The Ninth Princess and Jin Feng were able to successfully exchange for the warhorses from the commoners, and Zhou Youda deserved the primary credit for that.
Because what Han Feng had promised was five taels of silver per horse, but when they arrived at Old Crow Gully, the people from the chamber of commerce said they wanted to exchange with grain and cloth instead.
Jin Feng was famous in Jinchuan and the capital, but in Xichuan City, very few commoners knew of him.
The first thought of the commoners was that Han Feng had deceived them.
Fortunately, Zhou Youda stepped forward to vouch for them.
The commoners did not trust the Jinchuan Chamber of Commerce, nor even the Ninth Princess, but almost everyone knew of the Zhou family, which had a long-standing reputation for benevolence.
Zhou Youda used his family’s old residence and fields as guarantee for Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess, and only then did the commoners agree to the exchange.
He had heard that Zhou Youda had been very busy lately, so seeing him here surprised Jin Feng somewhat.
Just as he was about to go over and greet Zhou Youda, the young noble in gorgeous clothes blocked Jin Feng with his personal guards.
“You must be Baron Qingshui Jin Feng, then? Quite a grand display!”
The young noble in gorgeous clothes glanced at the escort team behind him, his eyes full of disdain. “What, does your Zhenyuan Escort Bureau intend to raise a hand against this young master?”
Though this fellow was overbearing and spoiled, he was not a fool. In his words, he first defined Jin Feng and his group’s identity as an escort bureau.
An escort bureau was a civilian organisation, whereas the Xiongwu Army was an official army. According to the laws of Great Kang, if the military had need, they had the right to requisition materials from the people.
This included escort bureaus.
In this way, he found a reasonable justification for his outright robbery.
Under this pretext, no matter how formidable Jin Feng’s black-armoured team was, they would not dare to act against him, or it would amount to rebellion.
This was also the confidence that allowed Xue Henglu to come to Great Python Slope looking for trouble.
Seeing that Jin Feng ignored him, Xue Henglu said angrily, “Our Xiongwu Army has a mission and requires warhorses. These warhorses are hereby requisitioned! Send someone to prepare fodder for the warhorses, enough for at least one month!”
At these words, even the Ninth Princess following behind grew furious. “Xue Henglu, do not go too far!”
Not only was he seizing the warhorses outright, but he also demanded that Jin Feng prepare the fodder.
This was equivalent to going to sleep with someone else’s wife and requiring the husband to make the bed first and fan them from the side.
This was no longer provocation. It was outright humiliation of Jin Feng.
“Oh, Your Highness the Princess is here too?”
Xue Henglu pretended he had only just noticed the Ninth Princess, casually cupping his hands in a perfunctory greeting.
Jin Feng had guessed correctly. Xue Henglu truly did not take the Ninth Princess seriously.
Back in the capital, many people compared the Ninth Princess to the Crown Prince.
The Ninth Princess had both ability and tactics. The Crown Prince’s brilliance was completely overshadowed by her.
Many ministers privately said that the Crown Prince was inferior even to a woman and, compared to the Ninth Princess, far too mediocre.
To make matters worse, a few years ago, the Crown Prince had gone carousing in a brothel with several spoiled nobles and been recognised.
The heir apparent himself, consorting in a brothel, and in an extremely unseemly manner…
The incident quickly became a hot topic in the capital, sweeping away the imperial family’s dignity.
Emperor Chen Ji flew into a great rage over it. He not only confined the Crown Prince for three months but also ordered him to expel all the spoiled nobles who had gone to the brothel with him from the capital.
The Crown Prince took the opportunity to assign Xue Henglu to Xichuan.
Xichuan had always been the territory of the Qing family, who had long been close to the Third Prince.
It was not certain that the Crown Prince would definitely become the emperor.
After the brothel incident, many ministers memorialised the emperor, saying the Crown Prince lacked virtue and requesting that he be deposed and a new heir apparent appointed.
The Third Prince was his greatest rival.
The Crown Prince sending Xue Henglu to Xichuan had no grand purpose. He was there to monitor Qing Xin Yao and cause trouble when possible.
As the governor of Xichuan, Qing Xin Yao was the greatest pillar of the Qing family besides Duke Qing Guo.
If an opportunity arose to topple Qing Xin Yao, it would be a severe blow to the Qing family.
Unfortunately, Qing Xin Yao gave him no such opportunity.
While he monitored Qing Xin Yao, Qing Xin Yao also had men watching him.
But Xue Henglu, an outsider spoiled noble, was no match for a regional governor like Qing Xin Yao.
Twice, Qing Xin Yao caught him red-handed and threatened to execute him. The Xue family spent considerable effort to save him.
After that, Xue Henglu learned his lesson and no longer dared to provoke Qing Xin Yao directly, only monitoring him quietly.
In turn, Qing Xin Yao could do nothing about him.
The two sides thus lived in mutual antagonism.
If they were in the capital, Xue Henglu would never dare speak to the Ninth Princess in this way.
But now everyone knew that, from the day of the marriage alliance, the Ninth Princess was no longer the same Ninth Princess as before.
If the marriage alliance succeeded, she would marry far away to Tubo.
If it failed, she would still be a princess who had been married once and could no longer live in the palace.
Even less could she assist Emperor Chen Ji with governmental affairs.
A Ninth Princess who could not handle state affairs was just an ordinary princess.
Xue Henglu was the Crown Prince’s man and the legitimate second son of a duke. He had no reason to fear her.
Seeing that Jin Feng still ignored him, Xue Henglu grew even angrier and directly shoved Jin Feng. “Hey, I am talking to you. Did you hear me or not!”
But Jin Feng continued to ignore him, turning to ask the guard who had come with the report. “Where are the killed commoners?”
“Over there!” The guard pointed behind the tents.
Jin Feng limped into a quick jog over there. At first glance, he saw several corpses.
Immediately after, uncontrollable rage surged forth!
The Ninth Princess who followed also turned pale.
There were four corpses on the ground, two of which had been decapitated!
In the feudal era, a complete corpse was highly valued.
Unless it was a deep hatred like patricide, few people would deny others a whole body.
Xue Henglu also followed over, still shouting, “Jin Feng, are you deaf? This young master is speaking to you!”
At this point, Jin Feng was already consumed by anger. Hearing Xue Henglu’s words, he turned and roared, “Da Liu, seize this violent thug who has stormed the camp!”
Xue Henglu could pin labels on others, and so could Jin Feng.
Great Python Slope still flew the battle flag, and the Weisheng Army was still stationed here.
Strictly speaking, Great Python Slope was still a battlefield at this time.
Storming the camp without the commanding general’s permission was seizing the camp.
Moreover, Xue Henglu was too arrogant. Not only did he force his way into the camp, but he also dared to kill people.
According to Great Kang’s military law, Meng Tianhai could execute him on the spot!
“Yes!”
Da Liu was also infuriated by Xue Henglu’s actions. Upon receiving Jin Feng’s order, he rubbed his hands and prepared to seize Xue Henglu.
“You, a mere Baron Qingshui, dare to arrest me?”
Xue Henglu looked at Jin Feng as if he were mad, provocatively extending his hands. “Come on, try arresting me!”
As Da Liu approached, a scarred-faced man behind Xue Henglu suddenly darted out and kicked towards Da Liu’s chest.
Even Qing Mulian had an expert bodyguard. With Xue Henglu’s status, how could he lack one?
The scarred-faced man’s movement was far too quick. Da Liu could not react in time and was sent flying five or six metres before hitting the ground.
The chest area of his black armour even caved in.
Without the black armour’s protection, that kick probably would have killed him outright.
Yet the scarred-faced man was not done. After kicking Da Liu away, he charged straight at Jin Feng, clearly intending to capture him.
“Quick, block him!”
Zhang Liang’s pupils contracted. He immediately led a team of escorts to intercept.
“Xue Henglu, Mr Jin is this palace’s guard commander. If you touch a single hair on his head, this palace will pursue you to the death!”
The Ninth Princess also turned pale.
But Xue Henglu acted as if he had not heard, still sneering coldly with disdain.
The scarred-faced man continued charging at Jin Feng.
Just as he was about to reach him, Jin Feng raised his right hand.
Then the scarred-faced man saw a dark muzzle.
Bang!
A deafening explosion!
The scarred-faced man flew backwards!
His entire face became a bloody mess!
