Chapter 69 [VIP]
Wow!
The young men were all in high spirits.
"Zheng Si, go knock on the door quickly."
In this great capital, even the纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy and powerful families) form cliques and factions. Zhou Liulang and his friends never hung out with Xie Sheng, the third son of the Prince of Jin. Qin Luo, on the other hand, used to always follow Xie Sheng around, but after the Jing'an Earl's Mansion was stripped of its hereditary title, Qin Luo could no longer squeeze into their circle.
Before, with Gu Yican around, Xie Sheng kept to himself and his group. Even though Gu Yican spent more than half the year in the northern frontier, Xie Sheng didn't dare to provoke them. However, three months ago, after Gu Yican took on the task of suppressing bandits, Xie Sheng, for some reason, became incredibly arrogant, like a salted fish turning over a new leaf, and started causing trouble for them in every way.
He would steal the most beautiful courtesan, the finest horse, the hunting grounds, and even steal a pheasant.
A few days ago, Zheng Si heard that there was a beautiful actress in a Qingyi opera, so he booked a theater for them to watch a play. However, Xie Sheng came with a group of people and insisted that they give up the theater.
The two sides then started fighting.
Xie Sheng had the advantage in numbers, and Zheng Si and his men were beaten down.
In reality, losing just means giving up the theater, hurling a few insults, and making some threats. For them, a fight, even if they get beaten black and blue, is no big deal; if they're not as skilled, they'll just get their revenge next time.
Unexpectedly, Xie Sheng went mad for some reason, ordering people to strip Zheng Si and the others naked and throw them out. He even found a fortune teller and told everyone that they were possessed by evil spirits, stripping off their clothes in public and chanting incantations and performing rituals, attracting a crowd of onlookers.
Even spoiled brats have a sense of shame!
As soon as Gu Yican returned, they ran to complain.
Gu Yican readily agreed, saying he would help them get their revenge.
Brother Can will always be his brother! Zheng Silang's face was still swollen on one side as he pounded on the gate of the Prince of Jin's mansion with his fists.
The side gate had barely opened a crack when Zheng Si kicked it open with practiced ease, turning back to smile brightly and saying, "Brother Can, you go first."
Gu Zhizhuo: "..."
She used to not play with her brother's friends. So, what they usually did was break down doors?
Judging by his practiced moves, he's probably done this a lot.
"Walk!"
Gu Yican raised his head and stepped into the main hall of the Prince of Jin's mansion.
"Where does Xie Sheng live?"
"Brother Can, I know. This way."
Zheng Si eagerly led the way.
Seven or eight young men in fine clothes rushed in together, each holding a horsewhip. Zhou Liulang was carrying a wooden bucket, the contents of which were unclear. Some of the contents spilled out and splashed on the ground, seemingly blood.
The gatekeeper quickly went to call the guards and sent someone to report to the Third Young Master.
The servants ran around frantically, and the young men couldn't stop them. The guards dared not use excessive force, for fear of injuring some young master and losing their own lives in the process.
Some of the guards recognized Zheng Silang, and remembering what had happened a few days ago, they immediately understood why he had come.
They had heard of such playboys coming to cause trouble before, but no one had ever dared to approach the Prince of Jin's residence!
Zheng Si, familiar with the place, led them into Xie Sheng's courtyard.
Anyone who dared to block his way would be met with a whip.
He'd wanted to fight back for a long time, but he was worried about the large number of people at Prince Jin's residence; if he didn't get the better of them, it would be too humiliating. Now, with Brother Can by his side, he feels completely safe.
"Brother Can, this is it!"
He stared at Gu Yican with shining eyes.
"I've inquired. Xie Sheng hasn't left the house since he came back from Ruanxianglou early this morning. He's probably still sleeping right now."
"Walk."
Gu Yican walked at the front, her high ponytail swaying from side to side with her movements.
He swung the riding whip in one hand and held his sister's hand in the other, walking with an air of arrogance.
The maids sweeping the courtyard were terrified and screamed repeatedly. The group of rich kids went straight to the main house without looking to the side. From afar, they could hear the sounds of zither music, singing, and giggling mixed together inside.
Zheng Si kicked the door open, and a series of screams erupted. The singers and maids quickly covered their faces and scattered.
Xie Sheng leaned against the daybed, his clothes half-open, revealing a large expanse of skin on his chest.
He paused for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise, "Zheng Jiuguang, who let you in!"
He had been surrounded by several beautiful women, but they all dispersed. They didn't know who had come, and stood to the side with fearful expressions.
"I'm here to see Xie Sheng today, so don't block my way."
Zheng Si didn't even glance at them; he simply dragged Xie Sheng out and threw her into the courtyard.
After throwing it away, he remembered something and quickly pulled Xie Sheng's collar tighter.
"Zheng Si, how dare you!"
Xie Sheng felt a sharp pain and immediately flew into a rage. He looked up and found that there were many more people in his courtyard, and he recognized the leader at a glance.
"Gu Yican. How are you still alive?!"
He blurted it out, his tone filled with intense disbelief.
Gu Zhizhuo raised an eyebrow. In his previous life, Gu Yican indeed did not return after this bandit suppression operation.
Gu Yican sneered, "Even if you reincarnate a hundred times, I, the young master, will still be alive."
"Go, fight back the way he did."
Zheng Silang's fists had been itching for a long time. He clenched his fingers and slapped the other side.
The men who had been beaten in the theater could no longer contain themselves and rushed forward, punching and kicking them.
Xie Sheng covered his head with his hands, furious, and said, "How dare you!?"
"Thank you, San." Gu Yican crossed his arms and said casually, "Fighting is one thing, but what's the meaning of you calling a bunch of guards to help you? Since you don't know any better, I, the young master, will teach you a lesson."
“Exactly.” Zheng Si became increasingly angry as he spoke. “If you can’t beat them, you call for guards. It’s shameless.”
These people all came from some of the most prestigious mansions in the capital, and were of similar status.
When a fight breaks out, no one can accuse the other. As a result, Xie Sheng broke the rules and brought more than a dozen guards to surround and beat them up.
Zheng Si was distracted and was attacked by Xie Sheng, who punched him and swelled up his other cheek.
Zhou Liulang, who was watching the commotion, booed loudly.
Enraged, Zheng Si was tackled by Mo Jiu, who grabbed Xie Sheng by the waist and threw him to the ground.
Zheng Si yelled and pounced, engaging in hand-to-hand combat without any fancy moves, causing Xie Sheng to scream in agony.
The guards arrived one after another, shouting "Third Young Master" as they rushed forward.
Gu Yican didn't care how Zheng Si and Xie Sheng fought, but he wouldn't allow anyone to interfere. With a few punches, he knocked the guards who rushed at him to the ground, and screams of agony could be heard all around.
"Give it to me."
As soon as Gu Yican reached out, Zhou Liulang quickly pulled out a large stack of yellow paper from his cloth bag.
Gu Yican took the card, examined it carefully, and asked, "Didn't I tell you to buy a talisman?"
"Brother Can, the shop that sells yellow paper said they don't draw talismans for people. So, I bought some yellow paper. Brother Can, I even had the shopkeeper cut it all up for me."
He eagerly suggested, "Should I go to the Taoist temple and kidnap a Taoist priest to paint for us?"
Gu Zhizhuo: "..." Wait, what did she just hear? Zhou Liulang said "tie," right?
She is, after all, a member of the Taoist sect, and she should refrain from doing things that would incur divine retribution.
"I can."
Gu Zhizhuo pointed to himself and said with a smile.
Forehead?
"I can!"
"Really good at it!"
"It couldn't be more real!"
She pulled two long hair ribbons from her sleeve pocket, neatly tied them around her cuffs, and asked with great interest, "Where's the cinnabar?"
"The cinnabar? The shopkeeper said it was just bought by someone a couple of days ago. I wonder which bastard did it," Zhou Liulang said angrily.
Gu Zhizhuo remained expressionless: "I bought it."
Zhou Liulang's expression changed instantly, and he smiled brightly: "So it was my sister who bought it. Sister, next time you need cinnabar, remember to tell me and I'll go buy it for you. Why do you need to go out yourself?"
As Zhou Liulang spoke, he added, "That shopkeeper really has no vision. He only prepared such a small amount of cinnabar. No wonder his business can't grow big!"
"Brother Can, I heard that chicken blood is the same, so I got a bucket from the kitchen of Tianxianglou."
What utter nonsense!
Gu Yican looked at her sister, confused, and asked, "Can it be used?"
"Brother Can, if this doesn't work, I'll just go and kidnap a little Taoist priest."
Gu Zhizhuo: "..."
Why doesn't he get struck by lightning to warn him when he keeps coming up with such dangerous and terrible ideas?
"Just leave it there."
Zhou Liulang felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly carried the bucket of chicken blood over.
Gu Yican asked her, "Where should I write it?"
"The ground is fine."
Gu Yican glanced at them and said, "What are you standing there for?"
Those busy beating people continued beating, while those with nothing to do and wanting to watch the commotion immediately gathered around and helped spread the yellow paper on the ground. Zhou Liulang solicitously handed Gu Zhizhu a pen, saying that he had specially asked the shopkeeper to buy it for him.
Gu Zhizhu lifted her skirt and sat down on the ground.
She dipped her talisman brush in some chicken blood, and with swift strokes, she drew a talisman in no time.
The runes on it have no meaning.
She didn't concentrate, so the talisman she drew was ineffective, just like a scribble.
Talismans like the Blessing Spell are too malevolent and would involve karmic consequences. Even if she knew how, she wouldn't use them. As for others, like peace talismans or tranquility talismans… forget it, she's not that kind-hearted.
So, just doodle randomly.
The result of his random scribbling was that Gu Zhizhuo was incredibly fast; he finished about a hundred drawings in less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
She rubbed her sore arms, extremely satisfied.
Upon closer inspection, the ground around them was covered in eerie blood.
The tip of the calligraphy brush was red, and even her fingertips were accidentally stained with a little blood. All around her were fake talismans that hadn't fully dried, arranged in a circle. At first glance, it looked as if she were performing a very evil ritual.
Gu Zhizhuo always felt that if her master saw this scene, he would definitely not want her anymore.
Gu Zhizhuo: "..."
I'm so panicked, what should I do? There's still a chance to salvage her situation.
"Thank you for your hard work, sister!"
After saying this with a sweet tongue, Zheng Silang casually took a handful.
Xie Sheng was completely defeated, crying with tears and snot streaming down his face, begging for mercy repeatedly.
Mo Jiu and the others held down his hands and feet, and Zheng Silang slapped two sheets onto his face.
Gu Yican explained to his sister, "Just a few days ago, Xie Sheng not only had Zheng Si and the others stripped naked, but he also found a fake Taoist priest who claimed that Zheng Si and the others were possessed by evil spirits. He then poured children's urine and black dog blood on them."
No wonder. Xie Sheng really deserved it.
Zheng Si and his gang had a good beating, leaving all the servants in the courtyard terrified.
No one had ever dared to come knocking on the door so openly before. Seeing that all the guards had been beaten to the ground, Xie Sheng's servant had no choice but to call for more guards. He kept looking outside in fear, wondering why the prince hadn't returned yet.
"The prince is back!"
We've been waiting for this!
The servant breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced at the third young master, who was being pressed to the ground and had talismans pasted on him, and then ran out like the wind.
Gu Yican glanced at it only once, letting out a soft, cold snort.
The servant, panting heavily, ran all the way to the outer gate and started shouting from afar.
"Your Highness, Your Highness!"
The Prince of Jin, who had just stepped through the door, looked over unhappily and recognized the man as his son's personal servant.
"What's all this commotion about? What happened?"
The Prince of Jin was extremely irritable.
The commotion the Gu family caused in court had humiliated Prince Jin, and he could easily imagine how Duke Wei would mock him behind his back. Everyone said he had stolen the credit from Gu Taotao, but Gu Taotao only knew how to fight. If it weren't for him, how could they have so easily signed the peace treaty with Daliang?
And no one mentions any of this.
He left the city as soon as court was over, and before he could even sit down after returning, what happened again?!
The servant cried out, "Your Highness! The Third Young Master has been beaten!"
The Prince of Jin said with a headache, "I've told him not to go out and cause trouble all the time, but he just won't listen."
"Your Highness, it was the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo who brought men to our door and beat up the Third Young Master." The servant finished speaking in one breath, "No one could stop them, and the Third Young Master was beaten black and blue."
Thinking of his young master's miserable state, the servant was almost in tears.
"I dare not go to the Princess, and the Second Young Master is not here."
Prince Jin was stunned, hardly believing his ears. He repeated, "It's the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo, Gu Yican?"
"Yes, yes. Your Highness, you should go and see. The Third Young Master is almost beaten to death by them."
"Outrageous!" Prince Jin gritted his teeth. "The Gu family has gone too far."
First, he embarrassed him in court.
Now they're coming to his palace to cause trouble.
Is he addicted to bullying him?! A fire was surging wildly in the Prince of Jin's chest, rushing all the way to the top of his head, making his forehead feel hot.
"Summon all the guards in the manor."
With a stern face, he finished speaking and strode quickly toward Xie Sheng's courtyard.
Even before he reached the courtyard gate, a strong smell of blood wafted into his nostrils, and the Prince of Jin's legs went weak.
His attendant quickly supported him and said, "Your Highness, don't worry. Under the Emperor's nose, Young Master Gu certainly wouldn't dare to harm the Third Young Master."
Yes, that's right.
Even if Gu Yican is extremely vicious, he wouldn't go so far as to commit mass murder in his mansion, would he?
Facing the increasingly strong stench of blood, Prince Jin gritted his teeth and pushed open the courtyard gate with a bang. The glaring red color entered his pupils, mixed with the pungent smell of blood. Prince Jin choked and almost couldn't catch his breath, and his whole body swayed.
Everywhere he looked was covered with talismans; yellow talisman paper and blood-red runes constantly intertwined and merged before his eyes. The flower walls, the hanging flower gate, the fence, the eaves—they were pasted all over the place, at least hundreds of them.
The Prince of Jin suddenly felt a chilling wind blowing from all sides.
He couldn't help but think back to that day.
He secretly brought Gu Taotao's remains to Shangxu Temple, whereupon Master Shangfeng set up a talisman array, covering the entire hall with talismans.
Master Shangfeng said that the Zhuyin Incantation requires the ashes of the person being cursed to be mixed with cinnabar.
The Master Shangfeng gave him a sword and told him to cut off Gu Taotao's head and burn his body...
"ah!
A guard screamed as he was kicked flying and fell at his feet.
The Prince of Jin was abruptly pulled from his memories. He looked at the talismans plastered all over the courtyard and couldn't help but tremble.
"Who, who did this!"
The King of Jin cried out in alarm.
"My prince."
Gu Yican stepped on one of the guards and crossed his arms.
Around him, the guards staggered and cried out in pain.
"Father, Father..."
Xie Sheng, whose face was covered with several talismans, felt reassured when he finally arrived and cried out in despair.
"Your Highness."
Zheng Si and the others greeted him warmly, showing no fear whatsoever. They'd been in fights before, after all.
"You, you, you..."
Prince Jin pointed at Gu Yican, gritting his teeth in anger: "Gu Yican, how dare you! You actually dare to cause trouble in my residence! Believe me or not, I will impeach you right now!"
"Re-examine? Zhou Liulang is baffled. Why would he be re-examined for fighting?"
Gu Yican kicked the guard aside and walked towards Prince Jin. The sound of his military boots on the ground brought a great sense of oppression.
Gu Yican walked up to Prince Jin, his phoenix eyes narrowed, and his lips curled into a wide, unrestrained smile.
Prince Jin's mind went blank for a moment, and then Gu Yican's fist slammed into his face.
Bang!
Although Prince Jin also practiced martial arts from a young age, he was different from Gu Yican, who had fought on the battlefield for a long time. Even at a young age, Gu Yican could easily draw a three-stone bow with his arms.
The punch was so fast and heavy that Prince Jin had no chance to dodge it.
He was knocked to the ground, and Gu Yican pounced on him, delivering two more punches that landed squarely.
Wow.
The young men's eyes lit up. "Brother Can is indeed Brother Can. He even dares to fight Prince Jin!"
"You little brat."
Zheng Si slapped Xie Sheng's cheek and said disdainfully, "If you can't beat me, why are you calling me 'Dad'? Have you no shame? Last time you beat me up like that, I didn't even call you 'Mom'."
"Wow!"
Another whistle rang out.
Zheng Si excitedly looked up.
Gu Yican was pressing his knee against the Prince of Jin's lower abdomen. The Prince of Jin's cheeks were swollen, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.
Gu Yican leaned down and said condescendingly, "Your Highness, these punches are to thank you for taking care of my father. Don't worry, after you die, I promise to buy more talismans and stick them all over your coffin, inside and out."
He patted Prince Jin's cheek with his hand, and said with a half-smile, "Do you understand, Your Highness?"
Prince of Jin: "..."
The Prince of Jin was almost out of breath, his eyes filled with hatred.
In the past, the Prince of Jin's mansion was an inconspicuous residence of the imperial clan in the capital. He spent half his life transforming it into a princely mansion.
He can finally be in a superior position and have the final say.
Unexpectedly, one slip-up allowed even a junior to run rampant and act so arrogantly in his palace.
Gu Zhizhuo squatted down next to Prince Jin, looked at the bloodstains at the corner of his mouth, and sighed, "Your Highness, I told you to be careful of bloodshed, why didn't you listen?" She snapped her fingers, "How about this, I'll tell your fortune."
Gu Zhizhuo took out a golden compass from his sleeve, held it in his hand with an air of importance, and gently moved his fingers around the inner circle, causing the magnetic needle of the compass to spin rapidly.
Within three breaths, as if pulled by an unknown force, the trembling magnetic needle suddenly stopped.
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