Chapter 158: Scapegoat
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Ever since she was a little kid, she had never been mocked this way. She could not accept it and swore revenge for the humiliation.
"I want to kill him!" She raged. This was the first time she was driven to such fury.
The youth looked at the girl and shook his head. He did not want to destroy her hopes, but he felt that he had to remind her of a bloody truth.
"But you can't beat him, he's already in the Heavenly Reflection State!"
"..." Her lips parted gently. This was the first time she had felt so helpless. "Yes, Fang Zhengzhi is in the Heavenly Reflection State. How did someone like him manage to breakthrough?!"
"Shameless, disgrace. I will bite him to death if I have to!" The young girl clenched her fist tightly. Even if she could not take him on, she had other methods. For example, she could scratch, claw, bite... anything that could inflict pain on Fang Zhengzhi.
"Bite?" The youth looked at the dainty lips of the girl and sighed, "I don't think you can bite him either!"
"Ninth brother, why... why are you helping an outsider!" The young girl's eyes turned misty, tears threatening to fall at any moment.
The youth could not stand seeing her cry. He may have been a little too harsh after all.
"Okay, don't cry, let me make it up to you."
"If you want to make it up to me, give me your Purple Lightning Dragon Stallion!"
"Then forget it."
"How about you lend it to me for a month?"
"No."
"Half a month? Seven days... three days, one day!!!"
"I won't even lend it to you for two hours. Everyone knows your style. Once I lend it to you, I can forget about having it back." The youth smiled and left.
The girl was left hopping, "Fang Zhengzhi, you caused me my Purple Lightning Dragon Stallion. I will definitely take revenge for this! Hang on... my White Snow!"
...
White Snow was still being ridden by Fang Zhengzhi. Even though it was slightly disobedient at the start, a few whips quickly solved that problem.
White Snow cried as it was being ridden by Fang Zhengzhi.
As the premier breed of horses, White Snow came from a superior bloodline and could sense the changes in the environment. As such, it had a special name, Traceless Snow Treader. It could maneuver through thick snow without leaving any tracks behind.
Everyone who had own it before treasured it immensely. Who would dare humiliate it this way.
The more humiliating thing was that this b*stard riding it was prepared to sell it away...
"Hi, brother, do you know where the horse market is?" Fang Zhengzhi asked a youth who looked like a peddler.
The youth was completely taken aback as he looked at the Snow Jade Fang Zhengzhi was riding. This was the premier breed of horses!
"East... there's a horse market in the East!" The youth did not know Fang Zhengzhi's identity, but anyone who could ride a Snow Jade was not antangonizable.
"Thank you!" Fang Zhengzhi threw out a bunch of coins as a reward.
The youth was incredibly excited and grabbed the coins out of the air with both hands. Seeing that it was just a bunch of tattered copper... he was incredibly disappointed. Could he be any less stingy?
...
The horse market in the east was bustling with activity. There were many sellers who flocked to this place. After all, this was where all the money was.
When Fang Zhengzhi arrived, there was a huge uproar.
"Wow, it's a Snow Jade!"
"It really is a Snow Jade, there's actually someone willing to sell a Snow Jade?!"
When people found out that Fang Zhengzhi was thinking of selling the Snow Jade, all of the sellers were incredibly excited. This was something royalty loved.
"Ten thousand ounces!"
"Are you trying to take advantage of him? Young man, I'll give you 15 thousand!"
"Get away, I will give you 30 thousand, and we can deal right now!"
"50 thousand, I'll give you 50 thousand!"
Before long, Fang Zhengzhi got rid of the Snow Jade. He sold it for 68,888 ounces, an incredibly prosperous amount.
The one who walked away with Snow Jade was a young male with small eyes. Yet, he was impeccably dressed and clearly from a rich family.
He gently stroked the Snow Jade and looked at the quickly disappearing silhouette of Fang Zhengzhi. He mocked, "This fella sold a Snow Jade for less than 70,000 ounces? How dumb! This time, I will show the Wangs what a true horse is! I now have a Snow Jade! He can no longer be as cocky when talking to me!"
...
Fang Zhengzhi knew that he did not get a fair price, but he did not mind. Money was king here.
For doing absolutely nothing, he had managed to get over 60,000 ounces of silver and a hundred ounces of gold. He was incredibly happy and wanted to trat Yan Xiu to a meal.
He hummed a song as he walked back to his hotel...
...
A soldier stood next to the young girl.
The soldier was petrified. He knew all too well that the young girl in front of him was consumed by rage and ice.
"You're saying that Fang Zhengzhi sold my Snow Jade?!" The young girl never expected that Fang Zhengzhi would let go of it so soon.
"Yes!" The soldier trembled.
"How much silver did he sell it for?"
"I think he sold it for 60,000+ ounces..."
"He sold my Snow Jade for only 60,000 ounces of silver? That's preposterous!" The girl clenched her fist tightly, "Do you know who he sold it to?"
"The second son of Han Zhengfeng, Han Tianzhen!"
"Han Tianzhen? He is just the son of the Imperial Academy's Chief Imperial Messenger. How naive.... how dare he buy my Snow Jade! Come, let's go to the Han Residence to get my horse back! Oh, no... let's go catch the thief!"
"Yes!"
...
The Han residence was destined for bad luck this day. However, Han Tianzhen had not realized it just yet. He was extremely happy and was grooming his recently bought Snow Jade personally.
"Build a special stable for my Snow Jade, she cannot live with these ordinary stock!"
"Yes master!"
"Hahaha..." Han Tianzhen smiled radiantly. He felt that he would finally be able to hold his head up high in the city. He will show those who doubted him what he was made of.
However, Han Tianzhen's smile quickly froze.
Because...
A large group of armored soldiers barged through. He was quite surprised. There were few people in the city who would dare to barge into the residence of the Imperial Academy's Chief Imperial Messenger.
That was until he saw a young girl holding the reins to a horse.
She looked like an elf. She had crystal clear eyes, but those who knew her were keenly aware that her eyes merely masked her devilish heart.
And her Snow Jade had been taken away from her.
Han Tianzhen did not deny that fact. However, he did not understand why he was still beaten 50 times despite the fact that he did not resist. Why was he being labelled a horse thief?
He had bought that horse...
He had bought it using real silver.
"This is a set up!" Han Tianzhen grabbed his butt as he was being dragged out of the Han Residence, his small eyes filled with pain as he stared into the sky.
...
The young girl was also quite heartbroken. She had saw whip marks on the butt of her White Snow. White Snow had clearly been whipped.
"Fang Zhengzhi, I will fight it out with you!"
For someone who loved her horse almost as much as her life, whipping her horse was extremely infuriating. This was compounded by the fact that he had humiliated her before humiliating her horse.
She was now filled with an uncontainable rage.
...
Fang Zhengzhi was not aware of the storm that he had kicked up in the city. He was now sitting comfortably in the best restaurant in town.
"Bring me all of your best dishes!" Fang Zhengzhi smiled at the waiter.
Yan Xiu looked at Fang Zhengzhi with confusion. He knew that Fang Zhengzhi was not a particularly generous person. When it came to food, he would never be this willing to spend.
"What's the happy occasion?"
"Nope, nothing at all. I just made a small fortune." Fang Zhengzhi knew that Yan Xiu was incredibly rich. As such, his 60,000 ounces of silver was just a small fortune.
"How much?"
"Not much, just 68,000 ounces of silver."
.
"Ah?!" Yan Xiu looked at Fang Zhengzhi. He wasn't too surprised by the amount, but he was stunned at how Fang Zhengzhi managed to earn that much in two hours.
Fang Zhengzhi did not say anymore. He felt that this money was insignificant to Yan Xiu.
Yan Xiu did not probe further either.
As such, the two of them began to eat and drink happily.
...
Fang Zhengzhi and Yan Xiu's happiness was not echoed by King Duan, who was sitting in an army camp. His brows were furrowed deeply.
"Is there no other option?" He looked at Elder Wen and his other advisors, his expression pained.
He had never expected that news of Fang Zhengzhi's breakthrough would spread so quickly. News had reached the capital even before his people could.
He knew that it would be meaningless to go to the Eastern Palace now.
"This has been a matter that has been discussed for more than a month now. However, the sage has not made a decision. It would not be wise to continue the fight, you should aim for second!" Elder Wen shook his head.
"Are you saying I should attempt to become the vice Examiner?" King Duan was visibly unhappy. He had already said that he would like to be the Chief Examiner of the examination. If he withdrew in favor of second place now, it would be a completely different dynamic.
"King Duan, I have a plan!" One of his middle aged advisors chirped.