Upon hearing these words, the Red Armored Knight immediately drew his blade, the weakest among them being of the Willow Tendon Realm, and the highest ranking even included seven Energy Transformation captains, along with a deputy commander of the Holding Core Realm.
At a command, they quickly formed up into a charging formation.
A formidable force like the Red Armored Cavalry was enough to suppress the Fishing Guild Disciples present, and once the cavalry charged, it was indeed difficult for the disciples to contend against them.
What loomed was a brutal massacre.
At that moment, looking down from a commanding height, Darugachi said to Chen Jie, "Chen Jiusi, I will give you an opportunity. Just surrender obediently, and I will not fault your subordinates, the lowly people you command. How about it?"
Darugachi looked at Chen Jie with an extremely arrogant attitude, as if he was bestowing Chen Jie with a favor.
Chen Jie glanced at Darugachi and said, "Lord Governor, and what if I refuse to surrender?"
Darugachi replied, "Hmph, then don’t blame me. It just so happens that the quota for rebel extermination assigned from above isn’t fulfilled yet. Your thousand heads would serve perfectly to settle the account."
Chen Jie narrowed his eyes and said, "Lord Governor, aren’t you afraid of being investigated from above for killing the innocent and taking their credit?"
Darugachi burst into laughter upon hearing this and said, "Investigated? Who dares to investigate me?"
Chen Jie uttered three words, and Darugachi laughed, "Inspection Envoy, haha, that’s just for show. Even if the Inspection Envoy came to Huangzhou Prefecture, what could he do with his authority? He can only investigate a seventh-ranked County Daru Hua Chi. To investigate me, pfft, they would need to request a new imperial mandate!"
Darugachi spoke arrogantly, and immediately afterward looked at Chen Jie saying, "Moreover, I’m not afraid to tell you, even if they sought an imperial mandate, they wouldn’t be able to touch me. I’m far out of their reach!"
"Hehehe, is that so?"
Darugachi spoke boastfully, and he had the capital to do so. As the garrison commander, the third-ranked figure in Huangzhou Prefecture, even the Prefecture Governor could not deal with him because he had strong backing behind him.
And that backing was indeed formidable!
"Hehe, Darugachi, such great authority you command!"
Just as Darugachi was bragging, suddenly a cold laugh was heard, followed by four people emerging from behind the platform. The person in the lead, clad in white clothes, was none other than the Inspection Envoy, Zhao Ya, followed by her three bodyguards, Ah Da, Ah Er, and Ah San.
The three had grim expressions as they looked at Darugachi, thinking, what a despicable thing, even daring to mock the Commandery Princess, it seems you’ve grown tired of living.
At this moment, Darugachi was taken aback and, lifting his head, saw Zhao Ya approaching.
His expression changed the next instant, how could she be here!
Thinking of this, he suddenly turned his eyes to Chen Jie; it couldn’t be that he had invited her!
With these thoughts, Darugachi’s expression darkened, but he quickly dismounted and offered a greeting, "Your Highness the Princess, I have seen you!"
Darugachi was arrogant, but not arrogant enough to act wildly in front of the Ruyang King’s Commandery Princess.
And the others around also turned their gazes toward the young person, with many revealing a look of surprise on their faces.
The surprise was mainly two-fold; firstly, could this handsome young person actually be a woman?
Secondly, was she actually some Commandery Princess? Over these days, these Fishing Guild Disciples had only seen these four people going in and out of the Gang Leader’s room, occasionally hearing their discussions, thinking they were merely regular Jianghu people. Who would have thought they wielded such significant status.
At the same moment, everyone present relaxed, thinking the Gang Leader had secured such a strong backing, what counted for a mere local Governor!
With these thoughts in mind, everyone looked towards Darugachi, curious to see how he would continue to pretend.
Zhao Ya glanced at Darugachi and said, "Darugachi, such grandeur you exhibit!"
"Not even putting the court’s Inspection Envoy in your eyes, whose power are you relying on? King Qi?"
Darugachi, hearing this, bowed even lower. Indeed, he was relying on the power of King Qi.
Daqian had four kings with real power; one was the Ruyang King Boluo Timur, who controlled Jiangnan.
Another was the Northwest King, Li Siqi.
These two had risen from their military achievements, starting their careers by suppressing rebellions to gradually become kings. They had cooperated in their youth, but as their power grew, disputes began, and they became mortal enemies.
Hubei was the focal point between the Northwest King and the Ruyang King, with both powers present.
Interpenetrating and checking each other, Darugachi served as King Qi’s card in Huangzhou Prefecture.
At that moment, as Zhao Ya directly called him out, Darugachi didn’t know how to respond and could only look at Zhao Ya, silent.
Zhao Ya then said, "Why aren’t you speaking? You were quite brash just now, weren’t you?"
Upon hearing this, Darugachi replied, "Your Highness, I truly did not know you were present. I spoke rashly just now."
Zhao Ya said, "Rashly, at least you managed to muster a proper Chinese word."
Having said this, Zhao Ya looked at Darugachi and continued, "You just said what now, Chen Jiusi is a rebel?"
Darugachi looked at Zhao Ya and replied, "Yes, Your Highness, indeed."
Zhao Ya said, "Really? But Mr. Chen is my staff member. If he’s a rebel, then surely I must be a rebel too. Lord Darugachi, why not arrest me too, and report that I’m a bandit?"
"You wouldn’t dare, but I see you dare quite a bit. Relying on King Qi’s power, you’ve been very arrogant here in Huangzhou Prefecture. You say the proof of Nan Batian conspiring with bandits is conclusive, and with just a word about your undercover spy, you think to conceal it all? I don’t think it’s that simple!"
Darugachi responded, "Your Highness, he indeed was my undercover spy."
While Darugachi dared not confront Zhao Ya head-on, he also could not easily give up on Nan Batian, who was a good pawn. He came to Mianshui for the ingredients of the Medicine King Treasure, hoping to retrieve them and present them to King Qi, earning great merit.