Chapter 89 — A Beating

Dusk closed in.

In the main hall of an ordinary farmstead on the border between Lingshou County and Zhending County, a bean-sized lamp was lit.

A youth dressed in a straight-cut robe of sapphire blue brocade woven with medallion patterns, a folding fan and a scented sachet hanging at his waist and a riding crop in his hand, rode a tall, chestnut-red stallion. Six or seven powerfully built attendants followed behind him. He made his unhurried way along the ridges between the fields, as leisurely and at ease as a rich young gentleman out for a spring excursion with his retinue, utterly indifferent to the summer heat, and at last halted before the farmstead.

"Lu Laosi, go ask the way," the gorgeously dressed youth called out loudly, a faint note of smugness and excitement threading through his voice. "We've come such a long way, and I'm thirsty. While you're at it, beg a cup of tea for me."

"Right away!" A middle-aged man with the narrow eyes and pointed mouth of a rat answered shrilly, and began pounding on the gate—bang, bang, bang.

"Who is it?" A man in a short blue homespun jacket with a broken eyebrow roared hoarsely. He opened the door and poked his head out, then his expression changed at once, all terror and deference: "Fourth—Fourth Brother!"

Lu Laosi frowned, shot him a look, and said loudly, "Might I ask where this is? Our young master has lost his way and would like a cup of tea." Then, swiftly and in a low voice: "Pretend you don't know me!"

The broken-browed man took a long moment to collect himself, then said, "This is Wang Family Village." His voice trembled, and his face had gone rather pale. "You—you'd better come in!" With a creak he swung the gate wide and quickly stepped aside.

Lu Laosi gave him a puzzled look, muttering under his breath, "This Wang Xiaoliu—has he seen a ghost?"—and trotted off, all eager and bustling, to report to the youth: "Young Master, this is Wang Family Village, just east of Lingshou, no more than forty li from the county seat."

The young gentleman gave a haughty "Mm" and dismounted.

His attendants clustered around him into the courtyard, just in time to see Scarface leading several men out of the main hall.

The two parties came face to face, and the young gentleman halted. Scarface, however, gave a violent shudder, shot a swift glance at the burly man behind him, and hurried forward to meet them.

Lu Laosi asked him in a low voice, "Where is she?" Seeing several strangers behind him—broad-shouldered, thick-waisted, their faces full of righteous vigor—he could not help but falter slightly, and asked suspiciously, "These are your men?"

Scarface nodded distractedly and pointed toward the eastern inner chamber: "Miss Dou is in there." His voice shook.

At these words Lu Laosi was seized with excitement, and the little doubt in his heart was flung clean out of his head. He whispered, "Do as we planned," then launched into a loud clamor: "Do you know who we are? We are of the Pang family of Lingshou County, and our young master is none other than the Fifth Young Master Pang! And you would have us drink tea in the courtyard? Have you lost your minds?" Then he turned and loudly complained to Young Master Pang: "That Scholar Li is a fine piece of work, and no mistake. The young master took pity on him, peddling his calligraphy in the streets and barely able to keep body and soul together, and from time to time gave him a little something. And what does he do but forget his place? This time he invited you to his home to drink, ostensibly to repay the young master's great kindness—but in truth he meant to offer his wife's younger sister to you as a concubine. If the young master had not been so firm in virtue, I fear you would have fallen into that Scholar Li's trap. Even so, he put you in a fine temper—you rode off in a wild gallop and lost your way. If not for Old Ten's sharp eyes, however would we have found you? And why else would we be suffering such indignity?"

Amid the clamor, the young gentleman stepped back a few paces, a guard close at his side.

Suddenly a clatter of knocking came from the window lattice of the eastern inner chamber.

The young gentleman and the attendants with him all perked up.

Lu Laosi, standing beside Scarface, suddenly drew a dagger from his waist and drove it into Scarface's chest.

Scarface stared blankly at Lu Laosi, every sound cut off at once.

"Wh-why?" he clucked out, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth onto his lapel, leaving it speckled with stains.

"Why, you're a robber!" Lu Laosi said with a gloating laugh. He twisted the dagger in Scarface's chest with all his strength, then swiftly retreated behind the attendants.

Those attendants lunged at the men behind Scarface like wolves and tigers.

Among Scarface's followers someone shouted, "Pang Kunbai, you mean to silence us all!" and came charging over.

The two sides clashed in fierce combat.

The young gentleman Pang Kunbai watched it all with a cold, detached gaze.

These attendants were desperadoes he had recruited from the northwest; ordinary men were no match for them.

The thought flashed through his mind—and then he quickly sensed that something was off.

Perhaps Scarface's death had frightened his followers out of their wits. His own men had seized control of the situation from the first, but as the fighting wore on, Scarface's followers quickly came to their senses and began to resist fiercely; and relying on their greater numbers, two against one, for a time they actually fought his men to a standstill. One of them, a fellow especially stout and powerful, even drove a fist into one of his attendants' chests, producing a crackle of splintering bone and a wretched, shrill scream...

How could Scarface's men have such formidable fighters among them?

Pang Kunbai's instincts told him something was wrong.

He ordered the attendant beside him: "Quick, get Miss Dou out!"

The attendant assented, and he and Lu Laosi skirted the struggling crowd in the courtyard and dashed toward the main house.

Men came forward to block their way.

The attendant, relying on his superior skill, broke through; Lu Laosi, however, was entangled by two men and knocked to the ground.

"Miss Dou!" The attendant, seeing more men barring his way, simply ran to the eastern window lattice of the main house and with a "creak" ripped away half a window casement. "We are Young Master Pang's men—we've come to rescue you!"

The casement struck the man who had rushed over to stop the attendant, and through the window appeared Dou Yan's face, her expression so cold as to be almost cruel.

The attendant froze.

A dart with a red tassel buried itself in the attendant's throat.

The crimson tassel quivered with the force of it.

The attendant's eyes went wide, staring at Dou Yan in disbelief; for a long moment he stood there, and only then did his body crash to the ground.

Everyone fighting in the courtyard turned to look.

Pang Kunbai's attendants all turned to him in consternation.

Pang Kunbai gave a startled "Eh?", and straightened up, all his former ease and leisure gone.

"Cousin—Fourth Miss of the Dou family," he said loudly, his face darkening, "I am Pang Kunbai of the Pang family. I've come to rescue you!"

"Is that so?" Dou Yan smiled. A smile that, in the dusk, held an indescribable mockery and derision. "The son of a wealthy house does not sit beneath a tottering wall. The Pang family is the richest in Ling-shou County—how could the Pang family's Fifth Young Master possibly appear at this remote farmstead with a pack of ghosts and scoundrels? You are plainly an impostor! Uncle Duan, help me seize every one of these men. I want them sent to the magistrate's office for interrogation. If they dare resist, kill them on the spot—all of it will be charged to our Dou household!"