Pick up a princess to be your wife

Back at Jubaoge, He Xianzhi finished washing up and sat on the upper floor, staring blankly out the window.

"I really didn't realize that Young Master Li had so many good qualities." Xiao Lan came over and sat down next to He Xianzhi.

"Miss, why were you so reluctant to leave the carriage just now?" Xiao Lan asked again when He Xianzhi didn't answer.

She hadn't seen Li Mu pull He Xianzhi's hand, so she felt that He Xianzhi was reluctant to leave.

"Miss, you wouldn't actually have taken a fancy to Young Master Li, would you?" Xiao Lan asked with a wicked smile.

"What do you mean?" He Xianzhi asked.

"I think Young Master Li is quite nice," Xiao Lan said.

“You kept calling me a peasant before, but now you keep calling me Young Master Li. Not bad. How about I act as your matchmaker and have Young Master Li marry you?” He Xianzhi frowned and said irritably.

“If he’s my type, I wouldn’t even need Miss to help me propose. I could just hold a knife to his neck and he wouldn’t dare not marry me!” Xiao Lan laughed.

"So what type do you like?" He Xianzhi asked.

"I like tall and strong guys," Xiaolan replied.

"Okay, I'll find a suitable family to marry you off in a few days."

"Hehe, Miss, you must be reluctant to part with Xiaolan. If I get married, who will protect you? Miss, tell me, have you taken a fancy to Young Master Li? Oh, Miss, you blush too!" Xiaolan smiled mischievously, making He Xianzhi blush even more.

In matters like this, He Xianzhi was just a young girl. Even if she didn't say it, she couldn't hide her feelings when Xiaolan kept teasing her.

The only person she could say these things to was Xiaolan.

"Do you think Dad will agree?" He Xianzhi asked with some worry.

“Young Master Li is so capable. If he becomes an outstanding person and wins the master’s favor, the master will naturally be willing to marry Miss to Young Master Li,” Xiao Lan said.

“But what if he fails to achieve success?” He Xianzhi asked.

"Then let's take him as our son-in-law. With Master's prestige in the Great Yan Dynasty, even if he were to tie up a dog and make him your son-in-law, who in the world would dare to utter a single word of criticism?" Xiao Lan said.

"Crack~!"

He Xianzhi raised his hand and gave Xiaolan a sharp tap on the head.

Although what Xiaolan said was outrageous, what she said was not an exaggeration at all.

If her father really brought a dog to be her son-in-law, not only would no one say a word against it, but a large group of nobles would also worship that dog.

But such a thing is naturally impossible.

Despite his father's prestige, Madam He would never do such an absurd thing.

Even though the He family suffered a major blow, their assets shrank significantly, and they degenerated from a top-tier aristocratic family to a second-rate one.

However, He Chou, the head of the He family, can still be called the richest man in the Great Yan Dynasty.

However, in feudal dynasties, the factors that determined the status of a family were not just wealth.

“Investigate two things. First, find out exactly how Li Mu robbed Zero Bank. Second, find out who is supporting Li Mu. The second point is especially important to me,” He Xianzhi said.

"I know, Miss is worried that Young Master Li is working for some rebel leader," Xiao Lan said.

She was indeed worried about that.

She even suspected that Li Mu might be one of Wu Fengxian's men.

Wu Fengxian and the Great Yan Dynasty were irreconcilable, and he also had a blood feud with the He family.

If Li Mu were to work for Wu Fengxian, she and Li Mu would have no future together.

"Being able to rob Zero Bank is actually quite an achievement for Young Master Li," Xiao Lan continued.

"You've only eaten one meal from him, and now you see nothing but good qualities in Young Master Li."

"He does have a lot of good qualities, and maybe there are many that you ladies haven't discovered yet. I'll help you keep finding them, hehe."

"It's getting late, hurry up and wash up and go to bed!"

……

Inside Zero Money Exchange in the county town.

Xiao Yunfei, Ge Desheng, and several other people sat together.

From the moment Xiao Yunfei returned in the morning, this group of people sat there all day without saying a word.

Xiao Yunfei remained silent, and even if Ge Desheng had a thousand words to say, he didn't dare to speak.

Xiao Yunfei kept reviewing the situation in his mind. He really couldn't understand where he had gone wrong in that encounter this morning.

Those five hundred bandits? And that Zhai Fei who slaughtered everyone in his path?

From the very beginning, those mountain bandits were no match for them; from the start, they were constantly being suppressed and beaten.

Even if Zhai Fei is incredibly skilled at killing, he cannot turn the tide of the battle single-handedly.

The second-in-command, Liu Qian, was quite clever, employing a series of intricate schemes that repeatedly caused them to suffer losses, but this was not the key to their defeat.

The key is the fifteen mysterious masked men who appeared later.

Judging from his voice, the man wearing the ghost mask was very young, probably around twenty years old.

The fifteen men were almost fully armed, with their armor hidden under their clothes; most of them were soft armor such as chainmail.

The key to victory or defeat lies in the interference of those fifteen masked men.

Two hundred elite troops were defeated by five hundred mountain bandits plus fifteen armored soldiers.

At the cost of seventy soldiers, more than two hundred bandits were killed. This casualty ratio may seem considerable, but it was actually a disgrace for Xiao Yunfei.

Xiao Yunfei himself was saved by that ghost face mask.

Was it because his subordinates weren't strong enough? Or was it because he was too young and inexperienced?

But who exactly are they? Where did they come from? Whose subordinates are they?

Since they are well-equipped and certainly not short of money, why would they rob a road? Could it be for those 20,000 catties of refined iron?

Ge Desheng couldn't hold back any longer and whispered to Xiao Yunfei, "Young General, this time the losses are heavy. How are we going to explain this to our master?"

He wanted to blame Xiao Yunfei, even to the point of calling him a good-for-nothing for being robbed by bandits.

But he didn't have the guts.

Losing 50,000 taels of silver is a small matter, but losing 20,000 catties of refined iron is a big deal.

If the owner blames them, everyone at Zero Money Shop in Luyang County will lose their heads.

"There were two groups of bandits who attacked us. Besides Tiger Head Stronghold, there were also fifteen people of unknown origin," Xiao Yunfei said.

"Could you please tell me the details of what happened, young general?" Ge Desheng asked in a low voice.

"Ah."

Although Xiao Yunfei was reluctant to talk about it, he still recounted the entire course of the encounter in detail.

"So, the young general's view is that those fifteen fully armed men are the key to victory or defeat?" Ge Desheng asked.

"Yes. If it weren't for them, Tiger Head Stronghold's mere five hundred men wouldn't have been able to defeat me," Xiao Yunfei replied.

"Does the young general have a way to solve this problem? Forgive my bluntness, but the supplies were lost while the young general was in charge. If the master blames us, not only the young general, but even the general may be held accountable by the master."