Isolated town in northern border region

Night fell as scheduled, and Yongzhou City was brightly lit. Everyone was waiting for a result and had no desire to sleep.

Some were filled with trepidation, wondering what Xiao Lie would do next.

Some were filled with excitement, imagining how Xiao Lie, this extraordinary prince, would deal with those high and mighty lords.

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, Xiao Lie rode his horse to the city gate.

Before long, the sound of horses' hooves could be heard from the official road to the north.

Leading the way were the Canglang cavalry. Xiao Xiong spotted Xiao Lie from afar and spurred his horse forward.

"This humble general, Xiao Xiong, greets Your Highness!"

Xiao Lie dismounted and patted Xiao Xiong's arm.

"You've been slacking off on training lately!"

"The flesh on my arms is all loose."

Xiao Xiong chuckled.

"No way! We've been training warhorses lately, and those little devils are hard to please!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Lie seemed to remember something and said with a smile.

"Oh, I remember now. I passed by a great place the other day. It would be perfect for raising horses. I'll take you there and claim it first."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Luo Daniu also joined in.

"Your Highness! I've arrived!"

"Tell me, who are you going to do?"

Xiao Lie rolled his eyes.

"Can't you use your brain for once?"

"I sent you here to guard the grain supply route!"

"Who are you going to mess with? You!"

"You idiot, think before you speak!"

After exchanging pleasantries, Xiao Lie personally arranged for the soldiers to set up camp outside the city.

The night passed peacefully, and nothing happened. The powerful families waited all night and only fell into a deep sleep at dawn.

But shortly after they went to sleep, the entire city of Yongzhou became lively.

Xiao Lie sent people to set up a labor recruitment office on the main street to recruit poor people into a grain transport team. Each person could earn a bushel of grain for a day's work.

For poor people, this kind of good thing is like a pie falling from the sky!

In less than an hour, a grain transport team of three hundred people had been assembled.

Seeing that preparations were almost complete, Xiao Lie led the grain transport team, composed of the brute Luo Daniu and the common people, directly to the front of the Wang family's granary.

"Da Niu, tell everyone to stay put and wait for the others to arrive. That'll be your chance to shine then."

Luo Daniu looked completely bewildered and asked in a low voice.

"Your Highness, what should I do?"

Xiao Lie sighed helplessly.

"Just be intimidating and fierce to suppress the Wang family's momentum."

Luo Daniu scratched his head, looking troubled.

"Your Highness! Let Old Xiao handle this. I'm too honest; I can't act well!"

Xiao Lie slowly turned his head, looking at Luo Daniu, who resembled a human-shaped black bear, and his fierce appearance that could stop the waiter from crying. He remained silent for a moment before speaking slowly.

"Old Xiao is not suitable. Although he comes from the grasslands, he used to be by the side of the late emperor and has learned some rules. He is not natural enough to do this kind of thing."

Luo Daniu still didn't understand, and frowned as he muttered to himself.

"Your Highness! You're quite capable of leading the charge and killing enemies, but when it comes to playing the fierce and menacing character, my honest and unassuming demeanor really doesn't suit me!"

Xiao Lie was completely speechless.

"Just tone it down a bit!"

Xiao Lie stopped talking, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes to rest.

Luo Daniu was a restless person. Seeing that Xiao Lie didn't want to pay attention to him, he mingled into the crowd of people.

At first, the people were a little scared, but with his honest and simple nature, Luo Daniu started chatting with them in less than fifteen minutes.

"General Luo! You must have killed a lot of Tartars in the northern frontier, wasn't that terrifying?"

"Hey! That's nothing!"

"Let me tell you, the first time I went to the battlefield, I fought head-on against the current Northern Barbarian Khan's 50,000 personal guards!"

"That battle was incredibly fierce and chaotic!"

"And what happened? The prince led us to not only defeat 50,000 cavalry, but he also personally chopped off the Khan's ear!"

"Wow! The prince is personally leading the charge in battle?"

"I thought Your Highness was sitting in your command tent, strategizing and winning battles from afar!"

"Yes, yes, just like in the play!"

Luo Daniu turned to look at Xiao Lie.

"Nonsense! Our Prince is a man of both literary and martial talents!"

"Not only are they skilled in strategy, but they're also incredibly brave and invincible on the battlefield!"

"The highest record in our elite training camp was set by the Prince himself!"

"Hey, that's right. I see the wheat in Yongzhou is growing so well, why aren't you taking advantage of the sunshine to farm? Why are you joining the grain transport team?"

"Oh, General Luo, you don't know..."

Just then, Wang Shoucheng, surrounded by a group of clansmen, arrived with his entire clan.

"Your Highness! What do you mean by this?"

Xiao Lie opened his eyes and yawned.

"It doesn't mean anything. It's just collecting military rations according to the law. As a powerful family in the Great Chu, shouldn't your Wang family understand that national affairs are of paramount importance?"

"I've been waiting for you here to inform you."

"Luo Daniu, take some men and move the grain!"

By this time, Luo Daniu had learned from the people what the Yongzhou aristocratic families had done. His face was no longer the picture of a simple and honest man; he looked exactly like a ruthless thug who would devour anyone he wanted!

"Damn it! If you beasts were in the northern frontier, I'd smash you to pieces and feed you to the wolves!"

"Your Highness! This beast should just be brought in and slaughtered!"

If Xiao Lie's murderous intent when he stabbed Wang Shouchang at the literary gathering was still somewhat restrained, then Luo Daniu was now completely like a berserk beast!

Luo Daniu's murderous aura, honed from the battlefield, combined with his bear-like physique and ferocious appearance, immediately terrified Wang Shoucheng, who retreated repeatedly.

The Wang family members, who had been so aggressive, immediately fell silent after this disturbance.

"Your Highness! This is robbery!"

Wang Shoucheng stood in the way of the granary entrance, his gaze fixed on Xiao Lie.

Xiao Lie completely ignored him and instead patted Luo Daniu on the shoulder.

"Let the villagers do their thing. You just stand guard at the gate. If anyone dares to move, just take action!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Daniu took a step forward.

"You old bastard! If you glare at me again, I'll gouge your eyes out!"

Wang Shoucheng had never seen such a vicious person before, and couldn't help but raise his cane to keep his distance from Luo Daniu.

Unexpectedly, the cane poked Luo Daniu in the crotch!

"Aww~"

Upon hearing this extremely distorted sound, Xiao Lie turned his head to look.

Alright! Now, even Ultraman would have to flash a red light!

"Go to hell!"

"You old bastard, I'll kill you today!"

Luo Daniu roared and charged into the Wang family, grabbing Wang Shoucheng's full head of white hair and throwing him to the ground.

"You old bastard! I'm here to see you off on your deathbed!"

Seeing that Luo Daniu was really getting carried away, Xiao Lie quickly called out.

"Take it easy, now is not the time to kill him."

Luo Daniu responded and stepped on it!

Wang Shoucheng instinctively covered his head with his hands, but forgot about the wound on his right shoulder where Xiao Lie had stabbed him...

"Click!"

"Ah! Murder!"

Luo Daniu's stomp not only reopened Wang Shoucheng's wound, but also shattered his entire shoulder blade!

Wang Shouchang looked pained, clutching his wound and writhing in agony, a trickle of blood seeping from his fingertips.

"Ha! You old bastard, you're quite the actor. Do you think I'd actually stomp on you until you bleed?"

"Why didn't I just stomp on your belly until it got bigger?!"

Luo Daniu stomped harder and harder, and although he stopped because of Xiao Lie's orders, Wang Shoucheng's cries of pain grew fainter and fainter.

"Stop! Don't trample him to death!"

Xiao Lie called for a halt, and Luo Daniu turned his head with a frustrated expression.

"Your Highness! I'm holding back! And I won't draw blood!"

"That old man's putting on a show!"

Xiao Lie coughed twice.

"Ahem, uh, that was because I stabbed him with a sword."

Xiao Lie slowly walked forward, looking at Wang Shoucheng, who was being helped up by the steward and was barely breathing, and almost humiliated him by throwing out a tael of silver.

"I would never steal food from the people; this food was purchased by me!"

"This one or two taels is a deposit! The rest will be settled after the war."

"As the wealthy household that supplied the army with grain, stand right here and count carefully how much grain I've taken from you!"

After Xiao Lie finished speaking, he gave Luo Daniu a wink.

Luo Daniu waved his hand.

"Fellow villagers, move the grain!"

The people hesitated at first, but then, urged by Luo Daniu, they gradually loaded bags of grain from the Wang family's granary onto the oxcart.

Every commoner who passed by Wang Shouchang could see his disheveled appearance, and his expression of being both furious and helpless.

"Hey! Old Master Wang, you've finally met your match!"

Suddenly, a lean man, for some unknown reason, started to mock Wang Shouchang as he carried out the grain!

In an instant, the entire venue fell silent!