Chapter 125 - 86: Zhao Ci: Whoever Messes With Me, I’ll Take Them Down. Is That Clear Enough?

Chapter 125: Chapter 86: Zhao Ci: Whoever Messes With Me, I’ll Take Them Down. Is That Clear Enough?

In truth, she still held on to a sliver of hope.

She felt that Zhao Ci wouldn’t necessarily be fooled by those crafty old veterans. After all, the Zhao Ci of today was no longer the weak and mediocre Prince he used to be.

’But... even if Zhao Ci does see through it.’

’Will he expose them?’

’Or will he just go along with the deception?’

’Would he offend all the officials of the Northern Three Prefectures just to keep his promise to me?’

She knew that a hidden ruin entrance was located within the Northern Three Prefectures, and many factions already had forces stationed there in secret. It was destined to become a fiercely contested territory in the future struggles between prefectures.

’Offending all these officials to the point of no return...’

’That’s definitely not something Zhao Ci would want to see!’

’If he does decide to let it slide, what am I supposed to do?’

’I can’t worry about it now!’

I just have to get to Qingyang County first.

But just as she was galloping at full speed,

The white horse beneath her suddenly let out a piercing neigh before collapsing forward.

Kan Luotang was startled, but her reflexes were lightning-fast. She twisted her body, stumbling a few steps to the side and forcing herself to regain her balance, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the thousand-plus-pound horse.

Otherwise, she would have certainly ended up with a proximal fracture.

Even so, she was splattered with the gushing blood from the horse.

Seeing the horse’s tragic state, she froze for a moment in shock.

The white horse’s four legs had been severed at the knees, and crimson blood was pouring out like a fountain.

And where they had fallen, a metal wire so thin it was almost invisible was strung between two trees. A closer look revealed shimmering golden patterns etched onto it. This was what had cut off the horse’s legs!

Kan Luotang was speechless.

Her mind was ringing.

She couldn’t believe that they would resort to such a shameless tactic just to slow her down!

Her clothes, now soaked in the horse’s blood, clung to her body like a thousand-pound stone, making it hard to breathe.

The white horse’s mournful cries assaulted her eardrums, making her head split with pain.

This white horse.

It was a gift from Kan Tianji on her sixteenth birthday.

For a moment, she felt dizzy.

But she knew this was no time to lose her composure.

Steeling herself, she bit the tip of her tongue, the sharp pain instantly clearing her mind a little.

She quickly picked up the horse’s severed limbs and took out a needle and thread from her medical kit. She stitched the limbs back on, then tore her outer robe into strips to bandage the wounds. Finally, she used silver needles to seal the major arteries in the horse’s legs.

She stroked the horse’s face. It was already dazed from excessive blood loss, its neighs coming out in weak, listless bursts.

The mournful sight made her eyes redden. "Stay alive," she whispered. "Wait for me to come back for you!"

With that, she fed it a few medicinal pills and stood up.

Fighting the urge to look back, she shouldered the satchel full of registers and hurried back onto the road.

「On the high platform.」

Zhao Ci surveyed the crowd, his smile growing ever brighter.

’After all this time, not a single person has left on their own.’

’Excellent!’

’They’ve got a lot of nerve!’

He looked at Zhang Delv and smiled. "To think that not a single miscreant has managed to sneak in. The public order in the Northern Three Prefectures is far better than I imagined. I underestimated your administrative skills, Lord Zhang. Please don’t take offense."

Zhang Delv smiled and shook his head. "You jest, Your Highness. This is a task assigned by His Majesty. How could we possibly allow the slightest mistake?"

"That’s good to hear!"

Zhao Ci nodded and opened the register. "When I call your name, come up and receive your pill. Wang Genji!"

Zhang Delv’s gaze darkened slightly, but he didn’t say anything.

He simply found a chair and sat down to the side.

’In any case, there’s nothing wrong with the identities of the first two thousand or so people. Any normal person would let their guard down.’

’Especially with a tedious task like this, just shouting out names is enough to wreck your throat.’

’Forget about a pampered Prince.’

’Even I, who clawed my way up from the bottom, might not be able to keep it up.’

He was curious to see what Zhao Ci would rely on to persevere.

[Prompt]: Wish granted. Reward obtained: +10 Insight, Luck Talisman x1.

[Luck Talisman]: Increases luck, causing the outcomes of random events to skew in a favorable direction to a certain extent. Current Quality: Low-grade.

[Note]: Exchangeable. The exchange ratio between adjacent grades is ten to one. A Top-grade Luck Talisman can make the optimal outcome of a random event occur 100% of the time.

Wang Genji received his Qi Cultivation Pill and left, dancing with joy.

Zhao Ci was stunned.

’Whoa!’

’Holy shit!’

’Five thousand Low-grade Luck Talismans can be exchanged for five Top-grade Luck Talismans.’

’The optimal outcome will happen 100% of the time.’

’Does that mean if I buy lottery tickets five times in a row, I’ll win the jackpot every time?’

’Pah!’

’How pathetic!’

’With something like this, why would I bother buying lottery tickets?’

’If he wanted to, he could get a hundred women pregnant in one night!’

’As they say, boys who love to smile can’t have bad luck.’

’I’m taking off!’

For a moment, Zhao Ci was so thrilled he felt like the top of his head was about to fly off.

"Next, Ouyang Cuifen!"

He had been worried about how tedious it would be, but now he was bursting with energy.

He handed out the pill vials one after another.

He was full of drive.

In the blink of an eye, he’d handed out over a hundred. Without exception, every single one of these people dropped Insight for him—either 10 points or 1 point.

Zhang Delv watched, completely dumbfounded. ’How can handing out pills get you so fired up?’

’He’s given out over a hundred in less than a quarter of an hour?’

’At this rate, he’ll reach the dangerous section soon, won’t he?’

His heart tightened. ’If Zhao Ci actually manages to hold out long enough to spot the discrepancies, then...’

’No, wait!’

Something didn’t feel right. The pace was a little too fast. Although Zhao Ci made a token effort to verify each person’s identity, it looked for all the world like he was just going through the motions.

Zhang Delv relaxed, a little amused.

He was now certain that Zhao Ci was just putting on a show.

’Checking like this? He won’t uncover a damn thing!’

’But if you were just planning to phone it in, why did you have to sound so aggressive earlier?’

’To make yourself look smart?’

Zhang Delv shook his head, truly unable to figure out what the man was trying to do.

But since Zhao Ci wasn’t going to see through their ruse, there was no need to be on edge. He might as well sit back and enjoy the Tenth Prince’s performance of diligence.

The sun slowly climbed to its zenith in the south, then began its slow descent toward the west.

The commoners who received a Qi Cultivation Pill were ecstatic. Even those who didn’t thanked Zhao Ci, since the free Qi Nourishing Grass they received was worth several days of their wages.

Zhao Ci, however, was still working with great enthusiasm.

Zhang Delv’s scalp began to tingle again.

’This guy... how is he so absurd?’

’How can he hand out pills all afternoon without getting the least bit annoyed?’

He cautiously sidled up to him. "Your Highness! With your discerning eyes, you can surely see that there are no issues with this batch of commoners. It’s getting late. Why don’t we just have my men distribute all the remaining pills directly?"

Zhao Ci stopped what he was doing and nodded with a smile. "The batch I just handed out indeed had no problems."

"Right?"

A smile appeared on Zhang Delv’s face. "In that case, this subordinate will instruct the men to..."

Zhao Ci’s tone shifted. "But that doesn’t mean the people at the back are problem-free!"

Zhang Delv was speechless.

He thought he saw a flash of mockery in Zhao Ci’s eyes. His heart lurched, and a sense of foreboding washed over him.

Zhao Ci called over Huang Duzhe, handed him half a box of pill vials, and designated a group of people for him to distribute them to.

Then he flipped the register to the very last page and called out in a loud voice, "Maoju, Lu Xin, Zhang Feng! The three of you, come up."

Soon, three men from the back of the line came forward.

They walked quickly, looking almost overjoyed.

After waiting for an entire day, they had grown quite impatient.

They hadn’t expected their names to suddenly be called.

At first, they had been worried about being discovered, but seeing Zhao Ci’s mindless-looking routine earlier, they felt it was highly unlikely anything would go wrong.

’Time to get our pills!’

But they never expected what happened next.

Zhao Ci pointed at them and looked at Zhang Delv. "Lord Zhang! These three are traitors who have deceived the sovereign. Execute them!"

Zhang Delv: "Huh?"

Maoju: "Huh?"

Lu Xin: "Huh?"

Zhang Feng: "Huh?"