Teaching the Young Master a Lesson

A surge of wicked anger rose in Xu Qi'an's heart. The instant the horse's hooves reared up, he pulled the string of copper coins from his robes and hurled them with all his strength. At the same time, the blue bricks cracked beneath his feet, and he shot forward like lightning.

Seventy-two copper coins whistled shrilly through the air, raining down on the young master in fine clothes.

The young master showed no reaction to the deadly attack flying at him. The amused look of someone crushing an ant was still on his face.

One of his attendants reacted instead. His face changed drastically, and he leaped at the young master, knocking him off his horse. The two fell and rolled on the ground in an ungainly heap.

Puff, puff, puff. Some of the coins missed, while the rest embedded themselves in the horse. Blood spurted out, splashing all over Xu Lingyin's face.

Bang!

At the same moment, Xu Qi'an arrived. Leaning into the charge, he slammed his shoulder and back into the horse, sending it flying.

The tall steed was knocked several meters away, leaving a glaring scarlet streak across the flagstone-paved street.

The commoners scattered, hiding at a distance to watch the spectacle.

Xu Qi'an immediately scooped the little bean into his arms and held her tight. Watching her expression, he hurriedly comforted her. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Big brother is here."

The little bean's lips puckered. At last, she came out of her daze and burst into tears.

The attendants surrounding Xu Lingyue ignored her and ran toward the young master.

Xu Qi'an seized the chance to hand his youngest sister to Xu Lingyue, whose pretty face had gone pale. In a low voice, he said, "Take her to the Changle County yamen and beat the drum. Tell them I sent you. Then have Head Constable Wang send someone to fetch Second Uncle from Imperial Saber Guard Hundred Household Commander Zhu's house on Yellow Forest Street. Hurry!"

Xu Lingyue gave Xu Qi'an a long look, then fled with the little bean in her arms.

"You dare kill my horse?" The young master grinned viciously, pulled free of his attendants, and waved for them to surround Xu Qi'an.

I want to kill you too.

That was a Snow-Hoofed Black Dragon Steed that even a thousand pieces of gold could scarcely buy. In the army, only officers of deputy general rank or higher could ride one.

Second Uncle Xu came from a military background, and Xu Qi'an had picked things up from him. He recognized the horse's quality at a glance. In modern terms, it was a Lamborghini.

Anyone who could afford a Lamborghini was definitely a top-tier second-generation scion-and the son of an official. The children of the wealthy weren't worth much in this day and age; they had no status.

Besides the Snow-Hoofed Black Dragon Steed, there was the young master's splendid sky-blue outfit embroidered with smoky-purple patterns, the white jade belt at his waist carved with hornless dragon designs, and the jingling pouches and jade pendants hanging from it. All these details proclaimed his identity.

A top-tier official's son.

"I am Xu Qi'an, nephew of Xu Pingzhi, a Hundred Household Commander of the Imperial Saber Guard. Those two just now were my sisters. I don't know how they offended you, young master." Xu Qi'an cupped his hands, held his temper, and spoke politely:

"In saving my youngest sister, I mistakenly killed your beloved steed. I will certainly compensate you."

Xu Qi'an could have figured out the cause of this clash with his toes. This young master had surely seen Xu Lingyue's exceptional beauty and taken it into his head to harass her, perhaps even abduct her.

After spending a month at the yamen, Xu Qi'an had heard plenty about how these young masters conducted themselves: arrogant and overbearing, they ran rampant without restraint.

Forcibly abducting commoners' daughters was nothing to them, and they treated human lives like grass time and again.

It was easy to settle such matters, too, with nothing more than threats and inducements. If someone refused to submit, that was fine as well; their entire family could forget about living.

The higher the rank of their family elders, the more this held true. Would the court dismiss a high-ranking official over the lives of a few commoners?

In the eyes of this yamen crowd, bullying common folk didn't even count as causing trouble.

Only an official's son could defeat another official's son.

Xu Qi'an barely counted as an official's son himself. Xu Pingzhi wore the green robes of the seventh rank and was an official, at least, not an ordinary commoner.

Officials' sons bullied commoners without restraint, but they had reservations about targets who also drew a court salary.

Because the waters in the capital ran deep!

After listening, the young master was momentarily taken aback. "Xu Pingzhi, the one who lost the tax silver?"

"That's right!" Xu Qi'an breathed a sigh of relief.

The young master's face abruptly darkened. "Cripple him," he said sinisterly. "Just leave him breathing."

What the fuck, is he insane? Xu Qi'an nearly cursed aloud.

The attendants were all trained fighters with considerable skill. One by one, they pulled daggers from their pockets.

In the capital, no one without an official post could carry a saber, nor could anyone carry one without wearing official robes. Violators received eighty strokes of the staff and a fine of a hundred taels.

Gathering in a group while carrying blades meant immediate execution.

Daggers were not included, and these men were exploiting a loophole in the law.

The five attendants were not only trained fighters but had also learned techniques for fighting together. Their coordination was seamless.

Two attendants attacked together, thrusting their daggers at the same time. Xu Qi'an raised his hands and caught their wrists. Just as he was about to counterattack, the two suddenly separated to either side, and the attendant who had saved the young master sprang into the air, driving a vicious knee toward him.

Xu Qi'an had no choice but to pull back his hands and cross his arms before his chest.

Bang!

The hard kneecap smashed into his arms, sending a searing pain through them.

The remaining two attendants closed in from the sides. One missed with his dagger, but the other cut a bloody gash across Xu Qi'an's waist.

"Sever the tendons in his hands and feet. Cripple him," the young master said viciously.

Xu Qi'an glanced at him without a word, analyzing the situation in his head.

They're all in the Essence Refining Realm, but none are at the peak. One on one, I could beat the dog brains out of any of them, but they've learned combined attack techniques...

The daggers came at him again. Xu Qi'an parried with the fighting techniques he had learned in his previous life, pretending that his strength was gradually failing.

At the peak of a martial artist's Essence Refining Realm, stamina flowed without end, and it was no easy thing to exhaust oneself. But he couldn't let them see what he was truly capable of, or he would have no chance.

Seeing that the attendants still hadn't managed to take Xu Qi'an down, the young master frowned. Standing at a distance, he sneered, "You, Xu, get on your knees and kowtow. Call me grandpa twice, and this young master might spare your life."

Xu Qi'an called back loudly, "Grandpa, great-grandma sure tasted good."

He had failed to anger Xu Qi'an and ended up enraged himself. The young master shrieked, "Kill him!"

Bang!

After meeting the strongest attendant fist to fist, Xu Qi'an pretended he was no match for him and staggered backward.

The other four attendants saw their chance and closed in around him.

Just then, the blue bricks beneath Xu Qi'an's feet cracked, and his leg muscles swelled against his trouser legs. He shot forward like an arrow, slamming into the attendant on his left and breaking his breastbone, making him spit blood.

The attendants hadn't expected him to have hidden his strength. Caught off guard, they let him break free of their encirclement.

Xu Qi'an didn't flee. He charged straight at the young master and, as the man's face filled with terror, seized him by the throat and drove a hard punch into his lower abdomen.

The young master's body doubled over like a mantis shrimp, and he vomited filth from his mouth.

Without a change of expression, Xu Qi'an punched him several more times, until the young master clutched his stomach and fell to his knees.

Only then did the wicked anger in his heart subside slightly. He stopped beating him, turned toward the attendants rushing to the rescue, and shouted, "Stay where you are, or I'll kill him!"

Afraid of smashing the vase while trying to hit the rat, the attendants stopped as expected.

"Good. Very good..." The young master raised his head, his face filled with venom. "Do you know who I am?"

Bang!

Xu Qi'an planted his foot on the young master's face, pressing it into the vomit. He silently put weight on his foot, and the pain drew a heart-rending scream from the young master.

"Then I'll teach you a lesson too, young master." Xu Qi'an's face was dark. "Even a common man has his anger, and when a common man is enraged, blood splashes five paces."

The two sides faced off for a moment before a group of constables arrived, wearing dark uniforms and carrying broad sabers at their waists, accompanied by more than a dozen ununiformed yamen runners.

Head Constable Wang was at their head.

Head Constable Wang had been furious to hear that his young brother had been beaten. But when he saw the young master's fine clothes, his face stiffened and his eyes flickered. Then his angry expression returned:

"Who has the gall to fight in the streets under Changle County's jurisdiction?"

Seeing that his colleagues had drawn their broad sabers and surrounded the attendants, Xu Qi'an finally released the young master.

The young master pointed a furious finger and shouted, "Arrest him! This young master will have him cut into a thousand pieces!"

Head Constable Wang pretended not to hear and swore, "Bastards, take the lot of them away."

No matter how the young master proclaimed his identity, Wang kept up the pose of a crude lout whose face said, "I ain't educated; 'fuck' gets me through the world."

Perhaps deciding that this constable truly lacked knowledge and brains, the young master stopped making a fuss and walked toward the Changle County yamen under the runners' escort.

Head Constable Wang fell a few steps behind and came over to Xu Qi'an. "Brother, you're in deep trouble. That bastard's no ordinary person. Have you figured out how to settle this?"

Old Wang had a sharp eye.

I, Liu Jianming, had no choice. Xu Qi'an asked quietly, "Did you notify my second uncle?"

They talked as they walked, and before long, they reached the county yamen.

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