Mother Zheng had already heard the commotion outside, so when she saw these several people rush in to rescue her, and since she only recognized Liao Zhibing among them, she couldn’t help but ask in surprise: “Master Liao, how did you come here?”

“Alliance Leader, the Alliance Head and the Prince sent us to rescue you. There were many twists and turns in this matter—it’s hard to explain in a few words. Please come with us, Alliance Leader.”

Mother Zheng was helped by Liao Zhibing as she struggled to crawl out through the cage’s entrance.

She was covered in filth, and having been confined in the cage for too long, her legs couldn’t stretch properly. Now she couldn’t even stand up.

Everyone was shocked. Huzi quickly crouched down with his back to her in front of Mother Zheng: “Old Madam, let this humble one carry you out?”

“You are?”

“This humble one is a guard serving the Prince and Princess.” Huzi naturally had an endearing tiger-like face, and when he smiled now, he even showed his pointed little canine teeth, looking innocent and childlike.

This kind of appearance was most likely to make elderly people lower their guard.

Mother Zheng’s heart felt as if it were wrapped in warm springs. She no longer stood on ceremony and obediently let Huzi carry her.

The group followed the route that Jingzhe had already scouted during reconnaissance, avoiding everyone’s eyes and ears. Taking advantage of everyone in the yamen being occupied with resisting the refugees’ assault, they climbed over a wall from an unguarded area in the back courtyard, went through back alleys, and directly rushed out two streets to reach the carriage that Qin Yining had arranged at this location.

Bingtang had been waiting here for a long time. Seeing a group of people approaching from afar with someone on their back, she knew the rescue had succeeded. Looking more carefully, the little beggar carrying Duke Dingguo’s old madam was actually Huzi, with that dirty cat-like face that made Bingtang burst into laughter.

Seeing Bingtang laugh, Huzi also started grinning foolishly.

Seeing Huzi and Bingtang like this, Jingzhe, who served beside Qin Yining and knew about their relationship, couldn’t help but smile as well.

Mother Zheng also smiled upon seeing the familiar Bingtang.

The atmosphere among the group changed from frantic escape to relaxed and cheerful.

“Old Madam.” Upon approaching, Bingtang immediately performed a deep bow.

“Miss Tang, please dispense with the ceremony.” Mother Zheng smiled and said: “It’s been a long time. How has Miss Tang been?”

“Responding to Old Madam, the Princess treats this servant like a sister, and this servant is well. The Princess instructed this servant to wait here and examine your injuries at the first opportunity. Please get in the carriage first, Old Madam.”

Mother Zheng’s heart warmed like soaking in hot springs on the coldest winter day. She smiled and said: “It troubles you to think so thoroughly.”

“The Princess has been so worried these days that she can’t eat or sleep. Ever since she learned news of you at the cloth shop, she’s been like a woman possessed, spending every day figuring out how to rescue you. She hasn’t even had the heart to care for the two young masters. Now that you’re safe, we can all rest easy, and the Princess can sleep peacefully.”

Bingtang carefully helped Mother Zheng, and together with Huzi, they placed Mother Zheng in the carriage.

Bingtang then entered the carriage to take Mother Zheng’s pulse and check for any wounds.

Outside the carriage, Jingzhe and Liao Zhibing jumped onto the driver’s seat on either side and drove the carriage away, while Huzi and Mu Jinghu exchanged a knowing glance and immediately rushed toward Pang Xiao’s direction.

At this time, the area in front of the yamen had already become complete chaos.

Pang Xiao protected Qin Yining and Shopkeeper Zhong as they withdrew beyond the battle circle. Within the Pingnan Army’s encirclement, Magistrate Gao and his few subordinates had almost been turned into mud men by the mud and horse and cow dung thrown by the refugees.

Although they carried sabers, they needed time to draw them before they could swing!

The angry people vented all their grievances and resentment on them. If not for the crowd being too dense, making it inconvenient to beat them while surrounded, and the surrounding Pingnan Army making the refugees somewhat hesitant and cautious, they would have been beaten to pulp long ago.

Pang Xiao and Qin Yining watched coldly. Seeing that everyone had vented most of their anger, Pang Xiao finally embraced Qin Yining and rode forward, raising his left hand high with the riding whip.

The well-trained thousand Pingnan soldiers and fifty elite Tiger Guards immediately dismounted, stepped forward, and shouted in unison: “Stop!”

This sudden unified roar had extremely strong intimidating power, frightening the refugees, who had vented much of their anger, into standing frozen in place. The mud in their hands fell to the ground.

Magistrate Gao and his few subordinates finally managed to crawl up in their wretched state, using their sleeves to wipe the filth from their faces, spitting out several mouthfuls of rotten mud.

Magistrate Gao held back his anger, shook off the filth from his hands, wiped his face again, then saw Pang Xiao sitting upright on his horse and began angrily pointing accusations.

“Your Highness stopped this a bit too ‘timely’! Could it be that you came here deliberately to watch the show!”

Pang Xiao raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself: Has this guy been driven mad by anger?

“Audacious! Seeing the Prince, why don’t you kneel!” the elite Tiger Guards shouted loudly.

Magistrate Gao was startled again. He didn’t want to kneel, but his position was what it was—he had no choice but to kneel.

Just as Magistrate Gao hesitantly knelt down, the refugees behind him were much more straightforward, directly intimidated by the Tiger Guards’ shouts into kneeling in neat rows all over the ground.

Pang Xiao looked helplessly at those pitiful refugees and said quietly to Qin Yining in his arms, whose eyes showed heartache and compassion: “I didn’t intend to deliberately frighten them.”

Only then did he say loudly: “Someone, arrest this man surnamed Gao to appease the people’s anger.”

“Yes, sir!”

The elite Tiger Guards responded in unison, stepped forward, and with lightning-quick movements pressed Magistrate Gao to the ground.

Magistrate Gao was already dumbfounded. Struggling to crane his neck up, he roared: “No! You cannot treat me like this! I am a court-appointed official, I am the local magistrate! I enforce the law impartially and serve His Majesty wholeheartedly. I haven’t done anything wrong. How can you arrest me just because a bunch of poor, stinking beggars said something bad about me! I don’t accept this! I don’t accept this!”

“You don’t accept this?” Pang Xiao dismounted while holding Qin Yining. He carefully helped Qin Yining with her hood and cloak, then leisurely tapped his palm with the riding whip while pacing toward Magistrate Gao, who was pressed down in the mud.

Magistrate Gao struggled to twist his neck and look up at Pang Xiao, but could only see a pair of deerskin military boots.

The young general in scarlet cloak and azure armor looked down disdainfully, his matchlessly handsome face bearing a three-part smile. But no one dared underestimate his current anger, because in those phoenix eyes beneath his sword-like brows, a storm colder than the depths of winter was already brewing.

“Do you know what kind of people this prince despises most?” Pang Xiao waved his whip, and the elite Tiger Guards released their hold on Magistrate Gao.

Pang Xiao lifted Magistrate Gao’s chin with his boot and coldly patted Magistrate Gao’s head with the whip tip: “What I despise most are weak cowards like you who bully the weak and fear the strong!”

Magistrate Gao’s face was full of humiliation as he suppressed his anger and said: “I am still a court-appointed official. Your Highness treating me this way—could it be that you want to cause trouble in the former capital and displease Prince Zhennan?”

“Calling you a weak coward, how quickly you turn around to bite your master?” After Pang Xiao said this quietly, he raised his voice and pointed at the refugees kneeling all over the ground: “Although they are poor, although they can’t eat their fill or dress warmly, they at least still have the backbone of sons of men. They can’t stand injustice, and for the sake of their benefactor they can raise their arms and call out! Although their actions were somewhat impulsive, this doesn’t diminish the character of Great Zhou’s subjects. This prince admires them.”

Pang Xiao’s low voice was extremely penetrating, allowing all the refugees to hear clearly. All the refugees couldn’t help but become excited.

Who would have thought that the legendary killer who never blinked an eye would actually be such a reasonable person with backbone?

Pang Xiao looked down at Magistrate Gao again: “And what about you? You consider yourself a local tyrant, bullying the weak and fearing the strong, oppressing men and women. For the sake of your wastrel son’s pleasure, how many families have you torn apart and destroyed? I’m afraid you can’t even remember how many evil deeds you’ve committed, can you?

“The Tatars are now invading our dynasty’s borders, and the northern people are displaced and homeless. You have the strength but don’t fight foreign enemies—instead you’re fierce at fighting your own nest! People like you who only know how to use their abilities to bully the weak—do you deserve to be called a man? Those balls of yours should have been chopped off and fed to dogs long ago!”

Having spent many more days rolling around in the military camp with those rough men, Pang Xiao found that refined language simply didn’t work with them. Moreover, when speaking to those common people who couldn’t read, being overly literary wasn’t the best strategy either.

Therefore, Pang Xiao used the most crude and direct language to clearly express his views and stance, leaving no room for anyone to misunderstand his actions and position.

“Well said!!”

“Your Highness is wise!”

The refugees’ emotions could truly be described as having taken a thousand turns. At first, they thought the Prince had brought troops to suppress them. They had already despaired, thinking they wouldn’t die of hunger or cold, but would be killed here by their own country’s soldiers.

But then came an unexpected turn—this spirited Prince wasn’t the kind of killer from the legends at all. He was actually a very reasonable person who even stood on the same side as them!

Thinking carefully, when Great Zhou and Yan were at war, this Prince was a Great Zhou general, so naturally he couldn’t show mercy to Yan—that was a matter of different positions.

But now? The two countries had become one country. The Prince’s treatment of them was his treatment of subjects of his own country. He wouldn’t bully civilians, and civilians had no need to fear generals protecting their own country!

Many people who had deep-rooted preconceptions about Pang Xiao suddenly understood at this moment. They no longer feared him, and instead felt that having such a capable, battle-tested Prince who was mighty abroad was actually a good thing for their country.

The people immediately cheered, loudly calling out “Long live the Prince! Long live the Prince!”

Qin Yining stood beside the elite Tiger Guards, watching this scene and couldn’t help but show a slight smile.

Pang Xiao was a smart man who had always known how to assess the situation. Although she hadn’t discussed this matter with him beforehand, they had a natural understanding. He used this incident not only to rescue Grandmother, but even to change his bad image among the people and establish prestige.

One must know that in the former capital, what Pang Xiao needed most was positive evaluation and reputation.

As Qin Yining was thinking this, from the corner of her eye she actually glimpsed a familiar figure.