Section 086: Straying into the Back Garden

Li Dong spurred his horse on at full speed, racing all the way until he reached Qi Commandery, where he rode straight to Zhang Xutuo's deputy-prefect residence. Though he missed Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin dearly, he had no choice but to explain the events of his journey to Dong'e to Zhang Xutuo first.

The true purpose of his trip to Dong'e had been to settle Qin Qiong's worries without telling him. Instead, it had led to a long chain of troubles. Fortunately, he had met Cheng Yaojin and agreed with him on a future time for their next meeting.

The Dong'e magistrate's collusion with bandits had entangled matters of office and government. Li Dong had no desire to get caught up in it, and it was not something he could conveniently handle alone. Leaving it to the deputy prefect was still the best course.

When he arrived at the deputy-prefect residence, he found the guards at the gate far more numerous than on his last visit. Before him lay a glittering expanse of armor, every man stern and alert, standing in strict formation.

Li Dong's heart began to drum. Why were there so many guards standing silent as a forest? Their disciplined ranks and grave expressions showed they were an orderly force. Yet from their dress, they were not the Qi Commandery troops under Zhang Xutuo. Then where had they been summoned from?

For a moment, he found it strange, but since he could not make sense of it, he let the matter drop.

At the gate, he took out the token Zhang Xutuo had given him and showed it to the guard, saying that he had urgent business and wished to see the deputy prefect.

At first the guard wanted him to wait a while, but upon seeing the token for troop mobilization, he realized the matter was serious and dared not delay. After a brief hesitation, he hurried inside to report to Zhang Xutuo.

Before long, the guard returned and said that the deputy prefect was occupied, and that Li Dong should wait in a side room. As soon as he was free, he would come to see him.

Li Dong had no choice but to agree. Following the guard, he went to the side room and thanked him for leading the way. After the servant brought tea, everyone withdrew.

Even after a long time, Zhang Xutuo still had not come. Bored from waiting, Li Dong stepped out of the side room and wandered among the flower beds in the courtyard. Following a narrow path, he unknowingly passed through several small round moon gates and entered a large garden.

The garden covered about half an acre and was filled with pink peonies and lovely paeonies. The blossoms were in full bloom, their fragrance rich in the air. Bees and butterflies danced among them, their soft humming adding to the charm. Around the garden stood a row of pines and cypresses, casting cool shade and lending the place a quiet stillness.

A butterfly fluttered gracefully from behind a thick cluster of flowering trees, twisting and turning as it drifted slowly toward Li Dong.

Suddenly, several bright female voices rang out beside him. "Miss, Miss, look, the butterfly's flown away! Hurry and chase it!"

Li Dong's heart lurched. Bad luck. He had strayed into the rear garden. This was a place for the women of the household. How could a grown man like him intrude upon Zhang Xutuo's family quarters?

He turned at once and started to leave. Strangely enough, the butterfly kept following behind him, never leaving his side.

He had barely taken a few steps when three young ladies appeared from behind the flowering trees. Seeing that the butterfly was leading toward a man's back, one of them called sharply, "You there, stop at once!"

Li Dong ignored her and did not even look back, only quickening his pace.

Just as he was about to step out of the garden, a voice soft as water, calm and unhurried, said, "If you do not stop, I will have the guards seize you."

At that sound, Li Dong jolted all over and came to an immediate halt, not daring to move another step. Slowly, he turned his head and looked back in surprise.

The reason was that the voice of the young lady sounded remarkably like that of his former girlfriend before his transmigration, Dang Yuqian. He had been searching so hard for her. How could he not stop when he heard that voice?

The three young ladies were roughly the same age, none of them seeming older than twenty. From their dress and manner, the girls on the left and right appeared to be of lower status, likely servants or attendants.

The young lady in the middle was around sixteen or seventeen, not much different in age from Li Dong himself. Her face was as round and bright as the full moon, radiant and luminous; her figure was graceful, each step blooming like lotus petals. Though her delicate features carried a hint of spring, they did not conceal the air of authority in her bearing. She was undeniably beautiful, and somehow she looked vaguely familiar, though Li Dong could not place her at once. One thing was certain, however: she was not his former girlfriend, Dang Yuqian. Their beauty was evenly matched, each impossible to surpass.

When the young lady saw Li Dong, she was startled. Had the world really produced such a handsome and upright gentleman? With his straight nose, bright tiger eyes, and calm stance, he did not show the slightest panic even after being abruptly rebuked. He stood there at a short distance, as steady as a pine. A long bundle was slung across his back, likely some weapon he carried with him, and he seemed to possess considerable skill.

"You have trespassed into the rear garden without permission, and you are carrying a weapon on your back. What are you scheming?" The young lady frowned and rebuked him sternly. "In broad daylight, do you mean to assassinate someone?"

Li Dong hastily lowered his head and bowed. "Young lady, you have misunderstood me. I truly did not know this was the rear garden. I came here by mistake, not by intrusion."

The young lady's almond-shaped eyes widened. "Nonsense. Trespass is trespass. How dare you make excuses? Do you think I won't summon the guards to seize you at once?"

Li Dong quickly straightened up and met her gaze, speaking neither humbly nor arrogantly. "I came to Zhang's residence on urgent business to see Deputy Prefect Zhang. Since he was occupied, I was told to wait in the side room. Bored, I took a casual walk, and that brought me here."

"Oh? You are so young, yet you have somehow received my father's hospitality? What a heap of nonsense." The young lady turned sharply to the two maidservants beside her and ordered, "Spring Blossom, Autumn Moon, seize him at once and hand him over to my father for punishment!"

The two maidservants answered and lunged at Li Dong. Their movements were graceful, like two streaks of colored clouds drifting toward him, though these two clouds were capable of taking a life.

Li Dong spread his feet, kept his lower body still, leaned back his upper body, and supported himself with one hand on the ground. First he spun left to evade the maidservant on the right, then turned right to slip past the one on the left. As soon as their figures swept by, he drove his arm down and sprang upright from the ground. From beginning to end, his feet had remained as steady as Mount Tai; not even the breadth of a hair had shifted.

"Don't rush to fight yet!" he said hurriedly, holding out a hand to stop them.

The young lady had mentioned her father repeatedly just now. Could she be Zhang Xutuo's daughter? Looking closely, it was indeed so. She bore about sixty percent of Zhang Xutuo's features, but as a daughter her complexion was smoother and more delicate, utterly unlike Zhang Xutuo's martial appearance. No wonder she seemed familiar yet he could not remember where he had seen her before.

Li Dong quickly drew the token from his chest and said, "This token was given to me by your honored father. I have now finished my business and came specially to return it. I beg Miss Zhang not to misunderstand me."

At the sight of the troop token, Miss Zhang paled in shock. With a forceful sweep of her slender arm, she cried in a sweet but sharp voice, "He has even stolen the troop token! We absolutely cannot let him escape! Someone, come quickly! Come now!"

He had taken out the token to win her trust, never expecting her to be so thoughtless. In broad daylight, who would dare to steal it? And why would he deliberately take it out for her to see with her own eyes?

The misunderstanding only deepened. Li Dong was inwardly frustrated, though...

If the guards came, that would be fine too. At least he could get out of this cursed place. Otherwise, if he were to force his way out, word would spread, and would he not be saddled with the disgrace of having violated the women of Zhang Xutuo's household?

And this woman was Zhang Xutuo's own daughter!

"Come quickly! Someone, come quickly! There is an assassin here!" Li Dong cupped his hands into a hollow and shouted toward the garden entrance, his voice even louder and carrying farther than Miss Zhang's. It rang out with a thoroughly masculine force.

This time Miss Zhang was dumbfounded. She stretched out her neck and pouted her lips so far that they almost seemed to reach beyond the heavens, staring at him as though he were an alien from another world, unable to believe her own ears.

What? He was the one shouting for the guards? Was this man mad?

Behind Li Dong, the two maidservants burst into laughter, bending over so hard they could scarcely straighten up, and it took them quite a while to recover.