The drunkenness had long since vanished from Feng Jinlin's face, and his men, all fierce and formidable, had driven away everyone Huo Chong had brought.
He was truly Liang Quanbin's savior.
"Your Excellency forgot, my county magistrate's residence is not far from here. Seeing people with torches rushing towards the Governor's Mansion, I came to see what was happening. Who knew I would witness such rampant lawlessness? A mere merchant family could vandalize and burn the Governor's Mansion to this extent. Is there any law left in Jinling City?"
Upon hearing Feng Jinlin's words, Liang Quanbin's tears flowed freely.
"Second Young Master is right! Thank you for your timely intervention. Otherwise, my life would have been lost to these madmen today."
Mentioning the Zhu family, his hatred was boundless, wishing for the annihilation of the entire Zhu clan to quell the rage in his heart.
He then said to Feng Jinlin.
"Second Young Master, could you escort me to the Naval Camp and mobilize a thousand elite soldiers to surround the Zhu family? I want to see whose life is harder: the Zhu family's, or the cannon fire of my Naval Camp!"
He had now latched onto Feng Jinlin and was unwilling to leave him, fearing that he would be killed by Huo Chong and his men before he could even step out of the mansion.
Feng Jinlin nodded, feigning righteous indignation.
"Naturally, escorting Your Excellency is my duty. Moreover, you were once my elder brother's superior and took good care of him!"
At this moment, Liang Quanbin was desperately grateful for the slight admiration he had once shown Feng Jinxu, otherwise, his second brother would not have risked his life to protect him today.
His trust in Feng Jinlin grew significantly!
However, he failed to notice the triumphant smile that flickered behind Feng Jinlin as he walked out of the mansion.
At the Naval Camp, as Liang Quanbin arrived, he encountered soldiers who had come to request reinforcements.
He exaggerated the situation with the Zhu family, which only fueled Liang Quanbin's rage further!
"A defiant Zhu family indeed! Come, muster two thousand elite soldiers! Tonight, I don't care if you use fire or artillery, you must capture the Zhu family!"
"Yes!"
The Naval Camp stationed below the Governor's Mansion was no ordinary force. Their mission was to keep the four great families of Jinling City in check, hence their superior combat strength and weaponry.
Furthermore, they were deploying two thousand elite soldiers, an overwhelming force. It seemed that Jinling City was in for a major upheaval tonight.
The soldiers marched towards the Zhu family in an orderly and powerful fashion, their movements so grand that even the elderly citizens who had lived in Jinling City for most of their lives felt the impending storm.
No one knew whether the long-established Zhu family would prevail, or the formidable government forces would win.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Ding, who had stirred up this chaos, was calmly playing chess with Feng Jinyao in her room.
Since they had settled in this courtyard, Feng Jinyao felt a sense of helplessness.
No matter the time or place, whenever the Prince of Ding wished to visit, he could appear before her like a phantom.
She was truly at a loss on how to deal with this.
For instance, now, even though night had fallen, he had to appear suddenly and ask her to play chess with him!
Feng Jinyao naturally did not want to, but before she could refuse, Xiao Tingyi preempted her with his words.
"Don't you want to know more about Jinling City?"
Curiosity, indeed, killed the cat!
Feng Jinyao once again had to yield to the Prince of Ding because she wanted to hear gossip, to the point where she later became accustomed to his comings and goings.
The two of them never crossed any boundaries; they simply sat together, talked, and played chess.
However, if outsiders were to know, it would ruin Feng Jinyao's reputation.
But the Prince of Ding was completely unconcerned. Whether he was confident that no one would discover them or for some other reason, Feng Jinyao found it strange that whenever he appeared, regardless of the duration, Yunxu and Hehuan, or anyone else, never came to disturb them.
It was as if only the two of them existed in the world.
But she did not know that at this moment, Yang Zhao was standing guard outside Yunxu and Hehuan's room, peeking through the gap in the door. The two maids were sleeping soundly.
Yang Zhao, however, looked utterly miserable.
Your Highness, Your Highness, if you want to see Miss Feng the Third, can't you do it openly?
Every time, it was like stealing, forcing him to use all sorts of tricks on the two young maids, making him look like a veritable flower thief.
He, a dignified general of the third rank, had to engage in such petty acts daily, which made him depressed.
Yet, when faced with the Prince, he dared not resist.
He could only silently hope that the Prince and Miss Feng the Third would settle their relationship soon, to give him some respite!
Inside the room, the chess game between the two was fiercely contested.
In terms of chess skill, Feng Jinyao was no match for Xiao Tingyi, but she excelled in her clever stratagems, which allowed her to unravel every trap set by Xiao Tingyi.
Thus, after a long standoff, no winner had emerged.
A moment later, Feng Jinyao made a move that appeared to be a suicidal one, but in reality, it was a turn of fortune.
Xiao Tingyi greatly admired this method of finding a way out of a desperate situation.
Looking at Feng Jinyao now, the affection in his eyes was no longer concealed, but Feng Jinyao pretended not to see it. Since she could reject Yin Canwen, she could certainly reject a Prince of Ding.
However, it was not yet time.
"Your Highness, this chess game is almost over, and the matter you wanted to discuss has not begun yet."
Xiao Tingyi smiled, "Is Ah Yao eager to hear the story? Or eager to send this prince away?"
"Both."
"Truly lacking in sentiment."
If Yang Zhao and the others could hear the sweetness and pampering in his tone, they would likely spit out three liters of blood. They had followed the Prince for so many years and had seen him in countless guises, but never like this.
In Yang Zhao's words, love indeed makes people lose their minds.
"Speak, what do you want to know?"
Xiao Tingyi was not polite, his tone suggesting that whatever he knew, he would tell Feng Jinyao without reservation.
How could Feng Jinyao miss such an opportunity? She immediately asked.
"I want to know how Your Highness stirred up the chaos in the outside world."
Although they sat in this courtyard in perfect tranquility, unable to hear the commotion outside, she was not a fool.
If the Zhu family incident did not cause a major upheaval, how could it create the opportunity to meet Chi Zimuo tomorrow?
"I had someone impersonate the Duke of Wei's hidden guards and ordered the demolition of all the Zhu family's banquets in the restaurants outside, and arrested everyone. Then, I made Liang Quanbin mistakenly believe that the Zhu family was aligned with the First Prince. After the conflict escalated, I sent people to rescue him. That's all."
The irreconcilable feud between the Zhu family and Liang Quanbin was so easily revealed by him.
Truly a masterful strategy!
The two parties, who had been toasting each other heartily just a few hours ago, were now in such a state of conflict.
Feng Jinyao's hand paused mid-move. She deeply felt fortunate that she had never provoked the Prince of Ding, otherwise, her fate would not have been any better than that of the Zhu family and Liang Quanbin.