Chapter 25: Restoring Livelihood to the Border

They headed inside and made their way to the magistrate’s bedchambers. The man was wearing a thin layer of bedclothes, on his knees outside another room’s door. It looked like the origin of the fire had been in this room, and had been extinguished. Nevertheless, the magistrate still looked defeated and forlorn. When he saw Qi Chen arrive, it was as if he’d glimpsed his savior. The magistrate crawled to Qi Chen’s side, the tears streaming down his face actually invoking some genuine pity. “You’re finally here, Your Highness!”

Qi Chen looked at Jun Huang. She understood his meaning and casually spoke of looking around to see the extent of the damage. When she left, Qi Chen gestured for some people to follow her and took the magistrate into another room.

The prince sat in the main seat, looking frostily at the magistrate kneeling in the middle of the room. “Worthless thing! What are good you for?!” He couldn’t help but curse loudly.

“Forgive me, Your Highness. Please spare me, Your Highness!” The magistrate could hear the murderous intent in the prince’s tone and crawled over to Qi Chen in abject terror, tugging on the hem of the luxurious robes for mercy.

Qi Chen sent the magistrate flying with one kick and took a deep breath in before asking slowly, “Was it really robbers?”

“Absolutely, Your Highness! They were all ferocious and without parallel. They’re definitely robbers who live in the mountains.” The magistrate swallowed hard. His back was already soaked with sweat, and he shuddered when he looked at the vicious expression on Qi Chen’s face. He was deathly afraid that the prince would want to kill him. But Qi Chen wasn’t even thinking about the magistrate at all. He was still trying to console himself over his lost silver.

Jun Huang looked at the fellow discreetly tailing her and sneered. She actually did take a walk around theQi Chen was in better spirits as he considered the overall situation. He was completely disengaged on the return journey, a far cry from his high spirits when he was traveling to the border. He stayed in the carriage all day, whereas Nan Xun and Jun Huang’s horses took the lead as usual.

“This matter is finally over,” Jun Huang reflected.

Nan Xun nodded. “Indeed, the people have gone back to their normal lives, and should trust the imperial court more after this matter.”

“How will Your Highness report to the emperor about the second prince embezzling funds?” Jun Huang looked back at Qi Chen’s carriage and compressed her lips with disapproval.