Autumn is also the most beautiful season in the capital. Rice, grain, fruits, meat, eggs, poultry and fish fill the markets, making the city bustling and lively everywhere.

For the stable of the Animal Husbandry Supervision Office outside the city, it was also the time to stockpile cartloads of hay and fodder, but compared to the speed of previous years, this time the convoy formed a long line outside the stable.

"What's going on?"

"Is it not over yet?"

“Do we still need to check the pasture?”

“I didn’t check it before.”

The deliverymen were asking each other questions. Although it was a cool autumn day, the sun was still very hot. Coupled with the stench from the stable, the people waiting became anxious and irritated.

"What's going on? What are you doing? Are you asking for money or bribes? It's been a few days, and you keep dithering." A burly man tore open his clothes, revealing his plush chest and shouted, "Don't you even look at who I am..."

Everyone present recognized him as a relative of the judge of the Pastoral Supervision Department, with the nickname Wanqi. More than half of the pasture here was delivered by him.

In the past, whenever he came, the clerks in the horse farm would come to greet him, but this time, only Wan Qi rushed in angrily. Everyone hurriedly leaned out to watch him go, and soon they heard a noise in the horse farm, followed by a scream.

I don't know which unlucky clerk was beaten, but he was beaten for seven hours and his skin was peeled off and his body was muscular.

As the thought flashed through his mind, he saw several petty officials dragging a man out. Everyone gathered around and saw Wan Qi lying on the ground and they were shocked again.

Wan Qi was no longer the ferocious man he had just been. His face was red and swollen from being beaten, and his eyes could not see clearly. What was even more disgusting was that his mouth was stuffed with horse feces.

Who is so cruel?

Someone came out pushing an empty cart, and when he saw this scene, he curled his lips and shrank his head, feeling a little scared.

"Behave yourself," he whispered, "The one in charge now is the Prince of Chengguo."

The prince of Chengguo?

Everyone looked at each other in surprise.

Wasn't the Prince of Chengguo punished to raise horses? How did he become the manager?

There was a snap.

A bunch of grass was thrown on the table.

"Why should I check your pasture?"

Under the shed in front of the horse ranch's thatched house, Zhu Zan sat on a chair with his feet on the table, letting his body sway.

His legs and arms were long, so that only the two feet of the chair were touching the ground. As it swayed, it looked like it would fall down at any moment, but it didn't fall down, which made people feel nervous.

"I am here to raise horses by imperial order," he said. "Do you know what 'by imperial order' means?"

They do know it by imperial decree, but weren't you punished to raise horses?

Does this punishment mean the same thing as obeying an imperial decree?

But no one dared to ask such a question. The clerks standing on both sides nodded and smiled in response.

"Since I was ordered to raise horses, if I can't raise horses well, wouldn't that be disobeying the order?" Zhu Zan said while shaking the grass, looking at the people around him, "Do you dare to disobey the order?"

Although it sounds like they are disobeying the emperor's order for some reason, they really don't dare to do so!

People around shook their heads.

"So, the key to raising a horse well is to let it eat grass," Zhu Zan said, throwing the grass in his hand on the table and pointing at a merchant standing in front of him. "Take this grass home and feed it to your pigs first. If your pigs don't die after feeding them for a month, let alone half a year, I will take all your grass."

The merchant's face was covered with sweat. After seeing Zhu Zan knock Wan Qi away with one punch and stuffing his mouth with horse feces, he dared not show any dissatisfaction.

"Yes, yes, I was wrong," he said repeatedly. "The grass is not good. Go find some good grass right away."

Zhu Zan glanced at him.

"You have some self-awareness," he said. "Get lost."

These impolite words gave the merchants a sense of amnesty.

"Thank you, Your Highness." He saluted happily, waved to his colleagues, and drove away at the speed of light.

Zhu Zan kicked his feet and fell backwards along with the chair. The clerks standing on both sides screamed in fear and rushed to help him up, but they saw Zhu Zan flipped over and stood firmly on the ground, holding on to the chair with his hands. The chair, which was about to fall, was now stable again.

The petty officials all breathed a sigh of relief. Some brought towels to Zhu Zan, some waved fans, and some brought hot tea.

"My Lord, please take a rest."

"You have been troubled, my Lord."

Everyone was complimenting him in a chaotic manner. Zhu Zan took a staggering step forward, took the towel to wipe his hands, and took a sip of the tea.

"Look at him, he's acting like a big boss." Captain Jiang, who was standing not far away, crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. "This horse ranch has become his world. How can this guy be so shameless? He was obviously punished, so how can he be so self-righteous and act like a big boss?"

The Jinyiwei beside him didn't know how to respond.

"Tell His Majesty to reprimand him?" he asked.

"What are you blaming him for? The entire North is relying on his father now." Jiang Baihu said.

Looking at Zhu Zan, who was surrounded by a group of petty officials and was parading around, even though he was wearing horse-raising clothes, he still looked like a master.

"What a good dad." He snorted.

While they were talking, two more people walked up to Zhu Zan.

Baihu Jiang raised his eyebrows again.

"Isn't this one of Mr. Dumbledore's family?" he said.

As members of the Imperial Guard, they were also familiar with the servants and entourage of officials in the capital.

Deng Daizhi is an important official of the Yu Shitai, and his status in the court should not be underestimated. Yu Shitai has been impeaching Duke Cheng with all his might in recent years, so why would he come to Zhu Zan?

Captain Jiang watched the two followers salute Zhu Zan respectfully. Zhu Zan looked a little impatient. He didn't know what they said as he was far away. He saw that the two followers were not angry at all. Instead, they became more respectful and took out some documents and handed them to Zhu Zan.

Captain Jiang raised his chin, and the Jinyiwei beside him lowered their heads and retreated.

Captain Jiang said nothing more. He watched Zhu Zan take the document, read it, and said something. The two men took out another document. Zhu Zan nodded, turned around and walked away. The two men followed happily.

After a while, the Jinyiwei who came to inquire about the news came back.

"I'm here to ask for a horse for Mr. Deng," he said.

When court officials reached a certain position, they would be provided with horses and attendants by the government, so Deng Shizhi was naturally qualified.

However, Captain Jiang frowned.

"He is in charge of the pasture, and does he also take care of the horses?" he said.

"He didn't care about this originally." Jinyiwei said, "but everyone likes to ask him to choose horses, saying that the horses chosen by the prince are obedient and strong."

This kid, does he really have this ability? Isn't it because everyone is deliberately praising him for his father's sake? Jiang Baihu frowned.

A member of the Royal Guard came over from the side.

"Sir, there is news from the north," he said, bowing.

Captain Jiang glanced at the horse racing farm.

"Keep a close eye on him. If he steps out of the capital," he said, "he will be killed without mercy."

The two Jinyiwei bowed their heads and answered yes.

Captain Jiang returned to Beizhen Fusi and saw Lu Yunqi sitting alone in the room reading a letter.

"How's the investigation of Duke Cheng going?" Baihu Jiang asked urgently.

Lu Yunqi said "oh" and raised his chin slightly.

"I don't know. I haven't seen it yet. You can take a look," he said.

Captain Jiang was stunned. He hadn't read it yet? It was so important... His eyes fell on the letter in Lu Yunqi's hand. Was that more important news?

He picked up the letter on the table, removed the seal and opened it. A glance at it showed surprise on his face.

"What the hell," he said, "why are these people saying good things about the Duke?"