Chapter Thirty: Barefoot Zhang San

  Just as they were chatting happily, the other suddenly stood up and said to Wang Shicheng with a gloomy face: "Mr. Wang, I have something urgent to attend to and cannot stay long, so I will take my leave now."

  Wang Shicheng had long been dissatisfied with Mao Xiang and said in a bad tone: "I won't see you off far."

  He cupped his hands and bowed, then turned around and walked away with a long stride.

  Wang Pu calmly said: "This one seems to have a preconceived notion about General Ben?"

  Wang Shicheng smiled awkwardly and said to Wang Pu, "These Confucian scholars are self-righteous about their learning, and their behavior is arrogant and frivolous. General, you don't have to treat them with the same courtesy."

  Wang Pu looked up at the sky and said, "Your Excellency Wang, gentlemen, it's getting late, I still have military duties to attend to, so I won't be able to stay here for long."

  Wang Shicheng hastily said: "In that case, I won't detain General Li any longer."

  Wang Pu turned around and looked at Chen Yuanyuan, then said: "Miss Yuanyuan and the matter of Yufeng's class, I'm afraid we'll have to trouble you to mediate."

  "It's no trouble, no trouble." Wang Shicheng smiled and said, "Your subordinate should serve you."

  Wang Pao said: "The betrothal gift for Miss Yuan's hairdressing, this general will send someone to deliver it immediately."

  The betrothal gifts for a courtesan are actually the ransom for redeeming her, with prices varying according to the courtesan's looks and talents. A stunning beauty like Chen Yuanyuan would naturally come at a steep price, but there is no fixed amount - it could be as high as tens of thousands of gold or as low as several thousand, depending on how much this romantic client Wang Pu is willing to pay.

  "This...," Wang Shicheng said with a smile, "I'll take care of the betrothal gift instead. I'm worried that you're busy with official duties and don't have so much silver on hand."

  "Does Lord Wang not know about this?" Li Zushu hastily interjected, "This time, Big Brother Wang brought back a full 500,000 taels of silver from Liaodong, as well as countless ginseng, eastern pearls, and gold. How much silver do you think he needs to give to his new wife? Are you still worried that Lord Wang can't afford it?"

  Wang Pu did not dare to scold Li Zushu face-to-face, so he had to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

  Wang Shicheng smiled and said: "Since that's the case, I'll wait here for your news, General. As soon as Ruanruan's dowry arrives, I'll immediately send a betrothal gift to Yufeng's family. Before nightfall, I'll escort Ruanruan to the large camp outside the city. You can just wait for the wedding night, hehehe."

  Chen Yuanyuan's face turned red with embarrassment at his words.

  Wang Pu said: "Then I'll have to trouble you, sir."

  "Goodbye." Wang Pu nodded to the officials and turned to Chen Yuanyuan, "Miss Yuanyuan, I'll take my leave first."

  Chen Yuanyuan gave Wang Pu a charming glance and curtsied: "This humble woman sends off the general."

  Wang Pu burst out laughing and turned around, striding away with a flourish.

  ■■■

  No need to mention Wang Pu's triumphant return to the military camp, let's talk about Rong Xuan, a scholar from Fu She, who became more and more angry after leaving Wujiang County government office. Rong Xuan was born into a noble family and had been spoiled since childhood, always getting what he wanted. But now, the woman he had set his sights on had been snatched away by someone else.

  For Chen Yuanyuan, Mao Xiang made a special trip from Rugao to Kunshan, from Kunshan to Nanjing, and then from Nanjing to Suzhou. After much trouble, he finally found the beautiful woman's trail. He thought that with his own talent and knowledge, he would surely win the beauty's favor, but he never expected it to end like this.

  The anger and hatred are hard to dissipate, so I found a small wine house and started drinking alone.

  "Master," said the book boy, pouring tea, "you'd better stop drinking, or you'll get drunk."

  "Go away." Meng Ze said in a bad mood, "Don't bother me."

  "Hey, Brother Wang is quite angry!"

  As soon as the sound of the door fell, a clear and melodious voice came from outside the door, and immediately a figure entered the tavern. It was a young man in his early twenties, who was none other than Hou Fangyuan, a close friend of Mao Xiang. Hou Fangyuan's courtesy name was Chaozong, and he was from Shangluo, Henan Province, born into an official family.

  Mingyan hastily pulled out a chair and invited Hou Fangyu to sit down, saying: "Hou Gongzi, please take a seat."

  "Thanks." Hou Fangyu bowed to Mingyan, sat down cross-legged, and said to Meng Xiang, who was silent and expressionless, "Brother Meng, are you still angry about the Chen Yuanyuan thing?"

  He grunted in response.

  "It's just Chen Yuanyuan, isn't it?" Hou Fangyu advised, "True, Chen Yuanyuan is beautiful, but without Chen Yuanyuan, aren't there other famous beauties on the Qinhuai River? They're not much worse than Chen Yuanyuan. I've heard that recently a few young and tender girls have emerged, with exceptional beauty, why must you hang yourself on this one tree of Chen Yuanyuan?"

  "Let there be three thousand beauties on the Qinhuai River, but in my eyes, there is only Yuan Yuan."

  "Hey, you're really a sentimental person." Hou Fangyu shook his head and said, "However, Chen Yuanyuan has already been won over by Wang Pu, and they will soon be engaged. Before nightfall, Suzhou Prefect Wang Shicheng will send Chen Yuanyuan to the large camp outside the city in a small sedan chair. Give up on this idea, Bei Jiang."

  "So soon you've tidied up?" Mou Xiang furrowed his brow and said, "With Wang Pu on an expedition outside, he brought so much silver with him?"

  Hou Fangyuan said, "You don't know that Wang Pu plundered more than 500,000 taels of silver from the Jian Nu in Liaodong, as well as countless ginseng, Dongzhu pearls and gold. How could he not afford to spend a small amount of silver for Chen Yuanyuan's hair?"

  Hou Fangyuan spoke without thinking, but the two men at the wine table next to him perked up their ears. The two men wore bamboo hats on their heads, were tall and sturdy, and wore tattered cloth jackets with exposed chest muscles showing a dark complexion, clearly fishermen who made a living on Lake Tai for many years.

  "Alas, what a good flower it was."

  Hou Fangyu smiled and said, "Chen Yuanyuan is indeed a fresh flower, but Wang Pu is not cow dung, you see he's young, handsome, and has made great achievements, he will definitely be reused by the emperor and his future prospects are boundless. Moreover, his literary talent is remarkable, although his poem is frivolous, it shows extraordinary skill, Chen Yuanyuan can marry such a master, it's her good fortune, don't be disheartened, Bei Jiang."

  "But I couldn't swallow this breath." Meng Xiang said with hatred, "Wang Pu snatched away the woman I had a crush on with his horizontal knife, and this grudge is now settled."

  Hou Fangyu looked around nervously and said in a low voice, "You, you, what can I say to you? How can you talk nonsense like this? Let's go, let's go back to the dormitory first."

  Hou Fangyu and Miao Xiang left not long after, the two men at the next table also settled their bill and left. As they were about to exit, they deliberately lowered their bamboo hats, making it impossible for anyone to see their faces clearly. In fact, these two people had a great background, they were the notorious pirates of Taihu Lake, Zhang San with bare feet and Liu Ba Dao.

  ■■■

  Outside Wujiang City, the Jin Yiwei's large camp.

  Wang Pu Zheng and Chang Yan Ling, Li Zu Shu were drinking when Xiao Qi, who was sent to deliver the betrothal gifts, stumbled into the tent behind Zhen You Cai, crying: "General, it's not good!"

  Before Wang Pu could ask any questions, Li Zushu suddenly shouted: "Little Seven, why did you come back alone? Where's your new wife?"

  Xiao Qi said dejectedly: "I'm useless, the new mistress was snatched away by someone."

  "What!" Li Zushu shouted loudly, "This is outrageous, who the hell has eaten bear heart and leopard gall, daring to rob my new sister-in-law?"

  Wang Pu said in a low voice: "Speak slowly, what's going on?"

  "It's like this." Xiao Qi panted, "I led twenty brothers and had Lord Wang and a dozen yamen runners escorting the new mistress out of the city not far when several hundred bandits suddenly rushed out from the woods on both sides of the official road. I and my brothers couldn't hold them off, and the new mistress was also taken away."

  At this time, Wang Shicheng, who was pale in the face, also entered the tent and said breathlessly: "General, it's...it's Zhang San with bare feet who took away Yuanyuan girl."

  "Who is Barefoot Zhang San?" Chang Yanling shouted back, "Who is Barefoot Zhang San?"

  Wang Shicheng said: "Zhang San with bare feet is just a big thug of Taihu Lake pirates."

  "Taihu water bandits?" Wang Pu asked in a low voice, "What's going on here?"

  Wang Shicheng wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and replied, "General, you don't know that Taihu Lake has a surface area of 800 li, with 48 small islands in it. Some vagrant fishermen and river pirates have occupied these islands, calling themselves the 48 Strongholds. This Zhang San is the leader of the 48 Strongholds."

  Wang Pu asked in a low voice: "What kind of person is this Zhang San with bare feet?"

  If Zhang San, the barefooted, is a lustful and murderous fugitive, then it's meaningless to rescue Chen Yuanyuan now. It would be better to gather troops and destroy the lair of the Taihu Lake bandits as soon as possible! If this Zhang San is still a man of his word in the Jianghu world, then there's still room for redemption.

  Wang Shicheng knew the implication of Wang Pu's question, so he carefully said: "To say, this Zhang San is also a Jianghu man who attaches great importance to loyalty. He usually doesn't disturb the fishermen around Taihu Lake. They only rob passing merchant ships and rich people, and they only take money and goods, not killing people or raping women."

  "Hmm?" Wang Pu stroked his chin and nodded, "So this Barefoot Zhang San is quite a character."

  "General, letter!"

  Just as Wang Shicheng finished speaking, the scar-faced man hastily entered the tent with a flying dart in his hand, and on the dart was attached a letter. Wang Pu took the dart and removed the letter, unfolded it to take a look, and surprisingly it was an extortion letter asking Wang Pu to prepare 500,000 taels of silver to ransom someone at East Mountain, signed by Zhang San, also known as Barefoot Zhang Three.

  "Flat!"

  Wang Pu slammed his fist heavily on the table and shouted: "You dare to be so reckless, not only did you steal the general's woman, but also extorted him, this time I will destroy you!"

  Li Zushu said in a stern voice: "Big brother, what do you say we should do?"

  "Scarface, assemble the brothers immediately."

  "Yes!"

  Scarface received his orders and left.

  Chang Yanling and Li Zushu said in unison: "Big brother, we'll bring the brothers of the Brocade Guard with us."

  "No." Wang Pu shook his head and said, "The two brothers should still guard the main camp. The Jianluo captives in the main camp cannot afford to make any mistakes."

  Li Zu said: "Then let the Brocade Guards stay and guard the main camp. We'll only bring our trusted family servants to go with you."

  "Alright." Wang Pu nodded and asked Wang Shicheng, "Sir Wang, it hasn't been long since Zhang San stole Ruan Ruan. This group of bandits must not have had time to escape into Taihu Lake yet. If we hurry on horseback, we should still be able to catch up with them. Now, please tell me, how many roads can they take from Wujiang County to enter Taihu Lake? Which road are they most likely to take?"

  "There are two paths, the small road of Wenyu River and the main road of Huangni Dam. Moreover, this group of Taihu Lake bandits is very notorious, they rarely hide their tracks when entering and leaving the lake, in the past when they committed crimes on Taihu Lake, they often took the Huangni Dam path, I estimate that this time they will also take the Huangni Dam main road."

  Zhen Youcai thought for a moment and said in a low voice: "General, Zhang San will definitely go to the Carp's Mouth this time."

  "Let's go!" Wang Pu said without hesitation, "We're going to the Carp's Mouth."