svetikya Page 449
Page 449
"What are you doing?!"
"Young Master, what brings these two young masters here? Didn't you promise to escort us out of the capital?"
The eldest son of the Marquis of Pingyuan did not pull Princess Pingyang out of the carriage. Instead, he walked up to Heng Hui and stomped his bald head into the mud.
"Princess, Princess, run! They are bad people!"
Heng Hui screamed desperately, struggling with all her might, but it was all in vain in the hands of the brute.
Then Young Master Sun took out a rope and tied Heng Hui up tightly, even gagging his mouth which was screaming wildly.
"Let him go! Young Master Zhang, I have money here! You can have all the money!"
Princess Pingyang burst into tears and took out all the bundles from the carriage. Although she was naive, she had already foreseen the worst possible outcome.
Zhang Yi, who was known for his lustful nature, leisurely walked to the carriage and stared at Princess Pingyang's beautiful face, clicking his tongue in admiration.
"I'm tired of playing with courtesans and young ladies, but I've never tried with royalty before... Hiss!"
Princess Pingyang dodged Zhang Yi's outstretched hand and scurried into the carriage in terror. "Zhang Yi! You dare touch me! My father will kill your whole family!"
Upon hearing Princess Pingyang's words, the three young masters all laughed in unison.
The eldest son of the Marquis of Pingyuan kicked Heng Hui again, laughing and scolding, "Didn't you say you didn't want to be a princess anymore and wanted to elope with that foolish monk? You're no longer a princess, so why would His Highness Prince Yu care about you?"
Seeing Princess Pingyang's tense and fearful expression, Zhang Yi became even more excited. "Your Highness, look for yourself. This place is so remote that not a single person would come here for decades."
"If I kill you and bury you in these mountains, who will know where you go? Hehe."
Princess Pingyang pleaded tearfully, "Zhang Yi... no, Young Master Zhang, just tell me what you want, my father will give you anything, I only beg you to spare our lives."
Zhang Yi crossed his arms and said with a grin, "My father is the Minister of War, a second-rank official, and he has everything I want. I have long admired the princess and just want to be her husband. I would die happy if that were the case."
Upon hearing Zhang Yi's words, Heng Hui burst into tears, weakly whimpering, her legs, which she was desperately trying to kick, were broken by Young Master Sun's foot.
Now, he completely regrets it; he regrets eloping with Princess Pingyang.
Because this world is too complicated, he simply has no ability to protect the woman he loves. If he had known this would be the outcome, he would have preferred to let the princess marry into another family and spend his life with the Buddha lamp.
Seeing the cruelty of these people, Princess Pingyang burst into tears. She knelt in the carriage and pleaded desperately.
"Young Master Zhang, please, let us go..."
Zhang Yi scratched his head and reached out to lift Princess Pingyang's chin. "But this young master is reluctant to let you go."
Upon hearing this, Princess Pingyang took out a gold hairpin from her bundle and pressed it against her long neck. The tip of the hairpin had already pierced her delicate skin.
"Heng Hui! In this life and the next, Ping Yang can no longer be your wife!"
Just as the hairpin was about to pierce his throat, Zhang Yi suddenly said, "Wait! If you commit suicide, we'll skin that bald monk alive, one slice at a time."
Princess Pingyang was completely stunned, as if struck by lightning.
Because Young Master Sun had already drawn his short knife and sliced off a piece of flesh from Heng Hui's arm, blood gushing out, and Heng Hui struggled in pain.
At this moment, Princess Pingyang also regretted it. She realized that without her status as a princess, she was so powerless that she didn't even have the ability to protect herself.
The gold hairpin slipped from her neck, and her tears seemed to have dried up completely. "Let him go, and I'll let you do whatever you want with me."
However, the golden branch and jade leaf still underestimated the ugliness of human nature.
Zhang Yi's face was plastered with a practiced lewd grin. With the support of his family's power, he could do almost anything he wanted, even if the person opposite him was a princess.
“Your Highness, it’s no fun to leave yourself to my disposal. I’ve never liked to force anyone. As long as you behave and serve me well, I will of course let you go far away.”
Princess Pingyang seemed to grasp at the last straw, and a glimmer of hope returned to her parched eyes.
"Young Master Zhang, do you keep your word?"
Zhang Yi's smile widened, and he even swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva exaggeratedly, barely suppressing the urge to pounce on him.
Having a noblewoman willingly serve you is far more exciting than being served by women from the brothel.
"Of course, I always keep my word. Take off your clothes first..."
Princess Pingyang closed her eyes in pain, her hands trembling as she reached for her collar.
"Cough cough!"
Suddenly, a loud cough rang out abruptly.
Princess Pingyang instinctively clutched her collar, tears welling up in her eyes again, and she burst into tears.
Zhang Yi also jumped out of the car nervously and drew the curved knife from his waist.
The three of them had chosen this location long ago, and no one else would ever discover it. They also had their own men keeping watch at the foot of the mountain not far away.
"Who are you? Don't play tricks!"
Zhang Yi shouted, and the other two young masters also drew their swords and stood guard.
"Bah, disgusting."
"The son of a high-ranking official in the imperial court does things that are even more despicable than the local bullies and bandits of Jianzhou."
The three men's gazes sharpened as they noticed a tall, upright young man standing atop the carriage. A mocking smile played on his lips, but his expression was more one of disdain.
Li Chang'an was speaking from the heart; bandits and tyrants would attack directly, not deceive young girls.
"Who are you to dare disturb my good time!"
Zhang Yi, an eighth-rank martial artist, leaped up, his blade unleashing a burst of energy as he slashed towards Li Chang'an.
"boom!"
Li Chang'an kicked Zhang Yi in the face, then stepped on Zhang Yi's face as he fell from the air. Zhang Yi's head was slammed into the mud of the valley by Li Chang'an, and his jaw and nasal bone were broken.
Immediately afterwards, a small green sword suddenly flew out, like an arrow shot from a crossbow, and with a "thud," it pierced through the dantian of Young Master Sun and the eldest son of Earl Pingyuan.
Finally, the flying sword returned to Zhang Yi's crotch and clattered into the stone. Zhang Yi's hardworking and brave little brother was confiscated by Li Chang'an.
Li Chang'an controlled it well; he only destroyed their dantian, but he didn't kill them directly.
The imperial court is not like the martial arts world; killing them directly would make things very complicated.
"Princess, why aren't you going to save your lover?"
Princess Pingyang knelt blankly in the carriage, still unable to react. The seemingly hopeless situation had suddenly turned around.
Seeing Zhang Yi, whose face was trampled into the mud and whose limbs were struggling wildly, and the two young masters rolling on the ground clutching their stomachs, Princess Pingyang finally dared to believe what was happening before her eyes.
"Thank you, hero!"
Before she could even kowtow, she rushed off the carriage, untied Heng Hui's ropes, and the two star-crossed lovers embraced and wept.
The two, having narrowly escaped death, frantically kowtowed to Li Chang'an, terrified by what had just happened.
Li Chang'an didn't stop them; let them kowtow, it would be good for them to learn a lesson.
Love is beautiful, but there are far more unpleasant things in the world.
"You scoundrel, come here and tie up Young Master Zhang. We can't let him die."
Under Li Chang'an's orders, Young Master Sun endured the excruciating pain to firmly bind Zhang Yi and the eldest son of the Earl of Pingyuan, and then began to tend to Zhang Yi's gruesome groin wound.
Warriors don't die easily, but suffering is inevitable.
Princess Pingyang picked up the gold hairpin and, while crying, stabbed Zhang Yi all over, leaving him soaked in blood.
Before long, the martial arts alliance's people in the capital brought with them constables from the Jingzhao Prefecture.
Upon hearing that it was the Princess of Pingyang who had been insulted, the Prefect of the Capital did not dare to delay and immediately dispatched a large number of constables and yamen runners to the scene.
Li Chang'an sat on the roof of the carriage, instructing Princess Pingyang on where to stab the three young men with her hairpin, and where not to stab them, and how not to kill them.
The constables of the Jingzhao Prefecture quickly brought the scene under control. The female constable in charge was dressed in a black uniform with red piping on the collar and cuffs, and a majestic mythical beast, Bi'an, was on her chest.
The female constable was beautiful, probably in her early thirties, with a heroic and spirited demeanor. Her figure was graceful yet exuded the agility of a female leopard, and her chest was full, suggesting that she was wearing a corset.
"May I ask your name, sir? I am Lü Qing, a constable in the prefectural government."
After comforting Princess Pingyang and bringing the three young masters under control, Lü Qing stood on the ground and solemnly bowed to Li Chang'an.
Based on her years of experience in arresting criminals, she could tell from the injuries of the three young masters that Li Chang'an was far more skilled than her.
If Lü Qing were to take action himself, he could barely handle Zhang Yi, and it would be impossible for him to easily defeat these three.
"So you're Lü Qing. It's an honor to meet you."
Li Chang'an also bowed to the agile and beautiful female constable. He still remembered this beauty who had a lot of screen time in the early part of the original novel, but disappeared after she was promoted.
"I am Li Chang'an from Jianzhou."
Upon hearing Li Chang'an introduce himself, a glint of surprise flashed in Lü Qing's bright eyes. "So you're the Golden Eagle Hero! I've heard so much about you!"
The story of Li Chang'an and Li Miaozhen becoming the Golden Eagle Couple only exists in Li Miaozhen's own account and has not yet spread.
"Li Chang'an, a wandering swordsman, has already given away the golden eagle."
The two introduced themselves, and then they heard Zhang Yi's cries.
"I was wrong. I betrayed the princess's trust in us. I was just plotting something..."
Li Chang'an sneered. This fellow had already tried to define the nature of the matter when he saw the officials arrive.
It wasn't about court politics, nor did it have anything to do with his father; it was simply that he himself was lustful. But this is a world with sorcerers, so lying isn't so easy.
Li Chang'an said, "Captain Lü, have you notified the Imperial Observatory about this matter? It would be best to find a sorcerer who knows the art of observing qi, otherwise these young masters might not tell the truth."