With wives as numerous as clouds and soldiers as numerous as a million, you say he's a useless

A few days later, Ye Chengan returned to Yong'an City.

At the same time, people from the royal court also arrived.

Moreover, this person was an old acquaintance of Ye Cheng'an, Liu Qian, Su Wanrou's personal attendant.

He came to convey Ye Jinglan's orders. He had been waiting for Ye Chengan in Yong'an City for several days. Upon seeing Ye Chengan's return, he immediately came to his door, saying, "Young Master, you're finally back. We've been waiting for you for so long."

Ye Cheng'an gave him a cold look. "What are you doing here?"

"Of course it's to convey the Prince's decree... Young Master, why don't you kneel down and receive it?" Liu Qian said arrogantly.

From the moment the three imperial censors sent by the royal court returned with a message demanding that the prince severely punish the officials in charge of the nine cities, the princess had already guessed that the three censors had probably been detained and threatened by Ye Cheng'an.

He came for two reasons: first, to convey the Prince's forced decision to execute the chief official of the Nine Cities; and second, to check whether the three censors had been detained by Ye Cheng'an. If so, he would then issue the punishment for Ye Cheng'an that the Prince and Princess had agreed upon.

During the few days Ye Cheng'an was away, he visited three censors, and unsurprisingly, the three had indeed been detained and threatened.

According to the prince's orders, if Ye Cheng'an dares to detain the royal envoy, he will be stripped of his royal status! The Tiger Roar Army will be recalled!

Let him become a lonely, ordinary person, so that he won't cause trouble.

Liu Qian was certain that Ye Cheng'an would become a commoner, which is why he became increasingly disdainful of him.

However, he forgot that this was the eldest son's residence, in Liuzhou. His master, this vicious dog, was not here at all. He still wanted to rely on his master's power, but that was just a pipe dream!

Ye Cheng'an snorted coldly, "If you want to issue an imperial decree, then do so. My knees are too hard to kneel down!"

Liu Qian frowned. "Young Master, do you know that this is disrespect to the King? Aren't you afraid that this matter will be reported back to the royal court, and the Prince will punish you further?"

Ye Cheng'an sneered, "Do I look like I'm afraid? If you want to complain, go ahead and do it. But now, you either need to announce the imperial decree, or get out of here and don't delay me!"

"You..." Liu Qian gritted his teeth in anger, and the soldiers accompanying him all gripped the swords at their waists.

But Li Tieshan had already drawn his sword before any of them and pressed it against Liu Qian's neck.

When it comes to who has the worst temper, no one can beat Li Tieshan.

"Didn't you hear what the eldest young master said? Either announce the imperial decree, or get out of here! If you dare block the eldest young master's path again, I'll kill you!"

As Li Tieshan's chilling voice fell, Liu Qian slapped his thigh in anger, "Well, Ye Cheng'an, the Prince and Princess have always worried that you would rebel after coming to Liuzhou. Now you actually allow your men to hold a knife to my neck, the royal envoy! You really want to rebel!"

"You wait! When I return to the royal court, I will tell the Prince and Princess all your crimes. I will not let you get away with this!"

Ye Cheng'an's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do you know what happened to the last person who said something like that?"

Liu Qian shook his head.

Ye Chengan said, "The last person to say such a thing was the Nine City Lords, and they have all been killed by my sword. Next are the Three Imperial Censors, who are being held captive in the Northern Territory. It won't be long before I send them to reunite with the Nine City Lords."

"And you... a mere eunuch, a vicious dog under Su Wanrou's command, dare to bark and howl in front of me..."

"Uncle Li, there's no need to show mercy, just kill him."

"And all those who accompanied him, kill them all, leave no one alive."

"Ye Cheng'an, how dare you..." Liu Qian stared wide-eyed in disbelief, "To murder the royal envoy is an act of treason..."

Ye Cheng'an scoffed, "Detaining the royal envoy is the same thing, isn't it? I've already done the former, so why should I fear the latter?"

"Furthermore, Liuzhou borders the northern barbarians, which is already plagued by war. In addition, the territory is not peaceful. Who knows whether you were killed by me, or encountered some ruthless bandits?"

"kill!"

As soon as Ye Chengan finished speaking, Li Tieshan slit Liu Qian's throat with his knife.

A crimson line of blood spread from his neck, splattering blood in the air. He fell to the ground, never expecting that Ye Cheng'an, who had only been away from Beian City for a month and a half, would be so ruthless and decisive.

At this moment, Liu Qian's followers finally showed fear. "Young Master, spare us! We... we were wrong! We'll never dare to frame you again..."

"Everything was orchestrated by Liu Qian; we were just following along..."

"If you spare us, we will definitely put in a good word for you before the prince."

Unfortunately, all they received in response was Ye Cheng'an's retreating figure.

Seeing this, Li Tieshan understood his young master's meaning. With a swift stroke of his knife, dozens of corpses fell to the ground.

Ye Cheng'an showed no change in expression at the deaths of Liu Qian and the others, remaining as calm as if he had crushed a few ants.

On the contrary, Zhao Xuefu, upon hearing of his return, was shocked by his audacious actions. "Ye Cheng'an, you first detained the royal envoys, forcing them to submit a memorial detailing the crimes of the Nine City officials, and then you killed the royal envoys..."

"Don't you want to live anymore?"

Ye Cheng'an chuckled lightly, "Whether I want to live or not, they all want to kill me. In that case, why should I care about their feelings?"

"Also, Princess, there is something I must tell you."

"What?" Zhao Xuefu asked.

Ye Chengan said, "The Northern Barbarians are about to invade, and even if I subdue the troops of the Nine Cities, I only have 24,000 soldiers under my command, which is no match for the 100,000 iron cavalry of the Northern Barbarians."

"Besides, I offended Xiao Heming, the Grand Commander of Liuzhou, before. If the Northern Barbarians come, he will surely join forces with them to annihilate me..."

"Liuzhou will soon be engulfed in war, and I am simply no match for the Northern Barbarians. If you continue to stay here, Princess, I'm afraid you won't be able to leave."

"If I were you, I would leave now, lest I fall into the hands of the northern barbarians and become a prisoner soon."

Upon hearing this, Ning Shuang and Hong Luan's expressions changed drastically, and they both looked at Zhao Xuefu. "Princess, shall we return to the capital? Or perhaps temporarily return to Beian City to avoid the onslaught of the Northern Barbarian army?"

"We'll come back when Liuzhou is pacified!"

However, Zhao Xuefu remained silent, only gazing intently at Ye Cheng'an. "The Northern Barbarian army is coming. Why don't you leave?"

Ye Cheng'an asked, "Does the princess believe there is a place for me to stay in Beian City?"

"You may return to the capital with me," Zhao Xuefu said.

Ye Cheng'an shook his head. "I'd rather be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond. Even if I go to the capital, no matter how high my position is, I'll still just be doing things for others. I want to be my own master."

"...But you will surely die if you stay here!" Zhao Xuefu emphasized, then suddenly seemed to remember something, "No, perhaps the eldest young master has already thought of a way to deal with the Northern Barbarian army. The reason he told me these things is to force me to leave."

"After all, you did the same thing last time during the locust plague."

"Young Master, you are indeed brave and resourceful, with a brilliant mind, but unfortunately, you shouldn't use the same methods twice. I am not foolish enough to believe that you have no means to deal with the Northern Barbarians and insist on staying here to die!"

"..." As soon as Zhao Xuefu finished speaking, Ye Cheng'an felt like a million grass mud horses were galloping through his mind. This woman is really not easy to fool.

No wonder Emperor Qian sent her to the northern border to spy on the situation.

"What if what I said is true this time?" Ye Cheng'an asked.

Zhao Xuefu said, "If what the eldest young master says is true, then I should stay here even more."

"After all, the relationship between the eldest son and the King of the Northern Border has completely broken down. If I were not here, no one would come to the aid of Liuzhou. On the contrary, as long as I stay here, the King of Yong'an and his men will definitely lead their troops to my aid because they are worried about my safety and how they will be able to explain to my father..."

"In that case, I have saved the young master's life, haven't I?"

"Why is the princess so determined to save me, even at the risk of putting herself in danger?" Ye Cheng'an was puzzled. Why did Zhao Xuefu have to stay by his side?

Zhao Xuefu smiled and said, "I want the eldest young master to see my sincerity. I truly have no intention of harming you, and I genuinely want you to be my consort, and..."

To serve the imperial court.