Chapter 30: A Bowl of Wine For Sworn Brotherhood

After delivering Chen Yujie back to Xu Guangqi’s residence, Yang Xin rode his horse and continued wandering the city with Cao Wenzhao and the others.

Cao Wenzhao and his men also had nothing to do.

They had come to the capital to escort a trusted subordinate of Liu Kongyin for some activities. That man was currently busy visiting various doors and presenting gifts, having long lost interest in managing them, and this would likely continue for the next few days. They were originally just waiting at an inn. Now, with a good man like Yang Xin treating them, they were naturally happy to continue eating, drinking, and having fun. The four of them idled around until nearly dark, then returned together to the Xianyi Neighborhood. They found a proper wine house and were drinking merrily when the evening curfew drum suddenly sounded from outside…

Yang Xin, who had been playing a drinking game, stopped in surprise.

He then looked around at the other drinkers, who showed no reaction.

“Is that the curfew drum?” he asked, grabbing a passing waiter.

“Young master, there’s no curfew inside our neighborhood!” the waiter said with a laugh.

“Oh, then let’s continue!” Yang Xin said.

The curfew meant the neighborhood gates were closed. People were not allowed to wander freely on the main streets outside. In theory, patrols also started within the neighborhoods, but in practice, that was just talk. Who would actually enforce it? Plenty of people relied on nightlife! Commerce was flourishing in the late Ming Dynasty. Many businesses operated at night. Neither the authorities nor the common people truly enforced any curfew. As long as you didn’t leave the neighborhood gate, singing and dancing continued inside.

However, Cao Wenzhao and his men could not return to their inn.

Their inn was not in the Xianyi Neighborhood. Leaving the neighborhood gate was definitely not allowed.

But such a minor issue was nothing. There were also inns within the Xianyi Neighborhood. The neighborhoods of Ming Dynasty Beijing were astonishingly large, far surpassing those of the Tang Dynasty’s Chang’an. Although the Xianyi Neighborhood wasn’t considered large, it was truly no smaller than an ordinary county town. The Mingshi Quarter where Wang Wanqing lived was comparable to the city of Dongchang Prefecture. As for the neighborhoods in the Outer City, they were even larger. The entire Outer City, over twenty square kilometers, was divided into only eight neighborhoods. So this curfew was pretty much nonexistent. In an era without vehicles like cars, who would be so bored as to wander two or three miles away in the middle of the night?

Cao Wenzhao and his men didn’t care about this either.

The four of them continued drinking for another half hour, basically getting quite drunk before they finally called it a night. They staggered downstairs and stood on the street in the night breeze, holding their horses.

The street was still bustling.

“Brothers, do you want to rough it at my place for the night, or should I find you an inn?” Yang Xin said drunkenly.

“Your place is fine. Why spend more money between us brothers!” Cao Wenzhao said, his words slurred.

“Then let’s go! The great river flows east, the stars in the sky look to the Big Dipper, sworn brothers share a bowl of wine, let’s go when we say go…” Yang Xin howled like he was having a fit.

“This song is good! Let’s go when we say go!” Cao Wenzhao belched and joined in the howling.

“Then sing it!” Yang Xin howled.

“Never turn back through water or fire, if you have it I have it we all have it, charging fiercely across the nine provinces…” he howled excitedly.

Then Cao Wenzhao and the two soldiers behind him started learning it too, and they sang it more and more skillfully. Clearly, this kind of song suited their style better. Their four hoarse voices wailed like ghosts and wolves, singing the song of heroes on the night street, drawing sideways glances from everyone on the road. However, it was only around nine o’clock. Because it was summer, most people were still out enjoying the cool air, so they weren’t disturbing anyone’s sleep. Though scaring crying children by the roadside was unavoidable.

The four of them loudly singing the heroes’ song soon reached the entrance of the alley where Yang Xin lived.

It was a cloudy day.

On the main street outside, because shops on both sides were still open, and many people enjoying the cool air had lit mosquito-repelling herbs, there was some light. But inside this alley, it was pitch black.

The four of them dismounted.

Cao Wenzhao had the two soldiers behind him hold the horses for him and Yang Xin. He and Yang Xin walked in front, even arm in arm—more accurately, Yang Xin was supporting Cao Wenzhao. The former had a special physique and was almost sober by now. But Cao Wenzhao was truly drunk, unsteady on his feet, stumbling through the dark alley, still howling about sworn brothers and a bowl of wine…

“Brother Yang, you’re a true friend!” he said, staggering along.

“I, Cao Wenzhao, acknowledge you as a brother. Just like your song says, never turn back through water or fire…”

Before his howl faded, a lantern suddenly appeared over the wall beside them. Almost simultaneously, a fishing net fell from the sky. Yang Xin, after all, had been drinking and was held by Cao Wenzhao’s arm. Just as he realized and tried to dodge, the net enveloped both him and Cao Wenzhao…

“Quick, grab them!” a chorus of shouts suddenly rang from the walltop.

Immediately, several lanterns lit up at once. In the dim light, figures dropped down one after another.

Cao Wenzhao, trapped in the net, bleary-eyed, watched this scene. The first few who landed in front had already pounced, like a pack of demons in the gloom. He shook his head violently, then grabbed the net in front of him with both hands…

“Open!” he roared like a roaring tiger, tearing outward with both hands. The coarse hemp fishing net was instantly torn apart by his brute force.

Almost at the same time, an iron ruler swung down from the opposite side.

Cao Wenzhao’s right hand shot out, grabbed the wrist of the man holding the iron ruler, yanked him inward, and struck down with his left hand. The man fell face-first to the ground without a pause. The next moment, a short spear thrust toward him. Cao Wenzhao tilted his head to avoid it, then flung the iron ruler he had just seized. It struck the forehead of the spearman opposite him. As the latter fell with a scream, the short spear landed in Cao Wenzhao’s hand. He then stepped out of the net, holding the spear backward, and swiped at the man in front. The man’s chain whip swung down and tangled around the spear. Cao Wenzhao gave a flick of his wrist; the spear shaft, with the chain still attached, jabbed into the man’s throat.

That man fell backward.

Yang Xin quickly scrambled out of the net as well, but he wisely pressed himself against the wall, staring in astonishment as Cao Wenzhao, like a tiger unleashed from its cage, wielded the short spear with whistling sounds as he struck repeatedly.

No one could stand before him.

All those officers who had jumped down from the wall, armed with chains, iron rulers, short spears, and such, were like a flock of ducks chased by a wolf in front of this man who would become the foremost fierce general of the Great Ming Dynasty in history. They turned and fled in panic. Those who couldn’t escape in time were struck howling. They had chosen this environment for an ambush, probably thinking to catch turtles in a jar. Unfortunately, they didn’t expect their plan to succeed only to find they hadn’t netted small fry but a megalodon—and more than one. Instead, they found themselves with nowhere to run. Cao Wenzhao was drunk and couldn’t see these people clearly in the dark. He was fired up with Yang Xin when suddenly they were attacked. This fierce general, who in history would die in battle trying to rescue his subordinate brothers, had no interest in considering anything else right now.

Just smash!

Who cared about anything else at a time like this.

“Shoot arrows! The bandits are resisting arrest! Kill them all!” someone shouted from the walltop.

Yang Xin hurriedly looked up and came face to face with someone.

“It’s him!” Young Master Wang shouted.

Yang Xin suddenly leaped upward. Young Master Wang, terrified, hurriedly ducked back.

As Yang Xin dodged an arrow, he grabbed the archer who had just fired it. Amid the archer’s scream, he yanked him down by force. By then, Cao Wenzhao had also seen the archers. He didn’t dodge. Instead, he roared again and charged toward the front wall like a wild bull. Yang Xin immediately understood. Filled with excitement, he sprinted forward at full speed. The two of them almost reached the base of the wall simultaneously, their shoulders slamming into the earthen wall at the same time. These were two fierce beasts, two true peerless fierce generals, one of whom even had an unfair advantage.

With a dull thud, the earthen wall collapsed.

Screams immediately erupted from the walltop.

“That felt good!” Cao Wenzhao let out a long breath.

“You… you bandits! How dare you resist arrest and kill officers! Aren’t you… aren’t you afraid of a house raid and property confiscation?” In the dust of the collapsed earthen wall, Young Master Wang stood trembling inside the gap, holding a lantern, speaking in a shaky voice.

A civil official beside him was also trembling.

In the dust before them, the archers buried under the collapsed earthen wall struggled out from the broken earth one by one, wailing. Although no one was killed, they were all injured.

Cao Wenzhao’s expression changed. He quickly bent down and grabbed an unconscious man from the ground…

“Archers from the Five City Military Inspectorate!” he said in shock.

“They’re probably here to arrest me. I killed a scoundrel in Tianjin to avenge a brother,” Yang Xin said frankly.

Cao Wenzhao stared wide-eyed, looking at him in disbelief.

“You there, soldier! The Five City Military Inspectorate is only arresting the fugitive Yang Xin! This man accidentally killed someone in Tianjin and fled here. Considering your ignorance, that you are not his accomplice but merely deceived by him, if you can just capture this bandit, it will count as atonement for your crime!” The civil official’s spirits suddenly lifted, and he shouted with renewed vigor.

Yang Xin very calmly stretched his hands forward…

He was gambling. He gambled that this man, who on the battlefield would refuse to abandon his subordinates, resulting in charging alone into the enemy camp to rescue them, getting trapped, wounded, and ultimately taking his own life, would not betray a friend for personal gain.

Cao Wenzhao looked at him.

The entire alley fell silent.

“What are you waiting for? Do you want to go to the execution ground with him?” the civil official barked.

Cao Wenzhao’s body trembled slightly. Clearly, he was struggling with a difficult choice, torn between loyalty and his future. Yang Xin still stood with his hands stretched out, looking at him calmly. Suddenly, Cao Wenzhao let out a long howl to the sky, then sharply turned his gaze to the civil official. Immediately after, he flung the unconscious officer toward him…

“Come with me! Let’s get out of the city first!” he roared at Yang Xin amid the civil official’s cries of alarm.

Almost simultaneously, the rapid clatter of hooves came from outside. Then, the light of torches appeared at the mouth of the alley behind them. The two soldiers holding the horses immediately sobered up, scared, and hurriedly moved aside. Yang Xin and Cao Wenzhao both looked toward the alley entrance. They saw over a dozen cavalrymen carrying torches surge in, each wearing a helmet and a yellow round-collared surcoat. A man at the front, wearing a red embroidered tieli robe and an eight-petal helmet, reined in his horse. In the flickering torchlight, he surveyed the scene of mess before him. A beast like a dragon but not quite a dragon writhed and clawed down from his shoulder…

“Imperial Guard on imperial orders! Which one is Yang Xin?” he said coldly.