"Young Master, where have you been these past two days? How did you end up like this? Could it be that you ran into bandits?" Seeing Ning Xiaochuan's tattered clothes, disheveled hair, soot-black face, and wounds all over his body, Yu Yan thought he had returned after fleeing disaster.
To be precise, he really had fled back from disaster.
"Let's say I ran into bandits! It can't be explained in a few words; I'll tell you later. Right, Yu Yan! This time, I lost all my possessions. I don't have a single coin left on me. How much longer can the manor's funds hold out?" Ning Xiaochuan asked a crucial question.
When he left, he had taken all the coins from the manor. Supporting several hundred servants alone was an enormous expense for such a large estate.
Could Begonia Manor still keep going? Yu Yan lightly pressed her lips together and said, "It's fine. Young Master, you needn't worry about such trivial matters."
Ning Xiaochuan narrowed his eyes slightly. "Yu Yan, where is your Butterfly Hairpin? Where is the Azure Gold bracelet on your wrist? Where is the jade pendant at your waist? Why are all the ornaments on you gone?"
Yu Yan had once been a Silver-Ranked Music Courtesan at Jade Viewing Pavilion. Her worth had been in the millions, and she possessed many priceless ornaments. Yet now, all those ornaments were gone.
How could any of this escape Ning Xiaochuan's keen observation?
Yu Yan lowered her head gently. "I no longer make a living with my face, so naturally I have no need for those ornaments. Young Master made me the little steward of Begonia Manor, so naturally I must think more for the estate and not let Young Master worry about such mundane matters as money. Those ornaments... those ornaments... I sold them to cover the household expenses."
Ning Xiaochuan took Yu Yan's little hand in his. "Silly girl! What girl does not wish to dress beautifully? Besides, making money is easy enough."
Ning Xiaochuan entered Purple Qi Garden, chopped a block of wood weighing more than thirty pounds from the Blood Toad Wood, then drove into the Imperial City and sold it.
When he returned at noon, he had bought more than a hundred stalks of Mysterious Medicine and brought back a large quantity of coins.
"Yu Yan, come here."
Ning Xiaochuan took a pendant from his robes. Its chain was polished Azure Gold, while its pendant was pure white Spirit Communication Jade, shaped exactly like a translucent little seashell.
Spirit Communication Jade generally grew inside Mysterious Beasts, concealed within their bones. It was jade formed from condensed profound qi and bone matter, exceedingly rare and precious.
Ning Xiaochuan had specially chosen this pearl-shell necklace for Yu Yan, spending 1.2 million Small Coins on it.
Even the favored daughters of noble marquis households might not be able to afford such an expensive necklace.
Ning Xiaochuan put the necklace around Yu Yan's neck, a trace of a smile appearing on his lips. "That's more like it! So beautiful. Do you like it?"
Yu Yan's fingers kept caressing the little shell. She nodded hard, like a chick pecking at rice, tears already spilling from her eyes.
"Why are you crying?" Ning Xiaochuan asked.
Yu Yan knelt on the ground and said, "Back at Jade Viewing Pavilion, people gave Yu Yan ornaments as well, but Yu Yan always felt they were merely alms from others, that she was so lowly she was beneath even a little beggar. But when Young Master gave Yu Yan ornaments, there was not a trace of ulterior intent in his eyes, nor any look of charity. The meaning was entirely different. Yu Yan was touched, so she could not help wanting to cry."
Ning Xiaochuan helped her up, wiped away the tears beneath her lashes with his fingers, and said, "It's only a necklace. Go on! Call someone to move all these coins into the treasury. From now on, you may allocate them as you wish."
"Mm!"
Yu Yan nodded softly, then turned and left. Her fingers tightly clutched the little shell hanging at her neck, her heart as sweet as if she had eaten honey.
Just then, the steward who had only recently been promoted at Begonia Manor rushed in in a panic, fell to his knees, and cried, "Manor Lord, disaster! The garrison from Nanshan Village has surrounded Begonia Manor."
Ning Xiaochuan's brow furrowed deeply. The Nanshan Village garrison actually dared to surround Begonia Manor? Did they not know this was an estate of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion?
A bad premonition rose in his heart!
Mobilizing troops and surrounding a manor was no small matter in the villages bordering the Imperial City. It was practically a great upheaval; something major must have happened.
However, Ning Xiaochuan still did not know why these troops had surrounded Begonia Manor, so he immediately hurried outside.
Bang!
Two soldiers clad in heavy armor, each over two meters tall and broad-shouldered like tigers with bear-like waists, struck out with their palms at the same time. Dense profound qi enveloped their hands as they slammed into Begonia Manor's gate, blasting the half-meter-thick iron-plated doors into pieces.
Both soldiers were Martial Dao experts, notorious fiends within the army, each commanding several hundred squads beneath them.
"What are you doing? This is Begonia Manor, not a place you can barge into as you please!"
A group of Begonia Manor guards rushed forward to stop them, but how could their cultivation compare to these two military experts? After only a few exchanges, they were all beaten to the ground, unable to rise.
The guards of Begonia Manor generally had low cultivation. Apart from their former commander, Ye Chenglong, who was an expert at the Profound Qi Ninth Level, most of the other guards had not even reached the Profound Qi Sixth Level.
One of the military experts, a man with a beard covering his face, planted a foot on a guard's chest and sneered. "What worthless Begonia Manor? You dare harbor a wanted criminal of the imperial court. Believe it or not, everyone here will end up with their heads falling to the ground?"
"I truly do not believe you have the nerve!"
Ning Xiaochuan emerged from the manor. Looking at the shattered gates and the dozens of guards sprawled on the ground, barely clinging to life, his gaze turned cold. "Who are you? Do you know this is an estate of the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion? You shattered the gates of the Marquis Mansion's estate. You truly have no small amount of nerve! Men, bind these two and cut off their hands."
Outside the gates stood soldiers in heavy armor everywhere, their gazes fierce and cold, their killing intent surging. Some even rode savage Mysterious Beasts, surrounding the entire manor so tightly that not even water could pass through.
The military formation stood in neat ranks.
This was a true army—well-trained, iron-blooded, and merciless. Though their Martial Dao cultivation was not much stronger than that of Begonia Manor's guards, once arrayed in formation, one hundred soldiers could slaughter five hundred guards until not a piece of armor remained.
The air outside Begonia Manor was filled with chilling slaughterous intent, frightening the manor's servants until their faces turned deathly pale and utterly bloodless.
When had those Begonia Manor guards ever seen such a formation? Let alone going forward to bind anyone, they did not even dare shift their feet.
This was a true army!
Ning Xiaochuan sighed inwardly. If this army charged into Begonia Manor, the estate would be razed to the ground in an instant, corpses strewn everywhere.
The bearded military man cast Ning Xiaochuan a casual glance, his foot still pressing against the guard's chest, and said coldly, "Boy, who are you?"
"I am the Manor Lord of Begonia Manor." Ning Xiaochuan remained calm, yet he did not even spare the man a proper glance. Instead, his eyes fixed on a woman.
The woman stood in the open ground between the army and Begonia Manor. She was tall and slender-waisted, with delicate curves. Her back faced Begonia Manor, her arms folded before her chest, and her body stood straight—straight as the Dragon Elephant Halberd Spear planted at her side.
The three thousand soldiers surrounding Begonia Manor were all as imposing as rainbows, a force of tigers and wolves. Yet whenever their gazes fell upon this woman, they carried reverence.
She was like a mountain peak, making every martial artist feel she was too lofty to reach, cold beyond approach.
Ning Xiaochuan had the illusion that, if this woman wished it, she could kill all three thousand soldiers present, leaving not a scrap of armor behind.
Ning Xiaochuan was not the only one with this feeling. The soldiers present felt the same, and thus they were filled with reverence toward her.
"So you are the Manor Lord of Begonia Manor!"
Ji Hanxing abruptly turned around. Her azure-blue hair fluttered in the air, her eyes icy, three-foot-long profound rays shooting from her pupils. She stared at the footprints Ning Xiaochuan had left behind, nodded lightly, and said, "That's right. It was you!"
Ning Xiaochuan felt her gaze was incomparably sharp, as though it could see through even his flesh and blood. His entire body seemed frozen, and even moving a little was immensely difficult.
So strong! The Profound Qi Ninth Level was, before her, like the difference between a firefly and the bright moon.
Ning Xiaochuan hurriedly used the power of the Demon Sword to conceal the aura within his body, pretending to be an ordinary person who knew nothing of cultivation. He asked cautiously, "You came looking for me?"
Ning Xiaochuan had some impression of this woman. He had encountered her once at the Nanshan market. At the time, she had sat atop a Dragon Elephant, the Dragon Elephant Divine Martial whom everyone revered.
Ji Hanxing had followed Ning Xiaochuan's footprints to Begonia Manor, then immediately mobilized three thousand troops to surround it, lest Minister Tian escape again.
Ji Hanxing frowned slightly. What was going on? There was actually no Martial Dao Profound Qi within his body? The Azure Radiance Glazed Eyes Ji Hanxing cultivated could see through even martial artists with higher cultivation than her own, yet she could not detect any Martial Dao Profound Qi whatsoever on Ning Xiaochuan. This immediately filled her with doubt.
Could a youth without Martial Dao cultivation save Minister Tian?
Could a youth without Martial Dao cultivation practice the Blood Devouring Demon Art and nearly kill a genius expert of the Divine Body Realm? What exactly was going on?
Ji Hanxing walked before Ning Xiaochuan. Her waist was slender, her figure tall, her curves graceful, yet she carried an inhuman chill. Taking out a command token, she said imperiously, "The Dragon Elephant Divine Martial is apprehending a wanted criminal of the imperial court. I hope you will cooperate!"
Ning Xiaochuan finally understood why the army had surrounded Begonia Manor. They had come to capture Minister Tian!
This trouble had become enormous!
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