Chapter 106 He's still a child
Zhang Xiao's shout of "Bite them to death!" was like a thunderclap, and everyone present changed their expressions instantly.
Pei Zhiwei never expected that Zhang Xiao would go to such extremes.
Marquis Ding'an was far away in the capital, beyond his reach, so it was understandable that he didn't take him seriously.
But Xie Ji's maternal uncle was the powerful military governor of Huainan, who lived in Yangzhou, yet he didn't care at all.
Furthermore, if Prince Rui were truly harmed in the slightest, even if his father were merely the Prefect of Yangzhou, or even if he were a member of the imperial family, the matter would not be resolved peacefully.
At this moment, the three hunting dogs, which had been waiting for the order, heard the command and their deep growls echoed all around.
Almost instantly, the three hounds leaped up and pounced on Xiao Yunzhan, Pei Zhiwei, and Xie Ji.
Before Pei Zhiwei could even draw her dagger, Xiao Yunzhan and Xie Ji had already swiftly stepped in front of her.
The two men stood shoulder to shoulder, their backs ramrod straight, like two unshakeable barriers, protecting her tightly.
"Watch out!" Before Pei Zhiwei could finish speaking, the first hunting dog had already pounced on Xiao Yunzhan.
Saliva dripped from the corners of its mouth, carrying a strong, bloody smell, clearly indicating that it had been feeding on live prey.
But Xiao Yunzhan remained completely still.
He only moved slightly to the side when the hound was less than half a step away from him, and his right hand moved with lightning speed, accurately grabbing its neck.
With a sudden burst of force from his five fingers, he crushed the hound's neck bones with a crisp sound.
He didn't even give it a chance to struggle, casually tossing the limp corpse aside.
Xie Ji's side was equally efficient.
As another hunting dog lunged at him, he ducked low, dodging its claws, and grabbed the dog's front leg with his left hand, using the force to swing it to the side.
The hunting dog crashed heavily into the railing of the observation deck.
Before it could get up, Xie Ji's foot had already precisely stepped on its throat. With a soft "crack," the hunting dog fell completely silent.
Seeing its companions dying one after another, the last hunting dog not only did not back down, but instead became extremely ferocious.
Its scarlet eyes stared at the three of them for a couple of moments, then it bypassed Xiao Yunzhan and Xie Ji and turned to pounce on Pei Zhiwei.
They're quite shrewd; they realized the tough ones were too hard to crack, so they looked for the easy ones to exploit.
How could Xiao Yunzhan allow it to act so presumptuously? He reached out, grabbed its hind leg, slammed it to the ground, and then threw it away.
Xie Ji seized the opportunity to rush over, grabbing the hound's muzzle with one hand to prevent it from opening its mouth to bite again, and clenching his other fist to smash it hard against its nose.
The hound convulsed in pain, but he didn't stop. He twisted his wrist, and with a soft crack of dislocating bones, the hound's last struggle ceased.
In the blink of an eye, all three hounds were lifeless.
The area around the observation deck was already in chaos. The diners who had originally come to watch the commotion were so frightened that they hid in the private rooms. Only a few brave waiters clung to the door frame, their faces pale as they peeked in this direction, not daring to even breathe loudly.
Zhang Xiao stood there, his eyes bloodshot as he stared intently at the dead hunting dog on the ground, his lips trembling, and suddenly he roared like a madman.
"My dog! How dare you kill my dog!"
He suddenly drew a dagger from his waist, the hilt of which was inlaid with a large ruby that now gleamed dazzlingly in the sunlight.
The few spoiled brats following behind him panicked immediately. Some tried to pull him back, while others shrank back, clearly not expecting things to escalate to this point.
"Attack them, all of you!" Zhang Xiao shouted hysterically, pointing a dagger at Xie Ji and Xiao Yunzhan.
"If I don't kill these two bastards today, I'm not Zhang!"
"If anyone dares to back out, I'll have my dad confiscate all your shops!"
Those spoiled brats were forced into a corner by him and could only brace themselves and assume a fighting stance, but none of them dared to actually make a move.
They had clearly seen how fiercely Xiao Yunzhan and Xie Ji dealt with the hunting dogs. If they had rushed in, they would have been the next ones lying on the ground.
Just as the stalemate was at its peak, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from downstairs, accompanied by Zhang Xuren's furious roar: "You wretch! Stop!"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Zhang Xuren stumbling up the stairs, his round body unsteady and his forehead covered in cold sweat.
He grabbed Zhang Xiao's wrist and used all his strength to snatch the dagger from his hand and throw it on the ground.
"Are you crazy?" Zhang Xuren was trembling with anger.
He shouted sternly to his entourage behind him, "What are you all standing there for? Hold him down!"
Two attendants quickly stepped forward, whispered "Sir, please forgive me," and restrained Zhang Xiao.
Zhang Xiao was still struggling, cursing, "You dare touch me? Let me go."
Father! Tell them to let go!
"Those two bastards killed my dog! I'm going to kill them!"
Zhang Xuren completely ignored his clamor, bowed deeply to Xiao Yunzhan, his waist bent extremely low, and his voice trembled: "Your Highness, please forgive me!"
My son is ignorant and has offended Your Highness and Prince Xie. I beg Your Highness to be magnanimous and not hold it against him!
Xiao Yunzhan didn't speak, but just stood there, his gaze fixed on Zhang Xuren.
Whether it was my imagination or not, the aura emanating from him seemed even colder than when he was dealing with the hunting dogs.
Seeing that he remained motionless, Zhang Xuren became even more flustered. He remained bent over, not daring to move an inch, and even his breathing was too shallow.
After a long while, Xiao Yunzhan slowly spoke, "Collision?"
Lord Zhang, you make it sound so easy.
Didn't you hear what your son just said?
If you want to kill me, you might even unleash your dogs to commit the crime.
What, this is just a 'collision'?
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xuren knelt down with a thud, "Your Highness!"
My son is spoiled! He doesn't know any better!
"Your Highness, please spare him this time, considering his young age!"
"Young?" Xiao Yunzhan sneered.
"In all my years, this is only the second time I've heard someone dare to say they want to kill me, and they actually went through with it."
The person who said that last time is probably overgrown with weeds by now.
Your son is certainly more 'daring' than that man.
Terrified, Zhang Xuren disregarded whether any diners were watching and immediately began kowtowing repeatedly, his forehead slamming against the wooden board with a thud. He cried out, "Your Highness, have mercy! Please have mercy!"
I only have one son. If anything happens to him, I won't be able to live either!
Please spare him!
I beg you, Your Highness…
Xiao Yunzhan looked at him in this state and remained silent for a moment.
Pei Zhiwei stood behind him and could clearly see that his clenched fist had turned blue.
She knew that Xiao Yunzhan was truly angry, but he always prioritized the bigger picture and would never actually do anything to Zhang Xiao at a time like this.
"I'll spare him this time, since he's your only son," Xiao Yunzhan finally said.
"But remember, if you don't discipline him properly next time, it won't be so simple."
Zhang Xuren, as if grasping at a lifeline, hurriedly kowtowed several more times: "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Highness!"
Your humble servant will certainly discipline him strictly! He will be absolutely forbidden from causing trouble again!
After saying that, he didn't dare to stay any longer. He gave his attendants a look, signaling them to support the still struggling Zhang Xiao and hurriedly go downstairs.
When he reached the stairwell, Zhang Xiao turned back and glared fiercely at Xiao Yunzhan.
As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father. The moment he turned around, Zhang Xuren realized that he was bound to cause trouble again, and quickly stuffed the handkerchief he was using to wipe his sweat into his mouth.
Even so, Zhang Xiao continued to struggle and howl until his figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs.
After Zhang Xuren and his group had gone far away, Xie Ji breathed a sigh of relief. "Goodness, I thought you were going to deal with Zhang Xiao on the spot."
To be honest, given his actions today, it would be absolutely justified to charge him with treason.
"If I could still openly confront Zhang Xuren, I would have already taken action."
Xiao Yunzhan gazed in the direction Zhang Xuren and the others had left.
The sunlight shone on him, but it couldn't dispel the biting chill; instead, it made his evil aura even stronger.
He spoke slowly, "What's the rush? Remember this debt."
What's the point of only punishing Zhang Xiao and Zhang Xuren now?
What I want is for the entire Zhang family to pay the price for what happened today.
Xie Ji froze upon hearing this.
The last time I saw Xiao Yunzhan with such an expression was more than ten years ago in the palace.
He would never forget that when Xiao Yunzhan was not yet ten years old, he accidentally witnessed Consort Rong's younger brother humiliating a palace maid in the Cold Palace.
Without saying a word, he grabbed a leather whip and lashed the man all the way to the Taiji Hall.
The court assembly was only halfway through, and all the civil and military officials were present. At that time, Consort Rong was the most powerful woman in the harem, and her father was the Minister of Rites.
As a result, in less than half a month, not only did Consort Rong lose power, but the entire Rong family also collapsed completely, with no possibility of recovery.
Xie Ji swallowed hard, not daring to utter a single word of advice.
He just wanted to stay away from Xiao Yunzhan, afraid that if things went wrong, he would end up covered in blood.
He chuckled dryly and changed the subject: "The drunken crab is getting cold, shall we order another plate?"
Pei Zhiwei noticed that Xiao Yunzhan was in a bad mood, so she gently patted his back and whispered, "Don't be angry."
In fact, what happened today may not be a bad thing for us.
The coldness in Xiao Yunzhan's eyes hadn't dissipated, but her actions gradually calmed the surging anger in his heart: "What do you mean?"
A sly glint flashed in Pei Zhiwei's eyes: "Given Zhang Xiao's behavior just now, he'll definitely argue with Zhang Xuren when he gets back."
The more he made a scene, the less Zhang Xuren would bother investigating our case.
She tiptoed closer to his ear and whispered, "We can take this opportunity to deal with the matters of Xinluofang."
The warm breath brushed past his ear, and Xiao Yunzhan's displeasure completely dissipated.
He looked down at her, his tense lips gradually relaxing into a smile.
“You,” he sighed softly, his tone tinged with helplessness.
"They're very proactive when it comes to investigating cases, but they never pay attention to anything else."
Pei Zhiwei asked, puzzled, "What other?"
Xiao Yunzhan did not answer, but simply reached out to brush the dog hair from her hair.
"It's nothing. You don't need to worry about these things; I'll handle it."
Pei Zhiwei's cheeks flushed slightly, and she subconsciously took a half step back, turning her head to look at the street scene outside.
Sunlight streamed through the carved railings, casting the shadows of the two figures onto the ground, where they quietly overlapped.
Xie Ji, watching from the side, felt a pang of disgust and coughed lightly twice.
At that moment, a dark figure jumped out of the private room window and sped off in the direction Zhang Xuren had left, quickly disappearing around the street corner.
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