Volume 1: Kyoto Winds and Clouds Chapter 55: Visiting Cai Yong, Suddenly Encountering a Hostage Situation

  Liu Zhang's words made Liu Yan feel a chill. He only remembered the emperor's favor towards Liu Zhang, but forgot about Liu Zhang's achievements. However, this couldn't be blamed on Liu Yan. The Han Dynasty had been established for 400 years, and except for a few generals with great merits during its founding period, later on there were only powerful eunuchs! These eunuchs relied solely on their relationships to rise to power, and as for achievements, they didn't have even half a point. Of course, offering one's female relatives to the emperor shouldn't be considered an achievement either.

  Liu Zhang saw Liu Yan's face change suddenly, and he shrugged his shoulders with a smile: "Father, don't worry, I have my own way! At first, I was always showing loyalty to the Emperor, and when Empress He came, I told the Emperor that I am very sentimental. With my joining, Empress He's position will be unshakeable, and my relationship with her will also become deeper. As long as Empress He doesn't do anything stupid, you and I, father and son, will still hold great power, and the Emperor won't easily harm us!"

  Liu Yan was relieved, thinking that his son was young and impulsive, but he didn't expect him to have made up his mind. Liu Yan waved his hand and said, "You think about what you should do yourself! I'm tired! Go!"

  Finally resolving all his doubts, Liu Zhang dragged his exhausted body out of the study. The imperial family banquet, although not comparable to charging into Wuhuan Mountain, was in no way inferior to a major battle in terms of wit and effort.

  The next day, Liu Bei did not go to the imperial palace, but instead went to Cai's mansion to visit his mentor Cai Yong. Led by the attendants, Liu Bei brought Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei to Cai's mansion. To be honest, there was no change in the capital city, only more and more refugees were pouring in.

  Liu Zhang walked up and knocked on the door. An old servant opened it and asked, "May I ask which young master you are looking for?"

  "Doesn't Mr. Cai recognize me?" Liu Zhang smiled and said: "I am Mr. Cai's disciple, Liu Zhang!"

  "Ah? So it's the champion Hou arriving, I'm afraid we didn't welcome you from afar, please come in quickly!" Cai Guan's family struggled to recognize Liu Zhang, after all, he had changed too much over the years.

  Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Old steward doesn't have to be so polite, I'm still the same little Zhang! Is teacher at home?"

  "Ah!" Cai Guan's family said with some helplessness: "After the young master left, the imperial court took away the position of Taifu from the old master. Now the old master is just the Dongguan Lord, usually responsible for revising books! Today he is at home teaching Miss the art of playing the guqin!"

  "Miss?" Liu Zhang walked and smiled: "When I left, my younger sister was not born yet. Now, she is only about five years old. The teacher won't be idle, playing with the little sister!"

  "You little scamp, you haven't come back for years and now you're making fun of your teacher. Do you believe I'll whip you with a ruler?" Cai Yong heard that there was a guest visiting, so he came out of his study, just in time to hear Liu Zhang teasing him.

  "Teacher, I'm not one who hasn't tried your ruler before. You always have a sharp tongue but a soft heart!" Liu Zhang said, taking a step back and bowing deeply to Cai Yong: "Student Liu Zhang, paying respects to his benevolent teacher!"

  "Hurry up!" Cai Yong hastily helped Liu Zhang to his feet, saying: "In this life I have taken in many disciples; apart from Your Majesty, only you have earned me such great face."

  Liu Zhang stood up and said: "You are a famous Confucian scholar of the great Han, while I have become a martial artist. I'm still worried that my master will say I'm not doing my job properly!"

  "Nonsense!" Cai Yong laughed and said: "The way of literature and martial arts is all about benefiting the country and the people. As long as it's good for the nation, who cares if you're a civil minister or a military general?"

  Liu Zhang patted his chest and said: "That's a relief! I was worried that Master would expel me from the sect!"

  "Stinky little boy!" Cai Yong tapped Liu Zhang's head lightly and pulled him into the main hall. At this time, Cai Yan, who was studying in the study room, secretly stretched her small head from behind a pillar, her two big black eyes staring at Liu Zhang. It has to be said that Cai Yan's hiding skills were not bad, although Liu Zhang saw her, but Cai Yong couldn't see her, and that spot just happened to be Cai Yong's blind spot.

  "Yan'er, aren't you going to come out and pay respects to your senior brother? What are you doing hiding behind the pillar?" Cai Yong surprisingly discovered Cai Yan as if he had X-ray vision.

  Liu Zhang was extremely surprised and asked: "Master, where is the blind spot of vision? How did you know that Shifu was there?"

  Cai Yong curled his lips and said: "Every time a guest comes, she hides there. If I still don't know, wouldn't I be a fool?"

  "Father is no fun, every time you so easily find me!" Cai Yan pouted her small mouth, walked out from behind the pillar and saluted Liu Zhang: "See you, brother!"

  "It's not necessary!" Liu Zhang searched his body for half a day, wanting to find something to give Cai Yan as a gift. Unfortunately, all he had on him were clothes and weapons, which weren't suitable for a girl. Suddenly, he saw a jade pendant hanging from his waist and immediately took it off, saying: "Brother came in a hurry and didn't bring any gifts. This jade pendant was obtained by me at the Wuman King Court, it should be good, I'll give it to you."

  "Thank you, brother!" Cai Yan took the jade pendant and ran to Cai Yong's side, showing off the treasure she had just received.

  Cai Yong took a closer look and was startled to find that the jade pendant Liu Zhang had casually given him was actually a ritual vessel used by the Wuduan King for worship. Cai Yong asked with a mixture of tears and laughter, "Zhang'er, do you know what this is?"

  Liu Zhang asked in surprise: "Isn't it Yu Ge? This is a good thing I got from the tent of Wuduan King."

  Cai Yong shook his head and said: "You used to be okay, but now you seem a bit unlearned and unskilled. This is the ritual vessel of the Wuman royal family, for sacrificial use!"

  "What? For worship? How inauspicious!" Liu Zhang exclaimed: "Sister, give me that thing and I'll pick out a few auspicious trinkets for you later!"

  "I won't give it away, I like this thing!" Cai Yan said with her small head tilted upwards, looking incredibly cute.

  Cai Yong, with a head full of black hair, said: "Inauspicious? Wuman doesn't have anything more auspicious than this thing! This is the ritual vessel used by the King of Wuman, equivalent to what the Son of Heaven uses for sacrifices today, do you understand?"

  "I told Master, you just say it's precious and that's it! Why make a fuss and scare people half to death?!" Liu Zhang said with a mischievous grin: "Since it's for Little Shifu, the more auspicious and precious the better. We can't get the Emperor's things, but next time I'll go fight the Xiongnu and steal their king's ritual vessels to give to Little Shifu!"

  "Thank you, brother!" Seemingly understanding Liu Zhang's meaning, Cai Yan sweetly smiled at him, causing him to become somewhat distracted.

  "Wow, so young and yet so charming, what will happen when you grow up?" Liu Zhang stared at Cai Yan in a daze, until the loud noise from outside the mansion brought him back to his senses. As for Liu Zhang's rudeness, Cai Yan didn't mind, after all, Liu Zhang was only thirteen years old and Cai Yan was only five years old. However, the commotion coming from outside the mansion made him very displeased.

  "Tsai Fu, what's going on outside?" Tsai Yong seemed to be talking to the air.

  "I've already sent someone to investigate, sir!" Cai Fu, the steward of the Cai Manor, seemed to appear out of nowhere like a ghost and gave Liu Zhang a sly smile.

  After a good while, a servant from the Cai residence finally returned to report: "Reporting to Master, something has happened at Commander Qiao's residence!"

  "What?" Cai Yong hastily got up and asked: "What happened at Old Qiao's home?"

  "Today, Lord Qiao's youngest son and two daughters went out to play, but were kidnapped by three scoundrels! Now the three scoundrels are holding Lord Qiao's youngest son hostage in the attic of the Qiao mansion, demanding a ransom of 100,000 coins from Lord Qiao! Lord Qiao refused, and now the Imperial Censor-in-Chief and the Prefect of Luoyang are rushing to the Qiao residence!"

  "Master, let's go and take a look!" Liu Zhang didn't know who Qiao Taiwei was, but he knew that in the Han Dynasty there was a very powerful person with the surname Qiao, namely Qiao Xuan, the father of the Two Qiaos of Jiangdong. Plus Cai Yong's tension, this Qiao Taiwei must have a special relationship with him.

  "Right!" Cai Yong excitedly nodded and said: "You've always been clever and full of ideas, maybe you can really get this done. Let's hurry over."

  Under Cai Yong's lead, Liu Zhang quickly arrived at Qiao Taiwei's mansion, and they actually took a step faster than the Sili Xuewei and Luoyang Ling. From this, it can be seen how familiar Cai Yong was with Qiao Taiwei's mansion.

  "Grandfather, what's going on?" Liu Zhang saw Cai Yong rush towards a sixty-year-old old man, and he quickly followed up.

  "Bo Ji Ah!" Qiao Taiwei said with a worried face: "My son has been taken hostage!"

  "I see!" Cai Yong hastily asked: "What are their demands?"

  Qiao Taiwei had not spoken yet, when a loud voice came from the attic: "Old Qiao, as a respected commander, I only asked you for 100,000 taels of silver as ransom, and you didn't even respond. Is this kid not your own flesh and blood?"

  "Hmph! Those who commit crimes have no humanity, how can I tolerate the country's criminals for the life of one son!" Commander Qiao said with a straight face: "I advise you to surrender quickly, otherwise I will let people attack!"

  The hostage-taker also fired back, shouting: "You dare to call for an attack? I'll kill your son! The life of Commander Qiao's son is worth more than the lives of these worthless commoners. Will you burn jade and stone together? With young Master Qiao as company, I've made a profit!"

  "Commander of Luoyang, Colonel of the Imperial Guard, why don't you hurry up and capture those people to be executed according to law?" Qiao Xuan was a stubborn old man who didn't care about his own son. Logically speaking, children would have been frightened by such an event, but Commander Qiao's young son didn't make a sound, which made Liu Zhang suspect that the child might have been killed by the three captors!

  The kidnapper sneered coldly upon hearing what Cao Taiming said, "Since you don't care about your son's safety, I'll cut off one of his hands to show you!"

  "Slow down!" Liu Zhang jumped out and said: "Three of you, don't be in a hurry. This Old Qiao is just being stubborn. We'll persuade him for a while. You can wait a bit, after all, Young Master Qiao is in your hands, I wouldn't dare to do anything. However, you must let us confirm whether Young Master Qiao is still alive!"

  Liu Zhang spoke while giving a glance to Cai Yong. Cai Yong understood Liu Zhang's intention and immediately pulled Qiao Taiwei away, lest he continue talking nonsense and provoke the bandits. Qiao Taiwei was reluctant to leave, but Cai Yong told him that Liu Zhang had a plan. Although Qiao Taiwei did not want to ruin the law for his own son, he was after all a father, and no father wants their child to die. Helplessly, Qiao Taiwei left the pavilion with Cai Yong.