Eighty strokes of the cane and a fine of one hundred taels of silver were straightforward enough. As for the confiscation of illicit goods, that naturally referred to the deeds of indenture for the father and daughter.
The two bailiffs might not have recognized Wang Yu, but they clearly recognized Zhao Yingjie. Seeing that Zhao Yingjie had delivered a plausible and justifiable ruling, they stepped forward at once, seized the Westerner, and hauled him off toward the East Market Office.
Two guards handed the indenture deeds to Zhao Yingjie, then brought the father and daughter before Wang Yu.
With a thud, the man dropped to his knees. "Thank you, my lord!"
The little girl immediately knelt down beside him. "Thank you, my lord!"
"Stand and speak," Wang Yu said with a wave of his hand. A guard stepped forward to help the man up and lifted the little girl as well.
"You are from Dayuan Kingdom. How is it that your Han speech is so fluent?" Wang Yu asked.
"This lowly one's father was from the Central Plains," the man answered at once. "When I was young, I traveled the Northwest trade route with my father. We ran into bandits and were sold into slavery in Dayuan Kingdom.
"My father died young of grief and despair. Fortunately, I had learned from him how to judge and rear horses, which gave me a useful skill. I took a wife and had a child in Dayuan, but not long ago, I offended the master's household and was sold off to a caravan.
"I never imagined that after thirty years, I would return to the Central Plains." The man drew his daughter close and looked imploringly at Wang Yu. "This lowly one can judge and raise horses, and my daughter knows how to serve. We beg your lordship's mercy."
"What a coincidence. I happen to have a horse ranch." Wang Yu snapped his fingers and asked the man, "What are you called?"
"You may just call me Ma Nu, and my daughter is Lianhua."
"No family name?"
"This lowly one is merely a slave; how could I have a family name? But my father's surname was Sun."
"'Ma Nu' sounds terrible. I will give you proper names. Since you are skilled at judging and raising horses, you shall be called Sun Xiang, and your daughter shall be Sun Lian."
"Thank you for bestowing names upon us, my lord!" The father and daughter knelt once more and kowtowed.
Wang Yu accepted their gratitude without fuss, then turned to Zhao Yingjie. "Arrange for him to work at the horse ranch."
"Right away!" Zhao Yingjie agreed promptly, asking with a grin, "Send Sun Xiang to the ranch and keep Sun Lian in the manor to work?"
Wang Yu glared at him. "Where is your humanity? Sun Lian is so young, yet you want to tear father and daughter apart!"
Zhao Yingjie: "..."
Qianqian offered gently, "The conditions in the manor are far better than at the ranch. Sun Lian would have a much more comfortable life here."
Zhao Yingjie nodded repeatedly. "Exactly, exactly!"
Wang Yu shook his head. "She's just a little girl who survived thousands of li as a slave. What does she care about luxury and comfort? Being with her father is what matters most."
Qianqian's heart skipped a beat, and she stole a quick glance at Wang Yu.
"Send them together to the ranch for now. We can reconsider after I inspect it in a few days," Wang Yu instructed. "Have someone take them back to the manor first to wash up and change into clean clothes."
"Understood!" Zhao Yingjie agreed once again, dispatching a guard to escort Sun Xiang and his daughter back to the Prince's Manor first.
Sun Xiang and his daughter departed, showering them with heartfelt thanks.
Wang Yu looked up and saw three people standing not far away—the middle-aged couple and the green-clad young maiden he had seen earlier in the perfume tent.
Wang Yu gave a slight nod.
The middle-aged man nodded back, then turned and walked away.
"Is that the Zhao Yu?" the beautiful woman in purple murmured.
The middle-aged man nodded. "Rather interesting."
"Are the rumors wrong, then?" she asked again.
"Not necessarily," the man said, shaking his head. "He disregarded the Wang clan's steward, punished the Western merchant, handed out names on a whim, and didn't mince words with his subordinates. His temper is indeed far from gentle.
"Yet he didn't act purely on personal whim, showing care instead for the little girl's desire not to be parted from her father. That is not something an ordinary man can do," the middle-aged man said calmly. "In that regard, he is far better than that plump young steward and the woman by his side."
The beautiful woman in purple chuckled. "Which is why he is the great tree that is the Prince of Zhenxi, and the rest are merely vines clinging to him."
"A pity his martial arts training was neglected. Otherwise, he might not have fallen short of Zhao Zheng's achievements."
"Why did Zhao Zheng send him to the capital back then?"
"Who knows? But the imperial court surely had some hold over him. Even on his return this time, he brought along the female top scholar."
"Will the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor be used by the imperial court?"
"Earlier, I doubted Zhao Yu would be a match for Li Yunxiu, but now that seems uncertain. Still, we are far off in the jianghu; there is no need for us to dwell on court affairs."
The purple-clad beauty laughed softly. "Coming to the northwest this time, who knows if we might clash with the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor?"
The middle-aged man chuckled and shook his head. "Heh, we won't."
...
Having watched the trio depart, Wang Yu and his companions resumed browsing the streets.
Besides the barbarian merchants of the Western Regions, the East Market was also home to traders from the Central Plains. As the final bustling market leading from the Central Plains to the Western Regions, Longshan Prefecture was abundantly stocked. Even goods rarely seen in the interior of the Central Plains were offered for sale here.
Wang Yu even spotted an exquisite embroidered silk screen—an item considered a rare luxury even in the capital.
Naturally, after traveling thousands of li to Longshan Prefecture, the prices were equally staggering. Aside from locally produced or cheap goods that saw only a slight markup, anything slightly uncommon cost several times more than in the Central Plains.
The most popular goods were silk, porcelain, and tea, followed by paper, lacquerware, ironware, and jewelry; even domestic items like bronze mirrors, rouge, and scented soap cakes were in high demand.
The smaller and rarer an item was, the more valuable it became.
Wang Yu and his companions strolled for another hour. In addition to the perfume, Wang Yu bought Qianqian a white jade hairpin and picked out a pair of green jade earrings for Li Yunxiu.
"This is for your mother. Take it," Wang Yu said, placing a bracelet into Zhao Yingjie's hands along with a bottle of lavender perfume.
Zhao Yingjie blinked in surprise, then quickly took the bracelet, his face splitting into a broad grin. "Thank you, Brother Yu! From now on, just say the word and your younger brother will climb mountains of blades, plunge into seas of fire, charge to the front lines, shrink from death ten thousand times, return wrapped in horsehide, perish on the battlefield..."
Wang Yu deliberately refrained from cutting him off, watching as Zhao Yingjie rattled off more than twenty idioms in a breathless torrent before finally running out of air and capping it off with, "...and repay you in the next life!"
"Is your throat dry?" Wang Yu asked.
"Parched," Zhao Yingjie admitted, nodding.
"If it's parched, go have some tea. It's time for lunch anyway."
Wang Yu looked up. Not far off stood a three-story restaurant. Guests streamed in and out through the entrance, cups and goblets clinked within, and the clamor carried for dozens of paces.
Wanghai Restaurant.
It was one of the most famous eateries in Longshan Prefecture. It was said they employed a master chef of Lu cuisine from Wanghai Circuit, whose sweet-and-sour carp was the establishment's signature dish, made famous across the Western Regions by passing caravans.
Wang Yu did not head up to the private rooms on the third floor, instead choosing a window seat on the second floor.
No sooner had they sat down than he noticed the trio from earlier was also in Wanghai Restaurant. However, they sat quite a distance away, near the window on the opposite side of the floor, separated by several square tables.
"Sweet-and-sour carp, braised mutton, steamed beef with rice flour, and smoked wild pheasant," Zhao Yingjie reeled off four dishes with practiced ease. "Bring some seasonal fruits and vegetables as well. As for the wine, we want fine Lanling wine from Wanghai Circuit—and don't you dare water it down!"
"We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare!"
Seeing a regular patron, how would the waiter dare play tricks? Bowing and scraping, he served everyone tea to quench their thirst, then hurried downstairs to place the order.
Wang Yu glanced around. Aside from that trio's table, the second floor was nearly full. Most of the patrons were merchants, alongside local men of wealth as well as martial artists and jianghu figures who had come escorting caravans.
"You two arrived a few days late. The memorial service held by the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor for Old Prince Zhao was truly an impressive spectacle."
"Prince Zhao was an outstanding man of his generation, once sweeping across the northwest. What a pity Heaven denied him more years; he took ill and passed away just in his fifties."
"Zhao Zheng was a Xiantian expert. How could he die in his fifties? Most likely, he suffered severe internal injuries in his earlier years that permanently damaged his foundation, bringing him to an early grave."
"Now that Prince Zhao is dead, the Mount Qi bandits have grown far more arrogant. I hear Poison Hand Veda and Old Freak Black Wind have declared that if the Prince of Zhenxi's troops dare enter the mountains to suppress bandits again, they'll come pay a visit to the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor."
"That's just reckless talk. With Prince Zhao gone, do they really think the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor has no experts left?"
"At the very least, the new Prince of Zhenxi, Zhao Yu, will never be a match for them."
"Mm... that is true."
"I hear that kid spent ten years in the capital immersed in singing, dancing, and drunken revelry—drinking the mellowest wine and bedding the most beautiful women. He's lucky wine and lust didn't suck him dry back in the capital."
"Heh heh, rumor has it that in the capital Zhao Yu drugged and violated the daughter of the Nanhai Sect's leader—and that young lady was the fiancée of the eldest son of the Lin clan from Guangnan Circuit! Offending two major martial sects in one stroke—the fellow certainly has nerve."
"With someone like that inheriting the title of Prince of Zhenxi, this generation will probably be the end of the Prince of Zhenxi's Manor."
Wang Yu remained impassive, while Qianqian puffed out her cheeks in anger. Zhao Yingjie glanced sidelong at them with a quiet sneer. "Shall this subordinate arrange some entertainment for them?"
Wang Yu sighed. "Killing people over a few loose words is a bit excessive."
Zhao Yingjie: ???
*I didn't say anything about killing them!*
Wang Yu said calmly, "Break both their legs so they learn that disaster comes from a loose tongue. That will suffice."
Zhao Yingjie grimaced, but promptly nodded. "Yes, sir!"
In the distance, the middle-aged man shook his head. "A rather ruthless hand, indeed."
In the next moment, the gossiping men, getting carried away, veered off on another tangent.
"That Zhao Yu is still too young. He doesn't know how to appreciate real beauty."
"Girls of sixteen or seventeen haven't even fully blossomed yet. They know nothing. Where's the fun in that? If you want real pleasure, you go for mature women with allure and charm—they know how to serve you until you're in bliss."
"Heh heh, they say the martial realm has Four Great Beautiful Matrons. If one were fortunate enough to steal a taste of that fragrance, that would truly be..."
The middle-aged man's face darkened, and he let out a cold snort.
"Hmph!"
A low grunt sounded through the restaurant. To anyone else, it seemed utterly ordinary, but to the three men who had downed a couple of drinks and were lewdly joking, it felt as though an iron club had violently struck their brains.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
All three spat mouthfuls of blood simultaneously and crashed backward, knocking over tables, chairs, and drinks. Clutching their heads, they rolled and convulsed on the floor, howling in agony.
The people around them jumped in fright, but soon began watching the spectacle.
Alerted by the commotion, the restaurant manager and waiters rushed upstairs. With practiced efficiency, they patted down the three men for the meal money and enough silver to cover the damages, then dragged them downstairs to take them to a nearby clinic.
Wang Yu waved his hand. "Go see to your business."
The two guards nodded, rose, and followed them downstairs.
Though the trio had suffered heavy internal injuries, the fate of having their legs broken remained unavoidable.
Zhao Yingjie grinned ruefully. "What a terrifying sound attack technique. I feel like they're even stronger than my old man."
Chapter 20