Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 326 Man and Beast (2)

Unlike Liaodong, Dongling is not too cold even in winter.

The sun was high in the sky.

The streets of Chang'an were eerily silent.

The carriage was broken on the bluestone slab, with two dead warhorses and seven soldiers whose skulls had been pierced. Gushing blood stained a large area of ​​the road and emitted a nauseating stench.

Zhao Feng stood there, stunned.

Guo Sheng was trembling all over.

The remaining Imperial Guards felt their throats dry, a chill running from the soles of their feet to their heads. They exchanged glances, each seeing the fear in the other's eyes. They silently sheathed their swords and retreated. When Luo Jingxuan called out "brother-in-law," they knew this was not something they should get involved in; it wasn't worth it for two taels of silver.

There were already seven corpses on the ground, and no one wanted to become the eighth.

Luo Jingxuan, a notorious troublemaker in Dongling City, stood obediently in front of Song Yan with a fawning smile on his face.

Luo Jingxuan's father was the Prince of Jin.

Prince Jin and Luo Yuheng were siblings.

Based on this relationship, Luo Jingxuan and Luo Tianxuan are cousins.

Calling Song Yan "brother-in-law" wouldn't be a problem, but Luo Jingxuan dropped the "brother" part to show his closeness.

A cool breeze swept by, and Zhao Feng shivered, finally snapping out of his shock. He swallowed hard, a hint of resentment still lingering in his eyes. In this capital, he wasn't exactly a top-tier noble, but he had never felt so humiliated. His mind raced. He wouldn't say he knew all the princesses of Dongling City, but he recognized them nonetheless, and he'd seen the prince consort before. The young man before him was definitely not any of them. After a brief hesitation, Zhao Feng stepped forward and quietly tugged at Luo Jingxuan's sleeve: "Your Highness, you must have mistaken him for someone else. How could he be your brother-in-law…?"

Luo Jingxuan's ingratiating expression instantly turned fierce, and with a whoosh, he slapped Zhao Feng across the face.

pia!

That was so crisp and clear.

Zhao Feng's face instantly became red and swollen, with five finger marks appearing.

"Shut up! How could I not recognize my own brother-in-law?" Luo Jingxuan cursed, then turned to Song Yan, his fierce expression quickly turning into a warm smile: "Brother-in-law, don't bother with this kind of person. He's just mentally ill, it's not worth it."

Song Yan chuckled: "It's not worth getting to know. I'm just curious why anyone in this world would deliberately ask to be beaten."

"Everyone says he's mentally ill, which is normal."

Zhao Feng lowered his head.

His face burned with pain. Song Yan's sneer, Luo Jingxuan's disdain, and all sorts of gazes from all around him felt like sharp knives stabbing into Zhao Feng's heart.

It was torture.

It's anger.

It is resentment and malice.

Where others couldn't see, those eyes were bloodshot and incredibly red.

Unfortunately, he couldn't afford to offend any of these people. No matter how much he suffered, he could only endure it, and the frustration was driving him crazy.

"Speaking of which, it's been several months since we last met, Your Highness..."

Luo Jingxuan quickly waved his hands: "What Your Highness, brother-in-law, you're too kind. Just call me by my name."

As for these past few months... if we disregard the dead heads that frequently appeared in my nightmares, they were generally not too bad. Who could imagine the shock that those mounds of corpses, filled with rotting, stinking, and pus-filled heads, and their dark eye sockets, must have been to the four of them, who had not yet come of age?

Since leaving Ningping, Luo Jingxuan has regretted countless times that he shouldn't have bothered Mingyue for the sake of saving face, and he shouldn't have gone to visit the Jingguan outside Ningping County... Visiting such a thing, is that something a human being would do?

Originally, Luo Jingxuan didn't think much of Song Yan.

After all, being a live-in son-in-law doesn't have a very good reputation.

But ever since he saw those mounds of skulls, Luo Jingxuan has decided in his mind that Song Yan is one of those people he absolutely cannot mess with.

He was even more terrifying than Emperor Ninghe.

He might accidentally offend Emperor Ninghe, at most receiving a reprimand; but if he angered Song Yan, Song Yan might actually chop off his head, and he didn't want his head to rot on a mound of corpses one day. He even suspected that his brother-in-law, whom he considered by his own eyes, was always thinking about where to put the person's head on the mound of corpses.

Thinking this, Luo Jingxuan shuddered again and pursed his lips: "Brother-in-law, what do you think we should do about this?"

Song Yan smiled, his expression very gentle: "Hehe, it was just a small matter, and I didn't intend to make a fuss about it, especially since he's your friend. Since that's the case, I'll give you face and let's just let it go."

Fang Hai glanced at Song Yan with some surprise, lost in thought. In his understanding, Song Yan was definitely not someone who could be easily spoken to. What mischief was this kid up to? He didn't know Song Yan's plans, so he didn't speak rashly, but Fang Hai knew that those targeted by Song Yan rarely ended well.

The fact that this Jingguan Madman gave him face shows that he has quite a lot of influence... Thinking this, Luo Jingxuan couldn't help but feel smug. He pulled over his three brothers behind him, along with Zhao Feng, and respectfully bowed to Song Yan. Song Yan just smiled and didn't say anything more. After nodding to the group, he left with Fang Hai and the others.

Luo Jingxuan said that he would like to visit the Prince of Jin's residence when he had time, and also invited Luo Tianyi... After all, although Luo Tianyi was adopted by Luo Yuheng, she was nominally a member of the royal family and his cousin, so it was not appropriate to act too distant.

As soon as Song Yan and the others disappeared from sight, Luo Jingxuan's smile gradually faded, and his gaze turned gloomy and cold. He glanced at Zhao Feng standing beside him. They had a good relationship before and often played together, but at this moment, he felt a sudden, inexplicable disgust. He turned around and slapped Zhao Feng across the face, making Zhao Feng see stars.

"Your Highness, why did you hit me?" Zhao Feng asked, feeling somewhat aggrieved.

"Stop with your scheming. Trying to use me? How many lives do you have?" Luo Jingxuan said sinisterly.

To outsiders, Luo Jingxuan was just a typical spoiled royal, spending his days riding horses, walking dogs, cockfighting, and horse fighting, all of which he was proficient in. But in reality, a little investigation would reveal that no matter how idle Luo Jingxuan was in his daily life, he had never actually done anything illegal.

It was as if they were always walking on the edge of the laws of Da Ning.

Occasionally, there may be some overstepping of boundaries, but it will never go too far; at most, it will result in a reprimand.

Now, Zhao Feng wants to kill someone, and he's going to kill his brother-in-law, and even drag him down with him to share the blame... Luo Jingxuan isn't stupid, how could he not see through this?

Even Qian Chen, Fan Zehao, and Lou Yanbo looked rather displeased.

"Zhao Feng, Zhao Feng, I'm rather curious. You and my brother-in-law are complete strangers. What could possibly be the reason you would try to kill him?" Luo Jingxuan sneered. Zhao Feng suppressed his resentment, his face contorted with a mournful expression, full of grievance: "Your Highness, you're wronging me. I have no guts to kill someone on Chang'an Street. It was that damned coachman who was driving too fast. It really has nothing to do with me."

"Hehe...that's for the best."

Stretching his arms, Luo Jingxuan had lost all interest in going out of the city to play: "Whether it was an accident, whether you wanted to harm my brother-in-law, or whether you were acting under someone else's orders, it has nothing to do with me. But... there is something I need to remind you of."

For some reason, Luo Jingxuan's appearance gave Zhao Feng a chilling sense of fear, and he swallowed hard: "Your Highness, please speak."

Luo Jingxuan patted Zhao Feng on the shoulder: "Now that you have some free time, have something good to eat."

hum.

Zhao Feng felt as if something had exploded in his head, buzzing loudly. Damn it, what did that mean?
Could it be that the person could kill him?

His father is the Marquis of Anning.

This is Dongling City. Could that person really have the guts to kill a marquis's son here?
He's crazy?
Zhao Feng instinctively didn't want to believe it, but Luo Jingxuan's expression made his scalp tingle, his throat go dry, and even his voice became hoarse: "Your Highness, who...who exactly is he?"

"Who is it?" Luo Jingxuan chuckled: "The son-in-law of the current Grand Princess, the Prefect of Pingyang, who slaughtered tens of thousands of Japanese pirates, annihilated a Jurchen tribe, beheaded them all, and built mounds of corpses outside the city walls..."

"In the past decades, he is the only person in the entire Ning Kingdom to be granted the title of Earl for his military achievements. Who do you think he is?"

"Be careful, after all, he's... ruthless killer."

“We’ve seen those mounds of heads with our own eyes. They’re densely packed with human heads, rotting flesh, flowing pus, and hollowed-out eye sockets… We’ve played with them a few times before, and I don’t want to see your head become the cornerstone of the first mound of heads in Dongling City.”

Zhao Feng's face turned pale instantly.

His body swayed suddenly, and he almost fell over.

Song Yan...

It was this monster! No wonder Luo Jingxuan called him the "Jingguan Madman"... This name wasn't just known in Liaodong and Songzhou, but even in Dongling. After all, not only in recent decades, but even in the early years of Ningguo's founding, there had never been such a ruthless individual.

Oh no, oh no, how did I get involved with this person?

"By the way, let me tell you something else. The middle-aged man behind him is Fang Hai, the eldest son of the Fang family."

"I'm starting to admire you. Even I wouldn't dare mess with those two together. You're quite something, trying to kill them both at once?"

After leaving behind a single sentence, Luo Jingxuan snorted and left with Qian Chen and the other two.

Zhao Feng was completely stunned. His arrogance as the heir of a marquis had been shattered and vanished completely. Several breaths had passed when Zhao Feng suddenly got up from the ground, looking like a madman, and rushed towards the direction of the Ministry of Works' residence.

That bastard Song Zhe dared to harm me.

Beside him, Guo Sheng, his face grim, got up from the ground, instructed the remaining imperial guards to collect the body, and then hurriedly walked towards his home.

He had to leave this place and Dongling as soon as possible.

Having offended Song Yan and Fang Hai, Marquis Anning might still have a chance to survive if he was willing to pay a certain price. But he was different; a lowly eighth-rank official, he was like a dog in Dongling City. If he ran too late, he would probably lose his life.

However, Guo Sheng did not notice that a woman in black was silently watching his back, a faint, cold smile playing on her lips, and she quietly followed him from behind.

If you want to kill my husband, how can I spare your life?
"What exactly does my nephew intend to do?" On the other side, on the way to the inner city, Fang Hai finally couldn't suppress his suspicion: "Have you forgotten what I told you before, either hide or stand still? What do you mean by standing still first and then hiding?"

Song Yan knew Fang Hai would lose his temper, but he didn't expect him to be unable to hold back for even a short while. He burst into laughter: "Uncle, do you know where the Marquis of Anning's residence is?"

"Of course I know that. It's not too far. Once you enter the inner city, turn east, and it's about two miles away. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's just... I'm planning to visit Marquis Anning this afternoon." Song Yan smiled. "If I remember correctly, Marquis Anning seems to have a marriage alliance with the Yang family?"

“Indeed, the wife of Marquis Anning is the legitimate daughter of a collateral branch of the Yang family, I think her name is Yang Shuxuan.” Fang Hai dared not say he knew everything about what happened in Dongling City, but there were few things he didn’t know: “Speaking of which, Marquis Anning is a pitiful man.”

"Besides Yang Shuxuan, the principal wife, there were three concubines. Unfortunately, all three concubines died during childbirth due to postpartum hemorrhage, and neither the mother nor the child survived."

"Among these three concubines, there was another woman who was a maid who grew up with Marquis Anning. It is said that Marquis Anning doted on her and even declared that he would marry her as his principal wife. However, because they were not of equal social standing, the old Marquis threatened to kill himself, and in the end, he gave up. When this concubine died in childbirth, Marquis Anning was heartbroken for a long time. After that, he never took another concubine and rarely went to brothels."

"It is Yang Shuxuan, the legal wife, who is quite capable. She gave birth to Zhao Feng, a son, so that the Marquis of Anning will not be without an heir."

"He only has one son, and he has spoiled him too much. He has become arrogant and domineering, and has caused a lot of trouble for the Marquis's mansion." Fang Hai shook his head: "This time, it is only because you, my dear nephew, did not pursue the matter. If you had really pursued it, he would have been accused of plotting against an official of the court. I am afraid that even if the Marquis of Anning gave up his title, he would not be able to protect his son."

Song Yan listened quietly.

"Hmm, that's rather strange. All three concubines died in childbirth, but Yang Shuxuan survived?"

"interesting."

I definitely need to meet this Marquis of Anning.

He was far more useful than his son.

We chatted along the way and finally arrived at the inner city.

Looking at the tall city wall in front of him, Song Yan was stunned.

Although he had heard about the existence of the inner city from Fang Hai before, he always thought that the inner city and the outer city were just geographical divisions. Who would have thought that there would actually be a city wall blocking the way between the inner and outer cities?

The city wall also looked somewhat old, clearly not newly built, but it was much better than the weathered and mottled outer city wall.

“This city wall was built during the reign of Emperor Ning Renzong.” Fang Hai also stood outside the city wall, looking at the bricks, with a somewhat emotional expression: “It must be about forty or fifty years old.”

"It is said that it was proposed by a group of scholar-officials."

"It is said that the scholar-officials possess great loyalty and integrity, which fill the universe and shine as brightly as the sun and moon. They are worthy of the ancients and can be role models for future sages. The common people are just ordinary people; ordinary people are like beasts. Understanding ethics, observing things, abiding in benevolence, and following righteousness are four things that even beasts cannot do."

Therefore, humans and beasts should not live together!

(End of this chapter)