Chapter 75

  Take up someone's grievance

  Yin Ruofei secretly sneered, it turned out that in this capital city, besides Prince Ze, there were others who dared to be so arrogant. However, Prince Ze never bullied the weak and ordinary people, those officials he trampled on were originally not upright, to say the least, every time Prince Ze finished bullying someone, many common people would set off firecrackers to celebrate, and some even secretly went to offer incense to pray for his longevity, hoping that he would live a long life and punish more of those bad people.

  The man in front was subdued, and the others did indeed stop their hands, but it wasn't out of fear, rather they were looking at the attendant with amused expressions.

  "Kid, if I were you, I'd let go quickly and cut off my own hand to make amends. Otherwise, beware of your family being ruined." one of the helpers spoke up.

  "The Son of Heaven's feet, yet there are people who utter crazy words, haha." This follower is not easy to mess with either, and his martial arts skills are quite good too, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to enter the Ze Wang Fu as a follower and follow Yin Ruofei out.

  Upon hearing this, he didn't cower in fear; instead, with a burst of strength from his knee, the little one he was holding let out a loud wail.

  "Let go, let go." The man who was being restrained quickly begged for mercy, cursing others in his mouth, "You bastards watch me suffer and dare to speak out. Sir, please let me go, this is not a big deal."

  "Hmph." The attendant let out a heavy humph and pushed him heavily to the front of the crowd, turning around to return behind Yin Ruofei.

  "Give me a beating, cripple me, it's all just a matter of one word from the master upstairs. Even if I'm beaten to death, it's no big deal." The little kid who was let go had a ferocious look on his face and pointed at Yin Ruo Fei and the others.

  "Unknown life or death." Disguised Gongjiu sneered coldly beside him, but such a thing didn't need an expert like him to take action. It was just a group of mobs who knew a few tricks and some basic kung fu, even the guards from the palace had much stronger martial arts skills than them.

  This mob of people rushed up with a loud noise, but they themselves didn't understand why the fists they raised high would punch their own faces, and even more couldn't comprehend why lifting one foot would get them kicked by six feet.

  In less than half a cup of tea's time, this group of people had all fallen to the ground with bruised noses and faces, wailing pitifully.

  The surrounding area was already packed with people, several young and vigorous ones cheered loudly, while others nearby quickly pulled them to keep their voices down, lest they get into trouble.

  Yin Ruofei and Gong Jiu were both practitioners of internal strength, so even if their voices were a bit softer, it didn't hinder them from hearing. The two exchanged a glance, and they both felt that these people probably did have some big shot backing them up, silently deciding to make a big deal out of this.

  No matter who it is, they are not as great as the emperor, and naturally, they are not as great as Ze Wang either. Moreover, looking at the reactions of the people around, it can be seen that this group of people has been entrenched here for many years, and everyone is resentful but helpless.

  Tianxiang Building is the largest restaurant, but the street behind it connects several streets where poor people live. If Tianxiang Building had a little more kindness, perhaps things wouldn't be like this now.

  Yin Ruofei jumped off the horse and walked to the front of several children who had been beaten before. These children were about the same age as him, with the youngest being seven or eight years old and the oldest only twelve or thirteen, which was similar to his age when he was previously expelled from the Hou Mansion.

  At this time, several children have helped each other to stand up, "Thank you for saving our lives." Several children are orphans and do not understand too much etiquette, but this does not hinder their sincere thanks.

  "Why did they hit you?" Yin Ruofei slowly opened her mouth.

  Yin Ruofei's clothes were simple, but actually very luxurious. He himself was handsome and had red lips and white teeth. With his daily martial arts practice, he had broad shoulders and straight legs, making him look extremely elegant. These children had never seen anyone like him before, and when he asked them a question, they seemed too afraid to speak up.

  "Don't be afraid." Yin Ruofei took out a small pouch from his bosom, inside which was the petty cash he always carried with him. He pulled out several silver ingots the size of pigeon eggs and said, "Take these and go buy some wound medicine to apply first."

  Several children bowed their heads and exchanged a few words quickly, seemingly having some disagreement. Then a young man excluded all opinions and said something without allowing any debate. A slightly older child hesitated for a moment, then led the two younger ones to bow to Yin Ruofei before turning around and leaving. Yin Ruofei looked at the young man in front of her with some surprise, "Why aren't you leaving?"

  "Gentlemen, although they are just servants in the tavern, the people behind them have a great background. I... You saved our lives, we can't bear to see you suffer for us." The young man glanced at Yin Ruofei and lowered his head again, "They also need to take care of other sick companions, let me tell you what's going on."

  "Alright. But let's not talk here, let's go to the wine house." Yin Ruofei turned around and had someone else take care of the young man. As for the people lying on the ground, no one even gave them a glance.

  Turning from this street, it was the front of the largest Tianxiang Building. The little second at the door looked them up and down and came to greet them.

  "Is there still a room available?" The attendant asked, casually tossing out a piece of silver.

  "Some do, some don't." The dishes at Tianxiang Building were not cheap, and eating in a private room would cost an extra 10% more. Seeing them ask for a private room, the waiter's smile grew even bigger. As for the beggars following behind, they were ignored as if they didn't exist, only those with money to spend were worthy of his attention.

  A group of people quickly went upstairs and chose a private room that was not too conspicuous.

  "You all go and have a good meal too, when Mr. Xiling arrives, ask him to come over."

  "Yes." Seven or eight attendants respectfully saluted and set up a table in the nearest place to Ya Jian, also ordering dishes. While Yin Ruofei and Gong Jiu led the young man into Ya Jian's room.

  "Sir, this..." The young man looked at the luxurious and majestic room, somewhat afraid to move. This place was too clean, too luxurious, a place he had never been to in his life.

  "Sit down." It was just a refined room. Yin Ruofei and Gong Jiu were both easy-going people, so they didn't care about each other's identity. And the upcoming Xiling Hao wasn't that kind of person either. If it were those hypocritical people, perhaps Yin Ruofei would have hesitated, but since it was Xiling Hao, he didn't worry at all.

  A pot of good tea was brought in, and several plates of pastries were served after that. Yin Ruo Fei smiled as she picked up a piece, also gesturing for the young man to try some.

  Perhaps it was the sweet pastries that eased the tension, but the young man no longer seemed as flustered and began to recount what had happened.

  Originally, these boys were all children living on the streets nearby. Unlike others, most of them were orphans, with over a dozen people in total. The surrounding streets were inhabited by poor people, and they were no exception. However, the boys were the leaders among this group of people, and their home was also an old broken house left behind by the boys' parents.

  It's called a house, but not only the roof leaks, there are also holes and cracks on the earthen wall. The house is like this, eating is even harder. However, these children are not bad people, they usually go out of the city to cut firewood and sell it for money, or do odd jobs in the city to earn meager wages.

  These kids came here today because they used to work part-time in this Tianxiang Building, doing the dirtiest and most tiring jobs, but their wages were delayed again and again, and all they got was a few meals of leftover food.

  If it hadn't been for one of the girls falling ill, these frail and pitiful children wouldn't have mustered up the courage to ask for their rightful wages. But despite their desperate pleas, they were still unable to get what was owed to them. So Meng Xi, a young boy, decided to steal some good food to feed the girl, hoping it might save her life.

  Then it was what Yin Ruofei and others saw. Their plan did not succeed, but instead they were chased by the thugs raised in this Tianxiang Building.

  "A small tavern, yet it can afford to hire thugs." Gong Jiu sneered. Among the four occupations of scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants, merchants were the lowest, yet they dared to be so arrogant and unscrupulous, it could only be said that there must be a problem behind their backs.

  Meng Ke was silent for a moment, "Young master, this big brother, who is the big shot behind Tianxiang Building, I don't know, but when we were being chased today, I heard the man in charge say that even if we report to the Metropolitan Governor, he won't care."

  Yin Ruofei and Gong Jiu listened quietly.

  "Could that person be even bigger than Jing Zhongyi?" Meng Ke's face turned pale, deeply feeling that the two people in front of him had been implicated by them. "Young master, I'm really sorry."

  "Who is the leader? Is he also a thug?" Yin Ruofei didn't pick up Meng Qing's conversation thread, but instead asked about something else. The man who seemed to be in charge was dressed slightly differently from the others, and only he hadn't taken action, just staring at them with a cold gaze.

  Meng Ke's eyes narrowed slightly, "The leader of that group is the younger brother of the owner of Tianxiang Building, and he has a lot of influence in this area."

  "A wife's brother of a wine shop owner is very powerful? Then the shop owner has become a local tyrant." Palace Nine sneered.

  "About that." Meng Ke nodded. "I don't know what this shopkeeper's background is, but he doesn't take care of the accounting, just takes care of things and checks accounts. This is all we knew when we were working odd jobs here, anything deeper than that, we couldn't find out."

  "How many people do you have there?" Yin Ruofei looked at Meng Ke in front of him, and his heart moved. Although he had followers and attendants, none of them were to his liking. This Meng Ke was bold, righteous, and logical in speech and action, if he could be trained, he would be useful to him.

  If there are many people on the other side who have been cultivated into his own people, wouldn't that be a powerful force in the shadows?

  Jiǔ seemed to have understood Yīn Ruò Fēi's meaning, but didn't say anything.

  "There are twenty-one of them, seventeen boys and four girls." Meng Ke spoke clearly. "About fifteen can come out to make a living, the remaining six are too young."

  "Hmm." Yin Ruofei nodded, "If I can provide you with enough food to eat and allow you to read and write, even learn martial arts, would you be willing to follow me?" Yin Ruofei asked slowly, tapping his fingers on the table.

  "Me... can I really?" Meng Ke suddenly stuttered. To be able to follow this obviously kind-hearted young master, and from now on have enough food to eat, and also study and practice martial arts, it's like a pie falling from the sky and hitting him on the head. "I'm willing, I'm willing. Master, Master, Meng Ke bows to you."

  "What's going on here?" Xiling Hao was led over by Yin Ruofei's followers, and as soon as the door opened, he saw this scene and burst out laughing. "Brother Fei is being asked to be a master?"