The Good-for-Nothing Little Bastard

The capital city of the Great Kingdom of Tianchang was expanded from the capital city of the Kingdom of Nanzhao.

The original Nanzhao Royal City was built with rammed earth and blue bricks on all four sides.

The king of Tianchang ordered the complete demolition of the city walls, the removal of huge stones from the mountains, and the reconstruction of new city walls, with the original area of Nanzhao Royal City serving as the inner city.

They expanded outwards by a large circle, paving the ground, building streets, and constructing an outer city, modeled after the layout of Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty.

Originally, after the outer city was completed, wealthy households were to be relocated from various places to fill the population of the royal city.

As a result, in recent years, due to the continuous expansion of the royal palace and gardens of the King of Tianchang, the residences of nobles and officials have also been expanding.

The people in the inner city had no place to stand unless they had some connections, so they all moved to the outer city and lived among the wealthy people who had moved from other places.

The outer city's wards, on the contrary, became congested.

The weather has been warm lately, but not scorching.

Chu Tianshu sat on his horse, making the sound of hooves. As they approached the city wall, he saw many homeless people sitting at the base of the wall.

Bask in the sun to drive away illness and chills.

The only people accompanying Chu Tianshu were the scholar and the nineteenth prince.

The guards at the city gate recognized the nineteenth prince. Although he was covered in dirt, they were afraid it was some new trick of the young prince and dared not approach him to ask questions, lest they offend him.

The people in the outer city, seeing the tall horse approaching from afar, held their breath and hid in the corners of the walls.

A perfectly good main street was deliberately made to make way for a smooth path, but the people on both sides were crowded together, their faces mostly showing fear.

The three men and three horses somehow made their way through the outer city and approached the inner city gate without any hindrance.

On either side of the inner city gate, there are drums for petitioning.

The petition drum, also known as the road drum or the grievance drum, has existed since ancient times. It was originally placed outside government offices at various levels.

The petition drum, which was set up in the royal city, should not have been placed on either side of the city gate.

Because the king of that time had a sudden whim and wanted to show his enlightenment and magnanimity and to ensure clean governance, he set up petition drums at each gate of the inner city.

With the king's power, even if he were far away in the inner palace, he would be able to hear the sound of someone striking the petition drum here.

However, less than two years after the drum was erected, a minister, guessing the emperor's intentions, ordered elite soldiers to guard the place closely.

No matter where they come from or what grievances they harbor, none of them are allowed to beat the drum.

Chu Tianshu opened his Heavenly Eye on his forehead a crack, and an invisible wave swept across the inner city. After a short while, he closed his Heavenly Eye and looked at the two large drums.

"It's been well-maintained."

He shook the reins in his hand and continued towards the inner city, and still no one stopped him.

The streets of the inner city are ancient and weathered, yet they still appear much cleaner than those of the outer city. People walking here, even when they see someone riding a horse, are not as alarmed as they are in the outer city.

Although not everyone was dressed in fine clothes, those walking on the street were at least dressed in fine cloth without any patches.

Many of the servants, who were very impressive, would ride in sedan chairs or on horseback, with even the least imposing ones accompanied by two attendants, and would enter various restaurants and eateries to order dishes and snacks that the ladies of the household liked.

Looking at the layout of the inner city, Chu Tianshu felt that the layout of the streets was still quite familiar.

Unfortunately, these restaurants and eateries are now completely unfamiliar to me.

He walked along the street and looked toward the palace.

The palace was indeed quite different from what it used to be; the walls were several feet high and had a yellowish tinge.

It is clearly made of carefully selected yellow boulders, piled up, and when the sunlight shines on it, it looks like a palace made of gold.

If you continue along this street for about a mile, you'll reach the main gate of this new palace.

Hilarious!!

The horse neighed softly and stopped in front of a closed-off restaurant on the street.

This restaurant is located at the very address of the restaurant owned by Lady Wenjing back then.

Some parts of the restaurant still retain a touch of antiquity, but it has been largely renovated. It's unclear who the current owner is, and it has even been shut down.

"The Nineteenth Prince!"

From the street corner came the sound of soft yet firm footsteps.

A giant, about ten feet tall, wearing a jade crown and hairpin, with a long beard and brocade robe, turned the corner and strode over.

In terms of height alone, this man is not as tall as the two giants mentioned before, but his bearing is even greater.

Chu Tianshu immediately recognized the condensed and restrained aura within him.

This person's actual height should actually exceed that of those two giants.

However, he maintained a state similar to Bone-Shrinking Art, shrinking himself to only a mere ten feet tall.

Upon seeing this man, the scholar's face lit up with joy. "General Yang!"

This man Yang Zhenyi, and he is currently the leader of the six great generals in the country.

According to the old system of Nanzhao, the position of Qingping Official was even higher than that of Dajun Jiang.

However, the current ruler of Tianchang is very wary of the position of Qingping Official, and he trusts General Yang very much, so he specially ordered that a giant mansion be built for him.

Within the thousand-acre courtyard, everything from the houses and pavilions to the cups, bowls, and even the flowers in the pond are specially selected exotic flowers from the Hu people, renowned for their size, to complement the giants.

Now that this person has arrived, my life is finally safe!

The scholar's anxious heart finally gave way to joy.

"Mr. Wen."

Yang Zhenyi did value this scholar to some extent, but at the moment, he was more concerned about the nineteenth prince.

"I heard from afar that the Nineteenth Prince's breathing was labored and his lung sounds were hoarse, as if he had suffered some injury to his chest or lungs, so I came to check on him."

Where did you go today? Why are you covered in mud like a monkey?

As he spoke, he had already reached the three horses.

Even when the three of them were on horseback, they were still not as tall as him.

Those eyes were truly enormous, bigger than copper bells.

As they got closer, Yang Zhenyi blinked and noticed even more clearly that something was wrong with the Nineteenth Prince.

He remained calm and focused his gaze on Chu Tianshu.

Relying solely on his hearing, he hadn't yet detected anything unusual about Chu Tianshu, who seemed to be just an ordinary elite soldier.

Looking at him now, Yang Zhenyi was smiling.

"Who is this? Is he also one of the nineteenth prince's newly recruited retainers?"

"My name is Chu Tianshu, just an unknown person."

Chu Tianshu looked at the restaurant next door. "I had a friend who used to own a restaurant here. I wonder who owns it now, and why it was shut down?"

Yang Zhenyi's eyes narrowed slightly, and he examined Chu Tianshu with even greater seriousness.

"So you've come for General Cheng. General Cheng has rendered great service, but he's old and senile, and has been repeatedly disobeyed and disrespected by some malicious individuals."

"The king had no choice but to bring the old general to prison. However, the Zheng and Cheng families have a long-standing relationship, and the old general is the king's uncle in terms of seniority."

"Although Cheng Jia was in prison, he was not mistreated in the slightest; it was merely like facing a wall in repentance."

Yang Zhenyi, perhaps due to some misunderstanding, softened his tone and sighed, "Your Excellency should also understand my king's predicament."

"If this general is not dealt with, where will my king's authority be? How can I rule the entire territory and care for all the people?"

When Yang Zhenyi said these words, most of the people on the nearby street stopped talking.

Those still on the street rushed into restaurants, while those already inside wished they didn't exist.

The inner city was now inhabited entirely by officials, their relatives, and servants.

Yang Zhenyi can speak and act with even less restraint here.

But when those servants heard Yang Zhenyi's gentle explanation, which also concerned the emperor's reputation, they couldn't help but feel their hearts pounding and their hearts filled with unease.

Chu Tianshu asked, "General Cheng, what's your name?"

Cheng Xin, courtesy name Jiuning.

Yang Zhenyi frowned. "This restaurant was passed down from the old general's grandparents."

"If you have no prior relationship with the Cheng family, why are you referring to this restaurant?"

Chu Tianshu smiled and said, "Hearing you say that, I'm certain now that I do have a past connection with his family."

Yang Zhenyi's eyes flickered with uncertainty. "Did you actually come from Chang'an?"

"Hahaha!"

Chu Tianshu laughed, "You people here are really interesting. Back then, some people thought I was from the Inner Guard, and now some people think I came from Chang'an..."

He was halfway through his sentence when he noticed the change in Yang Zhenyi's expression and fell silent.

So you also thought I was Inner Guard?

Yang Zhenyi's face darkened. He took out an iron comb from his robes, combed his beard, and said, "In the court, the king is the only one worthy of the title; in the military, the Red Emperor is revered."

"Under the Red Emperor, there are far more than just the Inner Guard."

"Judging from your tone, you certainly are not a disciple of the Red Emperor!"

He was already suppressing his anger when he said this.

That old scoundrel Cheng Hai Donglai of the Great Tang several times. Rumor has it that Hai Donglai even Hai Donglai his courtesy name.

Therefore, when the king was furious, although he captured the old traitor Cheng, he hesitated several times and dared not actually order the execution of his entire family.

That's precisely to leave that little bit of leeway.

Yang Zhenyi had also been worried about this matter for a long time. Seeing the delicate situation today, he unconsciously started to think about his own worries, which is why he mistakenly believed that Chu Tianshu was from the wrong place.

"Since you are not an envoy from a superior nation coming to demand justice, how dare you... take the nineteenth prince hostage?"

The giant spoke these words with utmost calmness, but his pace suddenly quickened towards the last few words.

The iron comb flipped out, its dark shadow vanished in an instant, its sharp teeth already reaching the side of Chu Tianshu's neck.

This iron comb is a foot long and about an inch thick.

To a giant, it's a comb, but to a normal person, it's a cleaver capable of cleaving a tiger or slaughtering an ox.

Yang Zhenyi, being a giant strongman, has not yet reached the point where his entire body can move beyond the range of sound.

But even twenty years ago, the speed at which he waved his hand surpassed the speed of his voice.

Despite the terrifying wave of his hand, the iron comb suddenly stopped at Chu Tianshu's neck.

Because Chu Tianshu extended his right hand and used the back of his hand to block Yang Zhenyi's wrist.

That scene.

It was as if using a small bamboo stick to stop a massive, sweeping pillar.

Both their length and thickness present a startling contrast.

However, with Chu Tianshu's block, Yang Zhenyi's wrist truly came to a halt.

Between their skin, air was rapidly compressed, and then bursts of air waves erupted.

Woo!! Rumble!!

When those air waves suddenly expanded out from a small point, it was like the sound of a giant flute suddenly rang out, before turning into a thick, whistling sound of airflow.

The comb made of black iron in Yang Zhenyi's hand emitted a loud buzzing sound.

His eyes widened suddenly, and he abruptly stepped back.

Being able to block one of his attacks doesn't mean you can beat him.

But the horse managed to withstand his sudden attack while still sitting on its back; it wasn't even killed by the shockwave.

This instantly dispelled Yang Zhenyi's desire to fight alone.

The giant's exertion of power is truly wondrous.

The moment he stepped back, a section of the ground, spanning over ten meters in diameter, caved in like the skin of a large drum.

In an instant, it bounced up again.

The street surface is paved with stone bricks, and the roadbed beneath the stone bricks is made of gravel.

Regardless of the material, it actually has very little elasticity.

Yang Zhenyi relied entirely on physical strength, using subtle and delicate vibrations to suddenly reveal the elasticity of these rigid materials.

He bounced backward across the entire road surface.

The giant's body flew off at an angle like a cannonball.

That single backward jump would probably send him leaping over 100 meters.

BOOM!!

Just as the ground rebounded, Chu Tianshu spread his arms and grabbed the people on either side.

By the time the ground bounced back, he had already risen high, standing on his horse. With a flick of his left hand and a toss of his right, he launched the two men out one after the other.

The two figures, after he infused them with his internal energy, didn't even have their clothes torn.

The nineteenth prince caught up with the giant first, head first, and shot towards the giant's abdomen.

Yang Zhenyi was startled and instinctively opened his large hands, using a soft force to grab the nineteenth prince's arms and waist.

Although he was now holding the nineteenth prince, he felt a burning sensation, like a thousand needles pricking him, pouring into his body from the prince.

The bone-shrinking technique could not be maintained.

Yang Zhenyi's body swelled up dramatically, reaching a height of over 1.5 zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

His muscles and bones seemed to expand simultaneously, his clothes shattered, leaving only a layer of golden inner armor.

"Oh no! The wind!"

This thought flashed through Yang Zhenyi's mind.

He was already flying backward at high speed, which meant there was considerable air resistance.

With that sudden increase in size, it was as if he had crashed into a wall of wind behind him, causing his speed to drop drastically and him to land prematurely.

The scholar's body also flew towards them at that moment.

Having learned his lesson, Yang Zhenyi didn't bother catching the scholar with his hands this time. He simply swept his left arm, intending to send the scholar flying.

To everyone's surprise, this scholar did not possess that strange, piercing, expanding power.

Scholars possess a sticky, tenacious quality.

Yang Zhenyi swept his hand across.

The first half of the trajectory was to sweep the scholar away, but the second half was because the palm could not leave the scholar's body and was thus pulled to the side.

This pull even caused his entire body to slightly lose its balance.

Just then, Chu Tianshu's entire figure suddenly enlarged and appeared in front of Yang Zhenyi.

The young man, his feet dangling in the air, hadn't even touched the ground yet when his palm, seemingly slow but actually swift, clearly struck the giant's chest.

Boom!!!

Yang Zhenyi, holding the prince with one hand and the scholar with the other, shot his entire body backward.

Unlike before, he deliberately jumped backward, heading diagonally upward.

This time, he shot straight up along the ground with a roar.

He smashed the heavy main gate of the palace directly.

Cracks filled the doorway, and the city gate tower above the main gate suddenly collapsed.

The elite imperial guards stationed there were caught off guard and fell into the ruins, sending clouds of dust billowing into the air.

A deafening roar echoed throughout the entire inner city.

Even the people in the outer city looked up.

"This is what you call a petition drum; even if Old Deng doesn't want to hear it, he has to."

A voice resounded loudly.

"Zheng Tianchang, you wretched child, get out here!"

(End of this chapter)