"Your Highnesses, are you all right?"

Shang Zongguan frowned and asked when he saw the people lying on the ground.

He didn't expect that something would happen to them just when they were not in front of him for a moment.

This was also because Shang Zongguan didn't sense any threatening aura nearby.

After all, the battle between the third prince and the cold knife night owl was not enough to attract Shang Zongguan's attention.

Seeing that these people did not cause any harm to Princess Ankang and others, Shang Zongguan was relieved.

"Who are they?"

"They are just a bunch of thieves who rob the road. Keeping them will harm the people. Killing them on the spot can also enrich this forest."

The third prince snorted coldly.

"A bunch of useless people who learned a lot of skills in the army, but ended up being deserters and bandits."

The third prince spat fiercely.

He had been in the army for many years and looked down on such people the most.

Shang Zongguan understood the cause and effect and did not object.

So many bandits, if they are not killed, will they be kept for the New Year?

Moreover, if they dared to stop the princes without long eyes, even if the Third Prince was not there, General Manager Shang would not let them off easily.

Han Dao Ye Xiao lost to the Third Prince, and was insulted again, but he did not refute. He just snorted, closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, without any intention of defending himself.

Lost is lost, and there is no point in saying more.

And since he has been doing this business, he knows that this is the ending he deserves.

"Wait a minute, Third Brother."

At this time, Princess Ankang spoke out to stop him.

The Third Prince frowned, thinking that Princess Ankang was a woman's kindness, and immediately retorted:

"Ankang, this is my prisoner, I can do whatever I want to do with him."

The Third Prince brought out the set of principles on the battlefield.

He didn't want to say more to Princess Ankang, then looked at Han Dao Ye Xiao, and then put the sword against the opponent's neck.

"Since there is no last words, then go to death!"

After saying that, the Third Prince was about to wipe it hard.

Han Dao Ye Xiao also felt the cold blade.

He sighed in his heart, but he just raised his head and exposed his neck.

Bang——

A muffled sound came, and a huge force suddenly came from the third prince's sword, causing his hand holding the sword to tremble, and the sword fell to the ground with a clang.

"What are you doing?"

The third prince covered his hand and questioned angrily.

Princess Ankang put down her hand pointing at the third prince and replied softly:

"Third brother, even if they are really guilty of heinous crimes, there is no rush to deal with them."

"I want to ask them something."

Princess Ankang said soft words and did hard things.

The third prince was about to say something, but he saw Li Xuanzheng staring at him coldly in front of Princess Ankang.

He swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, picked up the sword with his other hand angrily, stepped back two steps, and said angrily:

"Ask whatever you want to ask."

Others were not surprised to see this scene.

Although Princess Ankang has no cultivation, she has unrivaled strength and can use hidden weapons extremely well.

Many people speculate that Princess Ankang has a special physique, so she can have such a strong strength without practicing.

Everyone is secretly speculating what medicine Doctor Xue gave Princess Ankang.

Especially Princess Yanzhao, she had only heard a lot of rumors about Princess Ankang before, but it was the first time she saw Princess Ankang take action with her own eyes.

Princess Yanzhao looked at the third prince, then at the stones on the ground and the gangsters who couldn't get up.

She could see how many of them were knocked over by stones.

But the more she saw the tricks in it, the more confused Princess Yanzhao became.

"How much strength, how precise control, and how terrifying physical fitness does it take?"

Princess Yanzhao is an expert and knows how difficult it is for a person who only relies on his own physical strength to achieve such a level.

She could also see that Princess Ankang did not have the power of blood and qi, but her physique was stronger than that of ordinary people.

This made her believe the rumors in the palace, saying that Princess Ankang was probably a special physique, which was why she was so weak and sick before.

Now that she was cured, her talent was gradually revealed.

As for the saying that Princess Ankang had been hiding her talent in the cold palace for many years, Princess Yan Zhao did not believe it.

Since she was hiding her talent, why would she delay her cultivation?

You know that some cultivation periods, if missed, will never be recovered.

Princess Yan Zhao did not believe those who said that Emperor Yongyuan had long protected Princess Ankang and let her deliberately hide her talent.

She knew better than anyone that only her own strength was the most important confidence.

Seeing the third prince give way, Princess Ankang rode her horse to the front of Han Dao Ye Xiao.

And Han Dao Ye Xiao also opened his eyes at this time, with a shallow blood mark on his neck, which was just pressed by the third prince with a sword.

He heard the conversation between several people and asked in a daze:

"Brother?"

"Are you the prince and princess?"

Princess Ankang covered her mouth and smiled. She had just seen this person fighting fiercely with the third prince, but she didn't expect that he would be in a daze at this time.

"That's right."

Princess Ankang nodded in acknowledgment, and then asked:

"Now do you know how big a crime you have committed?"

Han Dao Ye Xiao was silent for a while, then asked: "Are you here with the emperor's southern tour team?"

"Where is the emperor?"

"Where is the emperor?"

Seeing the eagerness of his question, the Eighth Prince on the side couldn't help joking: "What, you still want to rob our father?"

"No, that's not the case." Han Dao Ye Xiao quickly denied.

Then, he immediately struggled to get up from the ground and kowtowed heavily to Princess Ankang.

"Ye Xiao, a common man, is the former county captain of Lantian County. He was framed by Datong, the county magistrate, and is now a wanted criminal."

"Please ask your highnesses to make decisions for the common people!"

Han Dao Ye Xiao suddenly shouted his grievances and kowtowed to them.

"You said you are the former county captain of Lantian County?"

Princess Ankang frowned and silently took out the imperial edict to check.

The county lieutenant of Lantian County was also arrested and brought to justice, but his name was not Ye Xiao, but someone else.

"The common people dare not deceive your highnesses."

"Last autumn, I was ordered to escort the county's tax bank to the capital. The county magistrate, Fang Datong, saw me off the night before. As a result, he drugged the wine with sweating pills. When I woke up, I was arrested and imprisoned for dereliction of duty. The tax bank team escorted me They were even robbed and suffered numerous casualties.”

"Thanks to several brothers who fought hard to escape from prison, I escaped from death. I hid in the mountains for a winter and am still alive today."

"Today I heard that the emperor was patrolling the south, so I stopped by the road with my brothers and prepared to file a complaint."

"Please ask your highnesses to report this to Heaven and bring justice to the common people."

After Ye Xiao finished speaking, he kowtowed his head.

Among the minions, those who could still get up also got up and kowtowed to beg for mercy.

"Hmph, complaining against someone becomes a robber on the way, right?"

"Do you think I believe it or not?"

The third prince said disdainfully.

As a result, Ye Xiao raised his bruised head and said resolutely:

"The common people admit the crime of robbing Dao."

"As long as Magistrate Lantian is brought to justice, I am willing to accept the corresponding punishment."

"The grassroots and their brothers did commit acts of robbery in order to live in the mountains, but they never hurt other people's lives, and they never attacked poor people."

This Ye Xiaojie Dao actually gave him a clear conscience.

After Princess Ankang confirmed the imperial edict, she found that there was indeed evidence of embezzlement of tax money in Lantian County.

However, the Lantian County matter was given an explanation by the superiors.

They themselves concealed the fact that the tax money was robbed, and instead levied the tax money twice.

Anyway, the superiors received the tax money they should collect, so they didn’t ask any more questions.

Only the local people knew that they paid taxes twice.

If you surrender once, it will be fatal; if you surrender twice, it will ruin a lot of homes.

Some people managed to collect a year's tax money, but were robbed on the road, and the county government asked them to pay it again.

Many people were forced to sell their properties and houses, their sons and daughters, and even their entire family into slavery.

The tax banker is in a hurry to pay, and if he doesn't pay, he will be arrested.

With such a good opportunity, the gentlemen in the county naturally pushed the price to the limit.

They know how to squeeze out the oil and water from the common people.

The people were asked to pay everything in taxes and money, and in the end they had no choice but to sell themselves into slavery to pay off a lifetime of debts. This was an abacus.

The first to suffer are always the people at the bottom.

They usually live a tight life, but suddenly something like this happens, which will directly lead to the destruction of their family.

Those who have some savings can bite the bullet and get through this, but they also pay a heavy price.

But after so many times, no matter how much savings I have, I can't withstand such a cramp-like squeeze.

And the blame for causing the anger and resentment in Lantian County was also thrown on Ye Xiao's head.

Ye Xiao is actually also a victim.

He boasted that he had learned some skills in the military academy and was lucky enough to be assigned to Lantian County as a ninth-rank county captain. He usually thought highly of himself.

Fang Datong, the magistrate of Lantian County, had long disliked him, so he took this opportunity to get rid of him directly and helped a new county captain come up.

The new county captain is obedient and will do something good.

As for whether he has Ye Xiao's general ability, it doesn't matter at all.

Talents that cannot be used by me are no different from useless materials.

Even if you don’t have the foresight, it will become a stumbling block for everyone.

Ye Xiao only figured out these truths when he was spending the winter in the mountains.

If Ye Xiao didn't have a few trustworthy brothers, he might never have the chance to understand the key to this in his life.

Some of the people who followed Ye Xiaojie were his brothers, who were originally garrison troops in Lantian County.

Others were nearby refugees, many of whom were also from Lantian County. They were forced to do nothing and were unwilling to sell themselves into slavery, so they escaped and became refugees.

They were able to testify to Ye Xiao's words. Lantian County did collect taxes twice last year, and those who failed to pay were put in jail on the spot, and died of illness in the jail within a few days.

Seeing this posture, how could the people dare to resist?

The accusations made by Ye Xiao and others made Princess Ankang and the others look solemn, and even felt their skins getting hot.

What were they doing last fall?

Enjoying the glory and wealth in the palace, worrying about how to win the competition in the imperial garden.

But at the same time, the people under Daxing were living in dire straits.

"These are just his one-sided words!"

The third prince said suddenly.

"Who knows if they lied together to survive?"

Hearing this, Ye Xiao glared at the third prince, and then said sharply:

"If Your Highness doesn't believe it, you can kill me first and then go to Lantian County to inquire. The people must not have forgotten this matter."

"How many people dare to tell you, I can't guarantee it!"

"But I, Ye Xiao, promise you with my life, as long as you dare to ask around in Lantian County, there will definitely be someone who dares to tell you."

After that, Ye Xiao closed his eyes and stopped defending himself.

"Third brother."

Princess Ankang called out, and then shook her head to the side.

Although the third prince was unwilling, he still came over.

Princess Ankang gathered the others together, and then explained in a low voice:

"I just found that although these minions were unilaterally suppressed by me and my brother, they did not collapse and flee."

"This Ye Xiao knows some people's hearts, and what he said is somewhat consistent with the content of the imperial edict."

Before Princess Ankang finished speaking, the third prince asked impatiently:

"So you want to believe the one-sided words of this highway robber?"

"Not really, I plan to take them to Lantian County together." Princess Ankang shook her head in answer.

"Anyway, the corrupt officials in Lantian County must die, and Ye Xiao and the others said they were wronged, so we can take this opportunity to prove it."

"If it's true, behead those corrupt officials in front of them, and then punish them for the crime of robbery on the way."

"The most important thing is to give an explanation to the people of Lantian County, so that they can trust the officials arranged by the emperor to replace them."

"Otherwise, if the people's resentment continues to accumulate, I'm afraid there will be chaos soon."

Princess Ankang's words were well-reasoned, and the third prince couldn't say anything to refute.

General Manager Shang smiled and nodded, feeling relieved for Princess Ankang's thoughtfulness.

The eldest prince and the fourth prince looked at each other and sighed silently.

If they had had more contact with Princess Ankang earlier, they wouldn't have suffered so much before.

After the two brothers were cheated several times in succession, they realized that Princess Ankang was very scheming.

Especially the fourth prince, who mistakenly thought that Princess Ankang was an equal opponent to him, and was excited for a while at first.

It was not until he was pressed to the ground and rubbed hard several times that he realized the horror of Princess Ankang.

Now, Princess Ankang can come up with such a comprehensive response without much thinking when facing sudden events, which is really admirable.

The two brothers finally understood that they really could not beat Princess Ankang.

This sister is much better than them.

Princess Yan Zhao also blinked her eyes and stared at Princess Ankang with a curious look.

Only the eighth prince shamelessly pretended to have thought seriously and echoed:

"Ankang is right, I think so too."

As soon as he finished speaking, he keenly noticed several contemptuous eyes and immediately said dissatisfiedly:

"Hey, why are you looking at me like this?"

"Ankang and I joined forces to take down these nearly 100 bandits, and we have made great contributions."

"Unlike some people, who finally took down one with great difficulty."

The eighth prince said in a weird tone, looking very hard, and took off the gloves on his hands with great effort.

But then he changed the subject and said in a very understanding tone:

"But I also understand that facing such a scene will always be a little nervous."

"It will be fine once you get used to it."

"Right, Third Prince?"

The Eighth Prince hid behind Princess Ankang and the chief monk, winking at the Third Prince, and his face, which had just recovered, began to turn red again.

"Adapt to you..."

The Third Prince was about to curse, and several brothers and sisters beside him looked at him.

"Adapt to you...Adapt to you, you big-headed ghost!"

The words that the Third Prince was about to say finally took a sharp turn.

It was hard to curse each other between brothers and sisters.

The Third Prince's chest rose and fell violently, and he felt more tired than the battle with Ye Xiao just now.

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