Chapter 138 They don't treat princes like human beings!
Shen Yulou released his hand and leisurely tidied his sleeves, as if he hadn't been the one who just hit someone.
The Ninth Prince struggled to get up from the table, fumbling with his pants while pointing at Shen Yulou, trembling with anger.
"You... is this how you instruct This Prince? Did Father Emperor send you to instruct me so you could hit me?!"
Shen Yulou picked his ear, saying impatiently, "How would This Old Man have time to instruct you? What classics, histories, philosophers, or ancient texts? This Old Man is too lazy to read them himself, so what the hell would I teach you?! This Old Man is here today to teach you how to be a human being!"
After speaking, he completely ignored Ninth Imperial Prince's face, which had turned a pig-liver color, and turned to address the surrounding vendors and common people who were watching.
"Fellow villagers! Anyone who has been bullied by this Ninth Prince, or to whom he owes money that hasn't been repaid, come to This Official today to make your complaint! This Official will deliver justice for you!"
As soon as these words were uttered, the crowd instantly erupted.
Everyone looked at each other, at first still a bit hesitant, but seeing the Ninth Prince's guards, who had been beaten to the ground, and the imperial edict in Shen Yulou's hand, their courage suddenly grew.
"Me, me, me! Lord Shen! Last month, the Ninth Prince took a pair of the finest antique walnuts from me, promising fifty taels, and he hasn't given me a single copper coin to this day!" A walnut vendor was the first to rush forward.
"And me! He kicked over my pancake stall and didn't pay a single penny!"
"Sir, the day before yesterday he snatched my thrush!"
In an instant, a long line of people formed to make their complaints.
Shen Yulou moved a stool over and sat down, like a King of Hell, interrogating them one by one.
"Fifty taels for the walnuts, compensate!"
"The pancake stall, including labor and materials, thirty taels, compensate!"
"The thrush, right? That bird is precious, count it as one hundred taels, compensate!"
The Ninth Prince Ninth Imperial Prince's face turned green, and under Shen Yulou's intimidating gaze, he could only reluctantly pull out his money pouch from his robe.
In a short while, all his money pouches, including the private money hidden in his boots, were emptied completely.
At this moment, another porcelain shop owner came forward with a mournful face.
"Sir, the Ninth Prince smashed one of my blue-and-white vases the day before yesterday, saying I had placed it in the middle of the road and blocked his path. That was my family heirloom, worth five hundred taels of silver!"
Ninth Imperial Prince immediately bristled: "Are you trying to extort This Prince, you bastard? This Prince has no money left!"
Shen Yulou glanced at him, "No money? If you have no money, then work to pay off your debts!"
"What?!"
Ninth Imperial Prince's eyes nearly popped out, "You want This Prince to work for these commoners?"
"Slap!"
A loud slap landed on his face, stunning him.
Shen Yulou grabbed him by the collar and said,
"What commoners! These are your creditors, understand?"
Ninth Imperial Prince covered his face, looking at Shen Yulou's murderous gaze, and shivered, not daring to utter another sound.
This is bullying!
This Prince is a prince!
Shen Yulou pointed to the nearby walnut stall and said to Ninth Imperial Prince: "See that? This afternoon, peel that entire basket of walnuts for me! The peeled walnuts will be sold to pay off your debts!"
Looking at that basket of green-skinned walnuts, the Ninth Prince felt his scalp tingle.
A moment later, a rare sight appeared on East Market's antique street, unseen for a hundred years.
His Royal Highness, the esteemed Ninth Prince, was bent over, squatting in front of a small stall, painstakingly peeling walnuts with a small knife and brush, grunting and groaning.
He had never done such delicate work; in less than half an hour, both his hands were red and swollen, and scratched in several places by the walnut shells.
The surrounding common people formed a circle, pointing and whispering, their faces filled with schadenfreude.
An old woman selling hawthorns nearby, seeing his pitiful state, took out a dark, coarse steamed bun from her basket and offered it to him.
"Your Highness, are you hungry? Have one."
Ninth Imperial Prince looked at the coarse bun as if he had seen something dirty, and said with disdain,
"Get lost! Even if This Prince starves to death, dies outside, I will never eat a single bite of your food!"
He turned his head, looking pitifully at Shen Yulou, who was leisurely drinking tea nearby, tears welling up in his eyes.
"Teacher, isn't that enough for today? My hands hurt so much..."
Shen Yulou took a sip of tea and smiled.
"This is just the beginning, where do you think we are? This entire antique street, which household haven't you bullied? You'll have to do hard labor for me in every single one! You must learn about the hardships of the common people!"
Upon hearing this, Ninth Imperial Prince burst into tears.
"Can I not work? I'll go back! I'll go back and study hard! Won't you listen to me?"
Shen Yulou patted his face.
"What beautiful dream are you having?"
"Want to study? It's not that easy! From now on, you are not allowed to touch a single page of a book, only work! Don't you like playing with walnuts? From now on, whenever you're idle, you'll peel walnuts for This Old Man! This Official will sell the peeled ones to pay off your debts!
Also, don't you like raising animals? Perfect, Butcher Wang's pigsty in West Market needs someone to feed the pigs, and I think you're very suitable! Just stay here and work hard for This Old Man!"
Ninth Imperial Prince was completely despairing.
He worked until dark, so hungry his stomach was pressed against his back, barely able to stand.
Shen Yulou was simply a devil!
Not only did he not treat him like a prince.
He didn't treat him like a human at all!
Those commoners were watching nearby, it was utterly shameful!
Father Emperor must be senile, how could he give him such an imperial edict?
When he returned to the palace, he would definitely impeach him!
The guards watched from the side, heartbroken, but with Shen Yulou sitting there, they didn't dare to utter a sound.
They had heard about who Shen Yulou was.
He held an imperial edict, and he even had Song Hu as a guard; who among them dared to be presumptuous?
Night fell.
The old woman selling hawthorns next door brought over another steaming bowl of stewed wild vegetables and two coarse steamed buns, placing them before Shen Yulou.
"Lord Shen, it's dinner time, please have some food."
Shen Yulou didn't mind, smiling as he took out a few copper coins and handed them over, then ate heartily from the bowl.
"Thank you, Auntie. This Official will never eat the common people's food for free; you must accept the money."
The stewed wild vegetables and coarse steamed buns emitted a fragrant aroma.
Although they couldn't compare to the delicacies the Ninth Prince usually ate, at this moment, having been hungry all day, this food was already a delicacy to him.
His stomach grumbled uncontrollably, and he couldn't stop swallowing his saliva.
He moved closer to Shen Yulou, pretending to be calm as he asked,
"Can something made by commoners be delicious?"
Shen Yulou didn't even lift an eyelid, "To eat the common people's food, you must pay."
Ninth Imperial Prince said with a mournful face: "This Prince truly has no money left!"
Shen Yulou suddenly extended his hand, swift as lightning.
He snatched the valuable dragon-patterned jade pendant hanging around Ninth Imperial Prince's neck and casually tucked it into his own robe.
"This will be the payment for the meal."
Ninth Imperial Prince cursed inwardly.
Damn it, a bandit!
Shen Yulou pushed the other bowl of wild vegetables and coarse steamed buns towards him.
Ninth Imperial Prince no longer cared about a prince's dignity; he grabbed a coarse steamed bun and devoured it with the stewed wild vegetables.
After a few bites, he chuckled, with vegetable leaves still clinging to his face.
"So delicious.