Chapter 13: I... I secretly watched Lord Dong’s concubine bathing this morning...

“Li Yuanjing?”

“Yuanjing, save me, save me…”

In a flash, the young man fleeing for his life rushed straight to Li Yuanjing.

As soon as Mu Ran spotted Li Yuanjing, it was as if he’d grasped his last lifeline. Tumbling and scrambling, he threw himself at Li Yuanjing’s feet, clutching his leg tightly—even as he collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

Clearly, he had reached his limit.

Li Yuanjing now recognized who he was. Wasn’t this the son of the old village chief from Quanzi Village—Lu Gang?

At this moment, Lu Gang’s face and body were marked with obvious bruises, looking utterly battered and disheveled, the clear evidence of a recent beating.

“Heh heh!”

“You mangy pup, run! Why don’t you try running again, eh?”

The pursuers had already caught up.

At their head was a hulking brute, his face covered with a thick beard. Despite the frigid weather, he wore only a single vest, chest and muscles exposed to the cold. He glared at Lu Gang with the predatory look of a wolf ready to pounce on a chick struggling in vain—his savagery made one’s scalp tingle.

Surrounding him were more than a dozen equally brawny men, all stripped down to their vests, who quickly encircled Li Yuanjing, Lu Gang, and the others.

“Biaozi, what do you think you’re doing? Causing trouble at the entrance of my house, Wang Youdao’s house? Do you really think I won’t deal with you?”

Wang Youdao’s face darkened, his tone sharp as he rebuked the burly man called Biaozi.

“Heh heh.” Biaozi broke into a sycophantic grin and hurried to explain, “Master Wang, even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn’t dare make trouble at your door. But this little mongrel—he’s gone too far!”

“This morning, he ruined a whole basin of the finest molten iron my master, Master Dong, had prepared. Master Dong has made it clear—this pup’s leg must be broken as punishment!”

“Master Wang, please don’t make things hard for us…”

Wang Youdao’s face fell further as he glanced toward Li Yuanjing.

Li Yuanjing found himself at a loss for words. He’d certainly heard the infamous name of this “Master Dong.” If Wang Youdao was the big shot in local construction, then Master Dong was the authority in blacksmithing.

Yet, compared to Wang Youdao’s well-established reputation, Master Dong’s background was much murkier. Rumor had it he forged not only farming tools, but weapons in secret. As for who bought those weapons, that was not something ordinary folk dared to speculate about.

No wonder even Wang Youdao had to tread carefully with Biaozi.

“Yuanjing, Yuanjing, save me!” Lu Gang wailed, clutching Li Yuanjing’s leg. “I didn’t mean to ruin their molten iron, I swear, I really didn’t…”

Lu Gang managed to catch his breath, but he looked even more desperate, refusing to let go of Li Yuanjing’s leg.

Li Yuanjing felt as if he’d stepped in something foul. He’d just earned ten taels of silver and hadn’t even had the chance to celebrate with his lovely young wife—only to stumble into this mess.

But he quickly regained his composure.

If he hadn’t run into this, all would be well. But now that he had, to ignore it would be a bad omen. With men like Biaozi, Lu Gang might not survive the day.

He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. The old chief of Quanzi Village was a man of standing, yet his son was reduced to being an apprentice to someone like Master Dong.

“Brother Biao,” Li Yuanjing said, signaling to Wang Youdao with a glance, then smiled at Biaozi. “Let’s not get into the rights and wrongs of it. I just want to ask—how much does my friend owe Master Dong for the damages?”

The group of thugs grinned.

Biaozi laughed heartily, exposing more of his hairy chest. “So, Scholar, you want to take responsibility for this mutt’s mistake?”

Wang Youdao frowned slightly at Li Yuanjing’s question, sensing the complexity of the situation. Li Yuanjing’s intentions were good, his approach sound, but he underestimated Biaozi’s greed.

Lu Gang was overjoyed, sobbing, “Yuanjing, if you save me, I’ll pay you back double—no, triple!”

“Shut up!” Li Yuanjing snapped, spitting at Lu Gang in disgust.

He knew exactly what this fellow was like—they’d grown up together, after all. The ruined iron was likely just a pretext; there had to be more to the story.

Yet, out of respect for the old chief, Li Yuanjing couldn’t just stand by.

“Brother Biao, there must be a sum involved, right? Let me see if I can help.”

Seeing Li Yuanjing’s sincerity, Biaozi and his men grew serious.

Biaozi stroked his bearded chin. “Scholar, since you’ve stepped forward, I’ll be reasonable. Truth is, this mutt did more than just ruin the iron—there’s more trouble behind it. If you really want to help him, five taels—no less. Without five taels, this matter isn’t settled.”

“Five taels?” Zhang Kun, standing nearby, exclaimed in disbelief before Li Yuanjing could respond.

Li Yuanjing’s brow was furrowed tight, his lips pressed together in deep thought.

“Yuanjing, you have to save me! If you don’t, they’ll really kill me. I’m my father’s only son…” Lu Gang’s panic mounted as Li Yuanjing remained silent.

With a smack to the head, Li Yuanjing silenced him.

Wang Youdao gave Li Yuanjing a helpless glance, clearly indicating with his eyes that this wouldn’t be easy to resolve.

But Li Yuanjing only grew calmer. After a moment’s thought, he smiled at Biaozi. “Brother Biao, since you’ve named your price, I’ll do my best. But could I have a private word with this fellow?”

He gave Wang Youdao another look.

Wang Youdao understood and didn’t hesitate. “Biaozi, aren’t you reassured at my door?”

Biaozi quickly replied, “Master Wang, you flatter me! With you guaranteeing things, I have nothing to worry about—go ahead.”

Li Yuanjing signaled to Zhang Kun to drag Lu Gang inside, and then leaned in to whisper a few words to Wang Youdao.

Wang Youdao frowned at first, but a glint soon flashed in his eyes. He said nothing more, and followed Li Yuanjing up into the stilted house.

…

Inside a cold, dim room on the first floor of the stilted house, Li Yuanjing glared fiercely at Lu Gang.

“Speak! Besides ruining Master Dong’s iron, what other disgraceful things have you done?”

“I haven’t!” Lu Gang retorted hotly. “Li Yuanjing, don’t slander me! Just because I’m asking for your help doesn’t mean you can treat me however you want. If it weren’t for my father, your family would never have settled in Quanzi Village. Are you planning to repay kindness with betrayal?”

Left alone with Li Yuanjing, Lu Gang lost all restraint, shouting as if he could reclaim the upper hand.

“Heh.” Li Yuanjing sneered. “If you’re so tough, go negotiate with Biaozi yourself.”

Without another glance, he turned to leave.

“Hey? Li Yuanjing, please—don’t go! Alright, I’ll talk, I’ll talk, isn’t that enough?”

Seeing Li Yuanjing walk out without a backward glance, Lu Gang panicked, finally grasping the gravity of his situation.

Li Yuanjing didn’t pause, already about to disappear around the corner.

Lu Gang broke down, his voice dropping to a desperate whisper: “Li Yuanjing, I’ll tell you, I swear. This morning, I… I spied on Master Dong’s concubine while she was bathing…”