Chapter 803: First Volume, Chapter 803: A Winning Hand Ruined

First Volume, Chapter 803: A Winning Hand Ruined

At Jing Ci's signal, Qi Ya hurried to a stall by the street, fetched a copper basin, and banged it wildly with a wooden stick, finally drawing some attention.

"The Princess has arrived! Kneel and pay homage at once!"

Due to the chaos, even if some civilians noticed Qi Ya, they still followed the crowd's flow—until the yamen runners embedded in the crowd reported the incident to the Jingzhao Prefecture official watching from afar, who then pushed through the throng to reach Jing Ci.

Confirming it was indeed the Princess, the Jingzhao Prefecture chief immediately knelt and bowed.

"Your servant humbly greets Your Highness; unaware of Your Highness's arrival, I beg forgiveness."

At this moment, Jing Ci had no patience for ceremony; she pointed sharply at Qin Feng in the crowd and snapped: "What are you Jingzhao officials good for? Quickly restore order!"

"If Qin Feng suffers even a hair's breadth of harm, war will reignite between Da Di and Liang Kingdom."

Facing Jing Ci's rebuke, the Jingzhao Prefecture chief wiped sweat from his brow and hurried to defend himself.

"Your Highness does not know—every civil and military official in court seeks to give Qin Feng a downward warning to avenge the humiliation inflicted upon Lü Zhu Guo."

"Moreover, we have already placed agents among the crowd; should anyone strike, we will intervene promptly to prevent bloodshed."

Hearing this, Jing Ci grew angrier: "This is blatant revenge!"

"Since entering the city, Qin Feng has behaved lawfully, not once stepped out of line—he is the one being wronged. Even Beixi County would not swallow this hatred!"

"Now Sangzhou is in chaos; Xu Zhou, bordering it, faces the same peril. If Qin Feng uses this as an excuse to march north and attack Xu Zhou in retaliation, what then?"

"What do you mean by 'prevent bloodshed'? If Qin Feng truly bleeds, his army will fight to the death!"

"Can't you see for yourself? The scene is already in total disorder—this isn't questioning or shouting anymore; curses rise and fall without end."

"The Heavenly Son's subjects are united in cursing the Tianlu Marquis—this matter could be small or huge, but knowing Qin Feng as I do, he will make it explode beyond all bounds!"

The Jingzhao Prefecture chief dared not defy the court's wishes, but since Jing Ci had spoken so plainly, after weighing his options, he decided to obey her and immediately ordered order restored.

At his command, the hidden yamen runners and guards began driving back the crowd.

What had seemed utterly chaotic began, visibly and rapidly, to regain order.

Seeing this, Jing Ci exhaled in relief.

The angry civilians were pushed to the roadside; the Jingzhao Prefecture chief shouted: "The Princess has arrived! Kneel and pay homage!"

The vast majority of the crowd finally snapped to attention and knelt to bow.

But Qin Feng was not pleased—why had the chaos stopped? Keep it going! After all, this wasn't Liang Capital; even if it turned upside down, it was Bei Di's own problem.

As for being beaten in public, Qin Feng actually hoped some fool would come over and smash him with a brick.

A single brick could be worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.

Unfortunately, the Di Royal Capital still had rational people who knew that letting the mob continue would only bring disaster.

Watching Jing Ci approach, Qin Feng sighed: "Thank you, Your Highness, for intervening."

Jing Ci sniffed, unimpressed: "Don't play the innocent—you're probably hoping this gets even bigger, aren't you?"

"I won't let you succeed."

Before all eyes, Jing Ci bowed deeply—ninety degrees—to Qin Feng in a formal gesture of apology.

"My Da Di subjects, wounded by military defeat, harbor resentment and have spoken vilely to Marquis Qin. I beg Marquis Qin, in light of their being foolish, unruly commoners, not to hold it against them."

"I, as Princess of Da Di, offer Marquis Qin my most sincere apologies."

This sudden act left not only the officials and civilians stunned—even Qin Feng was caught off guard.

Qin Feng had never expected Jing Ci to be such a decisive, unyielding figure; all the resentment he had built up, ready to unleash a devastating countermove, was abruptly snuffed out by her actions.

For the Princess of Da Di to publicly bow and apologize was already more than enough; if Qin Feng still clung to this, he would appear petty.

But swallowing this bitterness was not Qin Feng's nature.

As Qin Feng was formulating how to turn the tables on Jing Ci, the crowd itself handed him the knife.

Some reckless fools shouted out loudly.

"Princess, why bow to this traitor? This man has brought ruin to our Da Di—we wish to flay his skin and eat his flesh!"

"Right! He is our blood feud—unless we hang him on the City Wall for all to see, public outrage cannot be quelled!"

"If we had merely lost the war, fine—but it's all because Qin Feng meddled, throwing our Da Di into chaos! Your Highness, do you know grain prices in the Wang Du have risen ten percent? If even the capital is this bad, how high have prices soared in the provinces?"

"This man never ceases to seek our Da Di's destruction."

As the saying goes, the people's eyes are sharp—they know good from evil, and carry their own ruler within.

To Liang Kingdom, Qin Feng is a savior; to Bei Di, standing opposite, he is a disaster.

In Heaven, there are never two perfect solutions.

One family rejoices, another grieves—Qin Feng must aid Liang without letting Bei Di suffer loss, but he has no such divine power.

Jing Ci understood the people's grievances perfectly, yet anger was anger, politics was politics.

As Liang's diplomatic envoy, Qin Feng's presence was a matter of state—how could they vent their rage freely?

Jing Ci quickly waved to calm the crowd: "Listen well—all of you. Whether Qin Feng is good or evil, Heaven will judge. But since he has come to our Da Di Royal Capital, he is a foreign guest. As subjects of the Heavenly Son, you must remain rational and show extra tolerance."

"Even if you wish to vent your anger, wait until after he meets His Majesty and negotiations are concluded—then decide."

Jing Ci was a competent Princess—but too inexperienced, too young; she approached matters with idealism.

If these people could listen to even one word, Qin Feng would lose.

As Qin Feng predicted, Jing Ci's words failed to quell the fury.

Even…

To most, Jing Ci seemed to be siding with the enemy—yet no one dared openly accuse her, due to her noble status; but the hatred in the crowd's eyes shot at her from every direction.