Chapter 272: King Xian’s Heroes’ Banquet

The procession moved into the distance. Once Kong Yunfei was released, a group of people quickly rushed over to him.

"Young Master, are you all right?"

"Yun Fei, you’re not hurt, are you?"

Kong Yunfei had rolled on the ground, but his scrapes were negligible. The blood on him was all from the horse.

"I’m fine."

He stared fixedly at the carriage. Although he hadn’t seen Wang Wanqing inside, he was sure they had something to do with her disappearance.

But without seeing her, there was nothing he could do.

However, he definitely wouldn’t let this go.

"Young Master, are we still going to look for the Young Madam?"

Kong Yunfei shot the man a furious glare. "She’s the wife I paid a bride price for, the one who sat in the wedding sedan! How could I not look for her? Even if I have to go to the ends of the earth, I will find her."

’Wang Wanqing, you are destined to be my wife.’

The thought that he had wholeheartedly wanted to marry her, only for her to run away without a care for their relationship as husband and wife, filled him with rage. He kicked the man away. "Get lost!"

Only after the carriage had traveled a good distance did Wang Wanqing open the compartment door. ’Have I finally gotten away?’

That Kong Yunfei was like a madman, fixated on her. No amount of rejection worked.

She recalled how he had just shouted at Her Majesty, calling her his bride, and had even imagined Her Majesty as her lover.

Ugh...

Even though he was the one causing a scene, Wang Wanqing felt like she was the one losing face.

’It’s just too embarrassing.’

Thankfully, Her Majesty hadn’t laughed at her over the incident. Otherwise, she really would have wanted to find a hole to crawl into.

King Xian sent out a widespread Heroic Invitation, announcing he had captured a fierce tiger. He invited heroes from all over to a banquet, promising a reward of ten thousand taels of silver to anyone who could fight the tiger and win.

The moment the invitation was issued, it attracted countless martial arts masters. Even those who knew they couldn’t defeat a tiger figured that attending a free banquet and watching which hero could subdue the beast would be a very interesting event.

Xiao Li also found it interesting.

"We’re going to King Xian’s heroic feast."

Hong Yue asked, "Is this because King Xian kidnapped Prince Wei and is planning to rebel?"

Xiao Li: "..."

’Whoa! I knew I was forgetting something. Turns out, I completely forgot about that scoundrel Xiao Jingyi.’

She had only used the search for Xiao Jingyi as a pretext. Her real goal was to kill Xu Nianqing herself. Finding Xiao Jingyi was just a matter of convenience, easily forgotten. Now, Hong Yue’s question had truly stumped her.

"Probably. Let’s go take a look."

’If that’s really the case, then I can take care of two things at once.’

May was absolutely the worst month for travel.

The rain was incessant, and when it started, it would last for days on end.

Not only was their journey delayed, but being unable to reach their destination also forced them to spend the night in the wilderness.

The wilderness, a ruined temple—it was a desolate scene.

However, when they arrived, the crumbling temple was already quite crowded.

A bonfire was lit in the center, surrounded by seven or eight men who were roasting steamed buns while drinking and chatting.

They all carried weapons of various strange shapes and were discussing the very matter of the heroic gathering.

They were less than a day’s journey from King Xian’s fiefdom, so they were clearly here for the heroic gathering.

When Xiao Li’s large and orderly procession appeared, the chatter and laughter inside stopped. Everyone stared warily at the newcomers.

While the others were busy settling the Empress and the horses, Yang Jun approached with a bag of beef jerky and a few fresh peaches.

He smiled politely. "I heard you brothers chatting. Are you also heading to King Xian’s heroic gathering?"

"What a coincidence. We’re heading there too."

As he spoke, he handed out the beef jerky to the men. What man could refuse savory, spicy jerky while drinking?

"Our young lady is a great admirer of heroes. She’s been unsatisfied with all the suitors her father has chosen for her. When she heard that King Xian was using a tiger to judge heroes, her interest was immediately piqued. She wanted to join the fun, and if she finds someone suitable, she might even try to steal him away from King Xian."

They had only caught a brief glimpse of Xiao Li when she entered, but they could tell she was a great beauty.

Judging by her commanding presence and her retinue of guards, she was clearly the young lady of a prominent family.

A young lady who admired heroes, attending a heroic gathering to find a husband—if she succeeded, it would surely become a celebrated tale of the event.

Using this fabricated story, Yang Jun quickly integrated himself into the group.

People who accept gifts are bound to be obliging. Having received jerky and fruit, the men’s gazes became friendly and righteous.

Later, when Hong Yue was stewing pork rib soup for Xiao Li, they merely smelled the aroma and praised Hong Yue’s excellent cooking. No one showed any dissatisfaction at being able to smell but not eat it.

In the relatively spacious ruined temple, the two groups occupied their own territories, but coexisted in harmony.

The lively atmosphere lasted until midnight. The drunk were drunk, the tired were tired, and everyone found a place to sleep.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from outside. The dilapidated door, long in disrepair, was pushed open with a harsh CREAK.

A tall figure with a sword on his back appeared in the doorway. He wore a straw cloak and a conical hat, his body completely covered, even his mouth and nose obscured by a cloth.

His aura alone marked him as an expert.

His sharp gaze swept over the scene inside the temple. Without a word, he closed the door, walked in, and sat down on an unoccupied Buddha platform in the center.

He didn’t remove his cloak or eat anything, simply leaned back and fell asleep.

The two groups looked at each other but said nothing. They went back to settling down for the night, but they all conspicuously moved a little farther away from the center, remaining on guard.

Xiao Li glanced over, then took Hong Yue and Wang Wanqing to bed.

They had cleaned out a side room of the temple. Although there was no bed, they pushed some tables together and laid out bedding, which served well enough for sleeping.

Xiao Li slept alone, while Hong Yue and Wang Wanqing slept on the other side. Outside, the guards stood watch in three rotating shifts.

The seemingly unsafe ruined temple provided a surprisingly peaceful night’s sleep until dawn.

By the time Xiao Li and the others woke up and washed, the rest of the people had already left.

They had all looked quite poor, so many of them didn’t have horses. The slightly better-off rode donkeys or used oxcarts, none of which were fast. Thus, they had to set out early, travel diligently, and stick together in small groups.

The reclusive expert in black was the only one with a horse, much to the envy of the others.

A horse, a sword, a lone wolf, a man of few words—roaming the world with a blade at his side was truly the epitome of style.

Xiao Li’s group departed about half an hour later, yet they caught up with the others in less than an hour.

Yang Jun gave them a very enthusiastic greeting before they moved on.

Wang Wanqing couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

"Your Majesty, the more I see of Lord Yang, the less he seems like a military general."

’What kind of military general is like him, always grinning like a fox?’

Xiao Li’s gaze fell lazily upon Yang Jun. "You’re mistaken. He’s becoming more and more like a military general."

A military general’s strength doesn’t just lie in his martial arts, but in his tactics, strategies, and cunning.

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."

"A Great General who can command troops with godlike skill sits back and controls the overall situation. He has no need to personally lead the charge into battle."

"Knowing how to deploy troops is sometimes more valuable than being a powerful martial artist yourself."