Chapter 102 Night Run: Whether you're a plum or a bayberry is none of my business! ...
Chaos reigned both inside and outside the Green Hut.
Zhang Liang gritted his teeth and said to Li Fanniang, "Fanniang, you have feelings for me, and Brother Li has been kind to me. I have no way to repay these feelings and kindness now. But if I run away now, even if I live a smooth life with you, I will definitely regret it."
Li Fanniang nodded and said, "I understand, you can go now."
Zhang Liang took the bow and arrow and the sword from the wall, hugged his newlywed wife, and said, "Fan Niang, today I will do my best to protect my three friends, and then I will take you to escape. If I unfortunately die, or am captured and forced to repair the Taihang Road, remember to find a man you can rely on, and don't worry about me!"
"Zhang Liang, what are you still dawdling about? Come out and explain yourself, we're going to break down the door!" the constables urged.
"Even if the Heavenly King himself came, I wouldn't answer the call!" Zhang Liang, knife in hand, kicked open the door and rushed into the crowd, attempting to rescue Li Shimin.
Li Shimin, wielding a knife, fought fiercely with the guards surrounding him, shouting, "Are you stupid?! What are you doing back here?"
"Zhang Liang, how dare you! Not only do you defy the law, but you also associate with thieves!" The military advisor shouted, ordering the constables to step forward and arrest him.
A red figure, like a ghost, burst from among the guests into the midst of the soldiers. With a flash of light, two soldiers fell to the ground.
The witness was terrified and pointed at the man in red, screaming, "No, it's him!... He went to the canal in Tongyuan City and swaggered around watching the lanterns!" The constables were momentarily at a loss as to who to arrest first.
"Did you see it clearly?" the legal advisor scolded.
The witness, having personally witnessed Li Shimin's agility, changed his story, saying, "No, it was him!"
The boy in red weaved through the soldiers with remarkable agility. The witness changed his story once again.
"Which one is it?" the legal advisor shouted angrily, kicking the witness.
"Men, tie up these three villains!" At the command of the legal and military advisors, the soldiers who had been surrounding the courtyard filed in.
The three boys fought fiercely against soldiers who outnumbered them several times over, retreating as they fought, and eventually escaped into a house.
Changsun Minxing shielded the trembling Acai, instructing her to crouch in the corner with her head in her hands. Then he drew his sword and forcefully cut the ropes binding the wedding hall. The once joyous wedding hall collapsed with a crash, burying the bailiffs under felt and bamboo poles.
The constables cried out "Oh no!" but they were entangled in the cloth and utensils and could not get free.
The boy in red rushed out of the back window, killed the soldier guarding the backyard from behind, and rode away on horseback.
He quickly looked around: "Zhang Liang, back window, let's go now!"
Changsun Qingjing lit a bundle of hemp and threw it into the courtyard, instantly setting the felt tent ablaze.
"Fire has broken out..."
"Help me!"
Suddenly, chaos erupted in the courtyard.
"Go!" Li Shimin made a decisive move, grabbing Changsun Qingjing and rushing towards the back window. Zhang Liang picked up Li Fanniang and followed closely behind.
The four men climbed out of the window and, using the shadow of the courtyard wall as cover, headed straight for the horses tied up behind the house.
Behind them came the sounds of galloping horses and screams of pain from being shot by arrows, but there was no time to think about it. Li Shimin helped Changsun Qingjing onto his horse, then jumped onto another one himself, while Zhang Liang rode with his wife on the same horse.
"Go deep into Mangshan!" Li Shimin spurred his horse and shouted.
The three riders sped off towards the mountain path shrouded in twilight.
In order to clear his name, Li Shimin decided to chase after the boy who looked like him and get to the bottom of it, but the boy had already disappeared.
The soldiers pressed them harder, and the four men and three horses fled into the woods. The officers, still shaken by the earlier escape attempt by the three boys, dared not easily enter the woods to search.
Torches, like fireflies, dotted the edge of the forest, flickering on and off.
The four men heard the threatening yet cowardly words of the legal advisor trying to induce them to surrender intermittently.
Changsun Qingjing noticed that Li Shimin's face was pale and his clothes were soaked with blood.
"Erlang! You're injured!" she cried out in alarm. Li Shimin covered her mouth to prevent her from making a sound.
“We’ll deal with these henchmen before we flee. What do you think, Brother Li?” Zhang Liang said.
Li Shimin looked at Changsun Qingjing and received an encouraging look. He decided to stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhang Liang to face the enemy.
Both men placed their hands on the hilts of their knives, preparing to break through.
"One, two..."
Before the word "three" could be uttered, several bowstrings twanged from the depths of the woods, followed by the screams of the pursuers and the sound of horses falling.
After a moment of silence, the sound of horses' hooves faded into the distance in the opposite direction.
"Did they retreat?" Li Fanniang asked softly.
Just as Zhang Liang was about to leave, Li Shimin stopped him, saying, "Wait a little longer, there might be a trap."
As dusk fell, the crows returned to their nests.
After confirming that the pursuers had temporarily withdrawn, Changsun Qingjing took out a flint, broke off a pine branch, and lit a torch.
In the firelight, Li Shimin shouted into the depths of the woods, "Great hero, please show yourself!"
After a rustling sound, a young man in red emerged from behind a tree, blood dripping from his arm. He clapped his hands dismissively at the two couples and exclaimed, "Brilliant! Brilliant! I've been slaying gods and demons all this way, and I find Luoyang utterly boring, a bunch of worthless idiots. Today, however, I've met my match. It's a pleasure to meet you both!"
That was the boy who disrupted Zhang Liang and Li Fanniang's wedding.
"Why did you ruin my wedding?" Li Fanniang suddenly took a step forward, her blue wedding dress billowing in the night wind.
She abruptly ripped off the crooked jeweled crown from her head and angrily smashed it against the boy's chest, scattering pearls and jade all over the ground.
Li Fanniang's index finger almost poked the boy's nose, the gold bracelet on her wrist jingling. "What grudge do you hold against us? We would have escaped quietly long ago."
"I also have questions for him!" Li Shimin suddenly sprang up, his iron-like hand gripping the boy's collar, lifting him halfway off the ground.
The boy's blood-stained linen clothes tore under his knuckles, and Li Shimin's eyes flashed with a cold light. "Speak! Who instructed you to frame me? Was it that old fox Pei Yun, or that old dog Yuwen Shu?"
The man's face was deathly pale, and he said nonchalantly, "You've offended quite a few people too! I haven't even asked you yet, how could I possibly have the audacity to act as the lackey of these two imperial favorites on the Lantern Festival?"
"Bullshit!" Li Shimin's right fist slammed down with a gust of wind. The boy, however, had lost the bravery he had shown when he broke through the encirclement. Like a scarecrow that had been punched, he lay limply on the ground.
The pale yellow new grass, stained with streaks of blood from the corner of his mouth, gleamed eerily in the moonlight.
"Stop fighting." Changsun Qingjing strode over, torch in hand, oblivious to the mud and grass stains covering his cloak and boots.
She leaned closer to the boy and suddenly squatted down: "He was wounded by a knife during the fight."
In the firelight, streaks of blood seeped from the boy's shoulder, the dark red spreading from the tear in the burlap, already congealing into a purplish-black scab.
As he groaned and tossed and turned, some objects rolled off the boy's body.
The flames crackled and popped, illuminating the objects that had rolled to the ground: a piece of yellowish silk cloth and a blackened pottery ball.
"A map of Jinyang Palace?" Changsun Qingjing opened the map and asked in surprise, "Where did you get this?"
With a flick of his thumb, the clay ball flew into the air and landed steadily back in his hand. He had thought that this ancient chivalrous game had disappeared.
"Zhang Liang, is there any water? This thief is gasping for breath," Li Shimin called out, turning around.
"Why bother?" Zhang Liang took the gourd off the saddle and threw it over. The leather quiver creaked at his waist. "Wouldn't it be cleaner to just kill him and bury him? Why keep him around to cause trouble for us again? This kid has really screwed us over."
The gourd arced through the air before Li Shimin caught it with one hand. He brought the gourd close to the boy's mouth and poured water down his throat.
The boy coughed violently: "What kind of cheap wine is this? Are you trying to poison me?"
"Give me back the map!" the boy roared, his bloodied fingers reaching for the silk cloth in Changsun Qingjing's hand, but the movement aggravated his wounds, causing him to stumble back. He gasped for breath like a broken bellows, yet still stubbornly maintained his bravado: "You're not allowed to look! I risked my life for that!"
"Why did you lead the soldiers to the bridal chamber?" Li Fanniang was still resentful about her terrible wedding and wished she could slap the young man a few times.
Changsun Qingjing laughed and said, "So what?"
The young man's face turned deathly pale. After suppressing a spasm, he sneered, "So stop pretending to be innocent. I owe you nothing." He then turned to Li Fanniang, cupping his hands in apology, "Madam Li, I really don't understand why those legal officers arrested your Zhang Lang and his uncle..."
“My surname is Li,” Li Shimin interjected coldly.
The boy burst out laughing: "Whether you're a plum or a bayberry is none of my business!"
Author's Note: To be honest, these kids all think a lot of themselves [666]. These inexplicably confident outlaws have assembled [eating melon emoji].
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