Chapter 169

This Yao guard took a look and then said.

"That's the kitchen!"

"No wonder the aroma is so strong!"

Zhang Jian asked again.

"Can I go in and have a look?"

This guard hesitated not at all and nodded: "His Highness said before, the zhuangyuan lang is the prince consort's nephew, so he is half a master in the princess's mansion, naturally it's allowed!"

Zhang Jian laughed and immediately stepped forward toward the small kitchen.

From afar he heard cries for help.

And not just one cry for help; Zhang Jian furrowed his brow, stepped into the kitchen, and saw only rising steam, many kitchen maids already busy.

This time the Chang Princess's mansion held a wedding banquet and also invited several famous chefs from the restaurants of Jingdu City.

At this moment the kitchen was also very lively.

Various dishes were already mostly prepared!

Zhang Jian followed the sound with his gaze, only to see in a small courtyard space beside the kitchen many large iron cages.

Inside the iron cages were confined many beasts.

Wild boars, badgers, foxes, leopards, and several hanging-eye white-foreheaded fierce tigers; these wild beasts this time had fallen to become meat on the butcher's block.

Zhang Jian's gaze passed over, his divine sense fell upon several small wooden cages, and following the sound he saw several wild foxes trapped in beast cages.

These few foxes had the strongest spirituality; among a dozen or so foxes, at this moment the one emitting cries for help was a red-tailed fire fox, and two small white foxes, their eyes lively.

Seeing these foxes, Zhang Jian asked the Yao guard beside him.

"Where did these foxes come from? Could it be that the wedding banquet also prepares to cook fox meat?"

The Yao guard, upon hearing this, laughed and said.

"Oh, this was sent over by the Flower General Hua who patrols South Mountain; when he patrolled this morning he discovered someone selling game, so he had people buy it all outright and sent it to the Princess, just right for the spring chill; these foxes all have excellent pelts, stripping the pelts can ward off cold, as for the meat, no one eats it!"

At this moment, upon hearing this, several tender voices came from within the wooden cages.

"Don't strip our pelts, our pelts aren't pretty!"

"Save me!"

Two tender voices came out; in Zhang Jian's sight, the two white foxes' souls clearly were two little girls of six or seven years old.

Meanwhile, the red fox on the other side had rounded mana, merely dazed; in Zhang Jian's sight it was a great demon.

At this moment this red fox strained to open its eyes, gazing mournfully at Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian's spiritual eyes glanced over this group of foxes and said: "Yao guard, I see these foxes are also quite pitiful; my aunt and uncle newly wed should not slaughter such spirited beings; could you report to my aunt, saying I wish to save these foxes, and if my aunt likes pelts, I will later find better pelts to present to my aunt and uncle!"

"... This!"

The Yao guard glanced at Zhang Jian with some surprise, but instantly still nodded, agreeing to go report.

Zhang Jian glanced again at the other fierce beasts; most of the fierce beasts were muddle-headed, only the largest fierce tiger had a trace of spirituality, but around it reeked of foul wind countless, and also a strong smell of departed souls, evidently it had eaten human corpses; Zhang Jian felt a bit nauseous.

Zhang Jian then saw the two white foxes lying in the cage shivering; he then smiled and silently recited a passage of the Requiem Sutra, a bit of mana transformed into tranquil heavenly sounds drifting within the small courtyard; many beasts also involuntarily relaxed.

That red fox also opened its eyes, surprisedly glancing at Zhang Jian.

Zhang Jian's current state, he stepped forward and casually pinched the red fox's ear, then rubbed it; this instantly enraged the red fox, which opened its mouth and bit.

"Still dare to bite me!"

Seeing this, Zhang Jian lightly chuckled, his hand nimbly dodging the red fox's mouth.

Incidentally, both hands pinched the fox's fleshy mouth; however he also relied on his skill, otherwise he would definitely have been bitten.

Shortly after, the Yao guard hurried over, at this moment he wore a smile and said.

"Zhang Xiuzhu, you are correct; the Princess also believes slaughtering these living beings on her wedding day is highly inauspicious; these living beings are all entrusted to you for disposal!"

At this moment behind him still followed a squad of guards.

Zhang Jian rose and said: "Yao guard, then please trouble you to send them back to South Mountain!"

South Mountain is part of the royal hunting grounds enclosed by the Dacheng court, surrounding continuous deep mountains entering the Yanshan Range; there fierce beasts are extremely numerous.

After a slight pause, Zhang Jian's gaze again said: "When passing by, if encountering obstruction, just say it is in the name of my aunt, Princess Changfeng, to release living beings on the wedding day, seeking an auspicious omen!"

Seeing Zhang Jian's solemn expression, Yao Zhenwu felt somewhat surprised in his heart, yet still had some strangeness.

Hearing Zhang Jian's meaning, it seemed he anticipated someone would obstruct them midway, and there would be twists.

Yao Zhenwu clasped his hands to indicate he had taken note.

But in his heart he did not take it seriously.

The Changfeng Princess's mansion is not an ordinary princess's mansion; in Jingdu City there are few who dare block those from the Changfeng Princess's mansion.

At once he ordered people to lift these ten-odd wooden cages and iron cages and head out of Jingdu City.

The procession had the Changfeng Princess's mansion's token, thus passage was smooth!

But just as the procession was about to leave the city, they encountered a unit of Shen Ce Army marching toward them; the leader was a young commander wearing black armor, his visage masculine and vigorous, tiger-backed and ape-waisted, his eyes at this moment instantly noticed Yao Zhenwu's group of over ten guards.

He casually blocked Yao Zhenwu's path and said in a hearty voice.

"This brother carrying these foxes, are you preparing to sell them?"

Yao Zhenwu was stopped without cause, his expression somewhat displeased, he said in a deep voice.

"What people are you?"

Upon hearing this, the young commander had not yet identified himself; behind him instantly a young deputy commander spoke in a deep voice.

"You have eyes but do not recognize Mount Tai. This is our Shen Ce Army's An Ruoming, General An!"

An Ruoming at this moment had a calm visage, merely slightly gesturing to stop the deputy commander from speaking further.

"This brother, do not misunderstand; merely early spring chill is very deep, my mother is extremely cold-sensitive; I observe these several foxes' pelts are all top-grade, especially this fire fox and two white foxes, their pelts ought to be excellent; this general is willing to spend heavily to buy them, please grant this favor!"

"An Ruoming..."

At this time, Yao Zhenwu and his party also showed some changes in their expressions.

An Ruhui told them how could they not know, this is a young general who is currently very popular in Haojing City, and is listed alongside several young martial generals who returned from suppressing bandits, such as Song Yu, Zhao Qingshan, Zhao Man, etc., and the Holy Scroll is now in full swing.

If it were an ordinary military officer, Yao Zhenwu would not have paid any attention, but the An Ruhui before him is indeed an extraordinary noble military officer.

At this moment, Yao Zhenwu also felt his heart tremble; he had not expected that all of this had actually been predicted by that Zhang Xiuzhu.

Despite the change in expression, he still decided to follow Zhang Jian's instructions and clasped his hands in salute.

"Please forgive me, General An, these wild foxes were released by order of my family's Eldest Princess and her husband, Prince Consort. Today happens to be the Eldest Princess's wedding, and we are preparing to release some living beings to pray for auspiciousness. Please do not make things difficult for this humble one!"

Upon hearing this, An Ruhui showed a hint of regret in his eyes, and at the moment also found it hard to insist.

"Then so be it!"

He also did not insist and turned to leave.

Yao Zhenwu then also hurriedly left with this batch of foxes.