Chapter 13 Amidst Wind and Snow, Plum Blossoms Bloom in the Cold Power is what he now deeply cherishes…

The man, still clutching the wooden plaque, hesitated for a long time before carefully asking, "Young master, the person you ordered to be killed isn't dead. Should we send more people to kill him next?"

“Let him go for now,” the young master shook his head. “Also, keep a close eye on the people we’ve planted in the ministers’ homes. Report any suspicious activity, especially at the Cui residence. The Ministry of War will be shipping a batch of new weapons to the border early next month. Have our people ambush them beforehand and replace the weapons in Yongping!”

"Huguguo is pressing me hard, so get this done for me!"

The young master threatened, tapping his fingers on the gambling table as he pondered some wicked idea: "The weapons given to the Hugu Kingdom are of mixed quality. We want money, but we also want to keep the goods for ourselves."

The Hugu Kingdom he mentioned is a small border country adjacent to Yongping. In recent years, it has been restless and has been harassing Yongping's borders from time to time.

The situation between the two countries remains tense!

Huguguo has also suffered frequent defeats this year, while Yongping's military has always been at the forefront, producing a wealth of talent and leading the way in weapons research and development.

——

The weather is nice today; the sun is out but not too hot, making it very pleasant and comfortable.

Cui Fuyu sat in the pavilion playing the bamboo flute. The flute music was cheerful and gentle. She sat upright on the wooden stool, raising her eyes and smiling at Chi Yanzhou.

Chi Yanzhou had gentle features. He would glance at Cui Fuyu playing the flute from time to time, and then raise his hand to paint, adding beautiful colors to the painting of her.

Chi Yanzhou is painting for Cui Fuyu again.

The dark blue robes he was wearing today were prepared for him by the young lady.

The young lady has always had good taste.

After the song ended, Cui Fuyu put away his flute. "Chi Lang, shall we go horseback riding at the horse farm later?"

She recalled the day they first met, when Chi Yanzhou seemed unable to ride a horse, and she had the idea of ​​teaching him, but she was also worried about Chi Yanzhou's pride.

Cui Fuyu then made an excuse that she wanted to go horseback riding at the horse farm.

Although it was a bit clumsy, she was sure that Chi Lang wouldn't refuse her.

Chi Yanzhou was a little stunned after hearing this. He couldn't ride a horse, but it wouldn't hurt to accompany the young lady.

So he smiled and agreed, "Okay."

Cui Fuyu took him to a famous horse farm in the capital. Her personal horses were spirited and no one else could touch them. It took her a lot of effort to tame them.

Concerned that Chi Yanzhou could not ride a horse, the steward was asked to choose a gentle mare for him.

Cui Fuyu figured she didn't have the patience to teach people to ride horses, so she simply hired a master to accompany Chi Yanzhou and guide him step by step.

Chi Yanzhou first learned the key points of horseback riding under the guidance of his master, and then practiced the key points on his own. After several times, his master praised him for learning quickly and mastering the key points very well, and asked him to ride the horse and try to make it walk.

He tried slowly as his master had instructed, and seemed to get interested. He rode the horse back and forth and found that he could ride slowly.

On the other hand, Cui Fuyu had already ridden her horse around the riding arena several times. She was running very freely and her green dress was very eye-catching. She easily passed several people.

Just as Chi Yanzhou turned his horse around to head back to his master, a group of wealthy young men spotted him from afar and began to scheme.

One of them said, "It was this kid who caused Young Master Ming to be punished that day."

"That's right. Young Master Ming was punished with thirty lashes as a family rule, and he hasn't gotten out of bed for almost half a month."

"Then let's go avenge the young master!"

These people approached Chi Yanzhou menacingly, each with a malicious look on their face.

As soon as Chi Yanzhou stepped off the carriage, he was surrounded by this group of people. He looked at them, puzzled, and said, "Excuse me, please make way."

Just as he was about to leave, the group of people suddenly grabbed him and wouldn't let him go. Their malice was blatantly obvious on their faces, and he realized at that moment that they were there to cause him trouble.

Chi Yanzhou shook off the person holding him and said angrily, "Get out of my way."

Chi Yanzhou still didn't make it.

He glanced coldly at the person blocking his way, and couldn't help but frown.

The visitor was Wang Zeyou, a classmate of Wang Zeyou from the academy. His family was a wealthy merchant family and he loved to associate with the sons of officials. Apparently, after Wang Zeyou caught the other party stealing someone else's undergarments, the other party started to dislike him at the academy and made trouble for him under various pretexts.

Now, here we go again.

But things are different today.

Today is his third private meeting with the young lady, and he can't let anyone ruin it!

Chi Yanzhou waited quietly for Wang Zeyou to continue, but the man spewed out a string of foul language.

"Chi Yanzhou, your family is so poor, do you even have the money to come here and learn to ride a horse? Be careful not to let the great scholar Chi get trampled to death under the horse's hooves."

His words elicited laughter and sarcastic remarks from those around him. When they realized they couldn't provoke Chi Yanzhou, they turned their attacks on others.

"Chi Yanzhou, did you go to sell yourself? How about I introduce you to some business opportunities?"

Faced with his personal sarcasm, Chi Yanzhou retorted without changing his expression: "Whether I have money to learn horseback riding or not is none of your business; on the contrary, you are the one who can't utter anything decent, your mouth is full of filth, what ability do you have besides slandering me?"

Chi Yanzhou looked at him coldly and said sternly, "You can't compare to me in terms of talent, and you are even less than me in terms of character!"

"Your appearance reminds me of a word: clown."

Chi Yanzhou's words made Wang Zeyou's cheeks turn red. Unable to win the argument, he became angry and stepped forward to hit Chi Yanzhou.

Chi Yanzhou nimbly dodged to the side, grabbed the other man by the back of his collar, and easily lifted him up. He said coldly in a low voice, "If you don't get out of here with your men, don't blame me for exposing your scandal of stealing someone's underwear in public. How could the son of a wealthy businessman be so shameful!"

Chi Yanzhou let go and pushed the other person, letting him fall to the ground.

He ignored the people behind him, turned around with his horse, and prepared to leave.

But how could Wang Zeyou let him off so easily? He thought there was nothing for Chi Yanzhou to be arrogant about. Even if that matter was revealed, he could easily shift the blame onto Chi Yanzhou.

Make sure he can't explain himself!

After he got up, he shoved Chi Yanzhou with all his might and shouted, "Chi Yanzhou, so what if you're being kept by some old, faded, and smelly woman? What are you so guilty about?"

Chi Yanzhou was caught off guard and pushed from behind. He staggered a few steps and before he could regain his balance, he heard vicious curses in his ears. He was furious. He could talk about the young lady, but not about her!

Chi Yanzhou slowly turned to the side, staring at Wang Zeyou with a sinister look. He strode forward and raised his fist, swinging wildly at Wang Zeyou's face. The veins on his hands bulged, and each punch landed squarely.

Having been raised in luxury since childhood, Wang Zeyou had never experienced this kind of scene before. While blocking the punches and protecting his face, he cried out in pain, "What the hell are you all looking at? Come and pull him away!"

Chi Yanzhou grew up in the countryside, and fighting was a common occurrence for him. It was only after he went to the capital to study that he was able to restrain his nature.

As soon as Wang Zeyou shouted, everyone rolled up their sleeves and started fighting each other, and for a moment it was impossible to tell friend from foe.

The scene was chaotic, and the onlookers slowly gathered together, moving away from the center of the battle.

Inside the racecourse, more and more people gathered to watch the spectacle, but no one stepped forward to break up the fight.

Until someone shouted, "The manager is here."

A manager with a fierce look on his face walked over aggressively and shouted, "Who's causing trouble here?"

When they saw someone coming, the crowd automatically made way for him.

The steward brought over five or six servants and signaled to his men to pull apart the people who were fighting amongst themselves.

The servants were all strong and powerful, and they quickly separated the fighting men.

The steward looked around and found that there were several people he could not afford to offend. Among them was a young man who, although dressed in brocade robes, wore a silver crown and crane hairpin that was the most inconspicuous. The steward thought to himself: He's the one!

Chi Yanzhou dodged most of the attacks with his agile skills, but he suffered a minor injury to his forehead.

Wang Zeyou and the others covered their injured faces, their expressions full of anger. "Take a good look and see who you really can't afford to mess with."

His words were pointed.

However, Chi Yanzhou always stood tall, unafraid of the pointing and whispering gazes of those around him, and openly and frankly believed that he had done nothing wrong.

From a distance, it looks like a proud plum blossom standing tall against the wind and snow.

Guan Shi walked sternly toward Chi Yanzhou, saying, "Why did you cause trouble at the horse farm, young master? We're all here to ride horses. If word gets out and the horse farm's reputation is damaged, please apologize to these gentlemen, and we'll let this matter rest."

After the steward finished speaking, he glanced obsequiously at Wang Zeyou. He recognized that this young master Wang often came to the horse farm with the young masters of the official family, especially the young master Mingkang, the youngest son of the prime minister. If the horse farm could establish a relationship with the official family, that would be extremely good.

Chi Yanzhou's face was extremely pale, and he spoke coldly, "Isn't it too arbitrary for the manager to convict me without distinguishing right from wrong? Wang Zeyou was the one who started the fight and the first to curse. What wrong have I done? It's the manager who has quite the ability to treat people differently based on their status."

The manager, embarrassed by his words, retorted, "I advise you not to be ungrateful; these people are not to be trifled with."

Wang Zeyou didn't want a perfunctory apology; he was dissatisfied with the way the person in charge handled the situation.

So he stepped forward and stood in front of Chi Yanzhou, and suddenly slapped him across the face.

After the crisp sound, Chi Yanzhou's face tilted to the side, and a bead of bright red blood slowly oozed from the corner of his mouth.

"How is it, Chi Yanzhou!"

After hitting him, Wang Zeyou shook his hand, complaining of the pain, and felt great looking at Chi Yanzhou's humiliated appearance.

Chi Yanzhou was acutely aware that the power structure was something he could never overcome.

Even now, he is powerless to seek justice for himself.

After Cui Fuyu finished running a lap around the horse farm, she found that Chi Yanzhou had disappeared. The place where he used to learn to ride horses was surrounded by a crowd. She frowned and rode her horse over there.

Cui Fuyu rode up behind the steward with a displeased expression, and clearly heard the steward earnestly advising, "Young Master Chi, an apology would have solved the problem, why bother?"

Chi Yanzhou? !

Apologize? !

Cui Fuyu went to see Chi Yanzhou, only to find him with a wounded face, yet still refusing to bow his head.

Cui Fuyu was instantly enraged. She raised her riding whip and struck the steward on the back, shouting, "I'd like to see who's making things difficult for my people!"

The steward, wincing in pain from his back, was about to curse whoever was so blind, but when he saw that it was someone even more unapproachable, he immediately knelt down and explained, "I was blind and didn't know that Young Master Chi was your man. I beg you to forgive me this time, Miss."

He kowtowed to Chi Yanzhou again, saying, "Young Master Chi, it was my fault. I did wrong and wronged you. I hope you will be magnanimous and not hold it against me."

A note from the author:

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The romance unfolds while the plot progresses [shy] The poor male lead is really pitiful. Before, reading tragic novels and empathizing with the female lead would break my heart, but now it's just so satisfying [rainbow praise] Our little sister will never wrong herself.