We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Seeing that the sticks were about to fall, the soldiers who had left earlier were filled with righteous indignation and wanted to turn back to help the sergeant.

But at the end of the street, the sound of vibrating bowstrings suddenly came, filled with murderous intent.

"Let go!" Li Che's cold voice sounded.

The crossbowmen in the first row subconsciously pulled the triggers, and rows of crossbow arrows whizzed out, instantly shooting down a group of evil slaves on the spot.

Before the evil slaves could react, the first row of crossbowmen had retreated and the second row of crossbowmen came forward.

"Put it back!"

There was another hail of arrows, and the evil slaves were terrified and howled like ghosts and wolves.

Two consecutive waves of crossbow arrows had already broken the courage of the evil slaves, and they dropped their sticks and knelt on the ground begging for mercy.

Ignoring the wailing and pleas for mercy coming from his ears, Li Che rode forward without looking away, with his personal guards following closely beside him.

Arriving in front of the squad leader, the latter knelt on one knee respectfully: "Your Highness!"

"Why don't you fight back?" Li Che asked.

The sergeant held the grain bag tightly and said in panic: "According to military regulations, we cannot attack civilians..."

"Open your eyes and look, are they civilians?!" Li Che raised his voice and swept his eyes over the soldiers.

"Open your eyes, who are the common people and who are the jackals?"

Many soldiers lowered their heads and dared not answer.

In the grain shop, a scholar in a long robe ran out and saw the slaves lying on the ground. His face turned pale.

"Prince of Ninggu!" the scholar shouted, "What has my Wang family done wrong? You allow your soldiers to slaughter innocent people. Are you forcing us to buy and sell things?"

Li Che looked at the scholar and sneered, "Forced buying and selling? As a vassal king of the imperial court, how could I do such a despicable thing?"

The scholar just breathed a sigh of relief, but then he heard Li Che continue:

"After I take something, as long as I don't pay for it, it won't be considered forced buying or selling, right?"

The scholar's face suddenly changed, and his lips trembled: "You...what are you going to do?"

"All troops, listen up!" Li Che ignored him and shouted.

Many soldiers gathered and punched their chests in unison: "Yes!"

"All troops, listen up! We are here to raise food and money for the army. You may freely use any of the shops of the noble families. If anyone obstructs us..."

"Kill without mercy!"

The soldiers responded excitedly: "Yes, sir!"

Without the constraints of military discipline, the soldiers rushed into the shops like tigers descending from the mountains, taking whatever they saw and kicking anyone who dared to block their way.

They are a group of fierce criminals, so asking them to rob is considered a professional match.

Li Che was also busy. He ordered the personal guards to supervise the soldiers and ensure that they would only attack the aristocratic families.

In the market, it is easy to distinguish between the nobles and the common people.

The noble families all have their own shops with staff wearing uniform, which looks very formal.

Ordinary people would at most set up a small stall, and most of them sold their goods on the street.

Li Che had no interest in the hard work of robbery.

They are all poor people, and you can't make much money from them. Not only that, but they also ruin their character.

Seeing the scene in chaos, the scholar from Wang's grain shop took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, turned around and ran out of the market.

Qiu Bai approached Li Che and pointed at the scholar's back. "Your Highness, this boy must have gone to report the news. Do you want me to bring him back?"

Li Che smiled and shook his head: "Don't worry, put the bait out, then you can catch big fish."

. . . . . .

The Wang Family Courtyard was not far from the market. When the scholar stumbled into the gate, Wang Lun happened to meet him:

"Chong'er, what happened outside?"

"Uncle." The scholar was still in shock. "Li Che... Li Che!"

"What happened to Li Che?" Wang Lun had a bad feeling in his heart.

"Li Che has gone crazy!" Wang Chong finally caught his breath. "If we don't sell him the grain, he'll send his soldiers to steal it. Now the whole market is in chaos!"

Wang Lun was speechless when he heard this.

We are all upper class people, and we should be playing the game of power. How can there be someone like Li Che?

When you can't beat me, you start robbing me. What's the difference between you and a gangster?

At this time, other noble families also received the news of the market and gathered at the Wang family mansion.

"Brother Wang, the Prince of Ninggu is acting recklessly and our family's shop has been robbed!"

"Brother Wang, what should we do about this disaster?!"

"My shop has accumulated three months' worth of goods, and I've already found a buyer. I absolutely cannot let that lunatic snatch them away!"

Wang Lun's face was gloomy.

The loss from the shop being robbed was a small matter, but what the aristocratic family could not afford was the loss of credibility.

The reason why aristocratic families can dominate and act tyrannically is that they have more credibility than the government. The common people only know about the aristocratic families, not the imperial court.

Moreover, many of the goods in the store have already been sold.

Buyers who can trade with aristocratic families are naturally either rich or noble. Almost all of them are from the same aristocratic families, high-ranking officials, or even... foreigners!

If we break our promise to them, the consequences will be disastrous.

"That's enough!" Wang Lun shouted. "What's the point of arguing?"

"The most urgent thing is to not let Li Che take those goods away, otherwise if the master blames us, we will all be blamed!!!"

Someone asked, "Li Che has soldiers at his disposal, how can we stop him?"

"Li Che has soldiers, but you don't have any?" Wang Lun glared. "Don't think I don't know. You all have retainers and private soldiers at home. Why not wait any longer?"

Everyone looked at each other, not daring to speak.

Although raising private soldiers is illegal, it is a common practice among aristocratic families and is considered an unwritten rule in this circle.

But letting private soldiers attack a vassal king's troops would be a serious crime.

"What are you still hesitating about?" Wang Lun said angrily. "If Li Che dares to steal food, won't he dare attack your mansion? If then, who among you can resist his fierce army?"

Hearing Wang Lun's words, everyone woke up as if from a dream.

Yes, Li Che was so unscrupulous that he might have gone to rob his own mansion after robbing the shop.

"You're right. We can't just sit there and wait for death. My family has 800 private soldiers at your disposal!"

"I also have six hundred guests in my house, all of them desperate men, willing to die for my brother!"

"My son is serving in the city guards. You can order him to dispatch troops!"

"My family will pay 700!"

"My family can also provide 800 private soldiers!"

Everyone talked at once and soon gathered together 3,000 private troops, plus a city guard that was not under the control of Prince Yan.

Wang Lun nodded with satisfaction and continued, "Go back and prepare quickly. Once I give the signal, rush to the market."

"What are you going to do, brother?"

"I'm going to the Prince of Yan's mansion." Wang Lun narrowed his eyes. "Prince Ningninggu is waging war in Prince of Yan's fiefdom. As a vassal king, how can he just sit back and watch?"

"I'll go and force him to send out his troops!"