CHAPTER 73: CHAPTER 61: RETURN (5K)

The following afternoon, in a narrow alley.

A young man dressed as a nobleman arrived here, and spoke towards a wall:

"Mr. Bai, I’ve found out that it was the Seventh Prince who ordered them to post notices all over the city."

"Are you sure?"

A voice came from within the wall, and a brick was moved slightly,

"How could they let you easily find out about the Seventh Prince?

The Seventh Prince is the Empress’s most cherished youngest son, and with such esteemed status, how could you find out about him so easily?"

Mr. Bai’s tone was filled with disbelief as he carefully observed the nobleman’s demeanor.

"I don’t know either," the nobleman replied respectfully, facing Mr. Bai’s suspicion. "But according to my knowledge, the government has no intention of hiding anything.

It’s not that I’m deliberately deceiving you.

Instead, it seems the Seventh Prince intentionally wants this to be known."

"No concealment? Intentional?" Mr. Bai was even more disbelieving, but he had a keen eye for judging people, and could see the nobleman’s face full of respect, and his words were sincere.

This left him a bit dumbfounded.

"How could it be the Seventh Prince?"

The more he thought, the more puzzled he became, without a hint of understanding,

"I heard the Seventh Prince has no interest in imperial or martial matters.

Before coming of age, his joys were indulging in food and drink within the palace."

Mr. Bai sorted through his knowledge, speaking it aloud for the nobleman to help him analyze,

"Look, after reaching adulthood, he apparently went to Anqing County, and then disappeared for some time in South City.

By his usual habits, it’s likely he was indulging in pleasures at the border somewhere."

Mr. Bai then raised the biggest question,

"With his ways, and my ways, we have no interaction. How could I have offended him without reason?"

"Could it be the hero you mentioned?" the nobleman conjectured for Mr. Bai: "Although I’ve heard you say that hero is a man of the martial world.

But could he be aligned with the Seventh Prince? Perhaps a retainer, or the Seventh Prince trusts him?

So he wanted to find you, and the Seventh Prince helped in the search?"

In their speculation, neither saw the hero as Zhang Feng.

Based on what they knew, it just didn’t match up.

After all, the hero was over 1.9 meters, burly, with a commanding and heroic presence, like a peerless warrior.

The Seventh Prince was simply round and chubby.

By hearsay, he was ’housebound’, indifferent to all matters, focused solely on what to eat each day.

So.

After some deliberation, they felt the most reasonable explanation was that the hero was the Seventh Prince’s most trusted retainer.

"Never thought, inadvertently, to be caught in court affairs."

Mr. Bai now sighed: "It was because that hero asked an extra question about the assassin that I didn’t answer, causing him to suspect I’m an accomplice of the assassin.

This was my negligence."

"You can’t blame yourself, sir," the man lightly shook his head, "Who would have thought that hero, without a trace of officialdom, would be loyal to the court, betraying us men of the martial world."

"This person lacks any sense of honor!" Mr. Bai lamented greatly, and then started calculating in his mind,

’This hero gave me ten thousand silver without batting an eye?

That’s ten thousand taels!

He must have received no less than hundreds of thousands of silver from the Seventh Prince to be so generous!

Such a good business deal cannot be missed! Cannot be missed!

Hundreds of thousands of silver! That’s tens of times the annual salary of those court hounds!’

Mr. Bai thought in his heart and began calculating his chips,

’Since that hero desires to know the whereabouts of the assassin, it proves the Seventh Prince may wish to know the assassin’s whereabouts.

Though I don’t know where Shopkeeper Wu and Leader Xun are now, I do know their lair, where they’ve cultivated over a hundred assassins, along with several personal disciples under their tutelage.

They should be worth a good sum.

Even if an assassin is worth ten thousand taels, a personal disciple could easily up the price, say twenty thousand taels.

At the very least, it’s a million taels of silver!

Not to mention there are some cultivation techniques and Rock Fruits in the lair.

Even at a discounted price, it’s worth ten thousand taels of silver?

Though ten thousand is less than a million, it’s equivalent to ten Hero Chus.’

After figuring all this, Mr. Bai said to the man: "Now that the Seventh Prince’s net is inescapable and he hasn’t asked the yamen to hide the news, he must be searching for me.

If I continue hiding, soon it will be a net intended to kill me!

When that time comes, begging will be too late.

Since things have come to this, I’ve decided to go to the Seventh Prince’s manor and speak with him."

As Mr. Bai spoke here, his tone resolute, "We men of the martial world should conduct ourselves openly and justly, skulking around is not the way of men of the martial world!"

"Sir?" The man heard Mr. Bai’s heroic demeanor and immediately stopped him, "Be cautious of deception!"

"What if it is a trap?" Mr. Bai’s mind was now filled with gleaming silver, but his tone was full of integrity,

"We men of the martial world naturally regard princes and ministers lightly, even the emperor does not faze us!

Hmph. Let alone a mere Seventh Prince.

Let me meet him! See what he’s capable of!"

...

Seventh Prince’s mansion.

"This humble one, Mr. Bai! Pays respect to the Seventh Prince!"

Mr. Bai shouted, obsequiously kneeling on both knees.

Beside him was Xiao Wu, who led him here.

And Xiao Wu was also very puzzled.

Because just now, while he was strolling in the front courtyard, Mr. Bai suddenly visited, seeking an audience with the Seventh Prince.

Xiao Wu was puzzled by this, not knowing what this person was thinking.

But he also knew his master wanted to find him, so he brought him over.