Volume 1 Chushan Bandits Chapter 14: Seeing Yue Honglou Again
Before Xu Huai received Lu Xiong's guidance, his strength was unmatched in Huaiyuan Town. In other words, in competitions, he was not as agile as young strong men like Xu Xin'an and easily suffered losses.
But if we really have to fight for our lives, how can we be defeated by these ruffians on the street?
In the past, he was clumsy and gentle, with a fair face and harmless appearance, so the villagers looked down on him. But now that he had bared his fangs, who would not be afraid?
Seeing that the scoundrel Chen Gui was holding the boning knife but did not dare to jump off the butcher block, Xu Huai did not even look at the two assassins. He picked up the fat goose wrapped in lotus leaves and walked away.
"You bastards, everyone knows that the idiot Xu Huai has a brain. Why do you have to provoke him for no reason? How can he know the severity of his attack? If he really wants to kill you, what should you do? Will it work to ask him to pay with his life?" Zheng the butcher's wife was a strong woman in her forties. She ran out trembling with her plump chest. When she saw the mess in the shop and heard Zheng the butcher explain the reason, she was angry that they had no reason to provoke Xu Huai, the idiot, and started to curse them.
"How could I know that this bastard would get angry and attack me today? I would have scolded him a few times in the past, and nothing like this would have happened." Butcher Zheng sat on the bench with difficulty.
"Even rabbits kick when they are provoked. How can you be sure that this idiot won't bite?" Zheng the butcher's wife scolded, "How strong is that idiot? He knocked down a mad cow right in front of his shop two years ago. You bastard, you saw it with your own eyes. You are so full of shit that you dared to provoke this idiot? Now that you are fine, can you still go to Xu Wujiang to reason with him?"
"Xu Wujiang allowed his slave to commit crimes and injure us. If he doesn't pay compensation, we will go to Mr. Deng to seek justice! Oh, my old waist, I'm afraid that this bastard may have broken it!" Zheng the butcher shouted.
"That big guy is so arrogant. The shopkeeper just joked with him and he started to hurt people. He is really lawless. Can't the government punish him?" The two assassins wrapped up their swords again and echoed calmly.
"That's a fool. If my husband hadn't provoked him first, maybe he could have gotten money for the medicine from Xu Wujiang. But who can I ask for justice now?"
Mrs. Zheng the butcher was not usually the kind of person who would forgive others when she was right, but in Huaiyuan and Tongbai Mountain, she did not think she could go to Xu Wujiang to reason with him. Seeing that the guest still looked incredulous, she complained,
"In Biyang, the villagers may not know the prefect Chen Shi or the county magistrate Cheng Lunying, but they will know the Xu family. The head of the Xu family is just a small bailiff in Biyang City, but the prefect Chen sent people to send birthday gifts for my mother's 70th birthday. Xu Huai is a fool, but Xu Wujiang protects him. Xu Wujiang is trusted by the head of the Xu family, Xu Wufu. In his early years, he taught the farmhands how to use sticks, swords and bows in Lutai Village. In terms of skills, he is one of the best in Tongbai Mountain. Mr. Deng usually calls him a brother. Who can we go to for justice?"
"If things really get out of hand, Xu Wufu may not help Xu Wujiang! Without the Xu family's support, no matter how powerful Xu Wujiang is, he's just a small soldier." The scoundrel who was almost killed by an elbow was still sitting on the cold ground gasping for breath, his chest aching unbearably, and he interrupted indignantly.
"You dirty bastard, you know nothing!" scolded Zheng the butcher's wife.
"Xu Wufu had long wanted to take Di Niang as his concubine, and had even told her father, Old Su, about this. Everyone thought it was a done deal, but Xu Wujiang's wife died of illness two years ago, so he got in the way and married Di Niang first. How could Xu Wufu really be willing to do that?" The scoundrel Chen Gui's hometown was near Lutai Village, and he was quite familiar with the details of the Xu family. He said indignantly, "It's just that Xu's family hasn't encountered any problems in the past two years, and no one has tried to expose their paper relationship?"
"That's true. I've heard about it too," said Zheng the butcher.
"Why haven't I heard you mention this before?" asked Zheng the butcher's wife.
"..." Neither the scoundrel Chen Gui nor Zheng the butcher could give a reason.
In fact, some things will be spread unscrupulously among men in the street, but they will not mention them in front of the person concerned, nor will they talk nonsense in front of their wives.
Zheng the butcher wanted to take a concubine, but was stopped by his wife. Who would go to her and talk about such a sensitive matter?
"Even if Xu Wufu is unwilling, who is he to be provoked by you so easily? I think you should just give up on this idea and stop provoking that killer." said Zheng the butcher's wife.
The two assassins looked at each other thoughtfully, left the money for the wine and walked out of the shop.
…
…
Xu Huai found an inn and went in to get some wine. After a while, he saw the two assassins holding their swords wrapped in cloth in their arms and walking along the long street in front.
Xu Huai was a strong man, and he was very conspicuous even if he wanted to hide in the dark and track someone in the dimly lit streets. He just walked to the inside of the inn's door and peeked out. He saw the two people walking towards Yuehonglou. He thought to himself, no wonder he didn't get any news about them after going to three inns before. It turned out that they were hiding in the brothel.
The women who serve the patrons with their bodies are usually the ones who hear all kinds of information from their patrons, and some of the information is quite high. On the other hand, they also like to sell this information to their generous patrons without restraint and without reservation.
Seeing the assassin hiding in Yuehonglou, where there was food, drink and accommodation, Xu Huai was not surprised at all. He thought it was reasonable, but he was a little confused. He had never set foot in such an occasion before, so how could he understand the logic behind it?
Xu Huai returned to the military camp with a jar of wine and two roast geese.
"You fool, you only remember that you like to eat fat geese, but you didn't even mention buying two more meat dishes?" Di Niang opened the lotus leaf and saw two roast geese. She said angrily and amusedly, "When I ask you to go out and do something, you really have to give clear instructions without missing a single detail."
Xu Huai chuckled, and without making any excuses, he found an excuse, pulled Lu Xiong aside and told him what he had just seen in the street: "The assassins' help came so quickly, I didn't expect them to be hiding in Yue Honglou!"
"Although it's a thousand miles from Bianjing, they galloped and could change horses along the way. Calculating the time, they could transfer troops from Bianjing in one or two days." In that day and age, it was common for those with enough power to borrow fast horses from the post station for private matters. Lu Xiong was not surprised that the assassin had transferred troops from Bianjing at this time. He said, "However, they transferred troops cautiously. They must be afraid of the person behind you."
What does it mean to be trapped in one's own cocoon?
This is it!
Seeing that Lu Xiong was looking at him expectantly, Xu Huai regretted that he had found such a lame excuse and pretended to be so pretentious that he actually fooled Lu Xiong.
Where can he find help now, and how can he explain all this to Lu Xiong?
Xu Xin'an ran over and called them to go drink. Xu Huai also took the opportunity to avoid Lu Xiong's expectant eyes and walked to the back yard.
However, Xu Huai thought that since the assassins were hiding in Yuehonglou, their number should not be too many. Deng Gui did not dare to let the situation deteriorate. At dusk, he clearly assigned the task of protecting Wang Bing to Xu Wujiang. They would not worry too much for the time being.
The division of labor of several officers in the Inspection Office was also adjusted: Xu Wujiang would no longer be responsible for patrolling the military camp in the next period of time, and would be responsible for guarding the east gate of the camp; Xu Wujiang could not stay by Wang Bin's side all the time, so in addition to Lu Xiong, he also had to arrange two soldiers to stay by Wang Bin's side at all times in case of any emergencies.
The best candidate should be Xu Huai.
However, Xu Huai didn't want to agree this time.
If he stayed with Wang Bing, he would have no way to get away and do other things. He chewed on the greasy goose leg and said vaguely, "I won't do this. I won't sleep well at night! Ask Xin'an to come."
"You only know how to sleep. How can you not die of sleep?" Xu Wujiang scolded angrily.
"I'll do it, I'll do it," Xu Xin'an glanced at Wang Xuan who was dining in the side room with Di Niang, and hurriedly accepted the task, saying, "Xu Huai is clumsy and can't take care of people. If Mr. Wang has any tasks, can you trust him to do it? Uncle Seventeen, he can't even buy cooked food when he goes out, and the wine he bought tastes sour..."
At this moment, a sentence flashed through Xu Huai's mind: A man licks a dog and licks a dog until he has nothing left in the end.
He turned around and glanced at Wang Xuan in the side room, feeling that what he said was very appropriate .
Although Wang Xuan's face was really delicate and flawless, and her beauty was hard to conceal at such a young age, in his eyes, she was still a little girl who was far from grown up.
He guessed that this sense of age gap was probably related to the memories that most of them could no longer remember.
Xu Xin'an had no idea that Wang Xuan, who was of a proud and arrogant character, did not take these rude, low-level warriors seriously at all.
Yes, Wang Xuan was quite interested in him at first, but later, seeing that he was not very knowledgeable about poetry, literature and essays, and his handwriting was crooked and ugly, her interest faded a little; they would occasionally chat with him, but she was just curious about the news about the "big brother" behind him.
During the 150 years since the establishment of the Dai Viet Dynasty, its national policy has been to respect culture and suppress military power. As the granddaughter of Wang Bing, who once held a high position and was a great Confucian scholar, it is not unfair to say that Wang Xuan has always looked down on lower-class warriors since she was a child.
Of course, Xu Huai would not mind these things with a little girl who was not even thirteen years old and was already nervous just after her period. At this time, he would rather Xu Xin'an take over the job of personal servant. He did not want to be a bootlicker in front of a little girl.
Xu Wujiang thought that Wang Bing's safety was a matter of great concern, and Xu Xin'an was more reassuring, so he ordered another skilled fighter from the Xu family, Xu Sihu, to stay with Wang Bing and take care of him...
