Prince Qin was not the type of person who cared about reasoning.
Furthermore, given his status, even the Third Rank officials of the imperial court would not dare to provoke him lightly.
Who exactly was this young lady? How could she so brazenly invoke Prince Qin’s name to back her up?
Seeing the shift in his expression, Xie Zhaofan let out a soft, mocking laugh.
“What? Are you afraid now? Weren’t you just claiming to represent the law?”
“Young people are always so impulsive. You haven’t even investigated the situation, yet you’re already rushing out to play the hero of justice. I’d say you’re not nearly as righteous as you think you are.”
She pointed toward the room that had been smashed into a mess.
“Instead of wasting your time blocking my path, you should go inside and investigate that charlatan. See how much money he has swindled from the common folk. If you truly consider yourself an upright official from the Court of Judicial Review, then arrest a swindler like him. It would at least be a way to accumulate some merit for yourself.”
The young official’s face turned from green to pale at her words.
Today was merely his day off, and he happened to see a disturbance at the City God Temple. Thinking he could not stand by and watch such vandalism, he had stepped forward to speak a few words of justice.
He never expected this lady to be so utterly unreasonable, or that her words would leave him so speechless.
However, what he feared most was the mention of Prince Qin.
Did this young lady really have a deep connection with Prince Qin? Otherwise, who would dare use the Prince’s name to suppress others so casually?
Xie Zhaofan saw that he was silent and didn’t care to continue the entanglement. She directly ordered the coachman, “Let’s go.”
The coachman hurriedly complied, and the carriage slowly began to move.
Suddenly remembering something, Xie Zhaofan lifted the curtain and added another comment.
“If he doesn’t move out of the way, just run him over. I want to see if this official from the Court of Judicial Review actually has the guts to block my carriage.”
These words were arrogant to the extreme.
The surrounding commoners inhaled sharply, their gazes toward Xie Zhaofan’s carriage becoming complicated.
This lady was truly fierce!
The young official stood frozen in place, his expression fluctuating wildly.
Part of him wanted to die for his principles, to stop this overbearing noblewoman no matter what today and uphold the dignity of the Court of Judicial Review.
But then he thought about how hard he had worked to enter officialdom through the imperial examinations, and how he had toiled for several years in the Court of Judicial Review just to reach his current Seventh Rank position. He had parents, a wife, and children at home; suddenly, his resolve didn’t feel quite so stiff.
It was fine to think about heroic deeds, but he wasn't willing to throw away his future and his life for the sake of a bit of reputation.
Right at that moment, the sound of rhythmic and heavy hoofbeats suddenly echoed from a distance.
“Rumble...”
The sound approached quickly, like a heavy storm cloud rolling in.
The commoners on both sides of the street instinctively moved to clear the road.
A squad of cavalrymen dressed in black armor arrived swiftly, their murderous aura instantly overpowering all the surrounding noise.
That black armor was the unique insignia of the Prince's estate guards.
The leader was a young man wearing a xuan-colored robe, riding a horse that was pitch black with four snow-white hooves—a Cloud-Treader. He sat tall and straight, his presence so imposing that from a distance, he looked like a deity descending from a battlefield on the wind.
Someone in the crowd immediately recognized him.
“It’s His Highness Prince Qin!”
Following that exclamation, the surrounding area fell into instant silence. The young official’s face turned deathly pale.
Inside the carriage, Xie Zhaofan slowly closed her eyes, a single thought remaining in her mind.
I'm screwed!
She had just borrowed her cheap brother-in-law’s name, and she was caught red-handed by the man himself this quickly?
Xie Zhaofan began to suspect that she truly clashed with this Prince Qin. How was it that every time she went out to do something, he managed to run into her so accurately?
She lifted a corner of the curtain, cautiously peeking at the figure in xuan-colored robes.
As if sensing her gaze, Prince Qin, still mounted, looked over the crowd. His eyes landed precisely on her carriage.
Their gazes met across the street. The smile on the corners of Xie Zhaofan’s lips instantly froze.
She had a very bad premonition that this time, things were going to end poorly.
A wise girl knows when to yield.
Although Xie Zhaofan possessed terrifying strength now, she wasn't so arrogant as to think she was invincible. Especially since this man was acknowledged as the number one expert in the Great Zhou court. She had seen his battle firsthand before, and the mere memory of that destructive power made her heart skip a beat.
More importantly, she still hadn't figured out if this Prince Qin was the Male Lead of Destiny she suspected he was. She naturally couldn't let their relationship sour over a minor friction.
Thus, as Prince Qin approached with the black-armored guards, Xie Zhaofan immediately put on a brilliant smile. She pushed the curtain open and waved to him from under her veiled hat.
“What a coincidence, Your Highness. To think I’d run into you just while out shopping.”
The young lady’s voice was crisp, and her tone was so natural it was as if they were old friends of many years. She showed none of the restraint one should have when facing the Great Zhou’s primary God of Slaughter.
It wasn't that Xie Zhaofan was incredibly brave, but rather that she spent her nights eavesdropping on the movements next door. She already knew how Prince Qin behaved in front of Xie Jinyi, so she knew this man usually showed a degree of leniency toward the Xie family.
Therefore, she wasn't panicking at all.
However, the surrounding onlookers didn't know this. They all wore expressions of sudden realization.
So that was it!
No wonder this lady dared to be so arrogant; she really did have a deep relationship with Prince Qin.
They had thought she was boasting, but now Prince Qin himself was here. When the lady greeted him, he didn't immediately reprimand her. If they weren't acquaintances, what else could they be?
For a moment, the gazes directed at Xie Zhaofan became quite peculiar.
The young official from the Court of Judicial Review felt his heart sink.
I’m in trouble! Could this girl actually be some kind of confidante of Prince Qin?
And he had just stepped out to lecture her?
At that thought, cold sweat began to bead on his forehead.
Prince Qin clearly ignored the various gazes from the crowd. He sat atop his Cloud-Treader, looking at Xie Zhaofan without any expression.
“It seems I just heard someone say that even this Prince has to be polite when facing a certain someone?”
His tone was flat, revealing neither joy nor anger.
Xie Zhaofan’s lips twitched slightly.
Good grief, does this guy have super-hearing or something?
With so many people around and from such a distance, he actually heard what she said just now.
She couldn't help but complain internally. You spend all day putting on a cold face, what are you even trying to show off for? Go do that in front of Xie Jinyi if you’re so tough.
Of course, she couldn't say those words out loud.
Instead, her smile grew even more radiant as she spoke up first. “You’ve arrived at just the right time, Your Highness. There’s a Daoist in this City God Temple selling fake goods and swindling people. He almost caused trouble for my sister’s maid. In a fit of anger, I had people smash his stall.”
Rate on N.U.
