Chapter 18: The Era of Playing the Fool (Part 2)

  The gate opened, and Fang Xuanling walked out first, strolling leisurely in the courtyard. Behind him followed Xiao Si, who hoped to be as invisible as air. Seeing someone come out, the beggars outside shouted and wailed even louder, and a few sharp-eyed ones recognized Xiao Si, shouting in unison: "It's that little devil behind who killed Old Chen yesterday!"

  A stone stirred up a thousand waves, and in an instant the group of beggars wearing mourning clothes rushed forward to surround Xiao Si and Fang Xuanling.

  Fang Xuanling spoke in a loud and clear voice, "Everyone, listen to me!"

  An old man shouted angrily: "What you say is useless, hand over this kid first, otherwise don't even think about talking!"

  Fang Xuanling said in a loud voice: "Are you all polluted rudders? Has Huang Duzhu come or not, call him over to talk!"

  The crowd suddenly quieted down, and then a loud voice came from outside the crowd: "Which son of a bitch dares to call me? You... are the young master?"

  A tall, dark middle-aged beggar pushed through the crowd with a sly smile and walked over. Fang Xuanling glanced at him and said, "Huang Shu, your business is getting bigger and bigger."

  That middle-aged beggar was actually the helmsman of Chang'an Bang's dirty clothes, Huang Shujun. He looked at Fang Xuanling with a shocked expression: "Big, big young master, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you. How did you end up here?"

  Xiao Si was also stunned and muttered: "Good grief, this refined-looking guy is actually the beggar young master!"

  Fang Xuanling hummed and said: "I'd like to know what you're doing here?"

  Huang Shujun said, "This escort agency doesn't know the rules. They're new here and don't even pay respects to our Mount Tai or burn incense. They really don't take our Chang'an Gang seriously. Our boss is very angry and ordered us to teach them a lesson. We had a fight yesterday afternoon and my brothers suffered a bit. I've come today with some men to demand justice and make them know their place!"

  Fang Xuanling shook his head and said, "This Brother Xiao is my new friend. Go back and tell Father not to come to Liu Garden again to cause trouble. I want to stay here to review my lessons and prepare for this year's imperial examination."

  Huang Shu-jun scratched his head and said, "Young master, our family's business is huge, you can do whatever you want, why bother competing with others in writing? If people find out that the son of the powerful Long'an Gang leader, who shakes the whole Guanzhong region, actually went to take the imperial examination with a bunch of poor scholars, those bastards will probably laugh their teeth off."

  Fang Xuanling waved his hand and said: "Everyone has their own aspirations. Even if you inherit your father's business and become the leader, what does it mean?"

  "What's the point of being meaningless? Our Chang'an Gang has thousands of brothers, plus the boss's industries. You want to be carefree and unrestrained, it's just a matter of speaking!"

  Fang Xuanling smiled and waved his hand: "You don't understand, my ambition is not here. I want to be the emperor's teacher, cultivate myself, govern my family, and bring peace to the world!"

  Xiao Si heard this and secretly cursed, "This beggar young master has a big mouth. If he becomes the emperor's teacher, won't that little girl have to call him 'Master Ancestor'?"

  Huang Shu-jun smiled wryly and said: "I'm inarticulate, can't argue with the young master, I'll go back and report to the leader, let him decide."

  Fang Xuanling nodded and said: "You go, there's no need for my father to come."

  While the two were talking, Xiaosan squeezed out of the crowd and came to the corpse that was sleeping soundly, patted his cheek and said: "Brother, stop pretending, it's time to get off work and go home for dinner."

  That old beggar really held back, his eyelids didn't even move and he remained silent.

  Xiao Si slowly took out two silver ingots and tapped them against his ear, saying: "What's this? Guess correctly and I'll give it to you."

  "Silver!" Lao Jiao Hua replied instantly. After speaking, he suddenly realized that as a dead man, he shouldn't be able to speak even if the sky was struck by thunder, so he hurriedly held his breath again.

  Xiao Si Ha laughed loudly and waved two silver ingots in front of him, saying: "Really give it to you, want it, just stretch out your hand."

  The old man closed his eyes and slowly stretched out his hand, grasping a handful of silver coins and stuffing them into his bosom.

  Just then, the sound of horseshoes was heard rumbling, at least hundreds of mounted Imperial Guardsmen came galloping from both ends of the street, surrounding more than a thousand beggars in tattered clothes.

  The leading imperial guard commander sat upright on his horse and shouted loudly: "Arrest them all, don't let a single beggar escape!"

  Huang Shujun was shocked and said: "Isn't that the Right Wuwei General Qu Tutong? How did he come here?"

  Xiao Si smiled and said: "Some friends know that I didn't sleep well last night, so they specially called General Qu Da to help me clean up the scene."

  Huang Shujun suddenly understood that this time the Chang'an Gang was in a precarious situation, and he secretly cursed: "Damn it, this kid is incredibly resourceful, even the Right Martial General Qu Dajiang of the Imperial Guard's Twelve Guards personally brought people to the Liu Garden, no wonder Tong Baoju dared to oppose us Chang'an Gang."

  Fang Xuanling said: "Xiao brother, can you please explain to General Qu and persuade him to spare the lives of my brothers?"

  Xiao Si shook his head and said: "Brother Fang, it's not that I don't want to help, but inviting a god is easy, sending him away is hard."

  Huang Shujun nodded in understanding and hastily said, "Xiao Di's words are absolutely right. As long as we can get General Qu to show his favor, the silver will be provided by our Chang'an Gang, you must not spend a penny."

  Xiao Si let out a sigh and said, "Who made me and Fang brother good brothers? But whether it succeeds or not depends on Lao Cui's mood, I don't dare to guarantee anything."

  Huang Shujun's stomach churned with bitter water: "Kuitu Tong's mood? I'm afraid his mood won't improve even if the silver is not in place. Originally, we wanted to make a fortune, but in the end, we injured dozens of brothers and still had to pay compensation, it's really a damn injustice!"

  Xiao Si swaggered in, accompanied by the swaying and wandering of the willow trees. Xia Pei Heng and others also came down from the female wall and opened the door to welcome him.

  Just a few steps away, Xiao Si had already made up his mind. He walked towards Kui Tu Tong with a bow and said: "Brother Kui, why have you come in person? It's just a few poor beggars asking for some money, we originally planned to ask a few brothers from the Imperial Guard to help us keep order, but didn't want to trouble you. What should I say?"

  Kui Tu Tong dismounted his horse and returned the courtesy, laughing: "So you're Xiao Ge, I've been hearing about you all over Chang'an for the past two days. I didn't expect to meet the real person so soon."

  He was on duty at the Imperial City today, when Wei Gonggong, the personal eunuch of Princess Jincheng, suddenly arrived with a golden arrow in hand, ordering him to quickly assemble a team of soldiers and rush to Liu Garden to disperse the beggars causing trouble there, and throw the ringleaders into prison.

  According to the military law of the Great Sui, the princess originally had no right to mobilize the Imperial Guards. But what Wei Gonggong held was a "As if I were present" imperial edict, so Diwu Xuan did not dare to slow down and immediately assembled 300 Imperial Guard soldiers to rush to Liu Garden.

  Xiao Si saw that Wei Tuo Tong was not putting on any airs, and was also the Jinyiwei general sent by Princess Jin to help him out of this predicament. He couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude and said: "General Wei is too polite, I'm new here and will need your guidance in the future." After speaking, he leaned forward and stuffed a 1,000-tael silver note into Wei Tuo Tong's palm, grasping his hand and sighing bitterly: "Look at this situation, why is it so hard to keep a low profile?"

  Although he was a clean and strict general, the three years of Qingzhifu still returned 100,000 silver flowers. The officialdom has always been like this, whether in ancient or modern times. What's more, it doesn't matter how much money is sent, the key is that this courtesy makes people feel comfortable.

  He accepted the silver ticket presented by Xiao Si, thinking to himself: "I hate it when people pretend to be something they're not and put on airs. But this young brother not only didn't mention his relationship with the princess, but also treated me with courtesy and respect. Although he's a bit young, he's worth befriending."

  It is said that taking someone's money and goods will bring disaster to others. The beggar, with a glance around him, asked: "Xiao brother, what do you want me to do?"

  "If we ask for a warrant to arrest these beggars, it would be simple. But first, they came to help because of that little girl's face, and they may not want to make a big move against the Long'an gang; secondly, Xiao Fang is a good person, having more friends means having more ways out, no need to push things to the extreme."

  He turned to Huang Shujun and said, "Brother Huang, yesterday's matter was my fault. I'm too young and impulsive, and I don't understand the rules. Are those injured brothers okay? I still have some silver here, please divide it among everyone, consider it as me apologizing to the brothers."

  As he spoke, he gritted his teeth and pulled out another 1,000 taels of silver notes from his sleeve and handed them over to Huang Shujun.

  Huang Shujun saw that the Right Wuwei General had personally taken action, and knew that something was amiss. Although it is said that a strong dragon does not oppress the local snake, one must not forget that in the entire city of Chang'an, as well as the ten million li of Jiangshan under the Great Sui, the largest local snake is the one within the imperial palace.

  He was worried that the Imperial Guard would take him away, but unexpectedly, Xiao Si not only didn't kick him while he was down, but also took all the responsibility onto himself.

  He was shocked and hastily waved his hand, saying: "It can't be done, it can't be done. Brother Xun is a magnanimous person who doesn't hold grudges against us small people. We brothers of the Polluted Clothes Gang are already grateful to him, how could we still have the face to accept your silver?"

  Xiao Si stuffed the silver ticket into his hand and laughed: "If you don't accept it, then you're not treating me like a brother."

  Huang Shujun smiled and accepted, saying sincerely: "Xiao brother, don't mention that you are a friend of our young master, just for this kindness, if there's anything we can help with in the future, just speak up!"

  Kui Tu Tong nodded secretly beside him, knowing that these local snakes were the most difficult to deal with. Today's matter could be suppressed by the official family's thunderous power, but how could the Long'an gang be bullied? In the future, Liu Yuan would surely not be able to rest easy.

  Now Xiao Si has been beaten and scolded by Huang Shujun, and even their leader Fang Mingzu can't say a word.

  He was also a sophisticated person, smiling and saying: "Since that's the case, I won't spoil the fun anymore. If Brother Xiang has the chance to see Master Ye again, remember to greet him on my behalf. This humble brother still needs to return to the palace to report, so I won't stay any longer."

  Xiao Si exclaimed in surprise: "Brother Qu, could it be that you are a disciple of Zhongnan? From now on, we must get closer."

  "Consider it settled," said Qu Tu, mounting his horse. "My home is in Shengping Alley; I welcome you, Brother Xiang, to drop by whenever you're free." With a wave of his hand, the three hundred Imperial Guardsmen sheathed their swords and bows, and like a whirlwind, they rushed out of Yong'an Alley.

  Having seen this matter settled, Huang Shujun also didn't want to stay any longer. He bowed again to Xue Xiao Si and left with his men.

  Outside the willow garden, it was much quieter. Yulinglong stepped forward and asked in a low voice: "Fourth brother, you spent quite a bit of money just now, didn't you?"

  Xiao Si furrowed his brow and said, "Yu Zongbiao, you also know those soldiers are not easy to deal with. Without three to five thousand taels of silver, how can they be so willing to talk?"

  Yu Linglong nodded and handed a silver note to Xiao Si: "This is the three thousand taels of silver that Yuwen Chengdu sent someone to deliver yesterday, I will help you make up for the insufficient amount as soon as possible."

  Xiao Si's heart was filled with joy, and he hesitated, saying: "We're all family, how can I bear to do this?"

  Yu Linglong smiled and said: "I won't return the money I gave to Huang Shujun, I think that within three days, Fang Zhong will double the silver ticket and send it back."

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