Chapter 682: Setting the Trap

Zu'an was immediately annoyed. He stepped forward and stopped the carriage. "I just saved you! Even if you're not overflowing with gratitude, you could at least say thank you, right?"

The woman in the carriage remained silent, clearly unwilling to speak with a man she didn't know.

The old man at the front of the carriage bared his teeth and sneered, "Over the years, I don't know how many desperate admirers have tried to approach our madam with various excuses. This 'hero saving the beauty' act is rather cliché."

His mouth was full of prominent yellow teeth, and a missing front tooth made his smile particularly striking.

Zu'an paused, then instantly understood that they had misunderstood him.

The woman in the carriage seemed to have an excessively high opinion of herself. How beautiful would she have to be for everyone to be solely after her looks?

Their plain carriage suggested limited family wealth, though there was a saying that exceptional beauty often emerged from humble farming families…

He quickly shook his head, dismissing the idea. If she were truly breathtakingly beautiful, she would likely have been taken in by the powerful long ago and wouldn't be living so simply.

This was a world of cultivation where might made right. He didn't believe powerful individuals would ignore a peasant girl of such ethereal beauty.

Feeling immensely annoyed by Qiu Honglei and Yun Jianyue's departure, he couldn't be bothered to argue with them. He waved an impatient hand. "Fine, fine. My good intentions were clearly wasted. You may go."

The toothless coachman chuckled. Such incidents were commonplace, and Zu'an's reaction after being exposed was no different from previous encounters. Seeing no further instructions from the madam inside, he flicked the reins, preparing to drive away.

Just then, a loud voice suddenly echoed from nearby: "Stop!"

The toothless coachman raised an eyebrow, thinking he had underestimated the young man, who seemed to have another trick up his sleeve. He pulled on the reins, curious to see what the other party would do.

He looked back to see dust rising as a group of knights rode closer. The lead knight approached Zu'an, took one look, and his face instantly paled. He quickly turned back to report, "General, Dark Cloud Treading Snow is severely wounded and likely won't make it!"

"What!" A young man galloped his horse forward.

The onlookers' eyes lit up; he was indeed a handsome and dashing young nobleman.

He wore a straight-cut robe of golden brocade, adorned with intertwining white and light orange peony patterns. A dark orange-yellow golden belt, intricately patterned with dragons, phoenixes, and auspicious clouds, was tied at his waist. His long hair was impeccably neat, and his sharp, phoenix-like eyes gleamed. Nearby, some women were already whispering behind their hands, their eyes sparkling, clearly adding another "husband" to their list of crushes.

The toothless coachman beside him looked surprised and quietly told the person inside the carriage, "Madam, it seems we truly misunderstood this time. The man who arrived is the Crown Prince of Qi, and it appears he's here for that fellow."

The madam inside softly hummed in acknowledgment, then said no more.

Zu'an's brow furrowed slightly as he instinctively glanced at the startled horse beside him. The horse was entirely black, with its four legs partially white as snow—no wonder it was called Dark Cloud Treading Snow.

However, it no longer displayed its earlier magnificent vigor. It foamed at the mouth, blood seeped from its eyes, and its entire body swayed precariously.

Zu'an instinctively released his grip, and the horse, unable to stand any longer, collapsed to the ground with a thud, twitching violently. It was clearly beyond saving.

"What happened? I used a lot of force when pulling it, but surely not enough to kill it?" Zu'an was completely bewildered.

"Hmph, so many people witnessed you killing Dark Cloud Treading Snow. How dare you still try to argue?" The nobleman remained high on his horse, looking down at him imperiously, allowing a nearby knight to speak on his behalf.

Seeing this display, Zu'an felt a surge of anger. "You rode wildly, injuring people in the street, and now you're trying to blame me? Is there no justice left?"

After all, he was now a legitimate imperial official, and he intended to use the law to his advantage, especially since justice was clearly on his side.

The young nobleman on horseback finally spoke. "Injuring people in the street, you say? Where are the injured parties?"

"That horse just charged through here, smashing countless stalls along the way, and many people were injured to varying degrees," Zu'an said, pointing to the chaotic street ahead.

"Is that so?" the young nobleman said loudly. "If anyone was injured by our horse just now, please step forward. I will certainly provide compensation."

He repeated the offer three times, but no one in the crowd responded.

Only then did he leisurely turn back to Zu'an, a hint of a sneer on his lips. "You see for yourself, no one was injured by my horse. On the contrary, you killed my horse, and the evidence is right here. What more do you have to say?"

Zu'an's heart sank. He instantly realized that the common people were afraid of getting into trouble. This nobleman was clearly not someone to be trifled with, and the menacing knights beside him, glaring with wide, bell-like eyes, instilled fear of retaliation, so no one dared to step forward.

He didn't blame them; such was human nature.

He pointed to the nearby carriage. "Besides those on the street, that galloping horse charged directly at them just now. If I hadn't intervened, they would most likely have been killed and their carriage destroyed."

The nobleman instinctively glanced at the carriage. Seeing its utterly plain appearance, clearly not belonging to a prominent family, he grew even more confident. He arrogantly shot a look at the coachman. "Is that so?"

The warning in his gaze was unmistakable.

Zu'an frowned. This man was clearly trying to intimidate them with his status. *Great,* he thought, *today I've encountered a scammer.*

He had expected the toothless coachman to play it safe, like the others. But to his surprise, the coachman grinned. "Indeed, that wild horse charged directly at us just now and almost startled our madam."

He didn't, however, confirm that they would have been killed and their carriage destroyed without Zu'an's intervention, but no one present noticed this subtle distinction.

The young nobleman glanced at him then looked away, as if prolonged eye contact with such an unattractive person would ruin his day. "You weren't injured, were you? How do I know you're not in league with him?"

The toothless coachman chuckled twice but remained silent.

Upon realizing the man was deliberately causing trouble, Zu'an actually calmed down. So this was how the powerful of this world operated, adept at twisting facts. *But when it comes to shamelessness, you're just an amateur compared to me,* he thought.

The young nobleman then turned to Zu'an and said coldly, "Dark Cloud Treading Snow is a military horse, a war hero with distinguished service, officially registered with the Ministry of War. Do you know the penalty for slaughtering a military horse?"

Zu'an replied calmly, "I don't."

*Let's see what kind of show you'll put on,* he thought. *I'm currently hobnobbing with top figures like the Emperor, Prince Qi, and Yun Jianyue. This situation barely stirs a ripple in me. I'm almost tempted to tell him to try harder.*

At this point, the knight beside him helpfully added, "Slaughtering a military horse is a grave crime, punishable by at least exile. If the military horse holds a military rank, the offense is aggravated, carrying the death penalty."

Zu'an smiled, staring at the lavishly dressed young man. "You want my life because of a worthless horse that charged wildly through the street? That's truly a sinister plot."

The young nobleman's face instantly turned cold. Since childhood, no one had ever dared to speak to him like that.

Rage value from Zhao Zhi +444!

Zu'an's eyes narrowed. *Zhao,* he thought. In the capital, anyone named Zhao was highly likely to be part of the imperial family.

The nearby knights all rebuked him, "Audacious! How dare you speak so brazenly and contradict the General!"

"General, then do you know who I am?" Zu'an asked, standing with his hands behind his back. Having just refined the qi mechanisms of an Earth Immortal and a Grandmaster, he was currently at his peak, unconsciously exuding an aura of confidence.

"Oh?" The toothless coachman nearby looked somewhat surprised.

"What's wrong, Uncle Fu?" The madam's pleasant voice drifted from inside the carriage.

The toothless coachman chuckled. "Madam, this young man seems to have some influence."