Before receiving the warhorses, Jin Feng already knew that someone would definitely come to contest them.
However, he had not expected the other party to act so quickly.
The war had only ended a few days ago. The Ninth Princess had handed the warhorses to him just yesterday, and today someone had already shown up at his door.
“Xue Henglu? Never heard of him,” Jin Feng thought for a moment, then turned to the Ninth Princess. “What is his background?”
In the entire Xichuan City, anyone of importance knew that Jin Feng had just helped the Ninth Princess win a victory.
Since the visitor had the confidence to come calling, he could not possibly be an ordinary general.
Nor could he be unaware of Jin Feng’s relationship with the Ninth Princess. He might even know that Jin Feng was currently with her.
Yet he still dared to show up, which clearly showed he had strong backing.
It was probably also a demonstration of power.
The message was that even with the Ninth Princess present, he was not afraid.
“Xue Henglu is the second son of Duke Xue Guo. His aunt is Consort Xue, and his younger sister is the official wife of the Crown Prince. The duke’s title will pass to the eldest legitimate son, so he has attached himself to the Crown Prince and is deeply trusted by him. He commands a third-grade army called the Xiongwu Army, with roughly one or two thousand men.”
The Ninth Princess glanced around, then said in a low voice, “The Crown Prince sent him with the Xiongwu Army to Xichuan precisely to counterbalance Brother Xin Yao.”
“Oh, no wonder he dares to extort me even knowing you are here. So he is the future brother-in-law of the nation!” Jin Feng suddenly understood.
He had guessed the other party was no ordinary noble, but he had not anticipated such a prominent background.
Behind him stood not only a duke, but also the Crown Prince himself.
Jin Feng thought for a moment, then looked at Da Liu. “Did he say how many he wants to requisition?”
“He said he wants to requisition all of them. He also said the army lacks food and clothing, so he wants to requisition our grain stores and cloth stores as well,” Da Liu replied.
“This Young Master Xue certainly has a big appetite!”
Jin Feng nearly laughed from anger.
The so-called requisition was nothing more than outright robbery.
Not only did he want to seize all the warhorses, but he also wanted the grain and cloth.
“Your Highness, when the Danzhu attacked before, where was this Young Master Xue? How come I never heard of him?” Jin Feng asked.
“I heard that before the siege, he took the Xiongwu Army and found an excuse to go to Jianzhou.”
The Ninth Princess showed contempt. “He probably knew we had won, so he came back to see if there was any advantage to be gained.”
“So he has set his sights on me?” Jin Feng sneered.
“Sir, Xue Henglu has the Crown Prince and Duke Xue Guo behind him. He is very difficult to deal with. If this palace offers one hundred warhorses, sir, you can send him away with that.”
The Ninth Princess sensed something wrong in Jin Feng’s tone. Fearing he might clash with Xue Henglu, she prepared to appease the situation.
“Send him away, my foot!”
Jin Feng sneered. “If I give this Young Master Xue one hundred horses today, tomorrow there will be Young Master Zhou and Young Master Zhang coming to me. These few horses would not even be enough to fill the gaps in their teeth if divided among them!”
Nobles always picked on the weak. Both he and the Ninth Princess had warhorses, but he was easier to bully than she was.
They would first strip him clean of his warhorses before anyone turned their attention to the Ninth Princess.
This precedent absolutely could not be set, even if the Ninth Princess was willing to offer horses.
These people were a pack of hyenas. The moment they sensed an opportunity, they would swarm.
If they could extort his warhorses today, tomorrow they might seize his soap, black knives, spinning wheels!
In the end, even Xihe Bay might be carved up.
“Where are they now?” Jin Feng asked.
“I had just received the news and came to inform sir,” Da Liu replied. “They should still be waiting outside the mountain.”
As soon as he finished speaking, another personal guard came galloping up. “Sir, Xue Henglu has forced his way into the stables and killed several of the commoners looking after the horses!”
“What?!”
Jin Feng was shocked.
After the Ninth Princess had allocated the warhorses to him, Jin Feng had sent men to bring the horses to Great Python Slope, keeping them in an open area north of the camp.
Because he lacked manpower, he had recruited some people from among the captives taken earlier to temporarily care for the warhorses.
These commoners were pitiable. Many had their homes burned by Danzhu cavalry.
Jin Feng gave them work, which also provided them temporary shelter.
Who would have thought that these commoners, who had not died at the hands of cavalry, nor in the prisoner camp, nor in the battle to seize the Danzhu horse camp, would be beaten to death at Great Python Slope by a spoiled noble son.
Jin Feng felt rage surging in his heart. He asked coldly, “How many men did they bring?”
“It looks like more than a thousand,” the guard replied.
“He knows I have a thousand warhorses and brings more than a thousand men. He certainly came well prepared!”
Jin Feng sneered, then shouted, “Da Liu, signal arrows! Assemble!”
“Yes!” Da Liu rushed out of the tent and fired three signal arrows into the sky.
A few hundred metres away, Monkey was sparring with Chen Fengzhi on the drill ground. Hearing the signal arrows, he threw down his wooden sword and ran straight to the tent.
Two minutes later, when Monkey emerged again, he was already in black armour, fully armed!
Not only Monkey, but the other escorts training on the drill ground did the same.
In mere moments, the several hundred escorts still fit for combat had all assembled. Led by Zhang Liang, they marched straight to Jin Feng’s main tent.
“Sir, you must not be impulsive!”
Seeing the murderous look on Jin Feng’s face, the Ninth Princess hurriedly tried to dissuade him. “Xue Henglu is not Zhou Wenyuan. He is the legitimate second son of Duke Xue Guo and a trusted confidant of the Crown Prince. It would be best for sir not to come into conflict with him!”
“Your Highness need not worry. I am only going to take a look.”
Jin Feng smiled at the Ninth Princess, then limped out of the tent.
After several days of rest, he no longer had to hop on one foot.
Outside the tent, Zhang Liang arrived with the escort team just in time.
“Someone wants to requisition our warhorses and has killed the commoners tending them. Everyone, what do you say we should do?”
Jin Feng looked at the escorts and asked.
“Take him down!”
The escorts roared in unison.
“Move out!”
Jin Feng led the way towards the temporary horse field.
The Ninth Princess quickly followed with Qin’er and sent Zhu’er to summon Qing Xin Yao and Meng Tianhai.
Along the way, the Ninth Princess still tried to persuade Jin Feng further, but he completely ignored her. In the end, he simply hid among the crowd of escorts.
North of Great Python Slope was an open area.
Jin Feng’s thousand warhorses were kept here, ready to be taken back to Jinchuan once matters in Xichuan were settled in a few days.
By the time Jin Feng and the others reached the horse field, they could see from afar a large group of soldiers surrounding it.
These soldiers all looked slovenly and undisciplined. At a glance, they were clearly a bunch of ruffians.
Outside the field was a row of tents where the commoners helping Jin Feng with the horses were temporarily staying.
A young noble with an arrogant expression, dressed in gorgeous clothes, was holding his nose in distaste.
Behind him, several dozen commoners caring for the horses were kneeling in rows on the ground.
Many had bruises and swellings on their faces.
Kneeling at the very front was Zhou Youda, with a large palm print on his face.
Even though his family home had been ransacked by cavalry, the Zhou residence was still standing, and their ancestral fields remained.
With Zhou Youda’s family background and abilities, he naturally would not come to feed horses for Jin Feng.
“Why is he here?”
Jin Feng was stunned for a moment, somewhat surprised.
