People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 469, Food Destroyed, Bai Yifei's Decision
"Brother Zhu, don't overthink it. Some things are beyond our control. In all my years in the Hidden Dragon Hall, I've only learned one thing."

"Without sufficient strength and power, no matter how prominent one's status or how many people admire one, one is nothing more than a pawn in the hands of others. Even though I am just the head of the Hidden Dragon Hall, I am still feared and targeted by people with the surname Nei."

As soon as Situ Wanli finished speaking, he threw the torch in his hand toward the grain in front of him.

Zhu Jia stared at the torches spinning in mid-air, a glimmer of light in his eyes, and clenched his fists involuntarily.

“Brother, you may be overthinking it. There are indeed some people in the Farmer’s Clan who are targeting us brothers, but the Chief of the Heroes is still fair.”

Zhu Jia also threw out the torch in his hand and shook his head slightly.

Out of trust and respect for Tian Guang, he suppressed his thoughts. Trust built over many years was not so easily shaken.

Situ Wanli looked at the Zhu family, a barely perceptible glint in his eyes. He knew the Zhu family wouldn't suspect Tian Guang because of one incident, but this incident would certainly plant a seed of doubt in their hearts.

All he had to do was wait for the seed to sprout and occasionally water and fertilize it, and the seed would grow into a towering tree in a very short time.

Once the torch was dropped, it spread rapidly throughout the entire granary with the help of kerosene.

Black smoke gradually rose, and the smell of burning grain filled the air. Zhu Jia and Situ Wanli exchanged a glance before quickly leaving the granary, their figures gradually disappearing into the night.

Wei Zhuang knocked Tian Ze back with a single sword strike, while Tian Ze's snake-head chain also struck Wei Zhuang's shoulder, knocking him back as well.

The two men stumbled back several steps before stopping at the same time. Their cold gazes met, and before they could make another move, they smelled something burning.

Wei Zhuang's expression changed slightly. He turned his head to look in the direction of the granary, where thick black smoke was already rising and the fire in the granary was growing more and more intense, resembling the rising sun against the dark night sky.

"It seems I've won this time," Tianze said with a cold smile as he looked at Wei Zhuang.

Wei Zhuang remained silent, his cold gaze growing increasingly sharp as he raised the Shark Tooth sword and pointed it at Tian Ze, his anger gradually igniting within him.

This grain was crucial to solving the drought in Nanyang, the future of Han, and even the life or death of Han Fei, yet it was burned by Tianze.

Although Tianze's actions as an avenger were merely retribution for the state of Han, Wei Zhuang lost his mind due to anger and immediately lunged at Tianze.

Upon seeing this, the Corpse-Driving Demon immediately threw out several medicine bottles, which were cleaved in two by golden sword energy.

Green smoke instantly spread out, obscuring the figures of Tianze and the Corpse-Driving Demon, and the two quickly retreated.

"This is just my revenge against South Korea; the flames of revenge from Baiyue will never be extinguished!"

Tianze's cold and insane voice echoed above the military camp, while Wei Zhuang's face grew even colder as he gripped the Shark Tooth sword tightly.

"Go and inform the White-Armored Army in the city that there is a fire, and the rest of you follow me to put out the fire."

Despite his intense anger, Wei Zhuang forced himself to calm down and began assigning tasks, hoping to save as much grain as possible.

"Yes."

The quicksand assassins immediately sprang into action.

"Tianze, the next time we meet will be the day you die."

Wei Zhuang looked in the direction Tian Ze had left and thought to himself.

The bright firelight illuminated the entire night, and thick black smoke billowed above the military camp. The bright firelight attracted the attention of people nearby.

Inside the Nanyang Manor, a guard hurried into the main hall.

"My lord, something terrible has happened! The military camp is on fire!" the guard said in a panic.

Jade Tiger, who was already uneasy in his seat, suddenly stood up, looked at the guard in shock, and said angrily.
"What did you say!?"

"My lord, the military camp where the grain is stored has caught fire. The firelight has illuminated most of the sky. Our men have already investigated and confirmed that it is our grain."

The guard lowered his head, not daring to look at the Emerald Tiger, and hurriedly said...

Jade Tiger looked at the faint firelight outside, and suddenly everything went black. He collapsed into his seat, his once rosy, plump face turning deathly pale, his eyes filled with terror.

"It's over, it's over," Emerald Tiger repeated absentmindedly.

The reason he dared to keep driving up grain prices, and even buy up any grain that was being sold on the market, was because he had grain in his hands. Once the grain price was high enough, he could slowly release the grain and make back all the money he had invested.

However, a fire shattered Jade Tiger's dream of getting rich.

"Who? Who burned this grain? Where are the White-Armored Soldiers in the camp? With the White-Armored Soldiers here, who could have burned this grain?" Emerald Tiger suddenly looked up again and asked angrily.

"Han Fei?" Mo Ya said in a deep voice.

“It couldn’t be him. If he burned the grain, it would only drive up grain prices in South Korea,” Jade Tiger said firmly.

"We don't know either. As for the White Armor Army, they suddenly received orders that there was a refugee riot, so they went out of the camp to provide support, leaving only our men to guard the area," the guard said in a deep voice.

Emerald Tiger was taken aback, a bad feeling creeping into his heart. The departure of the White-Armored Army at this time seemed suspicious no matter how you looked at it.

Just thinking about Bai Yifei's cold and ruthless methods sent a chill down his spine, and he dared not doubt the Blood-Clad Marquis at all.

"How's the situation on Han Fei's side? Did our men succeed?" Emerald Tiger asked anxiously.

It wasn't important that he lost his grain; what mattered was that Han Fei also had to lose his grain. The former meant he would have to pay a lot of money, but the latter concerned his life and livelihood.

"There's no news over there yet, and our men haven't returned," the guard said.

"Send men to investigate immediately," roared Emerald Tiger.

"Yes."

The guards did not hesitate and immediately turned to leave, preparing to gather information.

Watching the guards' departing figures, Emerald Tiger stood anxiously in place, whispering...

"We must succeed, we must succeed!"

Meanwhile, at the Luyang granary.

The chaotic battle was over. The defending soldiers, at the cost of half their lives, joined forces with the farmers to defeat the assassins. The stench of blood lingered above the granary, and blood stained the ground red. Various corpses lay scattered on the ground.

Han Fei looked at the scene before him with a heavy expression and reached out to pinch the space between his eyebrows.

He had mobilized these guards without his permission, and now more than half of them had died in battle. He knew without a doubt that his father would be furious, and that Ji Wuye would take the opportunity to attack him.

However, in order to stabilize the grain prices in South Korea, it doesn't matter if they lose the military power of the Imperial Guard, since they can always take it back later.

"Ninth Young Master, all the thieves have been executed." Tian Meng said to Han Fei, cupping his hands as he held up his blood-stained sword.

Han Fei glanced at the most conspicuous splash of red on the battlefield, then smiled at Tian Meng and said...

"Thank you for your help, Hero Tian Meng. I will definitely visit the farmer's family in person to thank the leader of the farm when things go well in Nanyang." Regardless of Tian Meng's reasons for helping him, the other party had indeed helped him, and he should thank Tian Guang for both reason and duty.

A look of joy appeared on Tian Meng's face as he spoke.

"Young Master Jiu, there's no need to be so polite. Nanyang is suffering from a drought, and the people are in distress. Although my disciples are all rough men, we know how to follow the will of the people, love them, and help them in times of famine and disaster relief."

Han Fei's eyes flashed with surprise upon hearing this. He looked Tian Meng up and down before speaking.
"It turns out that the great hero Tian Meng is a member of the peasant school of literature. This idea of ​​following the will of the people, loving the people, fighting famine, and relieving disasters was what the peasant sage Xu Zi and my Confucian sage Mencius were talking about during their debate."

It is well known that the lineage of agricultural culture has been severed. Now, some people in the agricultural community are revisiting the ideas of Xu Zi and Shennong, and even if it is only a small part, it is enough to surprise people.

"You flatter me. I only have some knowledge of it, and I wouldn't call myself a literary scholar," Tian Meng said politely.

"You're too modest," Han Fei said with a smile.

Now that he has protected the grain he bought, once Wei Zhuang gets his hands on the grain hidden by Emerald Tiger, and then waits for grain merchants from various countries to sell the grain, the drought in Nanyang can be resolved. He will also be able to win the bet with Emerald Tiger and obtain financial support for the future development of Quicksand.

Just as Han Fei breathed a sigh of relief, a sudden explosion rang out.

"Boom~"

"What's going on?! Where did that explosion come from?!"

"What's wrong!?"

The soldiers present looked around in panic, and the soldiers around Han Fei even pinned him down.

Tian Meng looked in the direction of the explosion, watching the flames shooting into the sky, a barely perceptible smile flashing in his eyes.

The explosion was caused by the Bone Demon, an assassin recruited by the Chi You Hall, whose assassination skills were extraordinary.

Han Fei abruptly pushed away the assassin who was pressing him down, looked towards the source of the explosion, and stared at the bright flames. The smile on his face gradually disappeared.

The direction from which the explosion came was where he actually stored the grain.

"This is bad! Quick, everyone, go put out the fire!" Han Fei said in a deep voice to the soldiers around him.

As soon as he finished speaking, Han Fei headed straight for the fire. Even though he was usually calm and collected, he couldn't help but feel a little panicked in the face of the current situation.

"Yes."

The other soldiers did not hesitate and immediately followed Han Fei to put out the fire.

Inside the Prefectural Governor's Mansion in Luyang City.

Bai Yifei sat in the main seat, his cold face showing a hint of solemnity. Nanyang was his fiefdom, and with the permission of King Han An, all military and political power in Nanyang was handed over to him. In other words, he was the undisputed local king of Nanyang.

A flurry of footsteps sounded, and the white-armored army lieutenant strode into the room.

"My lord, something terrible has happened! An explosion has occurred where Ninth Prince Han Fei stored grain, causing a fire!"

"According to the surviving soldiers, they only saw a man in black silently sneak into the granary, killing most of the people and causing an explosion and fire."

"News also came from the military camp outside the city that the grain that Emerald Tiger had stored in the camp was burned by the wanted criminal Tianze."

The lieutenant looked at Bai Yifei and told her all the information he had learned.

Upon hearing this, Bai Yifei's face darkened, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

"Are you sure? Was it Tianze who burned the grain in the military camp?" Bai Yifei asked coldly.

“That’s right, our brothers said that a huge black snake’s head once appeared in the sky above the military camp,” the lieutenant said.

"Tianze."

Bai Yifei clenched his fist, and a chill emanated from his body, causing the tea in the teacup on the table to freeze into a layer of ice crystals.

He never expected that his cooperation with Han Fei to transfer the White Armor Army soldiers would ultimately benefit Tianze, allowing that mad dog Tianze to burn the life-saving grain.

He had been hunting down Tianze, that mad dog, but had never been able to find him. Now, his attention was being diverted by the drought in Nanyang, and instead of fleeing, Tianze was actively provoking him.

This enraged Bai Yifei, who secretly vowed to capture Tianze and make him experience the taste of fear.

"My lord, what do we do next?"

The lieutenant looked at the angry Bai Yifei and asked cautiously.

"Send people to help them put out the fire, and salvage as much grain as possible," Bai Yifei said in a deep voice.

"Yes."

The lieutenant turned and strode away from the cold room, heading off to mobilize his troops without looking back.

Bai Yifei took two deep breaths to calm his anger, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Everything happened so suddenly tonight. He knew that Jade Tiger was going to attack the grain that Han Fei had bought tonight, and that Han Fei would take advantage of Jade Tiger's weakness to seize the military rations that the other party had hidden.

Bai Yifei originally thought that Han Fei would easily defeat Emerald Tiger, not only protecting his own grain but also successfully seizing military rations, thereby stabilizing grain prices and solving the drought in Nanyang.

However, the result was quite the opposite. The two who fought each other ended up being injured in the end, and everything that happened tonight revealed an indescribable sense of eeriness.

"Was it you who pushed this behind the scenes?" Bai Yifei asked in a deep voice.

The person Bai Yifei was referring to was naturally Xu Qing. However, he had already sent people to keep an eye on the Luo Wang people, and tonight the Luo Wang made no move at all. As for the Yin Yang School, which had close ties with Xu Qing, they also did not take any action.

The farmers who appeared out of nowhere helped Han Fei protect the grain, but it was all destroyed in the explosion. None of Emerald Tiger's men were able to do this, and Tianze, who suddenly appeared, burned the military rations.

All of this seemed strange, yet perfectly reasonable; there was simply no clue that could connect it to Xu Qing.

Bai Yifei shook his head slightly. At this point, he no longer needed to dwell on these matters. No matter how thoroughly he investigated these matters, the food could not be saved.

Without this grain, it's almost impossible for grain prices in South Korea to drop, and Han Fei himself will be in dire straits.

Now he needs to consider whether to meet with Xu Qing and ask him to save Nanyang. The price he would have to pay is to lead Nanyang to surrender to Qin, thus becoming the first hereditary marquis in Han to betray his country and be nailed to the pillar of shame.

"Do we really have to do this?"

Bai Yifei's expression was solemn, his eyes filled with conflict, and he gripped the armrests of the chair tightly with both hands, lost in thought.

Two large fires brought the once-quiet Nanyang back to life, but Bai Yifei paid no attention to what was happening outside. He locked himself in his room, pondering what he should do.

As the moon set and the sun rose, a sliver of light shone through the window onto Bai Yifei.

Bai Yifei, who had been sitting there all night, also raised his head, a complex look flashing in his eyes, and said in a low voice.
"It seems I should go see him."

(End of this chapter)