Chapter Forty-Nine: As You Wish

After a busy morning, I’m feeling a bit hungry… County Magistrate Sun, may I borrow your kitchen?” Li Zhi asked.

“Please, Your Highness, make yourself at home!”

Li Zhi patted his stomach and headed toward the kitchen.

Luo Tong followed behind, excitement in his voice. “Your Highness, it’s been so long since I’ve tasted your cooking. You must make a few more dishes today!”

“You’ve performed well today, so I’ll reward you later.”

“Heh… Putting Changsun Chong in his place is my favorite thing to do. But I think that brat’s arm might be broken. If Lord Changsun blames me, you’ll have to plead for me, won’t you?”

“Plead for you?” Li Zhi shook his head lightly. “I won’t plead.”

“Huh? Why not? You can’t just stand by and do nothing!” Luo Tong was stunned.

He had only dared to punish Changsun Chong because Li Zhi had his back. Without Li Zhi…

He wouldn’t even dare to breathe in Changsun Chong’s presence!

Arriving in the kitchen, Li Zhi made use of whatever ingredients were at hand and prepared two plates of egg fried rice.

It was the simplest dish in later times, commonly seen at street stalls.

Unfortunately, it had never appeared in the Tang Dynasty!

“Your Highness…”

“I’m not abandoning you, but there’s no need to plead for you! You did nothing wrong! According to our laws, if an officer is enforcing the law and the offender resists, the officer may use force, and injury is permitted!”

“Ah, that’s right!” Luo Tong suddenly understood.

He was the law enforcer, and behind him stood the law itself. Why should he fear the offender?

“Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness. Now I’m not afraid of Changsun Wuji anymore… Even if he stands before me, I’d dare to strike his son!” Luo Tong clenched his fist.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. There’s still an issue you need to handle!” Sitting in the hall, Li Zhi tasted his egg fried rice. The flavor was excellent.

“What else is there?”

“Sun Jiali is the official enforcer in this case, but you are not! You only have the authority to enforce the law if he invites you to assist. So you must tell Sun Jiali, insist that he requested your help beforehand! Only then will you have solid ground to stand on. Otherwise, injuring the son of a Duke is a serious offense!”

“Ah!” Luo Tong gained new insight.

He now understood the case much better, and finally saw the reasoning behind Li Zhi’s actions—the law itself!

As long as you wield the weapon of law, you need fear no one!

Even the emperor must respect it!

“I’ll eat the egg fried rice later and go find Sun Jiali now to discuss this!” Concerned for his own safety, Luo Tong didn’t dare delay.

He quickly found Sun Jiali and gained his support without difficulty.

“County Magistrate Sun, I hope you understand, this matter is extremely important! You have no way out now. Only by following the Prince’s advice will you be safe!”

“I understand!” Sun Jiali wiped the sweat from his brow, his tone resolute. “I have long known my position! Changsun Chong broke the law and must be punished!”

“As the magistrate of Chang’an County, it is my duty to convict him! This time, I won’t go easy!”

…

Luo Tong was taken aback. “Who said anything about punishing Changsun Chong? I mean… the matter of you inviting me to assist! Lord Changsun, don’t say I didn’t warn you. If you don’t do as I say, you’ll bear the consequences!”

“Is this so important?” Sun Jiali looked bewildered.

“Of course! You’re the magistrate of Chang’an County, and I’m nothing. What right do I have to enforce the law… If you don’t even understand that, what are you doing as magistrate?”

“Yes, yes…” Sun Jiali finally realized.

Luo Tong had broken Changsun Chong’s arm, which, by law, was also a crime!

After all, Sun Jiali hadn’t asked Luo Tong for help!

“Rest assured, Captain Luo. This case won’t implicate you! Even if it does, it won’t be a serious crime, because everyone saw at the time that Changsun Chong was disrespectful to Prince Jin, and you, as his guard, punished him. It was reasonable, justified, and legal! Of course, I’ll insist that I requested your help to apprehend Changsun Chong!”

“That’s good!”

With everything settled, Luo Tong finally felt relieved.

He returned to the hall and ate two large bowls of egg fried rice!

…

…

Night fell.

The bright moon hung high in the sky.

Its light made Chang’an city shine as brightly as day.

Changsun Wuji stormed into the palace, furious.

“Your Majesty, you must uphold justice for your old servant!” In the imperial study, he knelt before Li Shimin, weeping and sniffling.

“Beloved Minister Changsun, rise! What has happened?”

Among all his ministers, Li Shimin relied most on Changsun Wuji.

There were three reasons.

First, during the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Changsun Wuji firmly stood by his side, helping him remove the Crown Prince Li Jiancheng. No one did better than him in that matter.

Second, he was the elder brother of Empress Changsun. As the saying goes, love for the house extends to its crow, and employing Changsun Wuji gave Li Shimin great peace of mind.

Third, Changsun Wuji was decisive in his work and bore hardships without complaint.

Anything he handled was executed perfectly.

How could Li Shimin not favor such a minister?

Changsun Wuji remained kneeling, prostrate on the ground. “Your Majesty, my son Chong’er went to a restaurant for a meal but was stopped outside. He lost his temper and forced his way in… According to the guards, it seems he got into a fight with the people inside. Later, Magistrate Sun arrived and took him to the county office, and then he was thrown into the prison!”

“This serious?”

Li Shimin had long heard that Changsun Chong was arrogant and bullied the commoners, but for Changsun Wuji’s sake, he had never intervened. Officials at all levels, including Sun Jiali of Chang’an County, had turned a blind eye. Now he had actually been thrown into prison—could someone have been killed?

If that were the case, Li Shimin could not ignore it!

“Minister Changsun, your son truly needs stricter discipline! Letting him spend a few days in jail isn’t necessarily a bad thing…”

“Your Majesty! My son is innocent. He only wanted a meal at the restaurant, but his hand was broken and he was thrown into prison. I cannot accept this!” Changsun Wuji said through gritted teeth.

“Did he take anyone’s life?”

“No, Your Majesty, he did not.”

“Truly?”

“I would not dare to lie!”

Li Shimin frowned, thinking to himself, “This doesn’t add up. If no one was killed, how could Sun Jiali dare to detain Changsun Chong? There must be more to this!”

To get to the bottom of it, Li Shimin said, “I will send an attendant with you to the county office. See if you can secure your son’s release. If you can, let it be. If you cannot, don’t come back to me! And let me say this beforehand—if your son has killed someone, even I cannot save him!”

“Yes…”

Changsun Wuji slowly stood up.

He seemed to have something else to say.

“What is it? Is there more?” Li Shimin asked.

Law is as unyielding as a mountain, and for the sake of the Changsun family’s reputation, Li Shimin had already sent someone to ask Sun Jiali for leniency. Reasonably, even if Changsun Chong had committed grave offenses, Sun Jiali would release him out of respect for Li Shimin. As emperor, this was as far as he could go.