Chapter 45: Ten for Each One
The crowd's gaze was firmly fixed on the carriage. Tao Yu felt especially nervous, and cold sweat had already formed on the forehead of Yuwen Jing, while Zhou Xiu didn’t know what to do with his face.
After a few breaths had passed, a figure emerged from the carriage, causing everyone to draw a sharp breath—Fang Chen!
"Young Lady, is that really Divine General Fang? He looks so young?" the maidservant trembled nervously as she tugged at the sleeves of her young lady.
"Divine General Fang was only eighteen five years ago. He’s twenty-three now. Of course he’s young.” The young lady tried to be calm, but the trembling of her voice betrayed her true feelings.
"Looks like nothing will happen to us today.” The head guard heaved a sigh of relief. Now that Divine General Fang had appeared, he wouldn’t let the citizens of their empire be bullied by those people from Longdu.
Slowly walking over to Huang Sihai and Tie Ma, Fang Chen smiled at Yuwen Jing, who wasn’t too far away. "Yuwen Jing, long time no see."
Yuwen Jing fell to one knee. "I pay my respects... to the lord!"
The soldiers he had brought with him dared not stay on their horses. They dismounted one after the other to pay their respects.
Suddenly, Tao Yu and the others were placed in an awkward position. It would make them appear weak if they were to come down, but it didn’t seem appropriate to stay on their horses, either.
"I am just an ordinary person now. General Yuwen, there's no need for such formality," Fang Chen said with a faint smile.
Yuwen Jing's expression changed several times, and he stood up silently, a bitter smile forming on his mouth.
Tao Yu gnashed his teeth and decided to speak. "Fang Chen, you’ve come at the right time,” he said. "Viscount Zhou Xiu is a nobleman from the Longdu Empire, he’s also the future husband of the sixth princess, as appointed by the emperor. There seems to be some sort of misunderstanding between him and your subordinates. One which you should look to resolve."
"Misunderstanding? This person treated the people of our empire like cattle, ones he could kill as long as he wished. Do you call that a misunderstanding?" Fang Chen snickered.
"Are you really going to be at odds with me because of these dirty peasants?" Zhou Xiu said, his voice deep.
"This is the Grand Xia Empire. There are no nobles, only distinguished citizens. And these citizens are distinguished because they are the pillars of our empire. Without them, we are nothing!” said Fang Chen, a light smile on his face as he stared at Zhou Xiu. "If you think you can treat this place like it’s your Longdu Empire, killing people on a whim whenever you desire, then you’ve made a grave mistake.”
"Here or there, it’s all the same to me." Zhou Xiu harrumphed coldly. "Speak; How are you planning to appease me? Many of my subordinates have been killed. A mere apology won't suffice." He paused for a moment. "If I turn back right now, your emperor will undoubtedly hold you accountable. I hope you consider the bigger picture and don't ruin the relationship between our two empires for the sake of a few lives."
"That's right! Viscount Zhou is a noble from our Longdu Empire! We hope Divine General Fang can handle this matter impartially!”
"We, people of Longdu, have always hoped for the peaceful coexistence between the Grand Xia Empire and the Qingsong Empire. We hope to avoid any sort of conflict. Divine General Fang, you wouldn't want to see us siding with the Qingsong Empire, would you?" one of the several scholars from Longdu said, his words carried clear threat. His statement incited many nods from his fellow scholars.
"Fang Chen, you need to take a look at the bigger picture,” Tao Yu said.
The blood had long since leached from the faces of the members of the merchant caravan. The situation was really quite entangled and difficult to resolve. After all, it involved the relation between two empires.
Fang Chen turned his head and looked at the members of the caravan, then asked, “How many of your people were killed?"
The head of the guards and the young lady were startled. They didn't expect Divine General Fang to humor them. She gathered her courage and courteously said, "I, Fang Qingyao, offer my greetings to you, Divine General Fang.” She paused momentarily. “The caravan suffered minimal casualties, with two servants and three guards dead."
"I see." Fang Chen nodded, then turned to Zhou Xiu. "The lives of our citizens are worth ten times more than yours. For every one of ours that has died, we'll take ten of yours as compensation."
The moment he finished his sentence, Tie Ma and Huang Sihai took action. Like tigers bouncing onto a flock of sheep, they started slaughtering Zhou Xiu’s men one after the other.
It didn’t take long before all of them were dead.
Yuwen Jing and the others could only watch from a distance, not daring to intervene. Even if Fang Chen wasn't present, confronting Huang Sihai alone required courage. Yuwen Jing couldn't forget the image of Huang Sihai—dripping with blood—at Three World Mountain. Despite his injuries at the time, he had killed a hundred soldiers from the elite Wolf Army before going down.
And the soldiers Yuwen Jing had with him were no Wolf Army soldiers! The numbers they had were far from enough, even. Huang Sihai could probably deal with them with one arm tied behind his back.
Ugly expressions rose on the faces of Tao Yu and the scholars from the Longdu Empire, and the members from the caravan looked on in shock. Zhou Xiu couldn’t believe what had happened, and he pointed at Fang Chen, his lips trembling in shock and fear.
His men had been wiped out in mere seconds...
Fang Chen laughed before addressing Tao Yu. “Since His Majesty has taken a liking to him, I’ll spare his life—for the sake of the bigger picture, of course. There, you guys can have him.”
Tao Yu gnashed his teeth and said, "Thank you, Divine General Fang!" He didn't dare say any more words and brought his men as well as the bewildered Zhou Xiu away. He didn’t dare stay. He feared that Fang Chen might suddenly change his mind.
"Let's go," Fang Chen said to Tie Ma and Huang Sihai before walking back to the carriage.
Seeing this, Fang Qingyao bit her lip and ran over alone. With utmost respect, she said, "Thanks for saving my life, Divine General Fang!"
"Which chamber of commerce do you belong to?" Fang Chen's voice rang out.
She quickly responded, "My Green Medicine Hall is affiliated with the Soaring Dragon Chamber of Commerce."
"Green Medicine Hall? You deal in herbs?"
"Exactly." She nodded hastily.
"Well, the Longdu Empire does indeed produce a lot of herbs. Without you bringing batches of herbs back, the prices of herbs within Grand Xia would likely remain high." Fang Chen smiled. "Be more careful in the future."
After that, he boarded the carriage and instructed Tie Ma and Huang Sihai to start moving, and they gradually disappeared from Fang Qingyao's sight.
"Young Lady, did you just talk to Divine General Fang?" Fang Qingyao's maidservant rushed over, looking excited.
"Yes, Divine General Fang cautioned us to be careful in the future. He even praised us, saying that without us, the prices of herbs within Grand Xia would likely remain high." Fang Qingyao's face showed a hint of a smile.
The maidservant looked at her with admiration.
The head guard approached on horseback. "Manager Fang, let's not delay any longer and enter the empire."
"Okay." She nodded slightly, then murmured to herself, "These herbs need to be delivered to the capital city. I wonder if... I'll meet Divine General Fang again."
*
In the capital city.
The trip had taken them seven days, but it was quite fruitful. Not only did he eliminate a Spirit Blood Sect cultivator, but he had also obtained the spiritual materials needed to make proper talismans. Moreover, he had gained over a hundred low-grade spirit stones as well as two treasures.
"Fang Chen, you broke your promise," Goddess Xiao said discontentedly.
"What did I do?" Fang Chen chuckled in amusement.
She stared at Fang Chen briefly, then said in a low voice, "You left the manor for seven days. Xu Ge said that you went on a trip for fun, but that’s probably not true. I hope you can shed some light on your investigation. I don’t want to be left out.”
Fang Chen smiled. "I already know what happened. They were indeed trying to kill you, and their goal is quite simple. They wish to provoke a conflict between our two empires, and then... they’ll reap the rewards. What you need to do now is to hide in my manor. Do not allow them to discover you. If their plan succeeds, it won’t just be my empire suffering a great loss, but yours as well, gravely too.”
Goddess Xiao stood in silence, stunned.
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