Dressed as the prince's substitute? I took the throne

The bearded man in the lead slowly noticed Zhou Chuxuan, glanced at his men, and a malicious smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Do you know that I'm doing business here, and everyone else should get out of here?"

Zhou Chuxuan calmly took off the jade ring in his hand and played with it on his fingertips: "I wonder which mountain you are from?"

"Haha, kid, if I tell you my name, you'll be scared to death!" The bearded man laughed and waved his hand to let his men close the door of the pawnshop.

"We are the subordinates of Brother Han Bin from Fuling Mountain. There are thousands of men and horses on Fuling Mountain. We are not afraid even of the imperial court!"

The bearded man raised his thumb and introduced himself: "My name is Ma Sandao. I once followed Brother Han in battles across the country and killed countless people! Boy, what family are you from? Why do you come to Xiangma Town to show off your status as a leader?"

Zhou Chuxuan's eyes flickered slightly when he heard this. He nodded thoughtfully, then pushed aside a few people and came to the shopkeeper. "Shopkeeper, can you tell me how much this sign can be exchanged for?"

The shopkeeper's pupils suddenly shrank when he saw the token. He looked Zhou Chuxuan up and down, then immediately turned and went into the back room: "Sir, please wait a moment. I'll go get the silver for you right away!"

"Hey, old man, don't run away!" One of Ma Sandao's men immediately climbed over the counter and chased to the back room.

"Boy, you can easily pull out a gold medal. It seems you are quite wealthy. I'm short of money recently. I wonder if you can lend me some money?"

Zhou Chuxuan smiled and said, "It's easy to borrow money, but not you! I need your boss to come and talk to you!"

"Oh? Boy, do I give you face?" Ma Sandao sneered: "With your ability, you still want to see our boss?"

"Ma Sandao..."

Zhou Chuxuan repeated the name twice and said with a smile, "Now that Xiangma Town is surrounded by the imperial army, you few bandits dare to show up here and rob people?"

"Haha, the imperial army?" Ma Sandao was not afraid at all. Instead, he laughed heartily: "Boy, how can those two broken horses of the imperial court compare to the Ferghana horses of our Fuling Mountain?"

"Grandpa, even if we slow down, we won't let the imperial army catch up! Besides, the imperial army must be on a mission, so why would they meddle in other people's business?"

Zhou Chuxuan nodded, neither angry nor annoyed: "Judging from your speech and behavior, although rough and unrestrained, your words make sense. You definitely don't sound like an ordinary bandit! Have you...been a soldier before?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Sandao's expression changed instantly. He slowly unsheathed the steel knife in his hand, and the smile on his face faded. He said in a cold voice, "Boy, who are you?"

"It seems that I was right!" Zhou Chuxuan smiled, put the jade ring back on his finger, stood up calmly, and shouted towards the back room.

"Boss, be careful, don't kill him!"

"what are you talking about?"

As soon as Ma Sandao finished speaking, the shopkeeper came out from the back room with a sharp blade in his hand, holding the man who had just entered hostage.

The sharp blade was placed at the man's throat, just a hair's breadth away from piercing his skin.

"Old man, what are you doing? Let my third brother go quickly, or I'll tear down this shabby shop of yours!"

As soon as Ma Sandao finished speaking, more than a dozen burly men rushed out from the back room, all holding sharp blades in their hands.

The room was narrow and they had no room to maneuver. Ma Sandao and his men were caught off guard and soon had steel knives held to their necks, their eyes wide open.

"You, you..."

"I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" The shopkeeper knelt on the ground and returned the golden token to Zhou Chuxuan.

"His Royal Highness?"

Hearing the shopkeeper's words, Ma Sandao instantly lost his composure, opened his mouth slightly, and looked up and down at the young man in front of him.

I had always felt that this person had an aura that was different from that of ordinary people. An ordinary nobleman would never be so relaxed and calm when seeing bandits like them. I didn't expect that this person was actually the crown prince of the current dynasty.

Ma Sandao immediately broke out in a cold sweat. In such a narrow space, he was not sure he could escape.

In addition, there are imperial troops outside the town of Xiangma. If the prince gives an order, the entire Fuling Mountain will probably be in trouble.

"Let them go!"

Zhou Chuxuan smiled faintly and waved his hand to signal everyone to let go of Ma Sandao: "You men, go back to Fuling Mountain and tell your boss that the emperor will come to visit tomorrow!"

"As for this brother Ma Sandao, would you mind staying here for a while and keeping me company?"

Ma Sandao's mouth twitched. Isn't this a hostage?

He immediately waved his hand and said, "It's all up to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to command!"

"Brother Ma, we..."

Seeing that his men were still refusing, Ma Sandao glared at them and said, "Get out of here now and report to my brother!"

These bastards, why don’t you let them go and report the news quickly!

After they left, Zhou Chuxuan took Ma Sandao into the inner room and said, "Boss, go gather the horses. Later, take my jade ring to the Crown Princess. She will tell you what to do!"

"Yes, His Royal Highness!"

When they were the only two left in the room, Zhou Chuxuan picked up the teapot and poured two cups of tea. He smiled and said, "From what you said before, you once served in the army, but later became dissatisfied with the court?"

When mentioning the imperial court, Ma Sandao's eyes became gloomy and cold. He picked up one of the cups of tea, tilted his head back and drank it.

He ignored the slight swelling at the corners of his mouth from the burn and said, "Humph, back then my elder brother and I fought in the Northern Frontier. With only two or three thousand men, we stubbornly stopped the five thousand cavalrymen of the Northern Desert!"

"Seven days and seven nights, the court only gave us three days' worth of food, no clothing or support at all!"

"Finally, under the attack of the Northern Desert Iron Cavalry, the defense line was completely defeated. Everyone except me and my eldest brother died in the battle! Then, the imperial military supervisor arrived and accused us of being traitors! He threatened to arrest and execute us!"

Ma Sandao said indignantly, "My eldest brother and I discussed it and decided to just rebel! This damned imperial court! We've been in the army for seven years, and our annual rations and salaries are being withheld!"

"In the end, they even called us traitors!"

Zhou Chuxuan was silent for a moment, and he naturally understood in his heart that this was caused by the corrupt officials of the Wu Dynasty.

"Your Highness, I've said it all! You can kill me or chop me up, it's all up to you!" Ma Sandao said with his neck stiff.

"Kill? Why would I kill you?"

"Haha, Your Highness, don't even think about recruiting me! I won't serve this rubbish court anymore! It's better to be the king of a mountain!"

Ma Sandao looked at Zhou Chuxuan coldly: "I heard before that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has been pretending to be stupid for many years, but he is actually biding his time. Now he is leading his troops to attack the northern border!"

"I can only wish His Royal Highness the Crown Prince immediate success. If you want to serve me, please find someone else!"

Zhou Chuxuan sighed lightly.

"Go back!"