14: Chapter 14 Using Both Kindness and Strictness

...

The next day, the western suburbs of the Imperial City.

Zhuge Jinyu had already ordered Huang Ying to follow Su Chen's instructions and use the Zhuge Family's funds to renovate the slums.

Su Chen had even confidently guaranteed her that the investment would be recouped within three years after the renovation.

However, facing the so-called "eight hundred elite" gathered on the martial arts training ground, Zhuge Jinyu found it hard to offer any praise.

Where were the elite troops?

They were clearly just a ragtag bunch!

Not only was the formation crooked, but they also stood in a loose and lazy manner.

Most of them were wearing ill-fitting uniforms, as if they had been pulled out of a prison at the last minute to fill the numbers.

Some even had their shirts open, chewing on grass roots with wandering gazes, exuding an air of thuggery.

Although their cultivation levels barely reached the early to mid-stages of Foundation Establishment, they were entirely a group of local thugs and street ruffians.

Even more eye-catching were the dozens of people mixed in at the front of the line.

Each one was dressed in fine silks and looked arrogant and haughty.

While they were slightly better than the thugs, their arrogance was almost overflowing.

They gathered in small groups, laughing and playing with each other while pointing at Zhuge Jinyu on the stage, showing no respect whatsoever.

"A~U~V, brother, why are you here too?"

"My father ordered it, saying he wanted me to come out and gain some experience."

"Experience? I don't think that's the case. Aren't we just here to go through the motions and give this little girl Prime Minister a lesson?"

"Shh—keep it down. I heard she can't even gather enough horses and has to walk to the Eastern Border on two legs, haha!"

Zhuge Jinyu was so angry she felt dizzy; her full chest heaved up and down, and her small pink fists clenched beneath her robes.

Hardened.

Her fists were hardened.

"I knew my recruitment would be sabotaged like this."

"These are all playboy scions from the collateral branches of the major cultivation families. They're clearly here to cause trouble and watch the joke!"

The sounds of discussion and ridicule drifted over without any concealment.

Around the martial arts field, figures wearing official robes or expensive clothing were also faintly visible.

These were the pedantic bureaucrats and family representatives who were pulling strings behind the scenes, waiting to see Zhuge Jinyu make a fool of herself.

They whispered to each other, their faces carrying undisguised sarcasm and schadenfreude.

In their view, never mind training an elite force within a month to support the east.

After this month, it would be a question whether Zhuge Jinyu could even recognize all eight hundred people on this field.

Su Chen, watching the scene through the mist in the mirror, couldn't help but want to facepalm.

But it was also to be expected; those who had seen him manifest his power at the Zhuge Family that day were basically all dead.

That was why these people dared to provoke Zhuge Jinyu so boldly.

"Xiao Yu, listen to me..."

Zhuge Jinyu's beautiful face was ice-cold, and she had to use her vermilion bird feather fan to cover half of her face to hide her emotions.

"I understand, Master."

She took a deep breath and stepped forward, her cold voice spreading across the entire training ground.

"Silence, everyone!"

The gazes in the square all turned toward her, including those hidden outside the square.

The noise paused for a moment, but then an even louder burst of laughter erupted.

"Oh my~ is the little lady getting angry?"

"I'm so scared!"

Among these people, a young man wearing a magnificent silk robe with a cultivation level of about the mid-stage Nascent Soul laughed most wantonly.

This person was Liu Peizhuo from the Liu Family in the capital.

He was naturally an overbearing and arrogant fellow.

Furthermore, Zhuge Jinyu had offended the Wang Family quite severely in court last time.

Because of this, he became even more insolent.

He stepped forward a few paces, squinting at Zhuge Jinyu with a frivolous tone.

"Prime Minister Zhuge, are you sure you want to take this bunch of us 'rotten apples' to the war?"

"We fellows don't have much skill. If we fail to protect you on the battlefield and your delicate skin gets bruised or scratched..."

"Why don't you come back to my manor for a cup of tea and a heart-to-heart? Fighting and killing is such a mood-killer."

These words were extremely explicit harassment.

For a moment, all the playboys and thugs in the square turned their gazes over, saying nothing.

These people were all old hands.

In the end, they were only here to go through the motions because their families assigned them or they received benefits.

Most of them couldn't afford to offend the Zhuge Family, nor could they provoke the Liu Family.

Whoever won this confrontation, they would follow.

But looking at it now, this little girl from the Zhuge Family clearly couldn't control the situation.

Zhuge Jinyu's eyes instantly turned cold as ice. Her delicate body couldn't stop trembling.

"Let me."

Su Chen's voice rang in her mind.

"I'll borrow your body for a moment. Using only the Spirit Transformation Realm cultivation shouldn't have any impact on you."

"Kill the chicken to warn the monkeys."

"Eh, Master, didn't you want me to learn how to command the scene myself..."

Halfway through her sentence, her heart suddenly felt warm.

Could Master be angry because she was insulted?

Although she knew that Master's intervention was most likely to protect his disciple, it still made her feel a surge of joy.

After Liu Peizhuo finished his speech and saw that Zhuge Jinyu had no reaction, he couldn't help but laugh loudly and took two more steps forward.

Suddenly, he felt himself locked by Zhuge Jinyu's gaze!

Her eyes were bone-chillingly cold, and her voice was terrifyingly calm, not at all like a sixteen-year-old girl.

"Liu Peizhuo, insulting the commander before the ranks and destabilizing military morale—according to the Great Qian military law, what is the punishment?"

Hearing this, Liu Peizhuo couldn't help but laugh loudly.

"Execution!"

"Come on, I've destabilized the morale. I'm standing right here, come and execute me."

After saying that, he even thrust his head forward a few inches.

He hadn't even finished speaking.

Zhuge Jinyu moved.

Without warning, the vermilion bird feather fan in her hand swung forward seemingly at random.

There was no world-shaking momentum.

Only a line of fire, condensed to the extreme and almost turning dark red, silently shot toward Liu Mang.

The sneer on Liu Mang's face instantly froze into terror.

But no matter how incompetent he was, he was still a Nascent Soul cultivator, and he subconsciously tried to activate his protective treasures and spiritual power.

But it was too late.

That dark red fire line ignored the spiritual light shield he had hastily raised and pierced directly into his forehead.

"Uh..."

Liu Mang's eyes bulged out, like a dehydrated frog.

His face was filled with unbelievable terror.

He wanted to say something, but couldn't utter a single word.

The next second,

His entire head exploded like a ripe watermelon.

Red and white splattered all over the faces and bodies of the surrounding playboys.

The headless corpse swayed and fell limply to the ground.

The entire field fell silent.

The playboys, the thugs, and even the other forces hidden in the shadows were all stunned.

They had originally come to see Zhuge Jinyu's joke and watch the Zhuge Family's decline.

They didn't expect this new Zhuge Family head to be even more ruthless than they imagined.

"How is it possible..."

"That little girl has the peak strength of the Spirit Transformation Realm?"

The most shocked person was none other than the head of the Liu Family.

To be able to kill a Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator with one fan and even annihilate the life-saving divine sense he, a Spirit Transformation Realm expert, had planted in Liu Peizhuo.

This person was someone their Liu Family couldn't afford to provoke!

"I can only count on that person now. If the rebel army doesn't defeat Great Qian, my Liu Family will be finished too!"

Regardless of the outcome of the Northern Expedition, Zhuge Jinyu's prestige was thoroughly established today.

...

Looking at those playboys who were just grinning earlier, their faces were now pale and their legs were weak.

A few were even so scared they wet their pants and were carried away.

The thugs were even more silent as cicadas in winter, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Although Zhuge Jinyu appeared expressionless, her heart was blooming with joy.

Master is truly amazing!

"Who else has an objection to This Prime Minister's military orders?"

No one dared to answer.

Most of those watching from the shadows vanished silently, fearing they would be noticed by this killing god.

"Very good, the authority has been established."

Su Chen nodded with satisfaction.

"It's also time to give them some benefits."