I became a prince in a martial arts world.

Eighty strokes of the cane and a fine of one hundred taels of silver are easy to understand. As for confiscating the stolen goods, that naturally refers to the father and daughter's indenture.

Although the two constables did not recognize Wang Yu, they clearly recognized Zhao Yingjie. Upon hearing Zhao Yingjie's plausible conclusion, they immediately stepped forward, grabbed the Western Region man, and escorted him to the East Market Office.

The two guards handed the indenture to Zhao Yingjie, and then brought the father and daughter to Wang Yu.

The man knelt down with a thud. "Thank you, sir!"

The little girl immediately knelt down as well, saying, "Thank you, sir!"

"Get up and speak." Wang Yu waved his hand, and a guard stepped forward to help the man up, and then helped the little girl up as well.

"You are from Dayuan, how come you speak Mandarin so well?" Wang Yu asked.

"My father was from the Central Plains," the man said immediately. "When I was a child, I followed my father on the northwest trade route. We were robbed and sold into slavery in the Kingdom of Dayuan."

"My father was depressed and died young. Fortunately, I learned to judge and raise horses from him, so I have a skill. I married and had children in Dayuan, but I offended my master a few days ago and was sold to a caravan."

"I never expected to return to the Central Plains after thirty years." The man hugged his daughter and looked at Wang Yu pleadingly. "I know how to judge and raise horses, and my daughter knows how to serve people. Please have mercy, sir."

"What a coincidence! I happen to own a horse ranch." Wang Yu snapped his fingers, then asked the man, "What's your name?"

"You can call me Ma Nu, and my daughter's name is Lianhua."

"No surname?"

"I am just a slave, I have no surname, but my father's surname is Sun."

"The name 'Horse Slave' sounds awful. I'll give you names. Since you're skilled at judging and raising horses, I'll call you Sun Xiang, and your daughter Sun Lian."

"Thank you for bestowing this name upon us, sir!" The father and daughter knelt down and kowtowed again.

Wang Yu accepted it calmly, and then said to Zhao Yingjie, "Arrange for him to work at the horse farm."

"Alright!" Zhao Yingjie immediately agreed, then asked with a grin, "Should we send Prime Minister Sun to the horse farm and have Sun Lian do chores in the mansion?"

Wang Yu glared, "Do you have any humanity? Sun Liancai is so young, and you're separating her from her father!"

Zhao Yingjie, "..."

Qianqian reminded her, "The conditions at the manor are much better than at the horse farm. Sun Lian will be much more comfortable here."

Zhao Yingjie nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, yes!"

Wang Yu shook his head, "This little girl has traveled thousands of miles as a slave. What does she know about comfort or discomfort? Being with her father is the most important thing."

Qianqian's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly glanced at Wang Yu.

"Send them to the horse farm first. I'll go inspect the horse farm in a few days and then we'll talk about it again," Wang Yu instructed. "Have someone take them back to the manor to wash up and change their clothes."

"Alright!" Zhao Yingjie agreed again, then sent a guard to take Prime Minister Sun and his daughter back to the palace.

Sun Xiang and his daughter left with profuse thanks.

Wang Yu looked up and saw three people standing not far away: the middle-aged couple and the girl in green who had been in the perfume tent earlier.

Wang Yu nodded.

The middle-aged man nodded, then turned and left.

"Is this Zhao Yu?" the beautiful woman in purple asked in a low voice.

The middle-aged man nodded. "Interesting."

"Is the rumor wrong?" the beautiful woman in purple asked again.

"It may not be wrong." The middle-aged man shook his head and said, "Ignoring the Wang family steward, punishing Western Region merchants, arbitrarily bestowing names on people, and being impolite to subordinates, his temper is indeed not good."

"But to be able to consider the little girl's reluctance to be separated from her father without acting on his own preferences is something that not everyone can do," the middle-aged man said calmly. "In this respect, he is better than that chubby manager and the woman beside him."

The beautiful woman in purple laughed and said, "That's why he is the great tree that is the King of Zhenxi, and everyone else is just a vine clinging to him."

"It's a pity that his martial arts training delayed his studies; otherwise, he might have achieved something similar to Zhao Zheng."

Why did Zhao Zheng send him to the capital at that time?

"I don't know, but the imperial court must have something on him. Even this time when he came back, he brought a female top scholar with him."

Will the Prince of Zhenxi's Mansion be used by the imperial court?

"I previously thought Zhao Yu wouldn't be a match for Li Yunxiu, but now it seems that might not be the case. However, we are far away in the martial world, so we don't need to care about these court affairs."

Upon hearing this, the beautiful woman in purple smiled and said, "Our trip to the Northwest might just lead us to clash with the Prince of Zhenxi's Mansion."

The middle-aged man chuckled and shook his head. "Heh, it doesn't match."

……

After watching the three leave, Wang Yu and the others continued shopping.

Besides merchants from the Western Regions, the East Market also had merchants from the Central Plains. As the last bustling market connecting the Central Plains to the Western Regions, Longshan Prefecture actually had abundant resources, and even many things that were rare in the Central Plains could be sold here.

Wang Yu even saw an exquisite silk embroidered screen, a rare item even in the capital.

Of course, at the same time, when goods were transported thousands of miles to Longshan Prefecture, their prices were also quite impressive. Apart from items that could be produced locally or were not valuable, which only saw a slight increase in price, other slightly rarer items were several times more expensive than those in the Central Plains.

The most popular items were silk, porcelain, and tea, followed by paper, lacquerware, ironware, jewelry, and even household items such as bronze mirrors, rouge, and soap.

The smaller the item, the rarer and more valuable it is.

Wang Yu and the others earned another hour. In addition to perfume, Wang Yu bought Qianqian a white jade hairpin and Li Yunxiu a pair of jade earrings.

"This is for your aunt, you can keep it." Wang Yu handed another bracelet to Zhao Yingjie, and also gave her a bottle of lavender perfume.

Zhao Yingjie was taken aback upon hearing this, then immediately took the bracelet, beaming with joy. "Thank you so much, Brother Yu. From now on, if you give the word, I will brave mountains of knives and seas of fire, fight bravely, and die a thousand deaths on the battlefield..."

Wang Yu deliberately didn't interrupt him, and then he saw Zhao Yingjie rattle off more than twenty idioms until he couldn't catch his breath, and finally he ended with the last one, "I'll repay you in the next life."

"Is your mouth dry?" Wang Yu asked.

"Done." Zhao Yingjie nodded.

"After you've finished cooking, let's go have some tea. It's time for dinner too."

Wang Yu looked up and saw a three-story restaurant not far away. Guests were coming and going at the entrance, and the noise inside was deafening and could be heard for dozens of feet.

Wanghailou (Viewing the Sea Tower)

One of the most famous restaurants in Longshan Prefecture, it is said that it hired a master chef of Shandong cuisine from Wanghaidao. Sweet and sour carp is the restaurant's signature dish, which was spread to the Western Regions by caravans from various places.

Wang Yu didn't go to the private room on the third floor, but instead chose a window seat on the second floor.

As soon as they sat down, they discovered that the three middle-aged men they had met earlier were also at Wanghailou, but they were quite far away from them, sitting across the street by the window, with several square tables between them.

"Sweet and sour carp, braised mutton, steamed beef with rice flour, and smoked pheasant," Zhao Yingjie rattled off four dishes with practiced ease. "And some seasonal fruits and vegetables, and the wine must be Lanling wine from Wanghai Road, not diluted with water."

"No, no!"

Since they were regular customers, the waiters dared not cheat them. They bowed and scraped as they served tea to quench their thirst, and then ran downstairs to serve the dishes.

Wang Yu looked around and saw that, apart from that table of people, the second floor was almost full. Most of them were merchants, local tycoons, martial artists and Jianghu people who had come to escort their guards.

"You two are a few days late. The Zhenxi Prince's Mansion is holding a grand ceremony to mourn the late Prince Zhao."

"Prince Zhao was a man of great talent, who once dominated the Northwest. Unfortunately, he died young, in his early fifties."

"Zhao Zheng was a master of the Innate Realm, how could he die at just over fifty years old? It's probably because he suffered severe internal injuries in his early years, which damaged his foundation and led to his early death."

"With the death of Prince Zhao, the bandits of Qishan have become much more arrogant. I heard that Poison Hand Weituo and Black Wind Old Monster have both said that if the Zhenxi King's army dares to enter the mountains to suppress the bandits again, they will come to the Zhenxi King's mansion as guests."

"Don't listen to their nonsense. Just because Prince Zhao is dead, do they really think the Zhenxi Prince's Mansion has no experts left?"

"At least the newly appointed Prince of Zhenxi, Zhao Yu, will never be a match for them."

"Hmm...that's true."

"I heard that this kid has been living a life of debauchery and revelry in the capital for the past ten years, drinking the finest wines and sleeping with the most beautiful women. It's a miracle he hasn't been drained dry by wine and women in the capital."

"Hehe, I heard that Zhao Yu raped the daughter of the South China Sea Sect leader in the capital. Moreover, this daughter is also the fiancée of the eldest son of the Lin family in Guangnan Dao. He offended two major martial arts sects at once. This guy is really bold."

"If someone like this inherits the title of Prince of Zhenxi, then the Prince of Zhenxi's mansion is probably coming to an end with this generation."

Wang Yu remained expressionless, while Qianqian puffed out her cheeks. Zhao Yingjie glanced sideways and chuckled softly, "Shall I arrange an entertainment for them?"

Wang Yu sighed, "Killing someone over a few words is going too far."

Zhao Yingjie: ? ? ?

I didn't say I would kill someone.

Wang Yu said calmly, "Just break their legs and teach them the lesson that loose lips sink ships."

Zhao Yingjie grinned, but immediately nodded, "Yes!"

The middle-aged man in the distance shook his head, "The methods were indeed a bit ruthless."

The next moment, the group, who were engrossed in their conversation, went off-topic again.

"Zhao Yu is still young and doesn't know how to appreciate things."

"Sixteen or seventeen-year-old girls haven't fully grown up yet, they don't understand anything, what's so fun about that? If you want to play, play with mature and charming girls who will serve you comfortably."

"Hehe, I've heard there are four great beauties in the martial arts world. If I were lucky enough to have a kiss with one of them, that would be truly..."

The middle-aged man's face darkened, and he let out a cold snort.

"snort!"

A low hum echoed in the restaurant. To others, it was just an ordinary sound, but to three men who had drunk a couple of ounces of liquor and were chuckling in hushed tones, it felt as if their brains had been struck by a club.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"

All three coughed up blood, fell backward, knocking over tables, chairs, and drinks. They rolled and convulsed on the ground, clutching their heads and screaming in agony.

The people around were startled, but soon began to watch the spectacle.

Upon hearing the news, the restaurant owner and his staff went upstairs and skillfully took the money for the food and drinks and enough silver to compensate the three men. Then they dragged the three men downstairs, preparing to take them to a nearby clinic.

Wang Yu waved his hand. "Go take care of your business."

The two guards nodded and stood up, then followed them down from the restaurant.

Although they were seriously injured, they still couldn't avoid losing a leg.

Zhao Yingjie grinned. "What amazing sound attack techniques! I feel like they're even more powerful than my father."