The First Volume: The Female Fowls Chapter 7: Subjugation (Part One)

  Gao Jian sat in the front yard of Lu's house, ordering a pot of tea to be brought up. Fu An hastily poured a cup and handed it over to Gao Jian with his buttocks raised. Gao Jian took the teacup, looked at him for a moment without saying a word, then tilted the teacup and spilled all the tea on the ground before handing it back to him.

  Fu An poured again, and Gao Jiang took a sip. The aroma of the new tea rushed to his brain, making him feel like he was in an oxygen bar. He slowly opened his eyes and said, "Next time, remember to warm up the teacup before pouring the tea." Fu An suddenly realized that Gao Jiang really knew how to enjoy himself.

  Just as he was about to flatter and fawn, footsteps were heard on the stairs, and a servant from the Lu family came to report: "Report to Your Honor, Lin Jiao has been invited by our master to the back garden pavilion."

  "Ah." Gao nodded and waved his hand, and Fu An immediately puffed out his chest and shouted: "Investigate again!" He had learned this line from a play. Those high-ranking officials were all dismissed with just one word, "investigate again". Suddenly remembering that he might have been too presumptuous in front of the official, he quickly glanced at the official, only to see him holding his tea cup, closing his eyes and savoring the fragrance, with a smile on his face. It seemed he didn't mind, so Fu An put his heart at ease.

  Little did he know, the servant was not listening to what he said at all, but was still thinking about the previous sentence "Lin Jiaozhu has been invited by my master to the back house attic" and thought "I wonder how those few books under my pillow are doing now".

  After a while, Fu An said in a low voice: "Sir, isn't it time to go and invite Lin's daughter?"

  Gao Jian opened his eyes and said strangely: "There's no outsider here, why are you speaking so softly?"

  Fu An's old face turned red, fortunately his complexion was originally a purplish-red color, so it wasn't noticeable: "Your Honor, this humble one doesn't know why, but I've become somewhat apprehensive."

  Gao Qiang snorted and thought to himself, "You still have a guilty conscience, it seems you're just a hoodlum at heart." He said, "Go ahead, don't forget to take the stairs."

  Fu An agreed and hurried downstairs to inform the servants of the Lu family, and hid in the outhouse himself.

  It didn't take long before someone downstairs said, "Miss Lin, your teacher is just upstairs. You should go up and take a look."

  "Brother, brother!" With several soft cries, Lin Chong's wife, Zhang Shi, appeared with a look of anxiety and hastily ascended the stairs. She was lightly made up with powder and lipstick, her eyebrows faintly painted, wearing only ordinary home clothes, yet exuding an elegant charm. Gongsun Sheng secretly admired: "Lin Chong is indeed blessed with good fortune!" However, when Lin Chong first appeared in Water Margin, he was already over thirty years old, so why didn't they have any children? Could it be that either he or she had infertility issues?

  Just as Zhang was indulging in wild fancies, he saw that there was no one else on the upper floor except for the same young man with a frivolous air who had been seen the day before, sitting upright and holding a tea cup, leering at himself. He felt a shock inside, already knowing he had fallen into a trap. Turning his head to go downstairs again, he saw that the stairs had already been removed, just as the saying goes: "above not reaching heaven, below not touching earth".

  This Zhang was a bold and daring woman, who didn't panic at all. She turned to Gao Qiang and said: "Sir, why have you trapped this civilian girl here? Where is my husband now?"

  He nodded slightly, this woman not only had a stunning appearance but also extraordinary courage. If she were an ordinary woman, she would have been frightened to tears by now and wouldn't even remember her husband's safety. He put down his teacup and said calmly: "Madam, please don't be alarmed, just sit back down. This humble official is not a lustful person, today I had no choice but to resort to this trick in order to get close to Lin Jiaozhou, please forgive me."

  Madam Zhang's face turned pale as snow, but she still pretended to be calm and said: "I only asked the official, where is my husband now?"

  Gao Qiang smiled and said, "Don't worry, madam. This official admires Lin's heroic reputation and wouldn't dare to harbor any malicious intentions. The instructor is currently safe and sound, not even a single hair on his head has been harmed."

  Zhang's expression slightly calmed down, and he sat silently on a stool, far away from Gao. He bit his lip and suddenly said: "Gao, are you truly in love with Min'er, or do you just seek a one-night pleasure?"

  Gao Jiang was thinking that the Party brothers had not made a move yet, and suddenly hearing this remark, he jumped in fright. He hastily waved his hand and said: "Madam, you misunderstood me. This official has admired Lin Jiao for a long time and only hopes to make friends with him. As the saying goes, 'A friend's wife is not to be trifled with.' How dare I have any evil intentions towards Madam?"

  Zhang's expression was indifferent, a strand of black hair hanging down from her temple, the hair caught between her snow-white teeth. She slowly stood up and said: "If the official wants to ask for a night's pleasure, although I am a humble woman with a weak will, I am willing to cater to the official, only asking that after this, we will not bother each other again. If the official wants to take me by force, to break up my family, I would rather die under this building!"

  Gao Qiu was so frightened that he didn't dare to speak, thinking to himself: "If I were to force her to death, even if I jumped into the Yellow River, I wouldn't be able to wash away my guilt. Lin Chong would definitely fight me to the death!" However, his own reputation was too poor, and no matter how he tried to explain himself, no one believed him. Seeing Zhang Shi had already walked to the edge of the building, her hand on the railing, she turned around and said coldly: "Whether Meng Liang's daughter lives or dies is up to you to decide!"

  He was so anxious that he rubbed his hands together, secretly cursing Shi Da for harming people. Who would have thought that Lin Chong's wife was so strong-willed? At this point, the situation was unfavorable and did not allow him to make any more excuses, so he immediately called out: "Madam, don't be alarmed, I only want to get a glimpse of your beauty, nothing else!"

  Zhang's face turned slightly pale, and when she lifted her head again, her delicate face was as white as snow and as clear as jade. The bright sunlight at noon made it seem almost transparent. Her lips were tightly pursed, with a faint bloodstain slowly trickling down, and the determination on her face radiated an unspeakable sorrowful beauty.

  His heart skipped a beat, and he silently cried out: Oh my god, oh my lord, OHMYGOD, Guanyin Bodhisattva who saves suffering and difficulty, any deity from the past come down here! Such a beautiful woman standing in front of me, isn't this forcing me to sin? Beautiful, beautiful wife...

  It's unknown whether his prayers were effective or not, but just as the evil thoughts in his heart rose up and he thought "Anyway, I'll just wipe my mouth after", a loud shout came from downstairs: "High official Gao, come to your death!"

  It's Lin Chong!

  As soon as Zhang heard her husband's voice, she suddenly came to life and rushed to the railing, calling out: "Husband, your humble wife is here!"

  Gao Qiu let out a sigh of relief and thought to himself, "Lin Chong, you've arrived just in time. If not, I would have really lost my temper." Just as he was about to respond, the Party brothers downstairs shouted in unison, "Lin Chong, how dare you be so arrogant!" Immediately following that was a flurry of fighting sounds, with pots and pans clanging wildly all over the place.

  Great joy, just in time! Hurried steps to the building edge, only to see Dang's brothers and their men surrounding Lin Chong, four or five people attacking him at the core, while those on the outside were using hooks and ropes, but Lin Chong's hands were empty. In a few moments, he was dragged down by the hooks and fell to the ground, and everyone rushed up to tie him up tightly.

  Zhang's husband was captured, and she felt as if a thousand-foot tower had lost its footing, her heart sank like the Yangtze River, her mind went blank, and her body swayed, about to fall down. Gao Qiu stood beside her, quick-eyed and quick-handed, embracing her tightly, without savoring the soft jade warmth, hastily shouting: "Someone, quickly set up a ladder and carefully bring Lin Chong up!"

  The Party brothers downstairs shouted a few times, and someone had already set up the ladder. Several people pushed Lin Chong up the stairs, pushing and shoving to get close.

  Looking at Lin Chong again, five parts of wine intention, ten parts of anger, although his body was disheveled, his eyes were filled with murderous intent, as if he wanted to shed blood. Gao Qiang secretly praised him, "He's indeed the leopard head", but suddenly realized that he was still holding someone else's wife in his arms, Zhang Shi had already fainted, no wonder her husband was so furious.

  Hurry up and call Lü Qian to come home and order the servant woman to keep a close eye on Lin's wife.

  At this time, the Party brothers came upstairs again, bringing a person with them. He was tall and big in stature, his whole body bound by iron chains and soft tendons, even tighter than when binding a tiger. His head was slick, his monk's robe tattered, and his mouth stuffed with a piece of broken cloth - it was indeed Lu Zhishen!

  Gao was overjoyed and hastily invited them to sit down, personally pouring two cups of tea for them. The Party brothers hurriedly declined, saying that being able to serve the official was a blessing from heaven, but they were afraid that if they failed to complete their tasks efficiently, they would have let the official down, so how could they possibly accept his cup of tea? Under Gao's pressure, they finally accepted the cups, and both men were deeply moved, with tears welling up in their eyes (but not falling), and they were too excited to speak.

  On this side, he was pushing himself forward, and on the other side, someone took out the broken cloth from Lu Zhishen's mouth. Suddenly, the monk shouted loudly: "Traitor! You used a trick to take our master away, you want to kill or cut him up, it's all up to you, don't pretend to be innocent!" The voice shook the tiles on the roof, and everyone's ears were buzzing for a moment.

  Dang Shixiong was furious and scolded: "You bald thief! If it weren't for the orders of the imperial court, you would have been finished off in the vegetable garden of the Prime Minister's temple. How dare you shout here with your foul mouth! Bring me a knife!" He pulled out a knife from the waist of a soldier beside him and was about to attack.

  Gao said hastily: "Wait a minute! This man is still useful in the yamen and his life will be spared!"

  Dang Shixiong hastily dropped the knife in his hand, changed his expression and said to Gao Qiang: "The official's broad mind is truly unmatched! This humble general was momentarily enraged by this man's chatter and almost ruined the official's great affair. It's really shameful!"

  Gao Qiang was startled by him, just now he was frowning and glaring, but turned around to be diligent and conscientious. Is this the legendary Sichuan face-changing technique? However, everything is under control now, next is just a matter of talking, it's better to get rid of these guys first.

  At the moment, he comforted them with good words and sent two parties and the soldiers away. He also issued a few blank checks and told them to go to the account room of the commander's mansion to receive their rewards. Anyway, his father had plenty of money and didn't need to spend a single penny from his own pocket.

  The crowd dispersed with gratitude, and as for the two parties who went to receive the reward money, it was unclear whether they would distribute it among the soldiers to win their hearts, or if they would pocket it themselves to spend on a night out at the brothel, or even just take the empty reward without anyone bothering them.

  Only Gao Qiu and others were left on the small building, Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen were tied to the ground, Huahe Shang scolded incessantly, but Lin Chong did not say a word. Lu Jian carried a knife and stood behind Gao Qiu, Fu An guarded the stairs, Zhang Shi had already come back to her senses, seeing her husband tied to the ground, she couldn't speak for a moment, two women pulled at her sleeves, muttering in their mouths, it was unclear what they were saying.

  Hua Rong sat in the middle, smiled, and before he could speak, Lu Zhishen angrily said: "Dog head, what are you going to do?"