Chapter 5: The Terrifying Night at the Commander's Residence

  Li Mengsheng understood that when he was still a 'young master', Ya Jun already looked down on his rascal appearance. Now that he had fallen to the point of begging for food under someone's eaves, it was even more hopeless. Rather than being looked down upon by Ya Jun again, it was better to let her hate him. The feeling of being hated by others was better than being pitied, especially being pitied by a woman. So Mengsheng was intentionally angering her.

  Seeing Ya Jun being driven away, Li Mengsheng also looked like he had lost his soul, listlessly hanging his head.

  "Hey, Meng Sheng, what's wrong? Why are your heads all tucked into your crotch?" Han Mingju asked as he walked over.

  "Nothing much, you go ahead with your business, I'll just take a stroll around with Lianzhu."

  "Let's go, I don't have anything to do either. I'll take you two for a stroll around the city." With that, he took Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu out for a walk.

  They said they were going out for a stroll, but in fact they could only go to two places, both of which liked to entertain this kind of young master. One was a brothel and the other was a casino. Han Mingjie took them to all six brothels in the county town, but none of them had any girls that Li Mengsheng thought were worth looking at. Li Mengsheng sighed: "Our small county town is really not as good as a big city like Tianjin! All the pretty girls have gone to the big cities to make money!"

  "Confucius said it well, better to go gamble than to eat one's fill all day and have nothing to think about. Let's go! We'll win some small money!" Han Mingju pulled Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu towards the gambling den.

  "Not going, I haven't recovered from the fatigue of these days, let's go back and rest for a while." Meng Sheng didn't have much money in his pocket, and he was also embarrassed to borrow from Han Ming.

  "Alright, it's almost dinner time, I'll invite you two for a drink, let's consider it as a welcome!" Han Ming said.

  Meng Sheng couldn't decline, so the two of them followed Han Ming to a restaurant. Meng Sheng was in a bad mood, and the continuous blows made him feel like he couldn't take it anymore. Feeling depressed, he ended up drinking more than usual, and by nightfall, he stumbled back to the general's mansion, drunk, and fell onto his bed, fast asleep.

  It was half past midnight when Meng Sheng was woken up by the urge to pee. He got out of bed and went to relieve himself, only to find that Lian Zhu's chamber pot was already full. Looking at Lian Zhu who was snoring away, he cursed under his breath and took the chamber pot to empty it. It was then that he realized Han Mingju was not in bed, "Which little tart's kang is he on now?" Meng Sheng thought.

  Just as he was about to open the door and go out, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a person stumbled in and quickly closed the door. Meng Sheng was startled, and under the moonlight, he saw that it was Han Yajun.

  Meng Sheng saw Ya Jun rush in so flustered and was certain that something had happened, so he asked: "What's wrong? What's going on?"

  "Quick! Let's go! My father is going to catch you!"

  "What's going on?"

  "Just now I heard Father and Brother discussing plans to hand you over to Tang Hu's army, they were just about to come and capture you."

  It turned out that when Dream was born to the Han Mansion, General Han received a telegram from Tang Hu's military commander, ordering him not to accept or hide Li Du's son. If he found out about his whereabouts, he would be arrested immediately, otherwise, he would take advantage of the situation and swallow up General Han. So General Han ordered his son, Han Ming, to keep an eye on Li Dream, while he used Li Dream as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Tang Hu's military commander.

  During the fierce battle between Li and Tang, he had sent five batches of people to ask General Han for help. General Han thought it over: this time, Tang's army was determined to defeat Li with the support of the Northern Government Army, and his own 30,000 troops would be of little use even if they went to assist. Even if they won against Tang's army, what benefits would he gain? He would have lost strength, and the Northwestern Army, which had been eyeing his territory for a long time, would take advantage of the situation and gain an unfair advantage. What was the point of having brothers or friends when it came to holding power and occupying territory? So he decided not to send troops to rescue Li, and secretly killed the people Li had sent to ask for help. This time, by handing over Li Mengsheng to Tang's army, he would be able to live a comfortable life for several years.

  Li Mengsheng was startled after hearing this. "How could General Han treat me like this? I thought Han Mingju was good to me, but it turns out he's been watching me!"

  "Thank you, Ya Jun! You helped me escape, your father will not forgive you if he finds out. Come with me!" Li Meng Sheng felt a bit reluctant to part with Ya Jun.

  "Go or not, it's up to you! The back door is already open, and crossing the training ground will take you to the Jin Yin River. Following the river westward will lead you out of the county town." Yajun regained her composure and turned to leave.

  Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu hastily put on their clothes, ran out of the house to the backyard, and at this time, they heard footsteps behind them. It was General Han's soldiers who had been sent to capture them. The two ran out of the backyard, across the training ground, and indeed not far away was a river. Meng Sheng and Lian Zhu followed Ya Jun's directions and ran west along the riverbank. At this time, gunshots and chaotic footsteps were heard from behind. Some bullets flew past their heads, scaring Meng Sheng to crawl on the ground. Lian Zhu quickly picked up Meng Sheng and carried him forward as they continued to run.

  Fortunately, the two of them were young and physically fit, so they ran for seven or eight miles and then secretly swam to the other side of the river before shaking off the pursuing soldiers. The two of them sat on the ground panting and cursing General Han.

  "This old scoundrel! How did my father save this ungrateful thing back then!" Meng Sheng cursed angrily.

  "You call me brother with your mouth, but you're stabbing me in the back! You've lived a useless life all these years!" Lian Zhuang cursed.

  "Sooner or later, he will pay the price for what happened today!" Meng Sheng said. "However, we were able to escape this disaster all thanks to Ya Jun. This old rascal having a daughter like her is probably due to his ancestors' accumulated virtue." After finishing speaking, he thought of Ya Jun again and couldn't help but feel resentful towards his own misfortune.

  "We've become sworn enemies, heaven is really blind!" Lian Zhu said indignantly.

  "Alas! I peed on one shoe, spilled soup on the other crotch, wiped my butt with a broken paper, and farted out shit. All this damn trouble has caught up with me." Meng Sheng said with resentment.

  "Big brother, what should we do now? Where are we going?" Lianzhu asked.

  "Not far to the west should be Zhenping County, that county town is not big, my father's subordinate team leader told me before, that county town is a place where no one is in charge, it's quite chaotic, and there are trains passing through, with a train station. Let's go there first and see if we can get something to eat, if we really can't make ends meet, then take the train to somewhere else."

  "Go on," replied Lin Dong.

  After that, the two of them set off in the direction of Zhenping County. The two people were in a hurry to escape and didn't have any money on them, so they did a few sneaky things along the way to fill their bellies. After walking slowly for two days, when they could see the gate of Zhenping County, the two of them looked like beggars, with tattered clothes and dirty faces.

  Meng Sheng encouraged Lian Zhu Dao: "With my brother's ability, once we arrive at the county town, we will have food to eat."

  "Shall we not become robbers? Our Zhao family has been good citizens for generations, and my father warned me to take the right path before he died." Lian Zhu thought Meng Sheng was having evil thoughts and hastily advised him.

  "Who made you a bandit?! Starving to death is a small matter, losing one's integrity is a big deal. Can I, a dignified young master, do such a thing?! Let's go!" Meng Sheng said.

  After finishing speaking, two beggars dressed as 'young masters' walked towards the county town.