"Madam, are you alright?"
After the two of them stopped, Helan Yanting looked at Feng Yunshu with concern.
Feng Yunshu shook her head and frowned as she looked at the man who had almost bumped into her just now. Before she could even scold the man, the officer on the horse glared at her fiercely.
"Bold commoner! How dare you obstruct our official business? Outrageous!"
Helan Yanting gave a cold glance at the speaker. His palm hidden in his wide sleeve moved slightly. The dough figurines that were originally stuck on the stalls on both sides suddenly turned into sharp arrows and hit the speaker with a few thuds, knocking him off his horse.
"Who is so bold as to use hidden weapons?!"
Since Helan Yanting had made his move extremely covertly, no one noticed that it was he who had done it. Several officers immediately looked around nervously, gripping their weapons tightly.
The leading officer fixed his eyes on Helan Yanting, Feng Yunshu and the others. He stared with wide - open eyes as if he wanted to devour them. "Was it you who used the hidden weapons just now?!"
Before Feng Yunshu and the others could answer, another officer immediately pulled the speaker aside. "Captain, I think we'd better forget it. Don't waste time here. We have important matters to attend to. If we can't find any information about the Second Prince, our heads may be in danger..."
The leading officer hesitated for a moment and finally heeded the advice. He turned to glare at Helan Yanting and the others, cursed under his breath, then mounted his horse. The group of them left in a hurry.
Although they had gone far away, Feng Yunshu clearly heard them mention the "Second Prince" in their conversation. Her heart skipped a beat.
This was the territory of the Yuan Kingdom. The so - called "Second Prince" should be the second prince of the Yuan Kingdom, which meant...
Feng Yunshu silently turned to look at Helan Yanting, with a very complicated expression.
"Husband, is the person those guards are looking for...?"
Helan Yanting glanced coldly at the backs of the departing men and slowly nodded. "Most likely."
Feng Yunshu subconsciously tightened her grip on his arm. "What do these people want with you?"
Before Helan Yanting could answer, Feng Yunshu soon found out the answer.
After the officers left, they posted wanted posters all around the city wall. The wanted posters clearly stated that the person being wanted was Helan Yanting, the second prince of the Yuan Kingdom.
A crowd of onlookers had gathered around the wanted posters. They all craned their necks to read the content of the posters and whispered to each other from time to time.
"Wasn't this second prince sent to the Dan Kingdom as a hostage when he was young?"
"Yes, indeed. I must say this is really an ill - behaved prince. I heard that not long ago, the second prince attempted to stage a rebellion in the Dan Kingdom. He colluded with rebels in private to overthrow the emperor of the Dan Kingdom..."
"Tsk tsk, this second prince is really too ambitious. Since the peace talks between the Dan Kingdom and the Yuan Kingdom, the two countries have maintained a stable situation of non - interference for many years. Now, his rebellion has directly angered the emperor of the Dan Kingdom. The Dan Kingdom immediately sent troops to our Yuan Kingdom, determined to teach us a lesson..."
"Tell me, aren't we common people the ones who will suffer in this war between the two countries?"
"Yes, indeed. Those nobles in the palace only know how to seek pleasure every day. I think that second prince must have had too much to eat and too good a life. He caused such a ruckus for no reason. Now it's us who have to bear the blame for him. If I really see this second prince, I'll be the first to report him to the authorities!"
"Right. If I see such a useless prince, I'll probably can't help but take action. I'm really angry..."
At this time, Yan Qi, who was standing on the side, got angry when he heard what these commoners were saying. He couldn't help but stand up to defend his master. "You are all just spreading hearsay!"
"Hey, young man, why are you so angry? What, do you think what the second prince did was right?"
"You didn't see it with your own eyes. How can you be so sure that it was the Second Prince who did something wrong? Maybe he was framed and deliberately given this bad reputation?!"
"Hey, are you deliberately looking for trouble? You are so eager to defend the second prince. It's as if you know the truth. Could it be that you are an accomplice of the second prince?!"
For a moment, Yan Qi became the target of public criticism.
At this time, Feng Yunshu, who was standing beside Helan Yanting, couldn't stand it anymore. She had been observing Helan Yanting's expression and found that he didn't seem to be greatly affected by these rumors. His face just turned a bit colder.
He didn't say anything, but it didn't mean that Feng Yunshu wasn't angry. At this moment, Feng Yunshu's anger was about to explode.
She wasn't unfamiliar with rumors. She had often been angry about the things done by the eldest madam and her daughter in the prime minister's mansion before, but she had never been this angry.
She was so angry that she subconsciously gathered her spiritual power, intending to seal the mouths of these gossiping and nonsense - talking commoners so that they could never speak again.
However, just as a faint ripple of spiritual power emerged and before it could gather, Helan Yanting reached out and stopped her.
"Madam, don't be angry." Helan Yanting looked at her and whispered. His voice had a natural soothing effect. Feng Yunshu met his gentle eyes and gradually withdrew her spiritual power.
"But I just can't stand it. Why do they slander...?" Feng Yunshu glared at these commoners discontentedly and pouted.
"Hehe," Helan Yanting suddenly smiled. "Madam, I'm very happy that you are so eager to defend me. I don't take what others say to heart."
Here, Yan Qi was almost the target of everyone's anger. These commoners looked at him as if he were a great enemy, eager to teach him a lesson.
Zi Yuan saw that Yan Qi was surrounded and felt a bit nervous. She hesitated for a moment and stepped forward to speak for him. "Everyone, please don't blame him wrongly. He is my friend. What he said just now is not what you think. Everyone, calm down..."
Yan Qi was touched to see that the usually timid and cautious Zi Yuan actually stood up to speak for him. But who would have thought that these commoners soon regarded Zi Yuan as an accomplice and were about to attack them both. Yan Qi immediately stepped forward and pulled her behind him to protect her, then drew out his long knife from his waist.
"Whoever dares to make trouble, don't blame me for being ruthless with my sword!"
When these onlookers who loved to watch the excitement saw the cold light on Yan Qi's blade, they all immediately took a few steps back. None of them dared to make trouble again.
"Yan Qi, stop."
Helan Yanting stepped forward to stop Yan Qi. At the same time, he calmly scanned all the gossiping onlookers present. "My servant has no intention of offending you all. Please forgive us."
After saying that, Helan Yanting asked Yan Qi to take out some silver to compensate for the damaged dough figurine stall. The group of them quickly left the place under the gazes of these commoners.
Feng Yunshu was still a bit depressed. They said that words could be as sharp as swords. Today, she finally saw what it meant to create something out of nothing and how rumors could be believed when repeated by many.
Helan Yanting saw that she looked angry. He pinched her hand. "Madam, wait for me here for a moment. I'll be back soon."
"Hey, Your Highness, where are you going?"