CHAPTER 290: CHAPTER 10: NOBLES AND CIVILIANS

Yue Jinghua was at a loss for words, not sure how to respond. She had never intended to impersonate her brother, nor to claim to be the Lord of Fengdan County.

Before her arrival, she had merely seen Fengdan County as a temporary refuge.

But the sight of this child, his face bruised and swollen, eyes glimmering with hope, made her feel like she had a fishbone stuck in her throat, unable to deny the truth.

Yue Jinghua was a foreign soul from the 23rd century. She was unable to comprehend, let alone understand, the class disparity amongst the nobility, nor could she grasp why a land abandoned by its lord could emanate such desolate atmosphere.

As she stood there awkwardly, several carriages came to a stop by the lake.

With her keen senses, Yue Jinghua had heard the unusual growls of beasts from miles away. Fortunately, she had arrived ahead of the others, otherwise this child of Fengdan County might not have escaped his fate.

"Poor child," said Lie Rou and Yun Luo, arriving right behind, descended from their carriage to see the bloodstains on the ground, their faces filled with pity.

Ever since the incident at the Lie Family Mansion, after leaving the Shang Kingdom, Lie Rou’s temperament had undergone a significant change. Whether it was because she was now protected by the True Dragon Dagger, or because she had seen through the warmth of human relationships, Lie Rou had become much more resolute, and no longer dwelled on sights of slaughter.

Seeing the tragic state of the grandfather and grandson, one dead and the other injured, Lie Rou, as the Lord’s Wife of Fengdan County, felt deep guilt. She couldn’t help but step forward, taking Erwang into her embrace and comforting him softly.

Erwang had never been so intimately approached by such a distinguished person. He couldn’t say anything, just stared at Lie Rou, speechless.

Seeing the child’s frail arms, Lie Rou quickly ordered Hongling and Hong Yao, one to clean up the beast corpses scattered about, and the other to fetch some dried food and jerky.

"Let the child drink some porridge first," Yue Jinghua intervened as Lie Rou was about to give Erwang food, "He must have been starving for a long time, eating a full meal abruptly could damage his stomach."

Back when Yue Xiaoqi was an unregulated street orphan, she had witnessed a starving street child who died from bloated stomach after gorging on a few loaves of bread, having not eaten for five days.

Lie Rou paused, quietly retracting the dried food, while Hongling, with a heavy heart, gathered some firewood to boil porridge on the spot and fed it to the shocked Erwang.

"These people are despicable, why let them go? Are you afraid of Bailu County’s people? Hmph, spineless," Yun Luo, who always loathed evil, had followed behind and missed encountering the people from Bailu County. Otherwise, had she witnessed such an act of harboring a domesticated Xuan Beast that harmed people, she wouldn’t have cared about their status and would have executed them on the spot.

In her view, as a person from Blood Cherry Duke Mansion, Yue Jinghua was weak and lacking backbone for letting the perpetrators go after witnessing the oppression of her own territory’s people.

"What did you say? A pampered heiress who knows nothing but to eat and drink, what right do you have to criticize Jinghua," Shalman, seeing her friend insulted, couldn’t stand it and stepped forward to confront Yun Luo.

After interacting with Yun Luo for a while, everyone realized that this delicate Miss from Yunhu Commerce was actually incompetent in Dark Energy and lacked any Breeding Skills. It was fortunate that the steady Teng Wu was accompanying her all along the journey; otherwise, given her wilful nature, who knows how many people she would have offended by now.

"Teng Wu," upon seeing Erwang hastily gulp down nearly the whole bowl of porridge without minding the scalding heat, Yue Jinghua frowned and stepped forward to stop Teng Wu, "Did you already know about the situation in Fengdan County?"

When everyone got off the carriage just now, seeing such a dire situation stirred some emotion in them all, even Ye Zi, who never paid much attention to the Human Race, pitched in to look for dry wood. Only Teng Wu seemed to have anticipated the state of Fengdan County, showing no change in his expression.

"Strange, Teng Wu, you knew about the situation here? That also makes sense; you followed the caravan and journeyed through various countries in the past few years, so you must have passed through Fengdan County. Those people really have the audacity of a bear and a leopard. The Empire has explicitly forbidden the taking of lives so casually, let alone using Dark Beasts to harm people," Yun Luo’s attention was immediately diverted.

Under Yue Jinghua’s stern gaze, Teng Wu felt as if he was enveloped by a strong Dark Power creating an illusion; such oppression made him momentarily feel as if National Guardian Heavenly General Dragon Ao himself was present.

How could that be, the other party was only a Noble with a rather average Dark Skill Cultivation, how could it be possible?

Teng Wu stimulated the Dark Energy within his body to clear his mind a bit and sincerely said, "Miss Yue, I apologize for not informing you about the situation in Fengdan County before coming here. However, as a member of Yunhu Commerce, I have no obligation to inform you about Fengdan County’s affairs, as this is essentially the business of your Duke Mansion."

Within the Empire, social hierarchy is crystal clear. The territory of a Noble is like the mistress kept by a Nobleman; others cannot encroach upon it.

"No obligation? Mr. Teng, remember this: rights and obligations often go hand in hand. Since this is the case, I would ask Mr. Teng and your Miss to leave Fengdan County immediately. Fengdan County does not welcome you. Effective today, for the safety of the territory and its people, I, in the capacity of the Lord’s Daughter, hereby order Fengdan County to be closed off for three months to recuperate and regenerate. During this time, any person or carriage passing through Fengdan County will be subject to..." Yue Jinghua’s eyes glittered with a fierce light, and she immediately became unrecognizable from before.

At her command, Shalman immediately unleashed the Five Elements Colored Spider, Hongling gripped her bowstring tightly, and the Flash Cloud Leopard let out a roar of anger.

"Hey, you woman, why are you so fickle? If we can’t pass through Fengdan County, how can we enter the core of Xuan Beast Ridge?" Yun Luo had never seen such an unreasonable woman before; she was all respectful one moment, and in the next, she turned into a completely different person.

It’s not that the people from Yunhu Commerce couldn’t take another route to enter Xuan Beast Ridge, but if they chose another path, considering that it was the snowy season with blocked roads, other routes would be treacherous and might lead to avalanches, making them very unsafe.

"Besides, you still have to accompany us to find clues about the Dark Beast Eggs," although Yun Luo was capricious, having followed Yue Jinghua and her group, she also recognized that they had exceptional skills in tracking movements and controlling Dark Beasts.

"There are priorities in everything. Or is Miss Yun Luo suggesting that those few Dark Beast Eggs are more important than the lives of the tens of thousands of citizens of Fengdan County?" Yue Jinghua has always believed in reciprocating kindness and generosity. She clearly understood that Yunhu Commerce was an important partner, but evidently, this partner still needed to be tested.

Yun Luo was at a loss for words when asked such a question, unable to respond.

No matter how precious a Spiritual Treasure is, it cannot be more important than human lives. In terms of commerce, neither Yun Luo nor Teng Wu could argue that human lives were less valuable than a few Dark Beast Eggs.

"Lord, you truly are the Lord," after sipping a few mouthfuls of warm porridge, Erwang’s complexion became rosier, and although he only partially understood the conversation between Yue Jinghua and the others, when he heard Yue Jinghua’s command, he quickly put down his bowl and ran over, holding Yue Jinghua’s hand, "Lord, you have arrived, does this mean that our village won’t have to pay the Head Tax anymore?"