Chapter 169 - Painful Death!
"Are you two newlyweds?" An old woman who was selling the flowers asked Sheng Li.
"Yes," Sheng Li replied and looked at Ying Lili. "I heard that these flowers have an enormous demand in Luoyang," asserted Sheng Li as he turned to look at the old woman.
"Yes. But for the past one year the supply has been limited because of which our income has been affected," the old woman replied.
"Why is it so? Does the Royalty not want them anymore?" Sheng Li queried her.
"Do you not know?" the only lady asked in a low voice. Sheng Li shook his head in refusal when the old lady gestured to him to get down. Sheng Li did so, and the lady whispered, "We are not allowed to send goods to the capital without this permission of the Master." Sheng Li tilted his head and pried into the eyes of the old woman.
Ying Lili too came to her knees and checked the flowers. "Why is it so, mother?" Sheng Li asked. "You will get good prices there," Sheng Li asserted.
"Because we are not allowed to. We cannot step foot outside this province without his permission. Last night, a neighbor of mine tried doing so, and he is no more. Both father and son left this world. Earlier his wife was taken away by the people of Lǎohǔ group." Sheng Li and Ying Lili saw how the old lady's eyes had turned watery.
"I do not know why the Crown Prince is not coming here. I heard that he is invincible. Only he could save us from these miseries. My one and only beloved son also died a month ago when he refused to sell them our fields. Now, only one field is left…" the old woman could not speak anymore. Her voice was broken as she could no longer hold her tears.
Ying Lili moved towards the old lady and embraced her into a warm hug. "Mother, don't cry. The Crown Prince will definitely come here and give us justice." Ying Lili patted her back. Sheng Li, on the other hand, was infuriated to learn how his subjects were being treated there.
The old lady stopped crying and thanked Ying Lili for consoling her. Sheng Li picked a Hibiscus flower from the basket and told the old woman to give three such flowers. He was taking out his pouch from inside the sash around his waist when he heard the sound of galloping horses. He turned his head left and saw a few horses were coming running there.
"Ahh, they must be here to extort the money," Sheng Li heard the old woman. He stood up from the ground and so was Ying Lili. She stood beside Sheng Li and looked at the horses, which were halted a few meters away from them.
Twenty men were there, and they spread into the entire market to collect the money from the sellers. One of them went to the food stall there and asked for the weekly extortion when the seller and his wife pleaded with him to give him a day as his sales were not good that week.
The man in black robes lost his temper and started abusing them. The other shop owners were terrified to see that. The people there were also quiet because no one has enough strength to voice against them.
Wang Hao too came there and stood beside Sheng Li. "Your highness, shall I take the charge?" Wang Hao asked in a low voice.
"No. Let's see how far he can go. I want to see the extreme evilness inside them," Sheng Li replied. Wang Hao nodded and gazed back at the stall. Sheng Li looked around and found the terror in the eyes of his people.
The extorter threw the porcelain dishes and other raw materials the seller had placed on his stall to prepare the dumplings. The seller came to his knees and grabbed the feet of the extorter thus, urging him to stop doing that.
"Master, please do not do this. I will give you the money tomorrow. I promise, master," pronounced the seller. The seller's wife too came to her knees and pleaded with the extorter to give them some time.
Two more extorters joined him. "Just take away his wife. As soon as you pay us tomorrow, your wife will be given back to you," proclaimed one of them, and started laughing.
Ying Lili could not watch that any longer and stepped forward when Sheng Li caught her wrist. "Don't. I will handle this in my way," Sheng Li whispered and looked at Wang Hao, thus featuring him to look after Ying Lili. He took out the pouch of money from inside his sash and walked straight towards those extorters.
The people there were confused to see a young man going towards those extorters. The extorters too looked at him and saw how he was glaring at them. Sheng Li was too close to them when he turned to the men who were on the ground.
Suddenly, a smile appeared on his lips. "Brother, I want to buy this shop. I found this location to be perfect for getting customers," Sheng Li pronounced.
"Hey, who are you?" one extorter asked.
Sheng Li ignored him and bent on his knees. "Brother, please do not refuse." Sheng Li showed the seller those gold coins inside the pouch. The extorters' eyes gleamed to see those coins, and they told the seller to sell their shop to that man.
The seller, without a thought, took the money from the young man, which was snatched by one of the extorters. Sheng Li clenched his fist and stood up from the ground.
"Give that pouch back," Sheng Li told the extorter.
"It is not yours," the extorter stated and started laughing with his fellows. "Is that your wife?" one of the extorters asked, looking at Ying Lili whose face was covered with a veiled hat. "She must be beautiful, that's why you have covered her face. Our master will like…" before he could complete his words, Sheng Li grabbed his neck so fiercely that the extorter died right at that moment.
The two other extorters were shocked to see that while the people started gossiping. Ying Lili knitted her brows and asked Wang Hao what was Sheng Li up to.
"I do not know, your highness," Wang Hao replied and looked confusedly at the Crown Prince.
Those two pulled their swords out of the sheaths right away and attacked Sheng Li, but he easily dodged them. Sheng Li acted swiftly, kicked one of them, and snatched the sword from him. Before the other one could even attack Sheng Li, the sword in Sheng Li's hand pierced his heart thus, killing him right away. Sheng Li did not even give the chance to the other to stand up and stabbed his stomach with the sword.
Chaos occurred in the entire market. The other extorters came there and saw their fellows' dead bodies lying on the ground. "Who the heck are you?!" shouted one of them at him and pulled out the sword from the sheath, followed by the others.
Sheng Li lifted his hand slightly and directed the sword towards them. "I am your death," Sheng Li announced and a fierce fight broke out.
"General Wang, help him," Ying Lili said who nodded and stepped forward. He picked the sword from the ground lying beside a dead body and went towards the Crown Prince. Both Sheng Li and Wang Hao had advanced swordsmanship compared to those seventeen men.
Sheng Li and Wang Hao killed all of them in five minutes except sparing the life of one. The market ground was filled with dead bodies and their blood. The people there were happy but at the same time terrified of such a mass killing.
Sheng Li walked towards the man who was left alone among those twenty extorters. He was crawling back while his one foot was heavily wounded.
Sheng Li put his shoe above the man's injured leg and pressed it hard. The man cried out in pain but Sheng Li did not show mercy to him. "P-please do n-not," the man let another cry when Sheng Li put more pressure on his leg.
Some people covered their eyes because they had never seen such a horrendous fight. "Feel this pain because only then I will feel that you are truly feeling guilty," Sheng Li pronounced. The man started begging Sheng Li when he felt the sword near his chest.
"Tell your master that the Crown Prince is here. Tell him to present himself in the Governor's residence and do not try to be over smart. I swear I will give every single person who is working for him an extremely painful death. It is a pity that you all took me so lightly." Sheng Li passed his message to the man who was begging for his life.
Sheng Li lifted his shoe and placed it on the ground. But he did not pull the sword until a tiny hole was bored into the man's chest. "Crawl to your master's place and tell him to come by the evening to meet me else I will kill him." Sheng Li repeated his message.
"Y-yes, yo-ur, hig-hness," the man accepted the order of the Crown Prince.
Ying Lili was confused why Sheng Li changed the plan at the last moment!?