Chapter 74 – Scared Me to Death

The Emperor arrived at the Seventh Prince’s residence and was immediately greeted by the sight of shattered porcelain strewn across the floor of the main hall.

Because the fragments were from expensive ornaments, none of the servants dared to clean them up without the Seventh Prince’s permission.

The Emperor frowned and asked, “What happened here?”

The steward of the Seventh Prince’s residence spoke in a pained voice. “It was that wild horse, Your Majesty! It kicked everything to pieces and even looted the Prince’s treasury, taking all the gold, silver, and jewels with it!”

Eunuch Yuan quickly reminded him, “That is no wild horse. It’s the First-Rank Horse King personally conferred by His Majesty.”

“F–First-Rank… Horse King?” The steward froze in disbelief. “You mean the horse His Highness brought back was that legendary one?”

The Emperor’s decree to grant the horse a First Rank had spread throughout the capital. Most had heard the tale, but few had actually seen the beast.

“Yes,” Eunuch Yuan confirmed with a nod. “His Majesty decreed that no one is to harm it. As for the Seventh Prince… sigh…”

“This…” The steward broke into a cold sweat. “His Highness had no idea it was the Horse King! There was no mark on it to show that it was!”

The Emperor said curtly, “Take me to see the Seventh Prince.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The steward hurriedly led the Emperor toward the inner courtyard.

Guards stood in neat rows there; upon seeing the Emperor, they all dropped to one knee. “Your Majesty.”

The Emperor strode quickly into the Seventh Prince’s bedchamber.

The imperial physician treating the Seventh Prince scrambled to his feet and bowed deeply when the Emperor entered.

The Emperor waved a hand. “How is he?”

The physician replied, “His internal organs were injured, but fortunately not too severely. With medicine and a month of rest, he will make a full recovery.”

The Emperor fell silent.

He had once witnessed Heitan crush a Ninth-Rank Martial King with a single stomp.

The fact that the Seventh Prince’s injuries weren’t fatal only meant that Heitan had shown mercy.

“Report!”

A guard’s voice came from outside the hall.

Eunuch Yuan stepped out. “What is it?”

The guard said, “We have tracked the horse’s whereabouts. It ran into a residence known as the Mu Manor, the home of the Ninth-Rank Jinyiwei, Mu Nanjin. To prevent it from escaping, we have surrounded the entire manor. We came to ask for further orders.”

They had confirmed that the residence belonged to Mu Nanjin, who had once saved the Emperor’s life and was personally granted her Jinyiwei rank by him. The black horse was also His Majesty’s own conferred Horse King; hence, they dared not act rashly and came to report first.

Had it been anyone else’s residence, they would have stormed in already.

Eunuch Yuan looked to the Emperor for instructions.

The Emperor rubbed his throbbing temples.

The incident had started because the Seventh Prince brought back the Horse King intending to slaughter it. Clearly, the fault lay with the prince.

But he couldn’t always side with Mu Nanjin; otherwise, she might grow suspicious of his partiality.

“Send Kan Chaoyan to handle this,” the Emperor ordered. “Make sure both sides receive punishment. The Seventh Prince must be disciplined, but Mu Nanjin should also face a minor reprimand.”

Otherwise, she would grow too unrestrained.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

At that moment, Mu Nanjin was watching as Heitan spat out box after box of gold, silver, and jewels from his belly.

“These are from the Seventh Prince’s treasury?”

“Yes.” Heitan snorted. “Let’s see if he dares to eat horse meat again.”

Mu Nanjin blinked. “How did you know he liked horse meat?”

“I saw the souls of many horses haunting him,” Heitan said matter-of-factly. “So I followed him back to his mansion. To avenge my kin, I pretended to be a normal horse. Once inside, I devoured all his golden treasures and smashed everything I didn’t like. In the end, I kicked him good and hard.”

Heitan looked quite pleased with himself. “If I wasn’t afraid of causing you trouble, I’d have killed him outright.”

Mu Nanjin didn’t particularly care about the prince’s life or death; it was his own doing. What did concern her was Heitan’s stomach.

She eyed his abdomen curiously. “You can fit all that in your belly?”

Heitan lifted his head proudly. “I could fit an entire mountain if I wanted.”

“A whole mountain, huh…” Mu Nanjin mused. “Then there are a few problems we might actually solve.”

Heitan tilted his head. “What problems?”

Just then, Uncle Xu came rushing in. “Young Miss, bad news!”

Mu Nanjin was still staring at Heitan’s belly. “What is it?”

“Our manor has been surrounded by guards. We can’t get out!”

“Oh.” Mu Nanjin didn’t seem the least bit worried. “Then let them surround us. Just go about your business as usual.”

Seeing her calm demeanor, Uncle Xu’s panic eased. He nodded and went off to help in the kitchen.

“It was my doing,” Heitan said. “I’ll go face them myself.”

But Mu Nanjin stopped him. “Swallow all those boxes back first. I’ll handle the rest.”

He obediently gulped the treasures back down.

Mu Nanjin reclined in her rocking chair, cracking melon seeds leisurely.

Heitan asked, “You’re not going to deal with the guards outside?”

“If they wanted to come in, they would have done so already,” she said, popping another seed. “Just wait. Someone will come to us soon enough.”

Heitan, seeing how unbothered she was, sat down beside her and tried to copy her seed-cracking. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t get the hang of it.

Half an hour later, a servant entered. “Miss, a Lord wishes to see you.”

Mu Nanjin, half-asleep, opened her eyes lazily. “Let him in.”

“Yes, Miss.”

Before long, Kan Chaoyan entered.

Smiling, he greeted, “Little Mu girl, today isn’t your day off. Why didn’t you report to the Commander’s Office? Careful, I might deduct your monthly pay.”

Mu Nanjin sat up. “I was on duty in the palace this morning. After court, I came straight home. That doesn’t count as slacking.”

Kan Chaoyan chuckled. “Since you were working earlier, I’ll let it slide. But there’s one thing we can’t let slide: your horse injured the Seventh Prince. After all, he’s the Emperor’s son. Your horse not only hurt him but also wrecked his property and took his treasure. Don’t you think Heitan went a bit too far?”

Mu Nanjin’s tone was calm. “The Seventh Prince brought this upon himself. If he hadn’t taken my horse, none of this would have happened.”

Kan Chaoyan sighed. “True, he was at fault first. But his property was innocent, wasn’t it? Surely you don’t think it’s right for Heitan to destroy and steal from others.”

Mu Nanjin fell silent.

Sensing an opening, Kan Chaoyan pressed on. “The Seventh Prince has already been punished. Once he recovers, he’ll spend an entire year sweeping the streets of the capital. For a royal prince, that’s humiliation enough. Since he’s been punished, shouldn’t your Heitan be disciplined as well? If we let it go once, what’s to stop it from happening again? Surely you don’t want that.”

Mu Nanjin nodded. “Then how do you plan to ‘educate’ him?”

Kan Chaoyan sighed. “If it were any other horse, it would be whipped. But yours is the First-Rank Horse King; no one dares lay a hand on it. Besides, reasoning with a beast is pointless. We’ve never had a precedent for punishing a horse, but we have punished negligent owners before.”

“You mean to punish me?”

He nodded.

Mu Nanjin immediately declared, “If you expect me to compensate the Seventh Prince, forget it. I don’t have that kind of silver.”

【No money, no life, take neither.】

“Pfft…” Kan Chaoyan burst out laughing. “I’m not here to ask for silver.”

What a little miser.

Mu Nanjin wasn’t truly greedy; she simply knew that having money made life easier.

“Then what do you want me to do?”

Kan Chaoyan frowned, hesitating.

Seeing his expression, Mu Nanjin thought, 【Don’t tell me he’s planning to make me do embroidery to atone for this. He knows I can’t sew to save my life!】

【Or maybe he wants me to copy Buddhist scriptures for the Seventh Prince’s blessing? Ugh, that’s so boring, and my calligraphy’s terrible.】

【Or perhaps cook a few dishes as an apology? If that’s the case, the Seventh Prince will die even faster after eating my food.】

Kan Chaoyan almost laughed out loud. Was this girl hopeless at everything a proper lady was supposed to know?

Growing impatient, Mu Nanjin said, “Just tell me what the punishment is already.”

Kan Chaoyan tested the waters. “We’d like you and your horse to join the campaign to suppress the bandits.”

“Alright,” she agreed instantly, as if afraid he might change his mind.

【Oh, it’s just a bandit hunt? I thought it was something serious. Scared me to death!】

Kan Chaoyan: “…”

He had expected her to refuse.

Mu Nanjin asked, “When do we set out?”

“We still need to finalize our strategy before deciding the exact date.”

【Are they kidding me? It’s something I can handle with a single sword strike, and they still need a strategy?】

Kan Chaoyan: “…”

They had been fighting those mountain bandits for years without success, and she said she could handle it with one sword. Was she serious?

He then added, “You might not know this, but we’re targeting the bandits along the route from the capital to Jiangnan. The mountains are steep, the bandits many, and several of their leaders are Grandmasters. We’ve lost countless men in repeated assaults. That’s why we need a foolproof plan, so fewer lives are wasted.”

【Still a one-sword problem.】

Kan Chaoyan: “…”

Hopeless.

【Unless the court plans to recruit them instead of killing them outright?】

【Well, not every bandit deserves death, that’s true. Some are just desperate, not evil.】

Mu Nanjin nodded. “Then yes, we should come up with a plan.”

Kan Chaoyan: “…”

That was not the kind of “plan” he had in mind.

He rose. “I won’t stay longer. I’ll withdraw the guards on my way out.”

After he left, Heitan dashed in. “How could you accept punishment? That means you’re admitting I was wrong!”

Mu Nanjin said calmly, “You weren’t wrong, only your approach was.”

Heitan blinked. “What do you mean?”

“You wanted to stop the Seventh Prince from eating horse meat, didn’t you?”

Heitan nodded.

“But your method won’t scare him off. It’ll only enrage him, and he might take it out on other horses. That would make things worse, not better.”

Heitan’s anger faded instantly. “Then what should I do?”

“You’re a demon, aren’t you? You should know best how to instill fear.”

Heitan thought for a moment, then grinned wickedly. “Heh, I know exactly what to do now.”

On his way back to the Commander’s Office, Kan Chaoyan overheard people on the streets debating whether women should be allowed to study and take the Imperial Examinations.

Most commoners were conservative; they believed daughters were meant to marry and shouldn’t waste money on education, only to benefit another family later.

That was the mindset of the poor, who could barely afford schooling and preferred to keep their daughters at home to help with labor.

The wealthy, however, were more open-minded. They had money to spare; why not educate their daughters? If one of them passed the exam, it would bring great honor and influence to the family.

Even the Minister of Justice was among the first to register his daughters for the Imperial Academy. Though three were already married, he enrolled them anyway.

Soon, other officials followed suit, unwilling to be left behind.

As noble daughters entered the Academy, wealthy merchant families followed their example. Even if their girls never passed the exams, at least they could build connections with the daughters of officials, a valuable network for the future.

When the Emperor heard that both noble and wealthy girls were enrolling, he was delighted.

The only regret was that no commoner girls had joined yet, but that would take time. Once a woman succeeded in the examinations, attitudes among the people would surely begin to change.

After two days of discussion, Kan Chaoyan and the others finally set the departure date for three days later.

It would be Mu Nanjin’s first time leaving the capital. Excited, she packed her belongings early in the morning.

On the day of departure, she frowned when she saw only the Vice Commander seeing them off. “Vice Commander, where’s the Commander?”

The Vice Commander replied, “The Commander is handling official matters and couldn’t come.”

“I see. I’d like to leave him a message.”

Intrigued, the Vice Commander immediately ordered a Captain, “Prepare brush and ink!”

Kan Chaoyan and the others: “…”

Moments later, the Captain brought writing tools.

Mu Nanjin paused thoughtfully before putting brush to paper.

Everyone tried to sneak a peek, but the Vice Commander deliberately blocked their view, making them itch with curiosity.

When she finished, the Vice Commander quickly took the note and, after seeing Mu Nanjin’s group off, galloped back to the Commander’s Office.

“Commander, the Mu girl left you a message.”

“Not reading it,” came the immediate reply.

He just knew it couldn’t be good.

“You don’t have to. I’ll read it for you.”

The Vice Commander opened the note and read aloud with a grin:

“I promised to tidy up your study for a month and wash your undergarments for the same time. Seems I’ll have to break that promise. But don’t worry, when I return, I’ll make it up double.”

The Vice Commander burst into hearty laughter. “What an amusing girl!”

The Commander’s eye twitched.

The Vice Commander placed the note on his desk. “See? I didn’t make it up.”

The Commander refused to look, turning instead toward the window.

But that only made his expression stiffen further, because on the rooftop across the courtyard, several pairs of his undergarments were hanging out to dry.