Volume 1 Chapter 6: The Strange Case of Li Dai's Peach

  They stood at the window, gazing out at the view, their words unspoken, each lost in thought, and for a time they all fell silent.

  After a while, the first dish, Poyang Lake Lion's Head, was finally brought up by the waiter. However, the shop assistant immediately apologized to them and said:

  "I'm really sorry, the chef in charge of the kitchen said that the shad fish has been used up today, so I'm really sorry about the white radish and shad fish dish! Would you like to change to another dish?"

  It's a pity that I didn't appreciate it when I heard the words; who knows when will be the next time, in what year and month, to have this opportunity again to come to Wanghu Lou for dinner.

  Jing Yun felt a bit disappointed after hearing what his friend said, so he casually ordered another dish of snow vegetable and silver fish soup. The two then began to eat with their heads down.

  Just as I was savoring the delicious and not greasy lion's head, I suddenly heard a commotion on the street downstairs. Amidst the hubbub, I clearly made out the arrogant scolding and the sorrowful wailing of a young woman.

  This sudden situation immediately interrupted the boy's slow and careful eating. Ju Ying also put down her chopsticks and stood up with him to walk to the other side of the Wanghu Building, in front of the diamond-shaped window facing Wanghu Street, to see what was happening. The surrounding diners at this time also put down their bowls and chopsticks and crowded together in front of the window to watch the commotion.

  Through the window lattice, it turned out that Wanghu Building was adjacent to Wanghu Street. Not far from the entrance, there was a row of small stalls on the side of the road paved with bluestone slabs. A group of yamen runners were surrounding one of the stalls, arguing and pushing each other, and the sound of scolding, crying, and shouting came from there.

  "Let's go and take a look! It seems like there is a girl crying out loud!"

  The anxious girl immediately pulled Xing Yan out of the crowd of diners and went downstairs to see what was going on. As soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs, Xing Yan turned back to shout at the waiter:

  "Waiter! Don't move that lion's head dish, we haven't finished eating it. Let's leave the remaining dishes for when we come back and they'll still be hot."

  The voice went all the way down to the basement.

  At this moment, a few onlookers had already gathered in front of the stall where the incident occurred, watching the commotion. However, with the officials handling the situation, no one dared to get too close, which unexpectedly allowed Xing Yan to protect the girl and effortlessly push his way to the front.

  Only a few yamen runners were standing in front of a medicine stall. Two of them were pulling and dragging a young girl dressed as a village maiden, trying to take her away. The middle-aged man with an honest and worried face was holding his daughter's hand tightly, not letting the yamen runner pull her away; at the same time, he was begging for something in a sad voice. A medium-sized officer with a official hat was loudly scolding the man who kept begging, telling him to be sensible and let go quickly.

  After listening for a while, Wen Yan finally understood that the father and daughter were medicine farmers from nearby Da Gu Shan. They had brought their harvested medicinal herbs to sell on Wang Hu Street in this prosperous county seat of Pengyang. However, they did not expect that earlier, the local official would come with his men to collect taxes on their stall. The silver money they earned from selling their goods for a whole morning was barely enough to pay the stall fee. Who would have thought that after paying the tax, the official would say they still had to pay another "street cleaning and beautification tax"? The poor father and daughter had never heard of this tax before, and they really didn't have any more money. They wanted to pay but couldn't. Therefore, the local official was going to detain the daughter as a guarantee for the tax payment.

  "Chen Ban Tuo is probably taken with this girl, right? Never seen him be so difficult with anyone."

  A bystander next to him whispered.

  He heard the words and took a closer look at the girl. Although her clothes were rough, she was indeed quite attractive upon closer inspection. Another glance at Chen's gaze at the girl revealed that what the person beside him said was about 80% true.

  Just as he was hesitating about whether to tell Ju Ying, who was standing beside him with a sullen face, the situation in the arena suddenly changed. Chen Banhou glared at the man who still refused to let go and sneered, ordering the two idle henchmen standing next to him:

  "Hurray! Since this stubborn commoner refuses to let go, then take him away together!"

  The runners responded with a loud shout, waving their iron chains and rulers as they rushed forward to seize them. How could the poor father and daughter resist the fierce runners? They were caught like an eagle catching small chickens, locked in chains by the runners and taken away to the county yamen.

  "How can these officials be so lawless under the bright sky?"

  Her face turned red with joy. Seeing this, an elderly man next to her kindly advised:

  "Girl, you'd better keep your voice down. If Chen Ban Tian hears us, we'll be in trouble!"

  The old man sighed again:

  "Alas, that girl will probably not escape Chen Kui's clutches. That man will probably also be gone for good."

  The old man was asked what was going on.

  After listening to him, I realized that the leader of the yamen runners was named Chen Kui. He was a lustful and gambling man who would think of ways to take advantage of poor women with some charm. He was also good at flattering and had won the favor of County Magistrate Lu Chonghui. Therefore, although County Magistrate Lu saw Chen Kui's evil deeds, he just turned a blind eye. The victims often had nowhere to appeal and could only swallow their anger in silence. As a result, Chen Kui became more and more lawless.

  As for Magistrate Lü, he was not a good person to begin with; greedy and cruel, he loved money and used every means possible to extort it from the people of Poyang County, who had many complaints about him. They nicknamed him "Lü Mólóng" (吕 蟊 虫), which is a homophone for his name.

  A burly man with thick eyebrows and a large nose beside the old man suddenly shouted in anger:

  "Is there still justice under this clear sky and bright sun? This matter must be handled by all of you brothers!"

  Among the onlookers were many tourists from Poyang Lake, including some rough-looking Jianghu men carrying knives and swords.

  "Tube?"

  The old man sneered at the brave words of the robust Han:

  "This good fellow is an outsider, isn't he? Who doesn't know that as soon as you enter the great prison of Poyang County, regardless of whether you're innocent or guilty, you'll first get a beating with the killing stick. Afterwards, if you don't have twenty to thirty taels of silver, don't even think about Old Master Lü letting you go!"

  As soon as the two or three taels of silver were mentioned, the heroes who had intended to take up the cause immediately fell silent. In these times, the situation on the road is not good either; who among them doesn't have two patches sewn onto their underwear? It's indeed true that when one's purse is empty, even a hero's breath grows short!

  The old man's words made the scene in front of the herbal medicine stall cool down for a while. The robust men who were just hot-blooded had calmed down and realized that as people in the rivers and lakes, they should still adhere to the first law of the rivers and lakes: "the people do not fight with the officials". Thinking again about the chilling "kill stick" made them even more fearful - knives and swords cutting others don't know the pain, but if they are used on themselves, it's not good. It's better for each to go their separate ways, this is the best strategy.

  The onlookers then dispersed in twos and threes.

  Upon hearing the old man's words, a hesitant look appeared in her eyes. It was clear that the young girl had been moved to pity and wanted to help the father and daughter pay off their debt.

  "This girl seems to have a lot of money on her!"

  Just as they were thinking deeply, a short and thin man suddenly appeared in front of them with a mysterious face and said to the two:

  "Two people want to rescue the father and daughter? I have a good plan!"

  The thin man in front of him looked rather shifty. Seeing that he had piqued the interest of both, he continued to speak.

  "It seems that this young lady is very sympathetic to the plight of the father and daughter. As for me, I have a way to relieve their suffering without spending thirty taels of silver!"

  It seems that this rascal judged from the clothes of the two people and immediately decided who to talk to - not because he had exceptional eyesight, but because the coarse linen garment was indeed only suitable for a follower.

  He heard this and immediately became very interested and hastily asked:

  "Do you have a good idea? Speak up and let's hear it!"

  "Don't be impatient, young lady. Actually, what that old man said earlier wasn't entirely wrong; if you enter Lord Lü's prison, it's unlikely you'll come out without spending tens of taels of silver... however..."

  As he said this, he saw the girl's expression was unfavourable, so the sly fellow quickly changed his tune:

  However, in the great hall of Lord Na Lu, when interrogating prisoners, it's common to first give those who are not very important and don't have much silver to redeem themselves a good beating as a warning! That young woman doesn't need to worry, Lord Chen Kui will surely show her mercy and Lord Lü won't be uncooperative. But as for her father, there's no need to mention it, this beating is unavoidable!

  "What's going on?! What should I do?!"

  He was so frightened that he covered his mouth and exclaimed in surprise. But then the old man continued:

  "The little man is saying exactly that. Does the young lady know that the little man also has a nickname? It's called 'Wang Dai Bang'!"

  "What? Wang Daochang?"

  Didn't quite catch what was said but somehow felt a bit more sensitive about the word "Daochang".

  "This young fellow, you've got it wrong. My humble name is Wang Er, nicknamed 'Wang, Dai, Zhang' (King, Substitute, Stick), specializing in taking beatings on behalf of others. As long as the victim's relatives and friends give me some medicine, wine, and silver, that's all I need."

  "Huh? Can you also take someone's beating in the great hall?"

  Jū yíng listened with great curiosity. Seeing her strange appearance, Wang Er Dai smiled and said:

  "You two don't seem to be locals either? Everyone knows that Lord Lü only cares about collecting the ransom. He doesn't care who gets stuck with the stick!"

  Originally, the magistrate of Poyang County was greedy and extremely fond of money. Thus, the "substitute caning" job came into being. Some poor households in Poyang County town borrowed this to make a living, collecting some silver coins to substitute for others to receive caning.

  Of course, part of the stick fee had to be deducted and given to Lord Lü, Chen the squad leader, and those corrupt yamen runners. Giving them a cut was for the sake of reducing the pain when being flogged; if they were given money, the sticks would be raised high and fall lightly, although in the ears of the onlookers present, the "crack" sound was crisp and clear, and the anguished cries of those being flogged were earth-shaking - but in reality, it was just the sound of the bamboo stick hitting the sheepskin padding inside the pants.

  Although it's said that there is a hidden object protecting the lining, the silver given to this executioner can't be saved. If you're greedy for these few pieces of silver and don't give enough to the executioner, he might secretly do something bad, replacing the dry old bamboo strips with fresh and large new ones. He might even learn from those unscrupulous butchers who sell watered-down meat, soaking the already heavy new bamboo in water overnight, making it extremely heavy. When the time comes to use it on stage, using all his strength to beat someone to death, that's not just for show - although the effect is the same as before, this performance is real; after this, does this generation of executioners still want to have a next time?

  However, Ju Ying and the others had never heard of the term "substitute punishment" before, and they were stunned by Wang Er's fluent explanation.

  Seeing the two of them tongue-tied, Wang Er's eyes lit up with excitement. He thought to himself that these two young people were indeed inexperienced in the ways of the world. The young lady was still naive and romantic, who knows, maybe this deal which had no basis or evidence would actually come to fruition! Following his professional instincts, he knew that at this moment, he should strike while the iron is hot, add more fuel to the fire, and make this deal a sure thing!

  "Miss, you haven't seen the mighty killing stick of our Poyang County government office? Those skilled constables can be said to have real combat opportunities every day to hone their skills in this stick technique, it's not a one-day effort. In our Raozhou martial arts world, it is considered one of the best, famous far and near! Even the master of the Divine Stick Gate from Qimen County came all the way here to investigate and learn!"

  "You also saw the physique of that drug trafficker just now, I'm afraid he won't be able to withstand ten beatings and will easily lose his life. How miserable! Think about it, his daughter will lose her father like this and become a lonely orphan, his 80-year-old mother will have to wander the streets and beg for a living..."

  "What to do? Come find me! My generation's reputation is good, and the price is also the most reasonable among our peers. The starting price is one or two silver coins, twelve strokes in the hall, with an additional five cents for each stroke, and a deposit of one or two silver coins will be refunded if not enough is struck. If the bottom price is not met, it can automatically be stored for next time and struck at 20% off."

  "Reputation? Just take a look at me and you'll know I'm an honest and trustworthy person, absolutely no cheating! If you don't believe me, go ask around and listen to my prices, are they not the lowest in Poyang County? If not, I won't take a single cent! Miss, now you should feel at ease paying, right?"

  Just as Wang Er's words were about to convince the young man, who had been to this place several times but had never paid attention to such things, suddenly came to his senses. Seeing that he was about to make a move, he quickly took over and asked Wang Er:

  "Come on, old man! Look at your body, I don't think you can even last five sticks of incense!"

  After finishing speaking, he pulled over the girl who was being confused by Wang's marketing and walked away.

  Until then, Wang Er had been carefully observing the girl's expression and thought that this business was as easy to grasp as a cooked duck, but suddenly felt something was off.

  The country boy who had been quietly standing next to the girl was probably more than just her little follower.

  At this moment, Wang Er's eyes seemed to suddenly flash a strange scene:

  On the counter of a street corner braised food stall, several cooked ducks were flapping their oily and shiny wings flying away...

  Zai shuo xing yan jiang ju ying che dao yi pang bian gei ta fen xi dao:

  "Just now, this man's words are not entirely trustworthy. Moreover, asking him to take the blame is only treating the symptoms and not the root cause. Even if we let that drug dealer escape this beating, his daughter will still fall into Chen Kui's clutches and he himself will still be unable to leave prison. If he has a wife and children at home, they may even be extorted until they lose everything. This matter requires another plan with a foolproof strategy."

  "Hmm? That's right!"

  Jū yíng yě bù shì shǎ guā tóu jīng xǐng yán zhè me yī tí xǐng yě qīng xǐng le guò lái.

  Translation:

  Ju Ying is not a silly girl, after being reminded by Jing Xingyan, she also woke up.

  He thought of saving the man, and at once he had a plan. He walked up to Wang Er's face, who was still examining himself to see where he had gone wrong, and shouted at him loudly:

  "You're taking advantage of my young lady! Those two scoundrels couldn't pay their taxes and deserved to be arrested. My young lady was just being kind-hearted for a moment. How dare you come and extort money from her? We came all the way from Suizhou to visit West Lake, but instead we encountered this unlucky affair!"

  He was originally a straightforward person, but suddenly thought that after all, he was a neighbor of the family who had made up his mind to think of a way to rescue the father and daughter from prison, so it was inevitable that he would have some conflict with the government. Therefore, Xingyan decided that from now on, he would try his best to eliminate all clues that could be seen afterwards.

  Don't look at the young man who occasionally appears silly in front of Ju Ying, but once he decides to do something important, his mind is fully activated and his thoughts become meticulous.

  But Wang Er Dai, who was lamenting and thinking about the reasons for his failure, suddenly heard these words and was taken aback, but instead of being angry, he was overjoyed:

  "So that's how it is! It wasn't that I'm not eloquent or that I misjudged the young man's identity, but rather that he and his master never intended to take responsibility for others. It seems it's not a problem with my abilities after all!"

  "But this kid is too detestable, daring to suspect that I, Wang Er, the great 'Master of Enduring Flogging', can't withstand five lashes! This doubt towards my professional integrity is the greatest insult to me! He must apologize!"

  Wang Er had made up his mind to take action and ask for an explanation, but the young man had already finished speaking and left, so he could only swallow his words again.

  All we see is our diligent King Er Dai standing on the street of Wang Hu, facing the sun on the horizon, waving his arm, which is slightly thicker than a reed stick, and saying indignantly:

  "Isn't this enough strength?!"