The Innocent Heart - Chapter 58

The next day, motivated by the bet they had made the day before, Huo Qubing and Guan Yueyao hurriedly packed their things and left the military camp as soon as their training was finished.

Li Gan had heard about their wager early on. Driven by curiosity—and the fact that yesterday’s mutton soup was delicious but he hadn’t had his fill—he decided to follow along. The three of them chatted and laughed as they headed toward the sheep market.

However, just as they reached the gate of the sheep market district, they caught sight of a large crowd gathered together, looking as though there was a massive spectacle to behold.

Guan Yueyao was overcome with curiosity and quickened her pace. Before she even reached the crowd, the sounds of shouting and angry cursing broke out in a chaotic jumble.

She was very familiar with such a commotion; it was the kind of grand disturbance only caused by a mass brawl.

“Ah!” A woman’s scream rang out from the very center of the crowd. The voice was familiar, sounding somewhat like the girl who had been selling herself the day before.

Guan Yueyao frowned. For a moment, she couldn’t tell if the girl was just caught in the crossfire or if she was the one being beaten. Without time for second thoughts, Guan Yueyao pushed through the crowd and squeezed inside.

“What… what is going on?!” As soon as she squeezed in, she was dumbfounded and asked out loud in shock.

An unexpected person was currently standing in the center of the crowd, leading his family servants in a brawl against another group.

That person was Chen Zhi.

The two sisters who were selling themselves were huddled together in fear against a wall, clearly terrified out of their wits.

“This young lad must have just arrived. Oh dear, things have really blown up. Two young lords both wanted to buy these sisters, and since neither would back down, they started fighting.”

A middle-aged man standing nearby took a look at her and helpfully explained the situation.

“Not so, not so, you didn’t see the whole picture. The first to arrive was that young master in the green robes. He looks like he’s from out of town and isn’t familiar with the ways of the capital, and he’s incredibly arrogant. He said he didn’t have ten gold pieces on hand right now and demanded the sisters follow him home to get it. The sisters probably thought his attitude was too fierce; they were scared to death and refused to go, so they were at a stalemate here.”

Another person nearby leaned in to share what they knew. By this time, Huo Qubing and Li Gan had also squeezed in and overheard the discussion.

“Chen Zhi? What is he doing here?” Huo Qubing was clearly surprised to see Chen Zhi. The boy had taken a leave of absence from training today; who would have thought he had sneaked out to slack off?

“Do you young masters know that gentleman in the blue robes?” The middle-aged man who had spoken first looked at the three of them with surprise. Seeing that all three were dressed in luxurious clothing, it seemed to make sense.

“How did he get mixed up in this?” Huo Qubing frowned and asked the middle-aged man.

“To answer the young lord, the two groups were already fighting when I arrived. As for why it started, I don’t know the root of it,” the middle-aged man replied with a bit more restraint, no longer as casual as before.

“I know, I know! That green-robed young master was trying to force the sisters onto his carriage just as the blue-robed young master arrived. The blue-robed one said he brought ten gold pieces to buy them and told the green-robed one to get lost. Both of them clearly aren’t used to losing, so neither backed down, and that’s how the fight started.”

A young man leaned over and eagerly explained the cause of the situation to the three of them.

Although Huo Qubing usually appeared somewhat taciturn in front of others, he was actually very quick-witted. From just a few words from the young man, he could roughly guess why Chen Zhi was there.

Ten gold pieces was considered a significant sum of money at this time. Even a profligate son like Chen Zhi would certainly not wander around with that much money on a normal day. Considering his leave of absence today, he must have set his sights on the sisters early on and come prepared with the money today. He just hadn’t expected an arrogant out-of-town lord to cross his path.

Even though Huo Qubing didn’t like Chen Zhi—the two even had a history of friction—Chen Zhi’s hard work in training over the past few days had not gone unnoticed. In Huo Qubing’s heart, he grudgingly considered him half a comrade.

Should I go help clear things up for him? Huo Qubing hesitated. No matter how one looked at it, Chen Zhi came from the same military camp. To let him brawl in public over such a matter seemed somewhat inappropriate.

But before Huo Qubing could make a decision, Li Gan stepped forward first, attempting to mediate between the two groups fighting in full swing.

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, stop fighting! I am Li Gan, son of the Governor of Youbeiping and General of the Agile Cavalry, Li Guang. To fight like this in broad daylight—when the Prefect of the Capital (Jingzhaoyin) arrives, it won’t look good for any of you. Why not stop here and turn shields and spears into jade and silk? Wouldn’t that be better?”

However, both sides were already seeing red, or perhaps they simply didn’t take this suddenly appearing teenager seriously.

The green-robed young master looked at Li Gan with contempt and laughed with a trace of roguishness: “A mere son of a governor dares to mind my business? While I don’t have the time to deal with you, why don’t you get lost?”

His attitude was extremely arrogant.

Upon hearing this, Guan Yueyao was naturally displeased that someone looked down on her friend. She stormed forward two steps, intending to argue with the youth. In comparison to this green-robed master, even Chen Zhi seemed a lot more tolerable to her now.

As luck would have it, at that exact moment, a brick came flying through the air and struck the defenseless Guan Yueyao.

Wincing in pain, Guan Yueyao turned toward the direction the brick had come from. Within moments, she saw clearly that the one who had thrown the brick at her was one of the green-robed master’s servants.

Without hesitation, she rolled up her sleeves and joined the fray.

Chen Zhi was currently locked in a struggle with the green-robed youth. It seemed the effort he had put into his hard training in the military camp was finally yielding results. The youth was clearly several years older and tall and sturdy, yet Chen Zhi was not falling behind. The two exchanged punches and kicks, giving as good as they got.

This realization greatly encouraged Chen Zhi, and he fought with even more vigor, refusing to stop.

After a while, Chen Zhi noticed that while the two groups had initially been evenly matched, the opposition was now starting to show signs of being overwhelmed.

When did my family servants develop such battle-hardened courage? He was puzzled and couldn’t help but turn to look, and he was instantly stunned by what he saw.

What was going on? Li Gan aside, those two boys Huo Qubing and Guan Yueyao—who usually got along with him the least—hadn’t taken the opportunity to beat him up. Instead, they were helping him fight the others?

In that moment of distraction, the green-robed youth swung another punch toward him.

“Watch out!” Chen Zhi heard an exclamation by his ear, followed by a rush of wind. A figure faster than his own reaction time rushed over and punched the youth, knocking him back several steps.

“Huo… Huo Qubing?” He blinked, identifying the boy standing in front of him, and shouted in shock.

“Are you done or not? If you can’t handle it, go rest to the side,” another voice drifted over—it was Guan Yueyao. Her tone was relaxed, as if she didn’t consider these thugs a threat at all.

“End the fight and disperse quickly. I’m afraid the Prefect of the Capital is already on his way. I don’t want to listen to Fan Xi’s nagging,” Huo Qubing said coldly.

Huo Qubing’s words caused Chen Zhi’s heart to tighten. Although he had restrained himself a lot lately, he had listened to plenty of Fan Xi’s nagging during his past days of cockfighting and dog racing in the capital. That old man, due to the influence of the Grand Princess Guantao and the Tangyi Marquis Household, didn’t dare do anything real to him, but his lectures—always full of pained expressions, word-play, and classical references—were enough to make anyone’s head ache.

The profligate youths of the capital were all somewhat afraid of his… nagging. Thus, whenever they got into trouble, they avoided him if they could.

From where they stood, they could already see a commotion at the entrance of the district; it looked as if the bailiffs had already reached the gate.

“Retreat! Retreat!” Chen Zhi hesitated no longer. He didn’t even want the sisters anymore; he turned and prepared to slip away through the alleyways with his servants.

After two steps, he seemed to remember something and turned back. Guan Yueyao was still there, grabbing someone by the collar and shouting.

“What are you standing there for? Guan Yueyao, let’s go!” he couldn’t help but shout to her.

Guan Yueyao was startled by his shout, but Huo Qubing reacted first. He grabbed Guan Yueyao’s hand, called to Li Gan, and followed Chen Zhi’s footsteps, sprinting toward the alley.

And then, the group failed to escape. They were intercepted head-on at the other end of the alley by the troops of the Prefect of the Capital.

“The nephew of Consort Wei, the legitimate grandson of the Marquis of Tangyi, the young son of General Li Guang, and the newly appointed Palace Attendant… all gathered in a public brawl over a common woman.”

Fan Xi, who was over fifty years old, paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. He looked at the dejected teenagers lined up before him and took a deep breath. He felt his head throbbing with pain. Each and every one of them was a name known to the Emperor, especially Huo Qubing and Chen Zhi, who were juniors the Emperor was quite fond of.

However, he was not merely a man who knew only how to flatter. He had his own bottom line and was unwilling to let the matter rest so easily. At the very least, he had to make these troublesome boys compensate the small street vendors who had suffered losses during the brawl.

Thinking of this, Fan Xi glanced at the boys again. These boys weren’t the most troublesome part; he thought of the green-robed youth currently locked in the cells of the Prefect’s office. That youth clearly came from an extraordinary background, yet he refused to reveal his identity no matter what, simply stiffening his neck and making threats.

Fan Xi had not reached the position of Prefect of the Capital by being mediocre; he keenly sensed that the youth’s identity was anything but ordinary. Even after knowing the identities of Chen Zhi, Huo Qubing, and the others, his arrogant attitude hadn’t diminished in the slightest, yet he refused to divulge who he was.

A suspicion was on the tip of his tongue, yet it filled Fan Xi with dread. Compared to Chen Zhi and the others, this youth was the real headache. If not handled correctly, it could trigger a bloodbath that would sweep through the capital—or even the entire nation.