Chapter 21: The Young Master

In the blink of an eye, the two groups clashed. Although Zhao Cheng's side had more people, they were all children, armed only with wooden sticks. The other side, though fewer in number, consisted of tall, strong men wielding weapons, making them a completely different level of opponent.

The young boys, fearless like calves, being shorter, jumped and swung their sticks wildly. When they couldn't hit anyone, they picked up snowballs and rocks to throw. The men on the other side quickly reacted, riding their horses and using the backs of their bows and scabbards to strike. After a couple of rounds, Zhao Cheng's side suffered significant losses, with several of them being knocked down.

"Don't fight anymore, run!" Zhao Cheng saw that Zhao Yi, who had fallen to the ground, was almost trampled by a horse's hooves, and the others were in grave danger. One of the peasants, who had already been hit in the face twice, was getting desperate and drew his knife. If things continued, it could end in a tragedy. He quickly shouted.

The servants, hearing Zhao Cheng's words, immediately turned around, "Run this way, don't bunch up!" Zhao Cheng, while shouting, pulled Zhao Xin, who was still stubbornly throwing clumps of dirt, and ran.

"Grab that kid, he's the leader!" The young master, who had been made to look like a fool by a group of children, wiped the dirt off his face and, in a fit of rage, ordered the peasants to let the others go and try to catch Zhao Cheng.

Zhao Cheng ran while looking back, seeing several horses chasing after him. Fortunately, the horses had just started running and hadn't reached full speed, still about twenty meters away. He thought to himself, "Follow me closely!" Zhao Cheng ran as fast as he could, already out of breath, but still pulling Zhao Xin, who was also sweating profusely. The sound of hooves 'clip-clopped' closer and closer. The scattered servants, seeing the 'enemy' heading for the second young master, quickly gathered together and shouted loudly, urging them to run faster.

"Jump!" Zhao Cheng ran a few more steps and suddenly shouted to Zhao Xin, who could already feel the hot breath from the horse's nose, knowing he was about to be caught. Hearing the shout, he instinctively jumped with Zhao Cheng. At that moment, they saw the rabbit trap they had set up in the tall grass.

As Zhao Cheng and Zhao Xin jumped over the net, they heard a 'thud' behind them. A man tumbled and fell to the ground, and a horse, its legs entangled in the net, lay on the side, whinnying pitifully.

Chen Zian thought he was about to catch the boy in front of him, but suddenly his horse stumbled and threw him off. He had just thrown off the large cloak covering his head and hadn't figured out what was happening when he felt a chill on his neck. A gleaming dagger was already pressed against his throat.

"What are you going to do? My father is the governor of Gongzhou, you dare to hurt me!" Chen Zian shouted in a rage, seeing the knife at his neck.

"Hehe, my father is even the emperor, what can I do if I kill you!" Chen Zian was almost driven to the brink of anger. Seeing that the boy was not only unafraid but also teasing him with a grin, he felt the dagger scrape his face, which was a good blade, shaving off his facial hair and a thin layer of frost and snow. Chen Zian didn't dare to move, but he felt a sudden urge to urinate.

Zhao Cheng was also quite frustrated. It was all because of two rabbits that things had come to this. He didn't want it to happen, but if he didn't subdue this boy, the horses would charge over, and his group would be either dead or injured. He also wanted to teach this bully a lesson. In terms of 'influence,' there were few in the world who could match him.

"Quickly release our young master, or we will have you all executed!" The peasant who had followed behind saw that the young master was about to succeed but suddenly fell off his horse and was restrained. The head peasant was startled, dismounted, and aimed an arrow at Zhao Cheng.

"Hehe, do you want to try? Is your arrow faster than my knife? Maybe you'll shoot me, but my knife won't have cut your young master's neck yet!" The two were only a few meters apart, and Zhao Cheng wasn't sure if he could kill the boy before the arrow hit him, but he kept a calm face, betting that the peasants wouldn't dare take the risk.

"Hou San, put down the bow, do you want to kill the young master?" Before the peasant could speak, Chen Zian shouted. He felt the blade touch his skin, his body tensed, and the urge to urinate became even stronger.

"Quickly release our young master, or our master will have you all exterminated!" Hou San put down the bow but continued to threaten.

"Your father is the governor, I'm so scared, but he can't be unreasonable!" Zhao Cheng still smiled, but in Chen Zian's eyes, the boy's smile was unsettling. "You came to our land, stole our game, and injured our people. It seems you were the one who was wrong first."

"My father is the governor, I can go wherever I want!" Chen Zian was stumped, thinking that this was the only reason he could give.

"Damn, just because your father is the governor, you can act like a tyrant!" Zhao Cheng, amused by the boy, slapped him on the face, thinking to himself that as a prince, his mother still 'educated' him to act foolishly, but this son of a governor dared to be so arrogant.

"Second Young Master, are you okay?" At this moment, the servants gathered around, asking in a flurry of voices.

"Nothing, fortunately, Second Young Master was quick-witted, luring him into our trap. We didn't catch the rabbits, but we caught a person today!" Before Zhao Cheng could answer, Zhao Xin said.

"Quickly release our young master, or we will send you all to the authorities!" Although it was cold, Hou San was drenched in sweat. The young master had come to the countryside to relax, but things had turned out this way. He knew that children didn't know their own strength, and if the young master was really injured, his head would be on the line. Even if he saved the young master, a beating was inevitable.

"Do you think we'll release him just because you say so? If we release him, you'll shoot us with an arrow. Do you think we're fools?" Zhao Yi said with a cold snort.

"If you hadn't said the second part, I wouldn't have thought you were a fool!" Zhao Cheng, whose legs were numb from squatting, sat on the ground and said, "Zhao Yi, where's your hat?" He noticed that Zhao Yi's head was bare, his face and ears frozen red.

"He hit me with a whip, and the hat was trampled by the horse!" Zhao Yi pointed to Chen Zian on the ground.

"This is your compensation, though it's a bit dirty, we won't hold it against you!" Zhao Cheng took off Chen Zian's fox fur hat, slapped it a few times, and threw it to Zhao Yi.

"Thank you, Second Young Master!" Zhao Yi happily put on the hat, but Chen Zian felt a pang of pain. The hat had cost him over forty strings of cash, enough to buy a stack of such hats, but seeing the knife at his neck, he didn't dare to say anything.

"Little brother, let's negotiate. If you release our young master, I'll give you money!" Seeing that force wasn't working, Hou San tried a softer approach, pulling out a silver ingot and smiling.

"Zhao Ren, check if the silver is real, don't let him trick us!" Zhao Cheng kept the knife steady and signaled to Zhao Ren.

"It's real, absolutely real!" Hou San said with a full smile, inching forward, looking for an opportunity to grab the young master back.

"Sir, please stand still. If you get too close, I'll get nervous, and if I get nervous, I might accidentally cut your young master's face, which wouldn't be good. Just throw the silver over here!" Zhao Cheng, in his previous life, had experience in 'robbery and hostage-taking.' He knew what Hou San was up to and pressed the blade to Chen Zian's face.

"Hou San, give him the silver!" Chen Zian's body was already frozen, but he didn't dare to move. Hearing that there was a chance, he shouted loudly.

"Second Young Master, the silver is real, over two taels!" Zhao Ren said, catching the silver.

"Good, thank you!"

"You see, the silver has been verified. Shouldn't you release our young master now?" Hou San said.

"Alright, put down your bow and arrow and step back. If I release him, I'm afraid Hou Ye will get itchy and shoot us, which wouldn't be good!" Zhao Cheng said with a smile.

"Don't be stubborn, or you'll regret it!" Hou San didn't expect this kid to be so cunning, not swayed by either force or persuasion. He wanted to retreat but was afraid the young master would be in danger, and if he didn't retreat, they wouldn't release the young master. The situation was at an impasse.

Just as both sides were at a stalemate, a group of people rushed over, armed with guns and sticks. Both sides were tense, unsure whose reinforcements had arrived.

"Second Young Master, don't be afraid, we're here!" The person in front shouted. Zhao Cheng, hearing this, breathed a sigh of relief. It was the guards from the manor. It turned out that Zhao Chi, seeing that their side was at a disadvantage, had run home to call for help and now led a group back.

The situation immediately reversed, and Zhao Cheng and the servants relaxed, while Hou San was extremely nervous. His side clearly had no right, and although they had the support of their master, it was of no help in the current situation. They couldn't fight, and they couldn't run because the young master was still in their hands. Now, it was up to the other side to decide.

"Second Young Master, we're late, is everything okay?" Yang Feng ran a few steps ahead and said.

"Not too late, just got hit a few times and whipped!" Zhao Cheng, seeing that his people had arrived, put away his knife and tried to stand up but stumbled and sat back down.

"Damn, my legs are numb from the cold, all because of you, you bastard!" Yang Feng, seeing this, quickly helped him up, and Zhao Cheng kicked Chen Zian on the ground and cursed. Meng Tao, who had just arrived, immediately led the guards to surround the four peasants and beat them with sticks.

"Sir, we were wrong, please let us go!" Chen Zian, who had been lying in the snow for a while, was in no better shape than Zhao Cheng. Seeing that they were about to suffer, he sniffed and said.

"We can't let them go. They stole our things and beat us. If it weren't for Second Young Master, we would have suffered greatly!" Zhao Yong, who had been at the forefront, had taken the most beatings.

"Damn, what kind of scum are you, daring to hit our Second Young Master!" Yang Feng grabbed Chen Zian and slapped him on both sides of his face. The pale face immediately swelled like it had been given a large dose of medicine. He pouted, wanting to cry but not daring to, seeing that his people were already surrounded and being beaten.

"Alright, we've beaten and cursed them enough. We're not seriously hurt, let them go!" Zhao Cheng didn't want to do anything more to them. Now that they had vented their anger, he decided to let it go.

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