Everyone was stunned for a moment, then burst into an uproar...

"No way, the execution was supposed to happen today at 3 pm, and now they’re saying the Fourth Prince escaped? I don’t believe it."

"The Emperor is just putting on a show, he never actually wanted to kill the Fourth Prince, he’s doing this on purpose for us to see."

"Exactly, the Emperor has the nerve to say that when a prince commits a crime, he’s equal to a commoner, it’s clearly fooling us common people. What fairness does the Emperor have? It’s only us commoners who suffer."

"Right, right, the Emperor doesn’t keep his word, let’s not believe him from now on."

In the tea house, everyone was agitated. They had been excited all night, losing sleep at midnight, coming here to celebrate that the Fourth Prince finally got his just desserts, but now that they heard the Fourth Prince escaped, they were naturally very emotional.

The government officials, seeing the situation, angrily waved their weapons and shouted at everyone, "You unruly people, how dare you speak ill of the Emperor, are you trying to rebel?"

Everyone was stunned, their expressions visibly fearful.

However, among the many customers, there were some not afraid to die, who immediately retorted, "What’s this, the Emperor is fooling us. He had already posted an Imperial Edict saying the Fourth Prince would be executed, and he changes his mind at the last minute, and we’re not allowed to speak? Does the phrase ’a ruler’s words are not to be taken lightly’ mean nothing?"

"Right, right, it’s the Emperor who doesn’t keep his word, we can’t be blamed." Others chimed in.

The government officials shouted angrily, "Stop spouting nonsense! What change of plan, this is an unexpected situation, the Emperor didn’t want this either."

The commoners started speaking over each other again, "With the Clan Authority Mansion being so strict, could the Fourth Prince really have escaped if the Emperor hadn’t deliberately allowed it? You’re just lying."

"Right, right, it had to be the Emperor who deliberately let him escape, he’s fooling us, the Fourth Prince is his own son, how could he really execute him?"

"You people are incorrigible, haven’t we told you, it’s an accident, why keep saying it’s deliberate?" The government officials were also frustrated.

"Forget it, let’s not bother with them anymore, let’s go look somewhere else!" The Emperor had given a deadline, and they had to capture the Fourth Prince by then, or they’d be punished.

"But they’re talking nonsense."

"So what? There are so many common people, we can’t just lock them all up, the jails can’t hold that many people."

The tea house was crowded, with at least over a hundred people, because today was the Fourth Prince’s execution day, and everyone had come rushing to the streets for the spectacle, leaving the liquor houses and tea stands bustling with business.

The government officials took a tour of the first and second floors of the tea house with portraits in hand, and left when they didn’t find anything unusual.

As soon as the soldiers left, everyone began to discuss again...

"Oh dear! What should we do? Should we still watch the show or not?"

"Watch what? The Fourth Prince has already escaped, who’s going to be executed?"

"Exactly, let’s go, let’s not waste our tea money." They were all just ordinary commoners, usually too frugal to spend on tea house visits.

"Right, let’s go, I have many things waiting for me at home."

In a flash, more than half of the guests left the tavern, the ones remaining were the sons of wealthy families and the noble masters.

"Hey, hey, hey...! Why’s everyone leaving? Your buns haven’t come yet!" The shopkeeper, not knowing what happened, had just come out from the kitchen and was alarmed to see a large number of guests leaving, and couldn’t help but shout anxiously from behind.

Waiter: "Shopkeeper, don’t call out, it’s useless."

The shopkeeper looked baffled and asked, "What’s going on, what happened? Did you offend the customers?"

The waiter quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no, it’s not my fault." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The shopkeeper looked unconvinced, "Then why’s everyone running away?"

It was a rare occasion for the Fourth Prince’s execution day, the shopkeeper had been planning to make a lot of money today!

Waiter: "The Fourth Prince escaped."

The shopkeeper was stunned: "Ah? What happened? When did it happen?"