Chapter 22: Prince Li

"This young lady is young and beautiful. Alas, she'll likely be ruined by that Manager Zhao."

Manager Zhao?

Chi Nan Yi's brow rose slightly. If she remembered correctly, the Zhao and Jiang families were connected by marriage. Initially, the Zhao family was not a wealthy or noble house; by all rights, a rich family like the Jiangs would never have looked twice at them. But a legitimate daughter of the Jiang family had fallen deeply in love with the Zhao family's young master and refused to marry anyone but him. Ordinarily, a daughter had no say in her own marriage, but this legitimate miss was deeply beloved by the Jiang family's old master, and in the end she got her wish and married into the Zhao family.

Only then did the Zhao family gradually become a wealthy household.

Since they were connected by marriage, there was some kinship between them. Given that, collecting a little interest from the Zhao family was not unreasonable.

"Did you hear me? We are from the Zhao family. If you know what's good for you, let go at once!"

Chi Nan Yi patted Chi Zhiqiu. Receiving her little sister's signal, Chi Zhiqiu released his grip.

Just then, a group of stewards walked over: "What's going on? Who's causing trouble in the market?"

Seeing this, the servant hurried forward: "Sir, you must uphold justice for us! These two can't afford a carriage and are causing trouble here. Not only do they disrupt our business, they even laid hands on us."

The stewards here naturally knew that the carriage trade in the market belonged to the Zhao family. He nodded and looked at Chi Nan Yi: "Causing a public disturbance in the market and disrupting order — men, seize them!"

As soon as the words fell, several burly men surrounded them.

The Chi father and son were startled and hastily shielded Chi Nan Yi behind them.

The Zhao family servants looked at the Chi family with vicious grins.

How dare they ruin their plans — once inside the Zhao family gates, they would surely make them wish for life but beg for death.

"What right do you have to arrest us?" Chi Nan Yi pushed past the Chi father and son. "You are merely stewards of this market, not government officials. On what authority do you arrest people at will?"

"Hmph, you said it yourself — we are the market's stewards, so what we say goes in this market! Everyone here is under our management!"

"You're wrong. It's not everyone here who is under your management, but the merchants who open shops here," Chi Nan Yi said coldly. "They ask exorbitant prices here. An ordinary carriage only costs thirteen taels of silver, yet he charges separately for the carriage and the horse, demanding fifty taels the moment he opens his mouth. Not only that, he even tried to lay hands on me. He's nothing but a servant — who knows whether all that extra silver went straight into their own pockets."

As Chi Nan Yi's words fell, the servants' expressions turned ugly in an instant.

They never imagined that a woman, facing the stewards here, could remain so composed — and even expose the very thing they had desperately tried to conceal.

Chi Nan Yi's every word hit the mark, and the stewards' expressions grew ugly as well.

By law, apart from paying rent, the merchants on this street also had to hand over one-tenth of their monthly goods' profits.

If they remembered correctly, the registered price of a carriage was at most fifteen taels.

So what was this price of fifty taels?

"What exactly is going on here?"

"Sir, buying and selling allows for bargaining!" the servant said sheepishly. "She never even bargained…"

"Heh, how amusing — I've never heard of anyone haggling several times below the set price. If you stewards wish to know how much silver they actually sell the carriages for, why not ask those who previously bought carriages from them. One inquiry and you'll know." As Chi Nan Yi's words fell, the servant's face grew even paler.

It was over. If the matter of privately marking up prices and falsifying accounts was truly exposed, they were truly finished.

"Sirs!" The servant fawned his way up to the lead steward and grabbed his hand. The steward was about to shake him off when he felt a hard object in his palm.

His brow rose slightly, and he understood at once.

Slipping the silver into his sleeve pocket without a trace, he said evenly: "Enough. This whole matter was a misunderstanding. If you think the seller's price is unreasonable, then bargain — why start a brawl here? In the end, it's all your fault!"

Chi Nan Yi knew that the steward had taken the servant's bribe — and even without a bribe, they would not want to offend the Zhao family.

So the ones to suffer the loss would only be them.

But if she remembered correctly, in her previous life, on this very street, a steward was oppressing the common people and was caught in the act by a great personage. Counting the time, it should be just about now.

"Hmph, a peasant family, daring to cause trouble on my turf! Where is this? Jingcheng! Right under the Son of Heaven's feet! Absolutely lawless! Since you have no manners, I'll teach you what manners are!" As the words fell, the steward drew a whip from his waist. Looking closely, the whip was covered with fine barbs — one lash would flay the skin and tear the flesh.

"It's over. This family will likely be done for here today."

"Alas, what a pity, truly a pity."

"A few days ago this steward beat a man to death. These three probably won't survive today either."

Seeing the whip, the crowd was filled with dread.

All around there were only onlookers; there was no sign of any great personage arriving.

A thought stirred in Chi Nan Yi's mind, and several Silver Needles appeared at her fingertips. If she did not encounter that person, she would have to save herself.

The steward raised his whip and was about to lash it at the three of them. The Silver Needles at Chi Nan Yi's fingertips were just about to fly forth when, at that very moment, an arrow appeared abruptly with the sound of splitting air.

A bloodcurdling scream was heard as a black-feathered arrow pierced clean through the steward's palm.

Chi Nan Yi's fingertips curled slightly, and a glint of joy flashed in her eyes.

He's here.

The steward looked at the arrow still embedded in his palm, rolling on the ground in agony.

The other stewards were both alarmed and terrified.

"Who? Who did this?"

"Who has the audacity to cause trouble here! Do they have a death wish?"

The stewards' words had barely fallen when a rhythmic sound of footsteps came from not far away. The crowd turned to look, and when their eyes fell on that black carriage, they could not help but cry out.

"The Black Feather Guards! It's the Black Feather Guards!"

"Hiss… Prince Li — it's His Highness Prince Li!"

Prince Li?

Chi Nan Yi frowned slightly. In her previous life, it hadn't been His Highness Prince Li — it should have been Mo Ruishan, the heir of the Prince of Ruyang.

The carriage curtain was lifted. A man could be seen wearing an ink-dark robe with qilin patterns embroidered in gold thread, a jade crown on his head, and a golden mask on his face, obscuring his features. Yet the noble aura about him — sitting there without uttering a single word — made people unable to resist submitting.

"Greetings, Prince Li. Long live the Prince, long live, long live forever."

The stewards dropped to their knees, and the common folk walking the street also knelt down one after another.

Mo Junyan's gaze turned cold and severe as he looked at the steward still wailing. His brow furrowed, and in the next instant, the guard who had been standing beside the carriage appeared at his side.

A flash of cold light, and the wailing ceased entirely.

Crimson blood gushed from the neck, pooling all over the ground.

"Noisy."