Chapter 90: Chivalrous Act
Shen Yichen walked towards the group of young masters, but he did not scold them loudly. Instead, he squatted in front of the refugee children who were fighting for food and said gently, "You must be hungry. How about I treat you to some hot duck blood soup?"
When these children saw Shen Yichen coming, they showed fear on their faces and huddled together and retreated timidly.
However, he did not expect that the big brother in front of him would just gently offer him some duck blood soup, which was a world of difference compared to those young masters who were throwing food to him.
But even so, no child dared to agree. They all stared at Shen Yichen, with expectation and fear coexisting in their eyes.
"Don't be afraid, just go to that table, brother will treat you to a drink."
Shen Yichen pointed to the table where he had sat before, and motioned for the children to go over. Maybe they gradually trusted Shen Yichen, or maybe they were too hungry to resist the temptation.
After one child wavered, the rest of the children followed and sat around the table.
The stall owner also knew that Shen Yichen was dressed like a scholar and would not be someone who would default on his debts, so he started cooking soup without saying a word, preparing to serve a bowl of soup to the group of children.
The young man who was teasing the children was a little confused when he saw Shen Yichen appear. It was not until the children ran to the vendors that they realized that the fun was over and they were instantly furious.
"Who are you, kid? How dare you interfere in our affairs? Do you want to live?"
One of them stood up and shouted loudly at Shen Yichen.
Shen Yichen was not frightened by the loud shout, but the children who had just run over to drink the soup were startled.
They stood up again and didn't dare to sit down, looking at Shen Yichen with pitiful eyes.
"It's okay, my brother is here."
Shen Yichen still kept a smile on his face and didn't take the young men behind him seriously at all.
This act of ignoring further angered the man who was shouting, and he took a step forward and prepared to push Shen Yichen.
Unexpectedly, Aniu was prepared. As soon as the boy stretched out his hand, Aniu grabbed his wrist tightly.
"You dare to touch me?"
The young man was furious and subconsciously tried to break free, but his body, hollowed out by alcohol and sex, was as weak as a chicken facing Ah Niu's iron-like grip.
Seeing that Shen Yichen's "follower" dared to be so tough, coupled with the long gown he was wearing that represented the title of scholar, he vaguely looked like a tough guy.
So the leader of this group of young masters stood up and asked Shen Yichen with a gloomy face: "Boy, who are you and how dare you cause trouble in the territory of Zhenjiang Prefecture?"
"If you can't bear the word sacred, you are just a scholar."
Shen Yichen didn't want to use the name of his master Lin Zhen in such a place, nor did he want to bring up the name of Duke Chengguo Zhu Yong, so he just returned his own fame.
Just a scholar?
When the leader heard Shen Yichen's self-introduction, a fierce look instantly appeared on his face. He thought that the other party was so tough and must be a tough guy, but he didn't expect that he was just a poor scholar!
"Then do you know who I am? How dare you be so arrogant?"
"I don't know, does it matter who you are?"
"I am Su Wen, the son of the Zhenjiang Tongzhi. If you don't admit your mistakes today, you will never be able to leave Zhenjiang Prefecture!"
The Tongzhi of Zhenjiang Prefecture was a fifth-rank official, which was not considered low in the Ming Dynasty civil service sequence. Compared with the positions in later generations, it was almost at the deputy department level, and ordinary people could not afford to offend him.
So when these words were spoken, the onlookers who were watching the scene all showed worried expressions on their faces.
Good things don't come easy to good people these days. This young scholar in front of him has offended someone he can't afford to offend, and he's probably going to be in trouble.
Even the prostitutes soliciting customers on the cruise ships and pleasure boats expressed regret after seeing this scene.
"What a pity, this young man is compassionate to the poor, but he chose the wrong time."
"I saw that this young man came down from the sparrow boat. I'm afraid he is not a local, otherwise he would definitely know the son of Su Tongzhi."
"This young man is handsome and kind-hearted. I can't bear to see him like that."
"I can't bear it, but what can I do? I can only blame him for being stupid because of reading too much. He doesn't understand the ways of the world. Didn't he see that others didn't dare to step forward to dissuade him?"
Amidst everyone's expressions of regret, Shen Yichen remained calm and did not take the threat seriously at all.
Are you kidding? The people I met in Yingtian Prefecture were all high-ranking nobles and ministers of the ministry. How could a fifth-rank Tongzhi of Zhenjiang Prefecture be ranked among them?
Besides, even when facing those high-ranking officials’ children from Yingtian, didn’t he still start a wave of ridicule at the flower-viewing party? No one dared to make similar threatening remarks.
What is a mere son of a Tongzhi?
"To be honest, I don't really believe it."
Shen Yichen was not afraid at all. From the moment he decided to stand up, he had already prepared himself mentally.
"You're looking for death, huh?"
Faced with Shen Yichen's lack of respect, Su Wen's facial expression was distorted with anger.
If it weren't for the fact that Shen Yichen seemed to have a background, he would never have said so much nonsense to introduce himself. Unexpectedly, the other party became more and more rampant!
As soon as these words were spoken, several young masters and a dozen or so followers surrounded Shen Yichen and Zeng Aniu, looking as if they were ready to take action.
If it were Shen Yichen alone, he really wouldn't be so arrogant. After all, it's not worth getting beaten up for talking too much.
But he still had some idea of Ah Niu's skills. He had been able to fight several people at once since he was young. Moreover, these young masters were physically weak, far inferior to himself, the so-called "weak scholar".
Shen Yichen estimated that he could defeat two or three people at once.
"Brother Ye, that scholar might be at a disadvantage. Can we just stand by and watch?"
Seeing that Su Wen and others were planning to gang up on Shen Yichen, the man named Cang Huotou among the burly men at the previous table couldn't help but say something to the leader.
“Yeah, Brother Ye, you could still tolerate it before, but are we still watching now?”
Another person spoke up. Even a weak scholar dared to do a righteous act. If I and others kept silent, would we still be considered men with balls?
Seeing his men unable to suppress their anger, the leader named Brother Ye finally nodded and said, "Then we will help the scholar, but remember that we have something important to do, so we can't use knives, only fists!"
Hearing that their leader had given in, the strong men immediately stood up, rubbing their hands and ready to go up to help Shen Yichen.
But at this moment, a loud gong sounded, and the people who were watching before scattered like birds and beasts. In the distance, a group of Zhenjiang patrolmen were rushing over quickly.
When Su Wen saw the police coming, he didn't look worried at all, but looked happy instead.
I was still thinking about how to take down Shen Yichen and the other man, but now help has arrived?
"Boy, don't think you don't know how high the heaven is and how deep the earth is just because you have the title of a scholar. Once you enter the prison of Zhenjiang Prefecture, I will have plenty of ways to deal with you!"
Su Wen thought that Shen Yichen was so arrogant because he was just relying on his reputation as a scholar. After all, doctors were not subject to punishment these days, so there was no worry of physical pain, so he had to speak more firmly.
But just because they don't touch you in public doesn't mean they can't do it behind your back. The police officers in the yamen have a wide range of methods of interrogation that are not easy to leave any trace.
This nerd is really oblivious to what is happening outside the window. He thinks that being a scholar and having a good reputation is of no importance. When the time comes, he will understand how to write the word "regret"!
As the team of constables and runners got closer, Shen Yichen could see clearly that the leader was not a low-ranking clerk, but a civil servant dressed in a blue official uniform.
Are the officials of Zhenjiang Prefecture so dedicated to their duties that they personally lead the patrols?
The official walked quickly to Shen Yichen and others. He was a little out of breath, probably because he hadn't exercised for a long time.
Seeing this, Su Wen came forward and greeted him warmly, "Uncle Zhao, what a coincidence! I didn't expect to meet you here."
Seeing Su Wen, the official seemed to be relieved and replied in a slightly blaming tone: "My dear nephew, you also know that there are many refugees in Zhenjiang Prefecture recently. If you don't know, you will think that the refugees are revolting when they gather together like this."
The reason why there were civil officials leading the patrol today was not because they were fulfilling their duties as Shen Yichen had imagined, but because a large number of refugees had recently poured into Zhenjiang Prefecture, and strict precautions had to be taken.
You have to know that in ancient times, when refugees gathered together and could not receive relief, those refugees who were unwilling to wait for death would most likely turn into "mobs" and enter into a peasant uprising.
Therefore, when ancient officials faced large-scale gatherings of refugees, they did not want to be faced with a choice between being beheaded by the refugees or by the emperor, so it was best to take precautions in advance.
"Uncle Zhao, you're worrying too much. With you in charge of Zhenjiang Prefecture, which ignorant refugee would dare to start a rebellion?"
Flattery never wears out. After Su Wen said this, the official surnamed Zhao, who was originally somewhat dissatisfied, also showed .
"Nephew, what happened to you here?"
"I was just about to tell you, Uncle Zhao, that these two people were gathering refugees and were spotted by my nephew. When I tried to stop them, they were about to start fighting. If Uncle Zhao hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid they would have started fighting by now."
As soon as Su Wen finished speaking, Ah Niu immediately responded excitedly: "What do you mean by gathering refugees? Don't spread rumors and slander us!"
It’s no wonder that Ah Niu was excited. You have to know that in ancient times, gathering refugees was a very serious accusation.
At the least, they could say that they were kindhearted and gave the refugees food. At the worst, they could even accuse them of having the intention of rebellion. Otherwise, why would they gather refugees for no reason?
"You are making a fuss in front of me, arrest me!"
The official surnamed Zhao glanced casually at Zeng Aniu, who was dressed in a coarse linen shirt like a commoner. He had no intention of asking about the truth of the matter. He directly called the police to arrest him.
"stop!"
Shen Yichen shouted coldly, then stood in front of Zeng Aniu and looked at the official named Zhao and said.
"President Zhao, you really have such great power. You just arrested people on the street without asking any questions. Aren't you afraid that someone will report you to the Censorate?"
It was not until Shen Yichen stood up that the official surnamed Zhao noticed him. Because the two sides had been entangled before, and both were wearing brocade clothes, those who didn't know would think that Shen Yichen was in the same group with the young master.
Looking at the young man in front of him who was full of vigor and even mentioned his official position, Zhao Tongpan instantly had a bad feeling. Could it be that he had offended someone he shouldn't have offended?
