Chapter 288: Dealing with Li Linfu's Two Sons
"Yang Shaoqing, that's the son of the Right Prime Minister? What are you doing?"

Mu Sanniang was horrified.

Yang Yan's action was obviously intended to punish Li Linfu's son.

She couldn't take responsibility if anything went wrong.

Mu Sanniang is a shrewd person. She knows that the court is now divided into three factions.

One faction, led by Li Xuan, advocated reform.

One faction, led by Li Linfu, strove to be conservative.

Finally, there are the neutrals, who have no leader and simply do not participate in the struggle between the reformists and conservatives, and are only concerned with protecting themselves.

Even Prime Minister Pei Kuan could be considered a reformist, because Li Xuan put in a lot of effort to help Pei Kuan become prime minister.

Pei Kuan's grandson and nephew, and close friend of Li Xuan.

In terms of apparent strength, Li Xuan is much stronger than Li Linfu, and no decrees from Li Linfu have been issued for several months.

It was rumored throughout the court and the public that Li Linfu had a hard time moving in the court and was pinned to the ground by Li Xuan.

From a powerful prime minister, he became a yes-man like Niu Xianke. He had to marry his cousin's daughter to Li Xuan as a concubine to protect himself.

Li Xuan started from political reform, relocation of people, marriage adjustment, to Ciyutang, Jishengtang, and new imperial examination.

Continuously appointing and dismissing ministers and local officials!

All of them are demonstrating their influence.

It is well known that Yang Yan is Li Xuan's minion.

Even though Li Linfu had lost his power, a lean camel was still bigger than a horse. With just a breath, he could destroy Mu Sanniang from all hope of recovery.

"The court promulgated the Marriage Correction Law, punishing violators. One of the provisions states that prostitutes in brothels are not allowed to receive customers in any way before the age of 18, including accompanying dignitaries on outings. The Marriage Correction Law was officially promulgated in the first month of the year, giving Chang'an brothels six months to correct the situation. Now six months have passed. Have you implemented it?"

"The law stipulates that if a brothel does not comply with the order of the marriage correction law, the brothel will be severely punished. If a customer knows that a prostitute is no older than 18 years old and still has fun with her, he will be severely punished!"

"I want to check to see if there are any prostitutes under the age of eighteen in Baihua Tower and Qingxue Tower..."

Yang Yan's face turned serious and he spoke sternly.

"This……"

Mu Sanniang was stunned and didn't know where to start.

The court had such a law, but she didn't care.

A top brothel like Lingcuilou would definitely not force women of good character into prostitution.

The source of prostitutes in Lingcui Tower were generally women registered in the music academy, bought pretty maids, and some good-looking women from decent families who were willing to join.

In order to achieve sustainable development, many brothel owners would train prostitutes from a young age.

Prostitutes only start to receive customers when they are fifteen or sixteen years old.

If the customer offers a high price, thirteen years old is not a problem.

The imperial court's order clearly stated that prostitutes under the age of 18 should return to the backstage and only receive customers when they are over 18 years old.

Originally, Li Xuan issued a very strict order prohibiting brothels from purchasing slaves under the age of 18, but he was eventually persuaded by his subordinates to cancel the order.

Slaves were originally lowly people, and this decree also meant challenging the "lowly people system" that has existed since ancient times, but the time was not yet ripe.

"Yang Shaoqing, please be flexible on such a small matter."

After hesitating for a moment, Mu Sanniang took out a piece of gold from behind her back and tried to bribe Yang Yan with the gold so that he would turn a blind eye.

"Don't you know that I am an honest official? Do you know the sin of bribing officials?"

"This piece of gold is enough to get you exiled."

Yang Yan was furious and shook off Mu Sanniang's hand.

He was carrying out Prime Minister Li's order. If he dared to take the gold today, he would be in trouble tomorrow.

"Please forgive me, young sir!"

Mu Sanniang was frightened and quickly put away the gold and knelt down.

Faced with Yang Yan's dominance, she dared not speak anymore.

I just hope this is an ordinary incident and at most I have to pay some fine.

"Just pretend I didn't see it this time and don't stop me. This is the 'severe crackdown order' formulated by Prime Minister Li. If Lingcuilou violates the law, be prepared to pay a fine!"

Yang Yan was not a pure and innocent person, and he did not pursue the matter of Mu Sanniang's bribery.

He missed Mu Sanniang and went straight to Baihua Tower, which he was more familiar with.

The soldiers from the Dali Temple followed orders. They ignored Li Yi's servants and broke directly into the Baihua Tower.

For a moment, there were screams and chaos in Baihua Tower.

"Who asked you to come here to ruin my fun? Get out!"

Li Yi threw the cup away and cursed angrily.

Although Li Yi is married and has children, he still shouldn't get used to it.

His father was the chief prime minister, and the forceful intrusion of these law enforcement soldiers, who were not even imperial guards, made him lose face in front of his friends.

The Dali Temple soldiers turned a deaf ear, drew their swords, controlled the scene, and waited for Yang Yan to arrive.

Li Yi and others could only curse. Facing the gleaming knife, they would not dare to attack even if they were asked to do so.

"It's you! Yang Yan..."

After Yang Yan entered, Li Yi said with gritted teeth.

This traitor once drank with him, and eventually betrayed his father and joined his lifelong enemy Li Xuan.

When seeing Yang Yan, Li Yi thought of some unpleasant memories.

Li Xuan, who used to be as idle as him, became a well-known prime minister and King of Tianshui in just a few years, while he can only hold an idle official position below the eighth rank and get drunk in this Lingcui Tower.

He had seen Li Xuan's carriage, which, like his father's, had the Jinwu Guards leading the way.

Even if Li Xuan was sitting in the carriage, he had to take a detour, for fear of being recognized and laughed at by Li Xuan.

"How dare you! An eighth-rank official meet a fourth-rank official and call him by his name. Didn't the Right Prime Minister teach you etiquette?"

Yang Yan had the support of Li Xuan, and was very unhappy that Li Yi called him by his name directly.

"What on earth do you want to do?"

Li Yi looked at the soldiers around him and felt quite fearful.

"According to Prime Minister Li's order, Jingzhao Prefecture and Dali Temple conducted a surprise inspection of Chang'an brothels and punished those who violated the law."

Yang Yan said loudly.

"Humph!"

Li Yi didn't understand what Yang Yan meant. Thinking of his father's recent warning to them, which involved Li Xuan, he swallowed his anger and didn't want to cause trouble.

After a cold snort, Yang Yan prepared to leave Baihua Tower with a group of playboys.

"Wait! Hachiro and others need to wait."

Yang Yan ordered his soldiers to block the way of Li Yi and other playboys.

"Am I guilty?"

Li Yi asked Yang Yan back, and he laughed out of anger.

In his opinion, Yang Yan was a villain who had succeeded in his career. He used to be polite in front of him, but now that he had Li Xuan's support, he dared to act so arrogantly.

“Maybe, maybe not!”

Yang Yan said in a deep voice.

"What do you mean?" Li Yi said angrily.

Yang Yan did not reply to Li Yi, but went to the prostitutes in Baihua Tower and asked a young-looking singing girl, "How old are you?"

"sixteen……"

The singer answered truthfully with trembling voice.

This singer has only seen the smiles of people seeking pleasure, but has never seen an official who is intimidating without even getting angry.

Yang Yun was in charge of the Dali Temple. When he was calm and composed, he could capture a prostitute from a brothel at any time.

"How old are you?"

"fifteen……"

"Seventeen!"

"nineteen!"

"sixteen!"

There are dozens of prostitutes in Baihua Tower.

Whether they are serving drinks, dancing, or playing musical instruments.

Yang Yun picked out the young and young ones and asked them one by one.

Young men from Wuling competed to tie their hair, and they knew not how many red silks they had for one song. The silver combs on their hairpins broke from the clapping of their hands, and the blood-red silk skirts were stained with wine.

Prostitutes rely on their youth to make a living, so they never get too old.

Upon questioning, it was discovered that twelve of them were under the age of eighteen.

It seems that Li Yi likes this type.

Li Yi was still unclear about Yang Yan's intentions. Just when he was about to get angry again, Yang Yan asked first, "Li Yi, you know the law but you broke it, but do you know your crime?"

"I don't understand?"

Even if Li Yi committed a crime, the case has long been unsolved. How could it be a crime for him to have fun in this brothel?
"Prime Minister Li promulgated the law of marriage prevention, which prohibits prostitutes from appearing in public before the age of 18. You knew they were under the age of 18, but you still ordered 12 of them. This is a serious crime!"

"Come here, first give him thirty lashes, then take him back to the Dali Temple for interrogation!"

Yang Yan shouted angrily and gave orders to his soldiers.

Li Yi widened his eyes.

The soldiers were also confused. Li Yi was the son of the prime minister, so they hesitated to move forward.

"This is an order from Prime Minister Li. Anyone who dares not to obey or show any mercy must take off his clothes immediately."

Yang Yan shouted to the soldiers.

"Snapped!"

Yang Yan's confidant took the first step and whipped Li Yi.

"what……"

Before Li Yi could react, he screamed and was knocked to the ground.

In order to keep their jobs, the other soldiers immediately followed suit.

What's more, it was Li Xiang's order.

Li Xiang is a synonym for immense power, and if anything goes wrong, Li Xiang will be held responsible.

"what……"

Li Yi wanted to curse, but the whips were coming so fast that every word he uttered was cut off by a whip.

Yang Yan's confidant deliberately slapped Li Yi in the face, and his face was immediately covered in blood.

After a shrill scream, Li Yi fainted on the spot.

"Keep pumping!"

Yang Yan gave the order expressionlessly.

Because Li Xuan’s order was: Beat them to death!
It means that Li Yi can be killed directly!

"what……"

The unconscious Li Yi was awakened by the shock.

The clothes were torn and the face could no longer be seen clearly.

Fainted several times.

It was clearly thirty lashes.

But he was beaten at least a hundred times...

Li Yi was covered in wounds, his breath was weak, and there was not a single intact part of his body.

"stop!"

Only after he fainted again did Yang Yan call for a halt and said, "Take him back to the Dali Temple!"

"Who else ordered prostitutes under the age of eighteen?"

Yang Yun asked the other playboys.

These playboys' faces turned pale with fright. How could this happen?

Li Yi is the beloved son of the Right Prime Minister!
They suspected that Li Yi had been beaten to death.

Faced with Yang Yan's questioning, these dandies were afraid of being beaten to death. They shook their heads like rattles and said one after another: "We didn't do it. It was all Li Balang's fault!"

"Sign and seal!"

Yang Yan wrote a document and asked them to sign it.

These dandies are spineless wimps, write down your names immediately.

They were telling the truth, all of this was arranged by Li Yi.

They had long forgotten that the marriage law prohibited girls under the age of eighteen from appearing in brothels.

They thought it was a law for the common people.

My Lords, how can there be such restrictions?

It's not over yet.

Yang Yan rushed to Qingxue Tower again and ordered that Li Linfu's nineteenth son be whipped seventy or eighty times.

The nineteenth son is not even old enough to be crowned, which is even worse.

Mu Sanniang was heartbroken when she saw Balang and Shijiulang being dragged out covered in blood.

"There are so many prostitutes under the age of 18 in Lingcui Building. Let's seal off the brothel first and wait for the fine to be paid!"

Yang Yan's next words were like a bolt from the blue to Mu Sanniang.

As for how much the fine should be, it would depend on the number of prostitutes under the age of eighteen in front of Lingcui Tower, and would be decided by Li Xuan.

Yang Yun searched for at least fifty people.

He knew that Prime Minister Li would definitely use Lingcui Tower as an example. Even if he didn't lose everything, the wealth accumulated over decades would all go to the court.

Such things don't just happen in Lingcui Tower.

Other brothels in Nanqu, Beiqu and Zhongqu were also counted by officers and soldiers for the number of girls under the age of eighteen.

Men who had affairs with prostitutes under the age of eighteen were taken back to Jingzhao Prefecture or Dali Temple, and those who disobeyed were directly whipped.

It seemed like this was just an act of enforcing the law, but the fact that Li Linfu's son was dragged away with his life or death in doubt soon shook Chang'an...

(End of this chapter)