Chapter 2: The Hero

  "It's all over, the strong man is coming this way!"

  "What can be done about this!"

  Han Xiaoqiu, who was sitting at the top, had already turned pale. His wife hurriedly said: "The messenger has been gone for more than half an hour, and the fire is so big on this side, why hasn't the county government sent troops to come and rescue us?"

  "Alas!" Han Xiaoqian sighed: "This Xiangzhou is not a key defense location in the northwest, how many soldiers can there be? The Great Song has been at peace for a hundred years, even if there are some local troops and archers, they have never been trained on a daily basis. The armory only has some rusty armor and dull weapons. On this night, who knows how many bandits there are? How dare we come to rescue them? In my opinion, it's better not to expect anything from them!"

  "Master, are we going to wait for death here?" As she said this, Madame Han couldn't help but cover her face and burst into tears. Just as they were at a loss for what to do, the steward on the side spoke in a low voice: "Sir, in my humble opinion, right now our only option is to sacrifice some wealth to save our lives. Those bandits are just after money; if we throw out some of our valuables later and let them have their fill, that should be enough!"

  Han Xiaoquan was like a drowning man at this time, and even if there was a lifesaving straw, he would grasp it tightly. He was about to nod in agreement when someone beside him said in a low voice: "It's not acceptable! If we do this, it will be like adding fuel to the fire, and the flames will only get stronger. Those thieves are insatiable, there is no end to their greed, and giving them money will only help them become more arrogant and lawless."

  Han Xiao turned his head to look, but it was a sturdy young man with rough hands and feet, wearing a coarse linen robe, who should be a tenant of the Han family. The young man was only sixteen or seventeen years old, of medium build, with an ordinary face, one eye big and one small, initially looking a bit comical, but his expression was firm and resolute, giving people a feeling of loyalty and reliability, each hand holding a wooden box, presumably just moving things and passing by to interrupt.

  "That meddling farmhand dared to interrupt and angrily said: 'Yue Fei, is this a place where you can just chime in? Hurry up and get back to work!'"

  "Hold on!" Han Xiao heard that the tenant who called himself Yue Fei spoke in a manner unlike ordinary commoners, and his heart involuntarily stirred. He asked in a deep voice: "If you can't give them money, then what do you think should be done?"

  Yue Fei put down the two wooden boxes on the ground, bowed his head and saluted: "Sir, these bandits are just here for profit, they don't know the situation in the mansion. In my humble opinion, I suggest that the steward negotiate with the bandits at the gate, lure out their leader, and then I can shoot him from behind. After that, everyone will shout together, the bandits are just a mob, once their leader is shot, they won't know what to do, they'll lose their courage, and we can turn danger into safety."

  That official hated Yue Fei for interrupting his words, wiping his face and coldly laughing: "Yue Fei, you'd better not boast. If later on you fail to hit the target and provoke the bandits into rushing in and hurting the precious bodies of Master and Mistress, can you take this responsibility?"

  Yue Fei smiled slightly and replied calmly: "Whether I can or cannot, it's empty talk, sir, just try me!"

  Han Xiaoqiu looked at Yue Fei, then looked at Guan Shi. Yue Fei's calmness gave him a little confidence. He said to the young servant beside him: "Bring me those few bows from my armory, and bring two quivers of good arrows too."

  After a moment, the little servant brought out three bows and two quivers of arrows. Yue Fei stepped forward to test the strength of the bows, selected one, took a quiver of arrows and hung it on his body, turned around and bowed to Han Xiaocong, asking: "May I ask for your guidance, sir?"

  Han Xiaoqu's gaze swept across the courtyard, and finally his eyes stopped at a lantern on a hillside pavilion about 70 steps away. He pointed to the lantern and asked, "Do you see the lantern with the word 'Han' written on it? Can you hit it?"

  Yue Fei didn't answer, he took out a feathered arrow from his quiver, drew the bowstring back to its fullest extent, and with a slight aim, released it. All that was heard was a whizzing sound, and the lantern in the distance suddenly burst into flames, obviously having been knocked over by the arrow.

  "Good eyesight, good arm strength, and good technique!" Han Xiaoqu couldn't help but praise. Although his own archery skills were average, he had seen the world and knew that those few bows were top-notch goods. The lowest bow force was one dan (about 60 kg), according to the Song Dynasty's military regulations, which classified bows into three categories from one dan to eight dou (about 480 kg). Being able to draw a strong bow of over one dan made one an elite soldier. In ordinary times, hitting four out of five targets at sixty paces was considered excellent. This Yue Fei, only sixteen or seventeen years old, could already draw a strong bow of over one dan and hit the target from seventy paces away. Even in the northwest border army, he would be considered a top-notch warrior. It's good luck that such a person appeared in his own household!

  "Thank you for the praise, sir, but it was just luck!" Yue Fei put down his bow and bowed, saying: "I have another request to make of you, I hope you will grant it."

  Han Xiao saw that Yue Fei was so confident in his plan, and his mood also improved. Seeing Yue Fei speak like this, he thought he was asking for a reward, and hurriedly smiled: "Yue Fei, don't worry, if you can drive away the bandits, I will definitely give you a heavy reward. How about 200 strings of copper coins? Is that enough?" At that time, the Song Dynasty was in a state of peace, and one peck of rice cost only three or four cents, let alone copper coins, which were even more valuable. These 200 strings were enough to buy seven or eight acres of good land, which was indeed a very generous reward.

  Yue Fei's expression was somewhat shocked, he hastily knelt down to Han Xiao and kowtowed, then stood up and said: "I thank you, sir, for your generous reward, but what I asked for earlier is not this. I dare to ask you to first move the women and children in the courtyard to the back courtyard, and then extinguish all the lights, so as not to be spied on by the thieves. Wait until I shoot the leader of the thieves, then please have all the men in the courtyard shout loudly, 'The government army has arrived!' to break the thieves' morale!"

  "Alright, alright! I'll rely on you then!" Han Xiao Chu was even more pleased with Yue Fei as he looked at him, thinking to himself that if it weren't for this bandit attack, how would he have known that his own household had such a brave and clever talent. He stood up, lightly patted Yue Fei's shoulder, and smiled: "Yue Fei, you focus on killing the enemy, my Han family will never treat you unfairly!"

  "Thank you, sir!" Yue Fei stood up and walked towards the wall of the courtyard.

  Zhang Chao sat under the tree, lazily watching his subordinates directing the laborers to make ladders and battering rams with materials from the warehouse. This group of people had sneaked into the city through a gap in the long-neglected city wall during the day, so they couldn't carry ladders or other equipment. The short walls outside the Han mansion were easy to cross, but the inner wall of the Han mansion was over two zhang high and not so simple. However, it didn't matter, as Zhang Chao thought that with seven or eight ladders, they could climb up and pour in. As soon as he thought of the legendary wealth and glory inside Huajin Hall, Zhang Chao couldn't help but smile.

  At this moment, a scout ran over and shouted loudly: "Leader! Leader! Someone in the Han Mansion is calling out!"

  "What's he shouting?" Zhang Chao furrowed his brow and asked, "What is that scoundrel yelling about?"

  "The people from the Han Mansion said they want to have a talk with us, it seems like they're willing to spend money to buy someone's life!"

  "Pfft! I've opened the official gate, everything inside belongs to me, do I still need to buy from them?" Zhang Chao spat out a wad of saliva and then called out to his underling: "Wait, go back and respond, just talk for now, anyway the ladder isn't ready yet, stall them for a few hours!"

  In the corner tower of the Han Mansion, the steward cried out loudly in the lamp light, occasionally turning his head to glance at Yue Fei hiding more than ten steps away in the darkness. At this moment, he couldn't help but secretly regret why he had taken on the task of shouting, as he was now bare-handed and bare-footed, while the strong men below were armed with bows and arrows; if things went awry, a hail of random arrows would come his way, and he would end up as a human sieve. Thinking this, his voice trembled even more, and his whole body seemed to be shaking like a leaf.

  "What does the man upstairs have to say? I, Zhang Chao, am here!" A voice suddenly came from under the wall. The steward was startled and carefully poked his head out to take a look. He saw three or four torches below, where a tall and large Han Chinese man stood, looking in his direction. He hastily smiled and said: "It's actually Hero Zhang, I've long heard of your great name like thunder in my ears..."

  "Cut the nonsense!" Zhang Chao interrupted Guan Shi's words: "You masters have come this time for money, how much silver and copper are you willing to pay to buy back the lives of your family members? If it's not enough, don't blame me for being impatient, I'll rush in and cut them all down one by one!"

  The steward shuddered and almost fell off the wall, but suddenly remembered what Yue Fei had just instructed him: "You only need to stall him with words and delay time, wait for me to shoot an arrow to kill the leader of the thieves, then it will be easy!" Thinking of this, the steward took a deep breath, carefully straightened his body, and shouted: "But I don't know how much money Zhang Hero wants before he'll stop, the mansion's wealth is limited, but as long as we can get it out, we won't dare to refuse!"

  "Pshaw, the renowned Anyang Han family's daytime embroidered hall is out of money? Do you take us for three-year-old children?" Zhang Chao said up to this point, drew his waist knife and pointed at the corner tower, shouting: "This time our brothers have come with a hundred men, each wanting two hundred strings of wine money, plus another 30% as a service charge. If even half a coin is missing, we'll take it ourselves, don't blame us for being ruthless!" As soon as his words fell, Zhang Chao suddenly let out a mournful cry and fell over backwards.

  "The leader has been shot!"

  "Poison arrow!"

  The steward on the corner tower was pondering how to respond when he suddenly heard a scream from outside, followed by a chorus of cries. His heart filled with joy, he hastily leaned down and shouted to those below: "Quickly beat the drums and shout: 'The government soldiers have arrived'!"

  Outside, several bandits stared blankly at Zhang Chao's body lying on the ground, an arrow shot from his mouth into the back of his head, his hands and feet were still twitching, but anyone with eyes could see that he was beyond saving.

  "Everyone, let's go! Open the door of this Korean government office and avenge our leader!" Just as one of the bandits' underlings had drawn his sword, there was a sudden "whooshing" sound. He fell to the ground with an arrow lodged in his throat, which was still vibrating from the impact. His companions rushed to help him up, but he pulled out the arrow with great force and cursed, "Bandit!" before losing consciousness and dying.