "These unruly commoners! When I see my brother, I'll buy a cartload of eggs and pelt them to death! How dare they treat me like this!"
My body is covered in egg yolk, and it feels sticky.
The maidservant, barely suppressing her nausea, helped remove the various vegetable leaves and eggs from his body; it looked utterly disgusting.
Wang Zijin distanced herself from her brother, looking disgusted, and said, "Brother, you should go outside. You've made my carriage all dirty. You really need to find an inn to take a bath, otherwise it's just too disgusting."
Forehead!
Wang Zitao's face turned green; he was actually being disliked by his own sister.
"What inn? We'll be at the prefect's mansion soon. We'll go to Lin Yi's place to wash up then," he said, frowning.
However, when they entered the prefect's residence, they were stopped at the door before they could even get inside.
"Who are you? Do you think you can just see our Prince whenever you want? Don't even dream about it." The guard glanced at them and sneered.
"You?!"
Wang Zitao's expression changed, and he angrily said, "We are members of the Wang Clan. You'd better watch your words, or you'll regret it!"
Damn it, how dare a mere guard look down on me? He's got a death wish.
"Hmph, so what if you're from the Wang family? My Wang Clan is the Prince of Xiliang, and the future Prince of Northern Liang. What are you, a mere merchant family, compared to him? My lord wouldn't be stingy with your little bit of money. If he needed money, he could sell sweet potatoes and potatoes for astronomical prices!"
The guard glanced at him disdainfully and said coldly.
They're just a merchant family, yet they really think they're something special. These past few days, countless merchants from Ningchuan Commandery have been kneeling here begging the Prince to grant them an audience, but the County Magistrate has ignored them all.
How dare some Wang Clan act so arrogantly? They're simply clueless about life.
Wang Zitao's expression changed, and he was about to get angry, but Zhang Jinyi stopped him because he saw that soldiers were coming, and they didn't seem to have any good intentions.
If this continues, we'll likely suffer losses, since these people are not to be trifled with, and we'll only be the ones who suffer.
Wang Zijin's face stiffened. This guard dared to look down on her Wang Clan so disrespectfully, and she couldn't find a reason to refute him, which made her very uncomfortable.
From childhood to adulthood, she had always been pampered by her family and praised by the world. She had never suffered such humiliation before; it was simply unbearable.
She looked at the guards and said in a deep voice, "I am Wang Zijin of the former Grand Tutor, and the future queen chosen by the Prince of Northern Liang. I want to see your king!"
"The Princess Consort? Or was she chosen by the Prince of Northern Liang?" The guard was taken aback for a moment, then looked at his captain.
The captain glanced at Wang Zijin and said in a deep voice, "I'm sorry, but our princess can only be approved by the prince, not by the Prince of Northern Liang. Besides, the prince isn't in Ningchuan Commandery. He has now occupied Ningchuan Commandery Ningchuan Commandery and is building the royal city there!"
Forehead!
Upon hearing this, Wang Zijin's face turned green. What did she mean by "only with the prince's approval"? Did her prince not even look at her? This was simply outrageous!
And how did Lin Yi manage to occupy Ningchuan Commandery? Isn't he afraid of the Emperor's wrath?
"Sister, what do we do now?" Wang Zitao frowned as he saw that he couldn't reason with the guard.
Wang Zijin pondered for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said, "Let's go to Ningchuan Commandery and see what Lin Yi is up to!"