Adoption brings disaster

It is said that in this world, few people are afraid of death, but many are afraid of not being famous. Although I have the support of the King of Zhenbei, the support of the hero Li Qinghan, and two thousand retired soldiers of the Northern Army under my command, I still cannot withstand some people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for fame.

It would be fine if the upright cultivators tried to start a fight under some pretext, but after all, they still had to follow the rules of the martial arts world. If they were polite and gave more money, the conflict would disappear without a trace.

However, these evil masters, whether for money, fame or just to gain a little clout, would resort to any means possible, including poisoning, assassination, siege, and sorcery, using all sorts of methods.

Although my escorts were skilled fighters who could fight a hundred of them at once, they were no match for the evil masters' deliberate schemes. As expected, out of the ten groups of escorts who went out, only nine came back safely.

However, although the evil man who came to rob the escort was also a master, he did not attack the entire camp, but attacked alone, in a formation as tight as an iron barrel.

Even though that person resorted to such a despicable method as sneak attack, he only caused one of the escorts to suffer minor injuries.

The escort was hit in the arm by a poisoned arrow. It was just a common poison, so he found a clinic on the road and got a detoxification. He was fully recovered by the time he returned to the racecourse.

Upon hearing this, I arrived at the racecourse in a rage. With a sullen expression on my face, I asked the escort leader, "How do you think this matter should be handled? It's been so long since the news arrived, haven't you considered this issue?"

Of course, the escort leader had considered this issue. Not only the escort leader, but all the escort masters had considered it, and they all believed that killing to stop killing was the right way.

If they had just retreated, they would have attacked without saying a word. I'm afraid that all the rats in the bandit camp would have been chopped into pieces and thrown into the toilet. There would be no need for me to question them.

But they had been beaten by society and had become timid. The escort leader smiled flatteringly and said cautiously, "Why not fine him some money?"

I turned around and glared at the escort leader, saying sternly, "You've probably lost your mind. Your own people were injured, and instead of seeking revenge, you fined him."

I snorted coldly and cursed, "What's the second principle of the Baofu Escort Agency? Have you all forgotten it completely?"

How dare they forget? They're just afraid that killing to stop killing will cause more trouble. Now my attitude is clear: I will destroy them. The invaders will be killed without a trace.

The escorts present all looked excited and answered in unison: "Unity."

"These bandits actually dared to hurt our people. Let them pay with their lives." I threw out a bag of money and said coldly, "But whoever can sneak into the mountain stronghold and kill these daring bandits will keep the money."

Although they have been beaten by society and no longer have the bloodiness they once had, as men, being able to avenge their enemies is still exciting enough for them. There are even several people with distorted faces who are almost crazy.

Even though the escort leader was scolded by me, he still looked happy and said, "Boss, when the news came back, three people had already gone. I was afraid that you would think we were causing trouble for you, so I didn't dare to tell you before."

"One blow is better than a hundred. If we can't kill all the bandits this time, I'm afraid anyone will dare to step on us in the future."

I grew angrier and angrier as I spoke. I stood up and paced back and forth, saying, "Damn it! I have two thousand Northern Border troops at my disposal. I'm going to see who in the martial arts world has no eyes and dares to ruin my business. I'll kill anyone who dares to come. I want to see how many heads they have for us to kill."

"These bandits in the Jianghu are naturally nothing to be feared; they're just a mob," Li Er said worriedly. "I'm just worried some people in the court will take advantage of this situation. After all, many people are wary of the two thousand Northern Border troops."

"What are you afraid of? If you want to fight, the escorts will take over."

Although I know there will be some short-sighted people and I have made plans in advance, I am still very angry now.

I was furious at the moment, and after hearing what Li Er said, I felt even more unhappy. I cursed, "If we want to talk about reason and national law, I will go and meet these people myself to see how capable they are and whether they can withstand my words."

"Boss." The injured escort leader stood up and said self-blamingly, "I am also at fault for this."

"How to say?"

"According to the escort agency's rules, you can only eat food that has been tested to be non-toxic when you're out. But Ah Qi got poisoned after eating some wild fruit on the roadside, which is why he got injured."

Disobeying military orders is a big taboo. Before I could say anything, the chief escort leader had a gloomy face and had Ah Qi dragged out and beaten with twenty boards. Ah Qi was a man, and even though his butt was beaten to pieces, he didn't even scream.

While the escort named Ah Qi was being fought here, the people who went to destroy the stronghold had already returned.

"You guys are back, but you're quite slow. You spent three days in a bandit village."

I heard voices outside and asked, "Who's back?"

"Three bastards, come in quickly." The escort leader shouted.

The three grown men knew I was coming, and fearing I would scold them, they all walked in dejectedly with their shoulders hunched. They looked at me and said flatteringly, "Boss, you're here too."

Unfortunately, these three people don't know how to flatter at all. Their faces look like they are smiling but not smiling, crying but not crying, which is really funny to watch.

I ignored their funny looks, took a deep breath, sat down on the chair and asked, "How's everything going?"

The three of them looked around nervously, and seeing that everyone was excited and not nervous at all, they dared to say with a smile, "Boss, you know everything."

"I asked you how things were going?"

Maybe because my tone was rather light, the three of them weren't as nervous as before and said, "Of course they were all killed. These people are so weak, not a single one of them can fight. They claim to be famous masters in the martial arts world, but with such strength, they are truly undeserved."

I ignored the three men's smugness and simply kicked the money bag on the ground, saying, "Take this money and divide it among you."

After that, he turned to Li Er and said, "According to the rules we set before, bonuses will be given to the injured and the other three."

When the three heard there was a bonus, they were all delighted and said with a grin, "I told you, the boss won't blame us. I asked you to come with me, but you didn't dare. Now you can only watch us drink and eat."

The man became more and more proud as he spoke. Someone behind him pushed him and said, "Don't say anymore. What are we going to do about this?"

He spoke very quietly, and if I hadn't practiced the White Rat Magic, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to hear it.

I noticed they had something else on their minds, and judging by their expressions, I feared it wasn't a small matter, so I asked, "Are you hiding something from me?"

The three of them were also shocked when they saw me asking, and said, "Your Highness actually heard it?"

I was a little impatient and said, "Hurry up and tell me."

The three people who were so smug just now immediately shrank their necks and became frightened little rabbits. They lowered their heads and didn't dare to look at me. They just pulled each other and let the other person speak.

After a long discussion without any clear conclusion, I got annoyed and pointed at one of them and said, "You tell me."

The man chuckled dryly and said, "It's not a big deal. We beat up the local county magistrate."

When the escort leader heard this, his originally cheerful face immediately turned into angry eyes, and he was about to hit the three of them. It was Li Er who stopped the escort leader, thus saving the three of them from being beaten.

The escort leader cursed, "You hit the county magistrate! You actually hit the county magistrate, and you still have the nerve to say it's no big deal! I'll beat you to death today and give the boss an explanation."

When I heard the county magistrate was beaten, I thought it must be the civil officials trying to trip me up. I became even more angry and said quietly, "It's really not a big deal."

Beating a county magistrate is not a big deal, but if it is a tactic used by a civil official, there must be a back-up plan. It is necessary to understand the reason and have a clear understanding of it so that it will be convenient for countering it in the future. So he asked again: "Why did you beat the county magistrate for no reason?"

"We wiped out the bandit camp and on the way back, we found a county town to rest. I don't know what happened, but the county magistrate brought a large group of people to arrest the three of us. In the chaos, I accidentally hit the county magistrate."

"Since they picked a random county town, it's impossible that someone set up a trap." I said to myself, "Then why did the county magistrate arrest you? Could it be..."

I roughly understood why the county magistrate wanted to arrest them, so I smiled and said, "Take someone who's good at mechanical engineering with you, and hurry up without delay. Go inside the village and investigate. You never know what surprises may be found."

The three men didn't understand what I meant, but seeing that I was serious, they took my orders and left without saying anything more.

These escorts were ruthless in their attacks. Beating a county magistrate now would let the world know that the escort agency was involved in both black and white dealings, which was of course beneficial and harmless. However, if they beat people up at random in the future, it would be difficult to deal with them.

I thought about it and said, "When we open the door to do business, we still have to value peace. If there is a conflict in the future, it is best to give in if you can. If you can't give in, just avoid it. If you can't avoid it, it is best not to take anyone's life. After all, you are not in the army now, so you can't use the same tactics against the Hu people."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and I chatted with them for a few more minutes, and the matter came to an end.

The matter of the escort agency was almost settled, and I rushed to the palace without stopping. I asked Er to go back and tell His Majesty the Seventh Prince that I would not return to the pavilion tonight.

"Your Highness, are you staying at the palace tonight?" Ah Da asked. "It's still early, and we still have time to go back to the palace."

"Is it too late and I can't go back to the palace?" I asked back.

"Of course, it's not like we haven't been late before." Ah Da said belatedly, "Your Highness, you have something to do, right?"

"Don't you think the things in the escort agency are strange?"

"What's so strange about this? These guys are used to being in the army. They don't care about severity when they fight. They didn't mean to hit the county magistrate. Besides, didn't you say that hitting a county magistrate was nothing?"

"Let me ask you, is the Northern Territory soldier a master who can defeat a hundred people alone?"

"Of course. Everyone in Beishang knows that our Northern Border Army is capable of fighting." Ah Da was a little proud, and even his tone became much higher.

"Since everyone knows how powerful the Northern Army is, why do they still dare to rob our escort? Are those bandits stupid, or do you think you can't fight without the Northern Army?"

"Yes, why? Didn't we all pay our respects to the mountain gate one by one? Why did these bandits rob our escort?"

"When you can't defeat the enemy head-on, you can only resort to conspiracy and subterfuge."

"Your Highness, I don't understand what you are saying." Ada asked in confusion.

I saw that Ada didn't understand what I meant at all, so I couldn't help but feel that Li Er was better. He would definitely understand such straightforward words. Of course, Chongguang was the best. He understood what I meant without me having to explain.

But not everyone is Chongguang, even Li Er is one of the minority. We can't expect too much from everyone.

Besides, Ah Da is the most loyal and reliable, which is something no one else can compare to.

Seeing that Ah Da didn't understand, I also said clearly: "What I mean is that someone is behind this matter."

"The county magistrate was also set up by them. How sinister."

"Probably not."

"Ah." Ada was a little confused.

"If you want to set up a trap, you have to set up a dead end. If our escorts kill the county magistrate in broad daylight in front of everyone, I'm afraid that even if His Majesty wants to protect us, he won't be able to do so."

"Then why did the county magistrate come to arrest them?"

"I don't know either, but my guess is that the bandits must have stolen something valuable, and the county magistrate thought the escort had taken it, so that's why."

A Da didn't understand the twists and turns and still didn't quite grasp it. I was too lazy to explain it to him. I needed to rest a little longer and might not have time to rest later.

When I arrived at the palace, I asked the palace steward to bring all the information of officials from the Dali Temple, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of Justice.

Soon the manager had someone bring in a large box and a small box.

The steward pointed to the large box and said, "Your Highness, all the information our palace has on officials from the Dali Temple, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of Justice is contained in it."

"What's in the small box?" I asked with interest.

"The Seventh Prince had it sorted out a while ago, saying that His Highness Qianqiu could use it." The steward replied.

"Let me guess. This should contain information about the families of officials from the Dali Temple, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of Justice who were murdered by bandits."

The steward was stunned for a moment and said, "His Highness the Seventh Prince said that as long as it is brought out, His Highness Qianqiu will know what is inside. I didn't believe it at first, but now I do."

I smiled and asked Ada to carry the small box and go back to the palace.

"Your Highness, let's go back now. Didn't you say you would stay at the palace tonight?"

"Ada, what do you say to knock someone down quickly?"

Ah Da didn't understand what was going on, so he could only say subconsciously, "Of course, it's about attacking the vital points, such as the throat, eyes, and temples."

I patted the box and said, "What's in here is the enemy's throat. If they don't attack, that's fine. But if they do, I'll knock them down hard and let them know that I'm not to be trifled with either."

Ah Da had no idea what I was talking about, he just felt that I was very powerful. He hadn't been so happy in a long time since the Northern Frontier Army's disarmament, and he even walked with a lot more lightness.

If you want to know what the county magistrate is, please listen to the following explanation.