Da Liu took an iron megaphone out of the saddlebag and handed it to Jin Feng.
“Brothers, things have come to this point. I will not hide it from you any longer. This time we are going to the county office to kill the county magistrate!”
Jin Feng held up the iron megaphone and shouted, “Any brother who does not want to take part can leave now!”
“Kill the county magistrate?”
Many escorts gasped in shock at Jin Feng’s words!
Although most of the escorts were rough, uneducated men, they still understood what killing a county magistrate meant.
A county magistrate was the parent official of a county and represented the imperial court.
Killing the county magistrate was the same as rebellion!
In feudal times, rebellion was the greatest crime. If caught, the punishment was execution of the entire nine clans!
“Sir, without your help, probably no one in my family would have survived this year. From the day I joined the Xīhé Bay veteran team, this life of mine has belonged to you!”
Houzi was the first to respond. “Sir, wherever you go, Houzi will follow!”
“These useless officials do nothing proper. All day long they only think about how to squeeze oil and water from the common people. They should have died long ago!”
Da Zhuang shouted along, “Sir, none of the brothers here are cowards. Let alone killing a county magistrate. Even if you want to kill the prefect, the brothers will go with you!”
“You two want to follow, then follow yourselves. Do not stir up others to agree for them!”
Jin Feng shouted, “This is a road of no return. Once you step onto it, there is no turning back. Every brother here has family, dependants, and clansmen. Whatever you choose is your own freedom.
The brothers present are all veterans of the escort agency. We are brothers who have gone through life and death together for the agency!
Those who choose to keep following me, we will continue to fight side by side in the future.
Those who choose to leave, no one had better say sour words. We have been brothers. Let us part on good terms!”
Hearing Jin Feng speak like this, Houzi and Da Zhuang could only lower their heads.
“I will give everyone the time it takes for one stick of incense to think it over!”
Jin Feng signalled to Da Liu to light an incense stick. “Those willing to follow me to kill the county magistrate, move to the right side. Those who want to leave can return to the village now. You can continue working in the factory or settle your pay and go home. Either is fine!”
“I follow Sir!”
As soon as Jin Feng finished speaking, Houzi immediately urged his horse to the right side of the large rock.
“I follow Sir too!”
Da Zhuang was the second.
Once someone took the lead, others followed.
Soon, twenty or thirty escorts joined them and made the choice to follow.
But more escorts still stood in place.
If it were just suppressing bandits, the escorts would have followed Jin Feng without a second word.
But rebellion involved the survival of entire clans. Many escorts showed hesitation on their faces.
As the incense burned shorter and shorter, the number of escorts choosing to follow Jin Feng steadily grew.
Yet some still remained where they were.
Finally, one escort jumped down from his warhorse and walked to the front of the large rock with a face full of shame.
His family was a large clan. Counting the members within the nine degrees of kinship, there were more than a thousand people. He truly did not dare follow Jin Feng in rebellion.
Da Zhuang opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Houzi pulled him back.
The escort knelt before Jin Feng and kowtowed with tears streaming down his face.
After kowtowing, just as he was about to speak, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the official road not far away.
A cavalry unit of thirty or forty men came galloping from the distance.
Houzi leaped up onto a nearby tree, shaded his eyes with his hand, and looked over.
“No flag of ours. Not people from the escort agency!”
“First company, form defensive formation! Second company, protect Sir!”
Da Zhuang also charged out from the group.
The escorts who had still been hesitating now all sprang into action. Following Da Zhuang’s orders, they quickly formed a defensive formation.
Da Liu pulled Jin Feng down from the rock and surrounded him in the centre.
“Sir, it looks like the Ninth Princess!”
Houzi, still in the tree, narrowed his eyes and said.
“Ninth Princess?” Jin Feng was stunned. He pushed Da Liu aside and walked to the roadside.
The cavalry also came to a stop.
The leading young woman pulled off the face veil covering her face. Who else could it be but the Ninth Princess?
But the Ninth Princess at this moment had lost her former calm and grace. She was covered in the hardships of travel.
Because she had been rushing through the cold wind for a long time, many places on her hands and face were frostbitten.
“Your Highness, did you not return to the capital?”
Jin Feng asked in confusion.
“This palace… This palace…”
Looking at Jin Feng, tears welled up in the Ninth Princess’s eyes.
Her voice became choked. She tried twice but could not get out a complete sentence.
To catch up with Jin Feng, she had not dared rest for a single day after leaving the capital.
It was already the twelfth lunar month. The Ninth Princess had endured the biting west wind all the way from the capital to Jinchuan.
Especially in the last few days, after learning that Jin Feng had entered Sichuan territory, she had barely eaten proper meals and kept rushing on the road.
From childhood to now, when had she ever suffered like this?
Fortunately, everything was worth it.
She had finally caught up.
Before seeing Jin Feng, she had relied on her determination to keep going and had not felt much.
But after seeing Jin Feng, the Ninth Princess suddenly felt like crying.
However, her pride as a princess made her hold back the urge. She took a long deep breath and forced herself to regain her proper composure.
With a slight smile, she greeted Jin Feng. “Sir, I finally caught up with you! May I speak with you privately for a moment?”
Jin Feng looked deeply at the Ninth Princess for a while, then turned and walked into the small grove behind the large rock.
The Ninth Princess also dismounted and followed him in.
Qin’er wanted to follow, but the Ninth Princess stopped her.
“Sir, you just returned to Jinchuan. Instead of going back to see Xiaorou, why did you come to the county office?”
The Ninth Princess quickened her steps to catch up with Jin Feng and asked with a smile.
“Your Highness must have already seen Xiaobei. Why ask when you already know?”
The Ninth Princess’s appearance clearly showed she had been travelling non-stop.
The fact that she could come straight here meant she had met Tang Xiaobei.
Naturally, she should also know Jin Feng’s purpose.
Hearing this, a trace of sadness flashed across the Ninth Princess’s face. “Sir, must you really kill Cai Liuyang?”
“After Your Highness entered Sichuan, did you see the refugees? Did you see the common people dead by the roadside? Did you see children whose faces had been gnawed beyond recognition by starving wolves?”
Jin Feng stepped closer to the Ninth Princess one step at a time. “Does Your Highness know how many common people died in Jinchuan during the previous bandit troubles?”
“Sir, did you not capture Xu Pangzi’s secretary?”
The Ninth Princess said, “Then Sir should know that the one plotting behind the scenes was not Cai Liuyang, but Xu Pangzi and his group in western Sichuan. The bandit troubles in Jinchuan were also caused by them, not planned by Cai Liuyang!”
“Your Highness is very well informed about matters in Xīhé Bay.”
Jin Feng gave a cold laugh. “Since that is the case, surely Your Highness also knows what Cai Liuyang has done?”
“Cai Liuyang wanted to target Sir’s factories. That was wrong of him. But does the crime deserve death?”
“That was my own oversight that allowed him to exploit a loophole. I am not here for revenge over that matter.”
Jin Feng said, “I want to kill him because he colludes with the powerful families! Because as county magistrate, he does absolutely nothing! If he were a competent county magistrate and had actively resisted the bandits, far fewer people in Jinchuan would have died!”
“Sir, give me some time. I will definitely deal with Cai Liuyang!” the Ninth Princess said.
“No need to trouble Your Highness. I can handle it myself!”
Jin Feng did not want to say more. He waved his hand and turned to leave. “Not just Cai Liuyang. There is also Xie Xiguang in Guangyuan, Xu Pangzi in western Sichuan, and the chief eunuch your father sent. I will kill them one by one!”
“Whoever stands in my way, I will kill whoever it is!”
