Chapter 91

In the end, it was Zheng San who went out to the street to summon the night patrol officers.

When someone caused trouble in the middle of the night after drinking at a brothel, molested a young married woman, and was reported to the authorities by someone unfamiliar with his background, or forced others into deals as a guarantor—there were few in Zhangye City who didn't know Feng Dahu, let alone these officers who dealt with him year-round and had even accepted no small amount of favors from him. But when they burst into Fu Tingjun's home and saw the man lying on the ground, drenched in blood, his face so badly mauled that it was unrecognizable, his groans as faint as a mosquito's buzz, they stared wide-eyed for a long while before daring to confirm that this man was indeed Feng Dahu.

Then they looked around the room. In the corner crouched two black wolfdogs, each about as tall as a man, baring gleaming white teeth as they noisily devoured meat.

Where had meat come from in this house?

The crowd's gaze involuntarily fell back on Feng Dahu.

His left calf and right thigh were both a bloody mess... They were merely night patrol officers; Zhangye City rarely saw even a few deaths in a year... When they realized what the two wolfdogs were eating, they all stumbled backward, and two of the officers bent over and vomited.

Looking at the furnishings, it was clearly a woman's boudoir.

The black-lacquered furniture was neither new nor old, the armchairs covered with coarse blue cloth cushions, yet on the windowsill sat a celadon vase from the Yue kilns in the shape of a flower holder.

The lead officer, past forty, was a man of some discernment. He knew that the more established the aristocratic family, the more they liked to keep their belongings looking neither new nor old to display their heritage, then place a few seemingly ordinary items in inconspicuous spots that, to the knowing eye, were worth a fortune to show their wealth... Looking at the room's decor, it was exactly the way those aristocratic families loved to show off.

He immediately realized the gravity of the situation and said, "Who owns this house?"

Zheng San, his face crumpled with distress, stepped forward and bowed to the officer: "Officer, this humble one is surnamed Zheng, given name San. I am a servant of Miss Fu's household. This is our master's residence. Our master's surname is Zhao, given name Ling. He serves as a centurion at Zhuanglang Guard. Some days ago he went with Commander Lu to fight at Xining Guard. The household affairs have been temporarily managed by our young mistress. Because she is close with the wife of Lord Wang, the assistant commander of Zhuanglang Guard, and our master being away, Madam Wang invited our young mistress to stay with her for a few days." He said, his expression growing even more dejected, "Our young mistress entrusted the household to this humble one. But who would have thought that no sooner had Miss Fu left than thieves broke in. Not only that, they even made their way into our young mistress's chambers..." He said, bowing repeatedly to the officer, "Officer, I've already sent someone to the General's Mansion to report to our young mistress. When she returns, I beg you to put in a good word for this humble one—it's not that I wasn't diligent, it's just that these petty thieves are too bold, daring to break into any place they please..."

Before he could finish, the officers all felt there was no need to ask further—the situation was already clear. Given Feng Dahu's character, he must have taken a fancy to this Miss Fu, and taking advantage of the owner's absence, intended to force himself upon her. But it turned out Miss Fu wasn't home at all, and not only that, the household kept two extremely ferocious wolfdogs. Feng Dahu had tried to prey on the eagle and ended up getting pecked himself!

Yet this case involved Lord Liu, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Gansu, the Marquis of Xiping stationed in Liangzhou, Commander Lu of Zhuanglang Guard, and Lord Wang, the assistant commander stationed at Zhuanglang Guard... And there was also the fact that the homeowner came from Xi'an Prefecture—who knew what powerful figures stood behind them?

No matter which one, none of them could afford to offend.

What to do about this matter—no one dared to speak up.

The officers exchanged helpless glances, and the lead one felt a dull ache beginning at his temples.

He pointed at one of the officers: "Quick, go report this to Lord Jiang."

Lord Jiang was the official in charge of Zhangye City's patrol and defense, their direct superior.

This matter was beyond his authority to handle; he could only go to his superior.

The designated officer acknowledged with a grunt and hurried off toward the General's Mansion.

Outside the door, a large crowd of onlookers had gathered in layers. Someone recognized the officer and called out, "Sandan, what's going on? Was it Feng Dahu who climbed over the wall?"

"Yeah!" Sandan replied, not looking back as he left through the back street.

"Who would have thought Feng Dahu would capsize in a ditch..."

"I wonder if he even made it onto the bed?"

Laughter tinged with innuendo rippled through the crowd.

Someone said, "Come to think of it, I saw the young mistress of the Zhao family once, at the street corner. She was out on some errand, a kerchief over her head, with a maidservant in tow—she was truly beautiful. If I were Feng Dahu, I'd have snuck in under cover of darkness too..."

A head poked out from the crack of Mo Yi's front gate, peered around for a moment, then withdrew.

"Concubine, concubine, something terrible has happened," Xuemei said, running breathlessly into the main hall. Only when she saw Concubine Lu, wrapped in her robes with an anxious expression, did she slow down. "The one who got hurt is Feng Dahu!"

Concubine Lu's heart gave a sudden lurch.

When she was startled awake by that miserable scream, she already had a premonition that something had happened to Feng Dahu. She just couldn't figure out how, given Feng Dahu's experience, and how thoroughly he had already investigated the situation at Fu Tingjun's household, he could have gotten himself into trouble.

"Concubine, what should we do?" Xuemei asked, her heart racing as she saw Concubine Lu's face turn pale.

Fu Tingjun had already returned home, and Grandmother Feng had sent someone to verify things with Concubine Lu. Now that something had happened to Feng Dahu, would Grandmother Feng take it out on their concubine? Everyone knew Grandmother Feng's domineering nature—once her temper flared, she wouldn't spare anyone's face...

Concubine Lu had no idea what to do either.

She hadn't wanted to get involved in this mess in the first place. Who would have thought that when Grandmother Feng came to her house the second time to ask for her help, she would run into Fu Tingjun? The moment she saw Fu Tingjun's aloof demeanor, she changed her mind... Come to think of it, it was all because that Fu Tingjun was too arrogant. Otherwise, she wouldn't have wanted to cut her down a peg by helping Grandmother Feng speak up.

Concubine Lu's expression darkened.

Xuemei knew her mistress had no plan either. After a moment of thought, she ventured tentatively, "Concubine, how about we go report to Grandmother Feng first? That way, even if Grandmother Feng blames us, we can claim credit for reporting in during a time of crisis... We couldn't have foreseen this!"

Concubine Lu's spirits lifted.

Yes, what was the use of thinking about all that now? What mattered was keeping Grandmother Feng from dragging her into this. Otherwise, her reputation would be completely ruined. The Mo family was nothing like that worthless Deputy General Liu's household. Deputy General Liu was just an ordinary hereditary centurion who had only gotten his position through currying favor with his superiors, which was why Madam Feng had gotten into the Liu family so easily. The Mo family, however, was a truly distinguished noble house. No matter how much General Mo doted on her, without the family's consent, he would never agree to take her as a concubine. That was also why General Mo wanted to bring her back for the old Madam Mo's birthday celebration—perhaps if the old lady was in a good mood, she would make the decision to let her into the family.

She immediately instructed Nanny Lu: "Go report to Grandmother Feng." Then, still uneasy, she asked Nanny Lu, "You know what to say, don't you?"

"Yes," Nanny Lu said. "If Grandmother Feng asks, I'll just say we were keeping an eye on the commotion next door, and the moment we heard Uncle Feng's cry, we knew something was wrong. You've already gone over to check, and you sent me ahead to report to Grandmother Feng."

Concubine Lu nodded with satisfaction, her expression softening slightly. "Go on then!"

Nanny Lu acknowledged and left.

As she passed by Fu Tingjun's door, she heard Madam Qi's voice: "...Didn't you hear what that Zheng San said? Miss Fu wasn't even home. If she had been, how could Feng Dahu have gotten into her room?"

Afraid that Madam Qi, that gossip, might recognize her, Nanny Lu quickly lowered her head and slipped along the wall out to the back street.

Inside, the leading constable was still questioning Zheng San: "How did you discover the other two men?"

Those two men were well-known idlers in Zhangye City, and the constables all recognized them. Both knew some martial arts, yet they had been beaten to the ground, unconscious to this very moment.

Zheng San replied respectfully, "In my youth, I worked as an escort guard, so the young master had my wife and me stay in Zhangye to look after the young lady."

The leading constable was taken aback and said, "Why haven't I seen your wife?"

"To answer you, sir, the young lady needed attendants by her side, and the young master's sworn brother is still young, so he went with the young lady to Madam Wang's place."

At that moment, from the pitch-dark eastern wing came Zheng Sanniang's barely audible voice: "Can you manage?" Her tone carried a hint of worry.

"No problem!" A Sen replied. "I used to follow Ninth Master..." Remembering that they were no longer salt smugglers, he swallowed the words "did this kind of thing all the time" and said, "I used knockout powder—those two won't wake up before dawn." He chuckled a few times. "When daylight comes, everyone will suddenly see two men running out of Concubine Lu's house... and with Madam Qi's big mouth spreading the word, just wait and watch Mo Yi deal with that Lu woman!" As if envisioning Concubine Lu being taken care of by Mo Yi, A Sen let out another low, smug laugh.

But Zheng Sanniang didn't share A Sen's confidence. "What if those two wake up suddenly while you're dumping them into the Mo household?"

"Pah, if there were no risk at all in doing something, would it even be worth doing?" A Sen said dismissively. "Ninth Master once said that if a matter has a seventy percent chance of success, there's no need to hesitate at all; if it has a fifty percent chance, you can go ahead and do it; and if it has a thirty percent chance, you have to give it a try. This matter, I have at least a seventy percent chance of success." Having said that, he added impatiently, "These two fellows are too heavy. Give me a hand and pull one of them."

Zheng Sanniang let out an "oh" and quickly helped A Sen drag one of the men over to the window.

The west wing of Mo Yi's residence was the kitchen, separated from the east wing where A Sen stayed by just a single wall.

In the darkness, two muffled "thud" sounds came from outside.

Unfortunately, with the chaos on Fu Tingjun's side and the unease on Concubine Lu's side, no one noticed these two unusual sounds.

One of the yamen runners sidled up to the lead runner and whispered, "Lord Hong, I think we should send for a physician!"

Only then did the lead runner snap to his senses and quickly say, "You're right, you're right. Hurry, go fetch a doctor at once."

If this fellow surnamed Feng were to die, the matter would blow up into something far bigger.