Chapter 14 Toll Stations (1)

  "Taxes! The most serious matter for a country."

  Euler's Totient Function

  "The city gate officer shouted loudly: 'Open the city gate and raise the water gate.'"

  "Wooo!" The sentry on the city wall puffed out his cheeks and blew a loud, clear blast on his trumpet, which echoed far and wide in the crisp morning air.

  On the city wall, several strong men were pushing a huge turntable with great effort. Under the drive of the turntable, the huge metal gate that blocked the river channel slowly rose from the water. The water droplets hanging on the gate poured down and fell onto the water surface, making a gurgling sound, just like rain.

  The last drop of water had fallen from the uneven sluice gate, and a large ship had already come in impatiently, appearing in everyone's line of sight. A signalman waved the signal flag in his hand and shouted loudly: "Come closer, stop the boat for inspection."

  The large ship seemed to have not heard and continued on its way, only raising a blue flag with a red maple leaf on the mast. The city gate official saw it and hurriedly came to Ora's side, whispering in his ear: "Young master, this is the Imperial Sevili family's ship. According to the law, nobles are exempt from paying taxes, and the current head of the house, Nia Sevili, is the Deputy Minister of the Imperial Ministry of Justice."

  Ou La was startled and turned his head towards Ye Feng.

  Ye Feng raised his head and took a look, only to see that the dozen or so ships following behind that ship had also hoisted flags. Although the emblems were not the same, they all conveyed the same meaning: I am a noble, I don't pay taxes.

  It was only then that he realized that even if the nobles didn't have to pay taxes, it wasn't the only reason why Siniya had low tax revenue. But at least it was an important one.

  He sneered and looked up at the sky. Orla suddenly understood, he slapped the table and shouted loudly: "No tax? No tax. What do we eat? What do we drink? What can we use to resist the pirates' attack? How can we protect the people? Where does your salary come from?"

  "Little Gongzi, however..." The sweat on the city gate official's chubby face suddenly came down, and his face almost shriveled up into a ball.

  "No need for that." Oola raised her hand to interrupt him, saying sternly: "Notify the ship to stop and be inspected. Otherwise..."

  He paused for a moment and continued to order: "Order the archers to prepare, give me fire arrows!"

  It was as if a cold wind had blown through everyone's heart, and they all looked at Oola with a mixture of awe and reverence. No one dared to underestimate this teenager again. The noble quality that flowed from him, the kind that came with being born into a life of prosperity and adversity, was fully on display.

  Everyone lowered their eyes humbly, no one dared to look him in the eye, this is the true aura of a king!!!

  Ouyang saw the gate official's dazed expression and frowned impatiently, saying: "Still don't hurry up."

  The city gate official was like waking up from a dream and immediately followed orders.

  He bowed deeply, then retreated a few steps before turning around and shouting loudly: "Quickly, pass on the order! If they don't stop the boat for inspection, they'll have to bear the consequences themselves. Inform the archers to send down a team of skilled men with fire arrows. Young Master wants to use them. Everyone hurry up! Whoever delays the matter and displeases Young Master, I'll personally flay their skin!"

  The city gate was suddenly in an uproar.

  The gate official wiped away the tears from his eyes, gazed at the blue sky with emotion and thought: How many years have passed, the House of Julius finally sees hope again.

  This gate official, Burlinna, who later refused countless times the lures and corruptions of hostile forces, eventually became the Imperial Chancellor of Finance. After his retirement, he wrote a memoir - "My Life's Journey - From Gate Official to Chancellor of Finance" (this book was designated by the Imperial Department of Culture, Education and Propaganda as a textbook for students of imperial history). On the flyleaf of this memoir is written: From the moment I saw the Emperor, I was conquered by his great personality and leadership charm, and secretly vowed in my heart to be loyal to him all my life.

  Diana saw it from behind, and was shocked. She knew the viciousness of these aristocratic lapdogs all too well. Without thinking, she wanted to rush over. Ye Feng, who had been paying attention to her, hastily pulled her back.

  Seeing her still struggling, Ye Feng sighed silently. After all, Diana was a woman with long hair and short vision, without much grandeur. If Diana appeared at this time to change the order, then the image he had carefully designed for Oola would be ruined in an instant.

  From then on, no matter what Euler did, his authority would be greatly discounted. When the soldiers received his orders, they would not think about how to execute them, but whether his orders had been agreed upon by Diana and other guardians.

  He made a grasping motion and twisted Diana's hands behind her back. Then he raised his knee, blocking the fatal blow that was heading towards his abdomen.

  Ye Feng couldn't help but sigh at his own misfortune - this woman had already learned from him and become shameless, daring to put her foot down on a man's groin. A sharp pain shot through his knee, telling him just how ruthless she was in putting her foot down.

  Kneeling down together, although he was uncomfortable, Diana was even more distressed. She had already bent over in pain. Ye Feng took this opportunity to pull her into a secluded place where no one would notice.

  Ye Feng was afraid she would struggle, so he pressed her firmly against the wall. He felt her body tense up like a bowstring pulled taut. Only then did he notice how ambiguous their posture was. To prevent Diana from using her deadly legs again, his legs were tightly pressed against hers, without any gap in between.

  His chest was pressed tightly against Diana's, the sensation from her breasts telling him clearly that they were two soft and amazing mounds. He snuck a peek downwards, those two towering peaks had been flattened into pancakes by his chest. Through the thin fabric, he could even feel two small protrusions slowly hardening, poking at his chest and making it slightly itchy.

  At the same time, he could also feel Diana's body rapidly heating up, emitting an astonishing amount of heat outward. He leaned in close to Diana's ear and explained a few sentences in a low voice.

  Listening to her increasingly heavy breathing, Ye Feng looked at Diana's delicate and small earrings, and suddenly a wicked thought surged up in his mind. He blew a mouthful of air into Diana's earhole and gently took her earring into his mouth.

  Like an avalanche, Diana exclaimed and her body trembled uncontrollably, instantly becoming soft. If Ye Feng hadn't held her up firmly, she would have collapsed to the ground, unable to support her own body.

  "You..." Diana said in a low, husky voice.

  She sniffed the scent coming from Ye Feng's body and was momentarily bewildered.

  She stared blankly into space, completely unfocused. Her long eyelashes fluttered rapidly, her lips slightly parted, as if searching for something. Ye Feng took advantage of the situation and kissed her, while also groping her all over.

  Diana immediately reacted as soon as she broke free from her restraints, and her eyes instantly cleared up. Instinctively pushing Ye Feng away, she raised her hand and slapped him on the ear.

  All he heard was a crisp crackling sound, and Ye Feng's face instantly had five red marks.

  Diana was stunned, took a few steps back, and unbelievably wiped her mouth with her finger, pointing at Ye Feng and scolding loudly: "You bastard." After finishing, she covered her burning face with both hands and ran out.

  Ye Feng stared blankly at her back, after a while, he fiercely spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and muttered: "What's wrong with women? They always act like they've suffered some great injustice, but never mention how high they were at the time."

  He slipped quietly out of the shadows, fortunately at this time, the city was in chaos from top to bottom, and no one noticed what had just happened between him and Diana.

  When a team of bowmen holding fire arrows lined up along the riverbank, no boat did not understand the meaning. The large ship with red maple leaves reluctantly docked by the shore.

  A middle-aged man with triangular eyes, thick hair slicked back with oil, and a pair of small mustaches like a mouse's whiskers jumped off the ship before it had even come to a stop. He strode straight up to Oola, pointed at her nose, and loudly declared: "Do you know whose ship this is? The Sevili family's! Nobles' ships are exempt from taxes!"

  "How dare you be so presumptuous, showing disrespect to the young master! Take him down." Before Ora could even speak, Burlin jumped out. With a wave of his hand, several soldiers pounced on the middle-aged man with the small mustache like wolves, beating him mercilessly until he cried out in pain and shouted for help.

  Everyone in their hearts is secretly pleased, and they don't worry about any connection between this family and the Duke's family. Because the Duke is really too weak, or rather, too unusual. The only connection with these noble families is that there is no connection.

  The soldiers beat him while listening to his cries with great enthusiasm. They had long hated these people who claimed to be nobles and relied on the power of others.

  Bulina saw Xiao Huzi being beaten up and waved his hand to signal the soldiers to retreat.

  Little Hu Zi lay on the ground, covering his painful spot, and still stubbornly said: "This is an infringement of noble rights. My master will file a complaint with you at the Senate meeting. You just wait to go to jail!"

  Everyone who heard it looked at each other in dismay.

  Bulin sneered and walked over, first kicking Xiao Huzi in the face, then clenching his right fist with his thumb pointing at Oula behind him, saying proudly: "Youngster, do you know who he is?"

  Xiao Huzi crawled on the ground, squinting his swollen eyes, and looked hard for half a day before asking, "Who is he?"

  Brynnah grabbed his hair with her hand and roughly lifted him off the ground, saying: "This is our duke's heir. Is this the kind of trash you can point at with your finger?"

  Xiao Huzi was taken aback, and after a while, he said vaguely: "Alright, let's just say I offended your ducal heir. But you've already beaten me up. However, you're detaining our ship and making us pay taxes. How should we put it?"

  Bulin was taken aback, looked up at Oula, gritted his teeth and quietly made a throat-slitting gesture. The crowd broke out in cold sweat, this was broad daylight, and there were many merchant ships docked nearby, even if they wanted to silence someone, they should find an appropriate time and place.

  Ou La turned his head and looked at Ye Feng for help. Ou Ran discovered the red mark on his face.

  The leaves swayed without covering anything, and walked by with a big swing.

  Eula gazed at his back, muttering to herself in a low voice: "Diana is so despicable, actually sneaking away. Looks like I'll have to hurry Nia up, or else there won't be any share for her."

  Ye Feng came before Little Beard, circled around him once, then smiled and said: "What's your mother's surname?"