Chapter 37: Don't Chase the Enemy
The people under Yao Niang were incredibly fast. In less than half an hour, a little beggar appeared in front of her.
I saw that the little beggar was wearing a tattered felt hat, ragged clothes, and had a dark skin. Even his two outstretched paws were covered with a layer of dirt. It seemed that they had not been washed properly in several years.
The little beggar stood in front of Yao Niang, grinning and showing his white teeth. He took off his tattered felt hat and handed it to her: "Auntie, please be kind and give me some food."
Yao Niang threw two golden melon seeds into the tattered felt hat. The little beggar quickly held the tattered felt hat and nodded and thanked her: "Auntie is kind and beautiful. She will live a long life!" Then he changed his target and bowed to several of Yao Niang's men: "Kind sisters, can you give me some food?"
Several girls were laughing so hard that they fell backwards. Some threw small silver ingots, some threw pearl hairpins directly because they didn't have any silver in their purses. There was also one who looked around and was about to pour out a plate of snacks. The little beggar held out his hand and said, "How can I do this? Can you please wrap it in oil paper?"
The woman really found a piece of oil paper and the little beggar packed it up quickly, tied the four corners with a hemp rope, and put it in his arms, saying happily, "I have found my dinner now, thank you, sister!"
She was sweet-tongued, bent over, and extremely humble, just like a street beggar. This made Yao Niang and her men laugh so much that they kept pointing at her and making fun of her.
After enough of the fuss, Yao Niang said, "Push her out and let her beg on the street."
Two men pushed the little beggar out. Her thin body looked like she would fall down at any time. When they met Liu Zhong halfway, he was surprised and asked, "Why did you bring a beggar into the company?"
One of them, Wanyu, said, "Aunt Yao suddenly wanted to listen to Lotus Flower Falling, so she called a little beggar in from outside. But she didn't know that the little beggar couldn't sing, so she had to send him away."
Unexpectedly, the little beggar was pushed and shoved by the two men, but he still did not forget to beg Liu Zhong: "Kind brother, please give me something to eat. I have been hungry for three days, and my chest is sticking to my back."
Liu Zhong didn't expect that there would be such a bold beggar. He didn't know whether he was out of hunger or blind, but he actually dared to beg in the Forbidden Cavalry Department. He stretched out his hand to push: "Go away... I have no money." Unexpectedly, he was pushed empty-handed. He was caught off guard and almost tripped by the little beggar's leg.
The little beggar stood timidly by the side, wearing a tattered felt hat on her head, with her drooping hair covering her eyebrows and eyes. She said in a half-hoarse voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it..."
Liu Zhong was an official after all. In the Feng Department, apart from Fu Chen, even Lei Xiao had to give in to him sometimes. He never thought that he would be teased by a little beggar in the office. He immediately used 30% of his strength and slapped the beggar with his palm to teach the little beggar a lesson.
He practiced external martial arts with his big palms. If he used 100% of his strength, the thin little beggar would have been killed on the spot with one palm strike, so he only used 30% of his strength.
But the little beggar, although young, was very agile. When he heard the palm wind coming, he lowered his body and slid down. The beggar kicked him hard on the shin, and the force of the kick bounced him three steps away.
Liu Zhong got kicked by her and immediately flew into a rage: "You beggar, are you tired of living?"
The little beggar's voice was hoarse, as if he was sick or injured in an accident. He paused and was about to run out. It seemed that he just realized that he had caused a big disaster and panicked: "My lord, I am wrong! I didn't mean it... Can you forgive me?"
If an ordinary beggar accidentally angered the Cavalry Guard, he would have kowtowed and begged for mercy long ago, but this little beggar kicked someone and even wanted to run away.
Liu Zhong was furious, and he called his brothers to come over to chase and intercept the little beggar, wanting to give him a good beating.
Wan Yu whispered to her companion, "Hongxiang, what should we do? Should we reveal our identities to Lord Liu?"
Hongxiang hurriedly tried to stop her: "I heard that she was chosen by Aunt Yao herself. Maybe she just wants to test her . We've all made it through, there's no reason why she can't pass this level. Let's not look for Aunt Yao." She pulled Wanyu out of the battle circle: "Anyway, Lord Liu usually relies on his good skills, plus the reputation of the Forbidden Cavalry Division, he has never fallen..." The implication was to stand by and watch without helping either side.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Zhong summoned four good fighters from the Forbidden Cavalry Division. The five of them blocked the little beggar from five directions, gradually narrowing the encirclement. Except for Liu Zhong, everyone had a playful smile on their face.
Someone else asked, "Master Liu, what happened to this little beggar?"
Liu Zhong was too embarrassed to say that he was kicked by the little beggar, so he could only say vaguely: "This kid was disrespectful to me, so I have to teach him a lesson!"
Several people thought they were just playing with the little beggar when they had nothing to do, and she was so thin that her waist was bent, so they didn't take it seriously at all. But they didn't expect that she kicked two of them down at the beginning. They didn't expect that this boy fought with such method, and they immediately stopped underestimating her.
"Be careful, brothers. This guy is a spy sent from somewhere, but he's very swift in his actions!"
The little beggar said nothing and just started fighting. His movements were so agile that it seemed as if he had eyes behind his head. He was not at a disadvantage in the fight with the three men.
Wan Yu was dazzled by what she saw, and she was in awe of Aunt Yao: "How sharp are Aunt Yao's eyes? She was able to pick out such a powerful person from the crowd , and even dared to hit Lord Liu..."
Hongxiang is more thoughtful than Wanyu. She had already secretly inquired about the newcomer Zhang Ying: "You don't know her background. I heard she came from the Fu Mansion. The Ninth Princess brought her into the office without even checking her background. She was probably afraid that she would fall in love with Master Fu if she stayed in the Fu Mansion for a long time."
Wan Yu: "The Ninth Princess has also put a lot of effort into it." When they have nothing to do, they would chat about Princess Yuan Shu and Fu Chen. After all, trying to figure out people's minds is a must for Shadow Department spies.
Hongxiang sighed softly, "I didn't expect there are women in the Fu Mansion." Could it be that the rumors outside are wrong?
Commander Fu of the Phoenix Department was extremely handsome, and countless girls were moved by his handsome appearance. The girls from the Shadow Department were no exception.
Hongxiang went out on a mission two years ago, and heard that she failed. After she came back, she devoted herself to studying with Aunt Yao. She is 20 years old this year, and gradually she developed delusions. She started to pay attention to the marriageable men in the Forbidden Cavalry Division, and eventually she fell in love with Fu Chen.
Wan Yu had no idea what was in her mind and just watched the fun from the side. While they were talking, three more people were knocked to the ground by the little beggar. Although she was also kicked, her movements were not slow at all and she became even faster. She fought with Liu Zhong.
Liu Zhong hadn't felt this kind of feeling of being forced to retreat for a long time. He couldn't help but think: I've slacked off! He couldn't even handle a little beggar who came out of nowhere, which showed how much he had regressed in the past one or two years.
Before he could concentrate, the little beggar punched him in the nose, and blood gushed out of his nose like a spring. The other four men lying on the ground struggled to get up to help him, but they were horrified to find that the little beggar had already gone around behind him and kicked him in the knee.
When Liu Chongsheng knelt forward, his tall and strong body was like a mountain collapsing, almost smashing the floor tiles.
He fell to the ground and yelled at the top of his lungs: "Someone come—"
Commander Fu was walking slowly in the distance. Perhaps he had just finished his work. When he got closer, he saw the mess on the ground. He didn't even raise his eyebrows and asked, "What's going on?"
Liu Zhong: “…” His face turned red with shame.
You can't say that he was beaten by a little beggar in the Forbidden Cavalry Department, right?
The other four men all had wandering eyes, hugged their knees, legs and arms, and screamed on the ground, pretending not to hear the commander's question.
Fu Chen glanced at the little beggar standing with her hands down, and saw that her right hand was trembling slightly, and the back of her hand was bloody. He took a few steps with his long legs, stood in front of her, and asked with concern: "Did they beat you?"
Tang Ying looked up in surprise, her felt hat slipped off her head, her shadow was clearly reflected in her pupils, her face looked so disheveled and black that even she seemed unfamiliar with it.
"you……"
Commander Fu smiled faintly: "Is Yao Niang torturing you again?"
He had a sharp eye, and the Forbidden Cavalry Department was well-known, so who would dare to enter? Only the Shadow Department's gang loved to tinker, and they guessed it from a distance when they saw the thin and frail figure, but when they got closer and saw the men on the ground, they felt a little embarrassed.
Tang Ying didn't expect that Fu Chen could see through her disguise at a glance. With this look on her face, not to mention that Fu Chen had only known her for a short time, Zhang Qing might not even recognize him if they met him face to face.
She couldn't help but smile and flatter him: "Your Excellency is indeed sharp-eyed. If I were a spy and fell into your hands, I would definitely not be able to escape."
Liu Zhong struggled to get up from the ground and pointed at Tang Ying: "You you..."
Tang Ying clasped her fists and apologized: "I'm sorry, Lord Liu. It's all my fault for not knowing the etiquette!"
The others were speechless, and slowly struggled to stand up, all showing awkward smiles: "Are you from the Shadow Department making fun of us?"
Commander Fu swept his eyes across the room, and even Liu Zhong couldn't help shrinking his neck. He criticized his men mercilessly, "You think you have the nerve to bully a little beggar? She's just a little girl, how can she withstand your beating? Look at her hand!" He lifted the bloody back of the little girl's hand, ignored the five bruised and swollen men, and asked her softly, "Does it hurt a lot?"
Tang Ying: “…”
Tang Ying stared blankly at the tall and handsome young man in front of her, her mind racing. Then she heard him say, "I see you've been living too comfortably lately. Starting today, practice for an extra hour every day!" Then he held Tang Ying's wrist and went back to the room.
Tang Ying was full of admiration: "My Lord, have you been wanting to give Lord Liu and his men a hard time for a long time? Is this a good opportunity to give them a good lesson?"
Commander Fu was a little depressed - little girl, are you focusing on the wrong thing?
Tang Ying apologized quietly, "Actually, I didn't mean to embarrass Lord Liu and the others. I was about to run away, but he insisted on chasing me. It's said that you should not chase a desperate enemy. Lord Liu underestimated the enemy!"
"It was his fault in the first place!" Commander Fu said seriously, "Liu Zhong was impulsive and underestimated the enemy. He needs more training in the future." He seemed to have completely forgotten that what Governor Liu was best at was tracking down criminals and extracting confessions through torture.
