Chapter 14
When It Comes to Backing, This Princess Has Never Lost (Page 1/2)**
The commoners of Shuangxi Village, as if they had won a great victory, surrounded Princess Zhaoyang and escorted her toward their village.
The villagers from other villages watched with eyes red with envy, constantly inviting the princess to visit their villages next time.
Ye Qiong, with her arms linked with a group of aunties, strolled into Shuangxi Village.
But the moment they entered the village, a commotion of chaos erupted ahead.
A man in a crookedly worn official’s hat and uniform had one foot planted on an old man’s back, spittle flying from his mouth as he berated him.
“You old bastard! The villages around the capital are all under my jurisdiction. Every other family has paid this year’s ‘road maintenance silver’âonly your household dares to hold out? Looks like you don’t want to keep your worthless life!”
With that, he ground his left foot harshly into the old man’s back.
Before Ye Qiong could even figure out what was going on, the elderly woman who had given her the meat patty let out a wail and charged over, collapsing at the feet of the men in yamen runner uniforms.
She tried to pry the man’s foot off the old man’s back while pleading desperately, “Officer, please have mercy! Give us a few more daysâthe harvest was poor this year, we truly can’t pay!”
The man with his foot on the old man paid no heed to the woman’s pleas and lifted his foot to kick her to the ground.
Ye Qiong ripped the token from her waist and hurled it at the man’s extended leg.
A sharp scream rang out as the man clutched his leg and crumpled to the ground like a writhing maggot, his face twisted in pain, though he still managed to snarl through gritted teeth.
“Which blind fool dares to strike me? Show yourself!”
[Host, take him down! He’s even more arrogant than we are! What the host can tolerate, this system cannot!]
The System excitedly popped out. If it didn’t lack a physical form, it would have charged in and fought on behalf of its host.
Ye Qiong’s mouth twitched. For a moment, she couldn’t tell who was the system and who was the host.
But looking at that arrogant man, Ye Qiong indeed could not tolerate it.
She tilted her chin toward Cheng Qi and said with elegant composure, “Break his left leg.”
Cheng Qi hadn’t even recovered from the sight of the princess casually flicking her token and hitting the man’s left leg with pinpoint accuracy.
Hearing the princess’s command, he instinctively flew toward the man writhing on the ground and ground his heel into the man’s left leg.
A crisp *crack* of bone breaking echoed through the air, and the man on the ground nearly passed out from the pain.
The group of yamen runners immediately drew their weapons, backing away while shouting threats. “You… you’re asking for death! How dare you strike our County Magistrate!”
The more arrogant they acted, the more excited Ye Qiong became. “First day on the job, and someone’s already delivering a performance review to this Patrol Envoy.”
She ordered the manor guards, “In broad daylight, under the clear skyâbullying the common people! Arrest them all!”
The manor guards responded instantly, swiftly subduing the yamen runners and pinning their arms behind their backs.
The man lying on the ground with a broken leg heard Ye Qiong call herself a Patrol Envoyâa title he’d never heard of before.
He flew into a rage. “What damned Patrol Envoy? A rankless nobody dares to meddle in your Master Liu’s affairs? Do you know who my brother-in-law is? Release me now, or I’ll make sure you regret it!”
Ye Qiong dug at her ear, crouched down, and looked at him with feigned curiosity. “Who’s your brother-in-law?”
Liu Qing let out a contemptuous laugh, struggling to turn his head. “My brother-in-law is the Minister of Revenue! You dare to strike me? Believe me, I’ll have him submit a memorial to have you stripped of your post!”
Ye Qiong was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
After all, when it came to relying on powerful backing, she had never lost.
Seeing Liu Qing and the yamen runners all staring at her, she felt she ought to say something.
So she replied earnestly, “I’m so scared. So very scared.”
Perhaps feeling that wasn’t sincere enough, she added another line.
“Truly terrified! Nearly scared to death!”
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*(This chapter is not finished; please click the next page to continue reading.)*
Seeing this, Jixiang quickly helped her princess up and comforted her, “Don’t be afraid, Princessâwe have His Majesty!”
The manor guards couldn’t help itâthey all burst out laughing.
Liu Qing, clutching his leg and wailing, felt as if something had hit him in the head.
Princess?
His Majesty?
The only princess left in the capital was Princess Zhaoyang.
Rumors said she was raised by the Emperor and the Empress Dowager, and incredibly favored.
Liu Qing slowly lifted his head and looked at the woman who kept saying she was so scared while ordering her guards to tie them all up.
His crotch went warm, and the sharp stench of urine quickly filled the air.
Forgetting the pain of his broken leg, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground and begged for mercy.
Hearing the word “Princess,” the yamen runners’ faces turned ashen as well. They all knelt in unison, kowtowing and pleading for forgiveness.
Ye Qiong felt a twinge of regret. She hadn’t even started showing off yet, and her identity was already exposed? That wasn’t fun at all.
She looked at Jixiang, displeased. “Next time, don’t reveal my identity so earlyâit’s no fun!”
Though Jixiang didn’t understand, she nodded obediently.
Ye Qiong looked at the old man lying on the ground and ordered the guards to carry him to a medical clinic.
The villagers of Shuangxi Village, seeing that County Magistrate Liuâwho had been bullying them for so longâhad finally been arrested, were overwhelmed with excitement.
They had assumed that the princess, like other officials, would protect her own kind.
But the princess’s slogans weren’t just empty wordsâshe actually followed through!
The villagers knelt en masse and shouted, “Kyoto Patrol Envoyâgrow big and strong, create new glory!”
The elderly woman, finally snapping out of it, felt immensely grateful that she had invited the princess back to the village. She couldn’t bear to imagine what those yamen runners would have done to her husband if the princess hadn’t been here today.
With that thought, she frantically kowtowed toward the princess.
Ye Qiong, basking in the rapidly rising lifespan counter, was startled to see the villagers kneeling everywhere.
She quickly waved her hands and called out, “Everyone, don’t kneel! Get up! I have things I need you to do.”
Hearing that the princess had tasks for them, the villagers sprang to their feet as if injected with adrenaline.
“Princess, just tell us what you need!”
Ye Qiong thought for a moment, realizing this was going to be a bit troublesome.
She turned to her subordinates and began giving orders. “Cheng Qi, take some men to interrogate those yamen runners and find out what crimes they’ve committed.”
“Jixiang, Ruyi, take people around the village and record all the villagers’ accounts of these yamen runners’ misdeeds.”
Jixiang and Ruyi immediately pulled out paper and pens and began questioning the villagers one by one.
Ye Qiong was thoroughly shocked to see Jixiang and Ruyi produce paper and writing brushes from their sleeves.
“Doggy, do you think they have a Doraemon hidden up their sleeves?”
The System was too absorbed in the continuously rising lifespan to bother with its host.
Ye Qiong: “Doggy?”
System: […]
[Host, please refrain from personal attacks. This system also has a temper.]
Ye Qiong: “Oh.”
System: So infuriating!
After their brief daily exchange, the one human and one system were enthusiastically invited by the villagers to join a feast.
The village of Shuangxi Village pulled out all the stops, laying out a banquet with the highest honors to host the princess and her entourage.
Feeling the villagers’ overwhelming admiration, Ye Qiong’s smile hadn’t left her face since entering the village.
Before long, Ye Qiong, having eaten and taken away as much as she could, not only enjoyed a feast with her subordinates but also obtained a stack of testimonies listing the crimes of these yamen runners.
