Chapter 271: An Taiping

Seven or eight men immediately jumped down behind Huyan Wei and rushed forward.

"Ah!" The young man who had been apologizing screamed as someone kicked him to the ground. The other two were knocked down on the spot as well.

The group surrounded all three and laid into them with fists and feet, beating them savagely enough to make them howl for their fathers and mothers. They truly were beating them as though they meant to kill them. Among the commoners watching from a short distance away, some secretly cheered while others could not bear to look.

Yuan Gang, who was shielding the maidservant behind him, did not call for them to stop either. If he had not come here on important business, there would have been no need for anyone else to act. He would already have crippled all three himself. Huyan Wei, meanwhile, watched the beating with a taut expression.

One of the men behind him rode forward and stopped beside him. Lowering his voice, he said, "Third Young Master, making a show of it is enough. I've seen the one who said it was a 'misunderstanding' before. He's the nephew of the Left Surveillance Commissioner."

Huyan Wei frowned. The Left Surveillance Commissioner was one of two deputies, left and right, to the Censor-in-Chief under the Grand Minister of the Masses. The office itself did not wield much direct power, but it carried responsibility for supervising and impeaching officials. Actually beating the man's nephew to death could create trouble.

He immediately barked, "Throw them in the lake and feed them to the fish!"

The seven or eight men stopped beating them at once, picked up the trio, and hurled them straight into the lake amid a series of splashes.

The three floundered in the water. None dared swim back toward shore. Instead, they fled by swimming away, abandoning even their horses on the bank.

Huyan Wei jumped down from his horse, walked over to Yuan Gang, and asked, "Brother An, what happened?"

"Nothing much..." Yuan Gang briefly explained the situation.

The public name Yuan Gang was now using in the Qi capital was An Taiping!

"..."

Huyan Wei stared at him, speechless. Then he did not know whether to laugh or cry. Pointing at the maidservant Yuan Gang was protecting behind him, he said, "For a woman from a brothel, was all that really necessary? Someone spends money looking for pleasure, and you step in to stop him. Why?"

He turned and looked toward the three men desperately swimming away across the lake, then sighed. "Looks like I was the unreasonable one this time!"

That was how he saw it. Or rather, it was how almost everyone saw it. Women from pleasure houses existed to do this sort of work. Serving men was taken for granted. Talking about dignity in such circumstances seemed absurd to them.

Stopping someone from seeking pleasure and ruining his mood made Huyan Wei feel that he had been the one acting without reason. Beating the three afterward had been even less justifiable.

Yuan Gang could not be bothered arguing with him. The difference in their ways of thinking was too great. On this point, there was no way for the two to communicate.

Huyan Wei likewise had no interest in arguing. "Forget it. Brother An, you're stubborn as a single tendon. There's no point talking to you about this."

Yuan Gang turned to the maidservant. "If you don't want to do this kind of work, then don't."

The maidservant was still visibly shaken and looked blankly at him, not understanding what he meant.

Yuan Gang added, "I'll redeem you. How much does it cost to buy your freedom?"

He said this precisely because he had seen that the maidservant had been unwilling to sell her body for money. Since she still valued herself, he could not bear watching her remain in a pit of fire.

Huyan Wei, unaware of those details, froze when he heard that and asked suspiciously, "Brother An, have you taken a fancy to this girl?"

Inside the pleasure boat's cabin, Su Zhao and Qin Mian exchanged a glance. The maidservant did not know how to answer Yuan Gang.

Huyan Wei gave a dismissive sound. "Brother An, what use is it asking her about buying her freedom? Uh..." He glanced at the lantern on the boat bearing the name Among the White Clouds. "For that, you need to talk to Madam Qin of Among the White Clouds."

The moment he finished speaking, someone emerged at the bow, lazily waving a round fan. "Who was calling for me?"

Everyone turned.

Huyan Wei chuckled. "Speak of Madam Qin and Madam Qin appears. Brother An, if you want to redeem her, talk to that woman." He patted Yuan Gang on the shoulder and pointed toward Qin Mian, who stood at the bow slowly fanning herself.

Then he went over first and stepped directly onto the boat. In broad daylight, under countless watching eyes, he reached out and tried to grope Qin Mian's backside. Plainly, he was a regular patron of Among the White Clouds.

Qin Mian giggled and twisted aside, blocking him with her round fan and avoiding his hand without making a scene. "Third Young Master, how did you find the leisure to come looking for pleasure here?"

Huyan Wei, however, refused to give up without getting something for his trouble. Qin Mian had no way around men like this. In the end, she let him give her backside one squeeze before pushing him away.

Only after taking that little advantage did Huyan Wei raise his eyebrows and say, "Madam Qin, one of your people ran into trouble, yet instead of stepping in, you hid away and watched the excitement. What's that supposed to mean? If you'd shown your face, would those fellows really have dared refuse you face?"

Qin Mian sighed. "Anyone who spends money is a lord and master. What would you have me do?"

"Easy!" Huyan Wei pointed at Yuan Gang as he stepped onto the boat. "This brother of mine wants to redeem that girl. Name your price!"

Qin Mian shook her head. "She's a household maid. She's not for sale."

"You're refusing to give me face! Madam Qin, if you don't hand her over today, then I'm not leaving." Huyan Wei threw down those words, turned, and swaggered toward the cabin as though he intended to plant himself here for the rest of the day.

The instant he stepped inside, however, his body went rigid. Yuan Gang noticed and followed him in. He saw a woman in white sitting inside the cabin with a book in her hands, turning its pages slowly. She seemed completely absorbed in what she was reading, tranquil and composed. Her figure was graceful and exquisite, her features alluring, her skin porcelain-white. She was a true beauty.

Qin Mian entered behind them and called, "Proprietress, guests have arrived."

Su Zhao looked up. Her clear, limpid eyes rested briefly on Yuan Gang. Something about this man's build and bearing gave her an indescribable feeling.

Huyan Wei immediately gave a dry laugh and cupped his hands. "So Proprietress Su is aboard. I didn't expect that. I barged in without permission and disturbed your leisure. Truly presumptuous of me."

"So it's the Huyan family's Third Young Master. No harm done, no harm done." Su Zhao smiled and nodded, then let her gaze fall on Yuan Gang again. "This gentleman is unfamiliar. May I ask which household's young master you are?"

Huyan Wei hurriedly introduced him. "This is my brother, An Taiping!"

"Oh?" Su Zhao's response carried a trace of deeper meaning. "May I ask what instructions bring the two young masters aboard?"

"Well..." Huyan Wei scratched his head and suddenly became somewhat tongue-tied.

Yuan Gang glanced at him in mild surprise.

"They want to redeem Juan'er..." Qin Mian came over and briefly explained what had happened.

Su Zhao nodded and said with a smile, "She's a maid trained for our household's own use. There is no question of redeeming her freedom. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint Third Young Master."

"No problem, no problem. If it isn't suitable, forget it. Proprietress Su, go on with what you were doing. We won't disturb you any longer. Farewell!" Huyan Wei cupped his hands, then immediately tugged Yuan Gang by the arm and dragged him away.

Su Zhao said, "Madam Qin, see the two young masters out for me."

"Of course." Qin Mian followed them outside.

After disembarking, Huyan Wei could not help asking, "Madam Qin, why did Proprietress Su come all the way here?"

Qin Mian sighed and nodded toward the Tofu House. "She heard there was something novel to eat and came to try it. Who would've thought things would turn into this?" She pointed at the shattered crockery scattered across the ground.

Huyan Wei immediately thumped his chest. "That's easy to solve. Ask Proprietress Su to wait a moment. I'll have someone bring a fresh serving over right now. If she doesn't mind accepting it, consider it my treat."

Qin Mian giggled. "How could we possibly impose? Then I'll thank Third Young Master in advance."

Huyan Wei cheerfully dragged Yuan Gang away and named one of his men, sending him into the Tofu House to fetch a serving and deliver it to the boat.

Once they had walked a little farther, Yuan Gang asked, "Brother Huyan, you seem somewhat afraid of the woman on that boat."

"I'm not afraid of her. I just don't want to provoke her." Huyan Wei lowered his voice. "A woman that beautiful who can run the biggest pleasure house in the Qi capital—do you think she could possibly be ordinary? She isn't a woman just any man can touch. She's the Prince of the Western Court's exclusive woman. Men who try to behave improperly with her often die without even knowing how."

"If she refuses to let the maid go, then forget it. Don't get stubborn about this too. She's not someone to provoke."

Yuan Gang still wanted to say something, but then he remembered the purpose of his presence here. He also remembered that the people on the boat had said the girl was merely a maid and did not need to sell her body. So he remained silent.

"You're all right, aren't you?" Huyan Wei pointed at the places where Yuan Gang's clothes had been torn by the horsewhips.

"I'm fine."

"Of course. Your hide is thick enough."

Inside the cabin, Su Zhao watched Yuan Gang's retreating back through the beaded curtain.

Qin Mian returned and stood to one side, also looking through the window. Clicking her tongue, she said, "That build—now that's what a real man ought to look like."

The remark almost made it sound as though other men were not men at all.

"An Taiping..." Su Zhao murmured the name, then said, "Investigate him."

Qin Mian said, "I've never met the man before, but as for his name and background, we've already investigated them."

Su Zhao turned. "Where does he come from?"

Qin Mian said, "An Taiping is the owner of the Tofu House. When we investigated the Tofu House, naturally we had to investigate him too."

"This man was originally a soldier stationed with the border army. Someone was smuggling horses out through the frontier and clashed with the garrison unit he belonged to. Almost the entire detachment was killed. Only he and a few others escaped with their lives."

"There was something dirty behind the affair. People above and below had colluded to move warhorses out of the country, then tried to silence the witnesses. Those few survivors barely escaped death, only to be branded deserters afterward. Someone wanted them dead."

"Instead of accepting it, the men truly deserted and fled all the way to the capital. They intercepted Huyan Wei and used him to get an audience with his father, Huyan Wuhen. There are also rumors they actually took Huyan Wei hostage."

"In any case, the Huyan family eventually stepped in. The men were struck from the military rolls but kept their lives. After that, they began operating this Tofu House in the capital."

"Oh!" Understanding seemed to dawn on Su Zhao. She nodded slightly. "Bold enough, and lucky enough to survive. In that case, there shouldn't be any problem with his identity."

Qin Mian nodded as well. "The affair caused quite a stir. People at every level investigated them. There shouldn't be anything suspicious about their identities or backgrounds."

While they were speaking, someone outside delivered a large crock of tofu pudding. The vessel simply was not as attractive as the one they had used before—it was a coarse black earthenware crock. The lid came off, releasing a rich fragrance of soybeans.

Su Zhao looked at it curiously. "This is made from soybeans?"

"That part should be genuine enough." Qin Mian chuckled. She personally checked it once more before ladling a small bowl and offering it over. "Proprietress, try it."

Su Zhao used a spoon to scoop up a little and place it in her mouth. The fragrance of soybeans filled her senses. She slowly savored the smooth, tender freshness, swallowed, then gradually turned toward the Tofu House outside the window. A thoughtful expression appeared on her face. Softly, she said one word.

"Sweet."

In the courtyard behind the Tofu House, Yuan Gang was personally unloading sack after sack of soybeans from a cart.

Watching him, Huyan Wei sighed repeatedly. "My father had me pass on another message. He says you were born for charging into battle, that doing this kind of work is wasting your talent. He wants you to reconsider. Go back into the army and serve under him. He'll guarantee you a future!"

[End of Chapter 271]