Martin Wu stomped his feet in anger, wishing he could drag those men down and give them a good beating.
Just then, a shadow flashed behind Princess Jade Hayes, moving as swiftly as a ghost. Cold glints flickered in his hand, and in the blink of an eye, the servants who were laughing wildly on horseback were suddenly screaming in agony, clutching their eyes as they tumbled off their horses. Their plump bodies wriggled on the ground like maggots, faces covered in blood, howling, "My eyes! My eyes!"
Looking closely, each servant had a silver needle stuck right into their eyeball—perfectly blinding them.
Simon Yu stood cold-faced in front of Princess Jade Hayes and Martin Wu, eyeing the rolling servants on the ground. "Since your eyes can't behave and insist on looking at things you shouldn't," he said, "I might as well poke them blind and be done with it."
"Ah! The pain! My eyes!" The lead, chubby servant twisted his face in agony, rolling on the ground and snarling, "You—you dare hurt me? You’ll regret this!"
"Just a bunch of servants, and you dare act up in front of Her Highness the Princess? Someone, throw them all into the river to feed the fish!" Martin Wu stormed over and kicked the men hard, watching Princess Jade Hayes’s attendants toss them into the river. Only then did his anger subside. Turning around, he saw Simon Yu watching him, his face flushed as he turned away, muttering, "Hmph, so what if you know martial arts! Hmph!"
Simon Yu heard Martin Wu and shot back, "Knowing martial arts is awesome. If you’re so tough, why don’t you knock them off their horses yourself? All you can do is stand there fuming."
"You!" Martin Wu’s face turned red from Simon Yu’s retort, and he stomped off to help carry the luggage.
Princess Jade Hayes turned around and glanced at the fat servants splashing in the river, frowning slightly. "Her Highness the Princess arrives at her fief, yet Justin Zhao, the magistrate of Anchester, doesn’t greet us personally and instead sends these fools… Tsk, I doubt Justin Zhao is easy to deal with."
Simon Yu nodded. "Justin Zhao has been magistrate of Anchester for over a decade. He’s got deep connections and rules like a local tyrant—calling him a ‘local emperor’ isn’t an exaggeration. Now that Anchester is part of the Kingdom of Qin, Justin Zhao’s been living it up as the boss here, and suddenly he gets a new superior dropped in. Of course he’s not happy. I bet he’ll do everything he can to make trouble for us."
"You read my mind," Princess Jade Hayes sighed. "We may have power and an army, but as the saying goes, ‘a strong dragon can’t crush a local snake.’ If Justin Zhao plays along, great. If not, he’ll be a tough nut to crack. But now that we’re here, we’ll handle whatever comes our way."
Simon Yu said, "Well, since we just tossed our guides into the river, I’ll go find a local to lead the way."
He scanned the wharf and spotted a dock worker hiding behind a pile of crates. Simon Yu strode over, grabbed the man’s collar, and dragged him out. "Hey, you! Take us to the magistrate’s office!"
The dock worker was so scared his knees buckled. "I—I can’t! I really can’t! If Magistrate Zhao finds out I helped you, he’ll have my head!"
Simon Yu frowned. "You’re just showing us the way, not plotting treason. Why so scared?"
The dock worker nearly cried, "You outsiders don’t understand! Magistrate Zhao is the real boss here—he controls everything. If he wants you gone, you’re gone. If he wants you dead, you’re dead. I’d rather jump in the river than get involved!"
Martin Wu rolled his eyes and said, "He sure is a local tyrant—just look at how scared everyone is!"
Princess Jade Hayes smiled faintly. "Looks like we’ll have to handle things ourselves this time."