Chapter 697

For access to a complete chapter, you can subscribe to my patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair

“Your Highness, should we stop the Duke of Song?”

Ouyang Mu asked, worried.

Princess Pingyang was fuming. She said to Ouyang Mu, “There’s no need to stop him. This Duke of Song is acting arrogant with his age; it’s time for the Emperor to deal with him.”

Ouyang Mu nodded and said, “Perhaps the Emperor’s decree this time is correct. If the Great Yu Empire continues to support these idle imperial relatives, sooner or later, it will be bankrupted by them.”

“Alas, who isn’t saying that? This Xiao Ming, in my opinion, is a monarch of restoration. With him, at least we don’t have to worry about being invaded by barbarians again.”

While the two were speaking, the drunken Duke of Song, accompanied by his servants, went directly to the prefectural office. Before he even reached the office gate, he encountered Fei Ji and Pang Yukun, who were about to leave.

The Duke of Song was filled with indignation, and being drunk, he didn’t care about anything. He threw a punch at Pang Yukun, cursing, “Dog villain! If it weren’t for you constantly nagging the Emperor, how would the Emperor have ordered the cancellation of support for the imperial relatives?”

Pang Yukun had no idea the Duke of Song would hit him. How could a frail scholar react in time? He took a punch to the nose and fell to the ground, clutching his nose.

Fei Ji was shocked. He immediately stopped the Duke of Song and angrily said, “Duke of Song, Pang Yukun is a Senior Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. How can you hit him?”

“Pah! What’s wrong with hitting him? Even the late Emperor was respectful to me. What is he?” The Duke of Song pushed Fei Ji away and cursed, “Not only will I hit him, I’ll hit you too! You’re simply a disgrace to the late Emperor! If you could stop him, would the Emperor be so reckless?”

Fei Ji’s face turned ashen. Originally, he had some sympathy for these imperial relatives and nobles, but now he completely understood. The Emperor’s actions were perfectly justified.

These people could not be allowed to hold official positions, nor could they be allowed to engage in business themselves, otherwise, relying on their status as imperial relatives and nobles, they would surely turn the world upside down.

The guards at the gate of the prefectural office rushed over upon seeing this. They surrounded the Duke of Song. The guard leader asked, “Senior Grand Secretary Pang, should we arrest him?”

“You dare!” The Duke of Song suddenly drew his ceremonial sword.

Pang Yukun and Fei Ji already knew why the Duke of Song was causing trouble. It was nothing more than the end of his days of free food and drink, and he wanted to vent his dissatisfaction.

However, the Duke of Song held a respected position, so they dared not act rashly. Thus, the guard went to report the matter to Xiao Ming, while he and Fei Ji continued to deal with the Duke of Song, lest he go mad and do something outrageous.

The guard, receiving the order, immediately headed towards Xiao Ming’s temporary palace.

At this time, Xiao Ming was in his study, using the technology crystal to search for currently achievable technology. This search was sometimes similar to finding a book in a library; the only difference was the speed at which he could retrieve information.

However, even so, the vast knowledge in the technology crystal sometimes drove him crazy.

But sometimes he also enjoyed immersing himself in this pleasure of searching, because the technology crystal always held unexpected surprises for him.

Since the technology crystal came from a prehistoric civilization, it naturally included many astonishing theories, among which the theory of parallel universes was similar to contemporary theories.

This theory posits that other universes, similar yet different, exist parallel to the original universe. In these universes, there might also be universes born under the same conditions as the original universe, or planets identical to those inhabited by humans, or with the same history. There might even be people completely identical to humans. At the same time, in these different universes, the development of things would have different outcomes. Species that have become extinct in the original universe might be continuously evolving and thriving in another universe.

Xiao Ming’s transmigration naturally personally confirmed this theory. In fact, many scientists in contemporary times also firmly believe in the existence of parallel universes and have conducted many experiments to verify it.

The only question, however, was what caused history to begin to change after the Three Kingdoms period?

Xiao Ming consulted a large number of Great Yu Empire documents on this question, but he found no unusual points, and this remained a knot in his heart.

As he was contemplating, Qian Dafu suddenly arrived outside the door, saying urgently, “Your Majesty, something has happened! The Duke of Song hit Senior Grand Secretary Pang!”

Xiao Ming snapped back to reality. Hearing this, he angrily said, “The Duke of Song!”

“Indeed! The prefectural office guards said that the Duke of Song even drew his sword in front of Senior Grand Secretary Pang. If someone dies, it will be disastrous!”

“Bang!” Xiao Ming slammed the table. “I didn’t have time to deal with them before, but now they’re getting arrogant! Go! I’d like to see what kind of trouble this Duke of Song can stir up.”

At the gate of the prefectural office, the Duke of Song was still throwing a tantrum, fueled by alcohol. Soon, Xiao Ming and Qian Dafu arrived at the prefectural office under the protection of imperial guards.

Seeing Xiao Ming, Pang Yukun walked over, clutching his bleeding nose. “Your Majesty, the Duke of Song is simply too unruly.”

Fei Ji also chimed in, “Your Majesty, look at this Duke of Song! He gambles and drinks all day, then causes trouble when he’s drunk. This is simply a disgrace to the imperial family!”

The Duke of Song, at this moment, had his back to Xiao Ming, wildly swinging and slashing with the ceremonial sword in his hand.

Incensed, Xiao Ming said to the imperial guards, “Arrest the Duke of Song!”

Upon hearing this, the imperial guards, carrying flintlock guns with fixed bayonets, rushed forward. One soldier skillfully used his bayonet to disarm the Duke of Song, sending his ceremonial sword flying, while another directly pressed the Duke of Song to the ground.

“Who are you? How dare you lay hands on me!” The Duke of Song struggled.

“It was I who ordered them to do so,” Xiao Ming’s stern voice rang out.

Hearing this voice, the Duke of Song shivered, and his drunkenness largely dissipated. He looked at Xiao Ming’s angry face, and a layer of cold sweat immediately broke out on his body.

“Your Majesty.” The Duke of Song’s body trembled uncontrollably.

Xiao Ming snorted, “Duke of Song, you are quite capable! You even dare to strike my Senior Grand Secretary!”

“Your Majesty, I dare not! I only hit him because he incited Your Majesty; he is a sycophant!” The Duke of Song cried out.

Xiao Ming already knew the Duke of Song’s purpose for causing trouble. He said, “The decision to abolish the imperial family’s stipend was my idea and has nothing to do with Senior Grand Secretary Pang. So, are you going to strike me now?”

Upon hearing this, the Duke of Song’s face turned ashen.

Xiao Ming had been watching this Duke of Song for a long time. It was precisely because of this that he became firm in his decision not to let this group of freeloaders continue to harm the Great Yu Empire.

And today, with the Duke of Song being so arrogant, he now had an excuse to “kill the chicken to scare the monkey.” Otherwise, these people would still think they were living in the era of Xiao Wenxuan.

He said loudly, “The Duke of Song has no regard for the law, and has assaulted an imperial official. His crime is unforgivable. Guards, drag the Duke of Song to the East Market and administer fifty heavy blows with a plank as a warning to others!”