Chapter 2: South of the City (Part 2)

The entire area around Qujiang Pond fell into silence. The sensible people of Chang’an turned and left, unwilling to get involved in such trouble. A few young men dressed as scholars firmly grabbed the sleeves of their companions who wanted to step forward to argue, whispering warnings to them. After hearing these “advice,” the scholar sighed deeply and gave up.

The prince surnamed Wang, riding his horse, was pleased that no one dared challenge him. He glanced around at the crowd, snorted lightly, and prepared to ride away.

“Stop!”

A man with a square face and dressed in dark blue short-sleeved clothes shouted as he pushed his way through the crowd, helping the frightened young woman to her feet. Standing six feet tall, with sword-like eyebrows, fierce eyes, and a full beard, he spoke with great authority. He glanced sideways at the prince on horseback, stroked the sword at his waist with his right hand, and sneered, “I wondered whose dog was barking recklessly—turns out it’s Wang Xiu’s brat. No surprise. Just like his father, a mad dog!”

These words were extremely vicious. How could the prince surnamed Wang tolerate them? He was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter. Pointing at the man with the square face, he shouted, “If you’ve got guts, tell me your name! I don’t want to kill a dog without even knowing its name!”

The man with the square face never even glanced directly at the prince. After calming the frightened woman slightly, he turned around, pushed aside the finger in front of his nose, and declared loudly, “I am Nan Jiyun from Wei Zhou. I never change my name or surname. My life is right here—come and take it if you dare! As for you, a wretched brat who can’t even reveal your own name, relying on your father’s name to commit crimes—will you need your father to come and fight for you when you’re weak in bed after marriage? It’s truly laughable!”

The prince surnamed Wang had never suffered such humiliation. Unable to contain his anger any longer, he turned to his follower and roared, “Wang Lu, what are you waiting for? I’ve been bullied to this extreme, and you’re still standing here watching? Send people to break this guy’s legs! I’ll take responsibility for the consequences!”

Upon receiving his master’s order, Wang Lu immediately gave instructions to his henchmen. In an instant, a dozen burly, strong-looking servants surrounded Nan Jiyun.

The atmosphere around Qujiang Pond became extremely tense. Many people who had come to enjoy the scenery quietly headed toward the city gates, while some bolder ones stood on tiptoes, eager to watch the great hero Nan Jiyun fight against those evil servants.

Du Jingtian, with her youthful innocence, couldn’t stand crowds at all. Seeing so many people nearby, she quickly squeezed through, much to the trouble of Li Kuo, who was carrying two large bags of food and sweating profusely.
“Miss Du, could you please stop running around on a whim? Your constant chaos really troubles me, your humble follower. The fine cotton boots I had custom-made from Su’s shop are almost worn out from all this running!” he complained as he hurried along. Yet his lazy tone clearly failed to move her heart. Miss Du continued to push forward, determined not to miss any interesting story she could later share with her friends.
“Uncle, is that reckless young man the son of the governor? And who is that Southern Hero? It’s such a pleasure to see him humiliate that scoundrel in public!”
After finally managing to find a spot, Du Jingtian hadn’t even had time to catch her breath before her lips started moving nonstop, leaving Li Jia Xiao Qi with no choice but to cover his face and sigh helplessly.
The middle-aged man questioned seemed surprised that someone didn’t know about the origin of the Wang family’s son. Seeing that everyone’s attention was focused on the confrontation between the Southern Hero and those scoundrels, he pulled Du Jingtian aside and whispered, “That scoundrel is the eldest son of the governor—his name is Zhao. He’s a notorious playboy in Chang’an, using his father’s power to oppress the innocent. But because of his father’s influence, the county officials in Chang’an and Wannian turn a blind eye, as long as no one dies, they pretend nothing happened to avoid trouble.”
After a pause, he changed his tone and said, “As for that Southern Hero, I’m not sure. After all, there are many such ronin in our Tang Dynasty—who can tell who’s good and who’s bad?”
The middle-aged man wanted to say more, but then saw that a fight had broken out, so he left Du Jingtian behind to watch.
Dozens of scoundrels, under Wang Lu’s command, rushed at Nan Jiyun all at once. These men seemed utterly devoid of shame, using their numbers to attack Nan Jiyun’s vital points with precise and powerful punches.
These scoundrels usually acted as enforcers in Chang’an, committing terrible deeds and thus losing public support. Seeing Nan Jiyun in danger, the people grew anxious. Some timid women even covered their eyes, unable to bear to watch any longer!

To his surprise, the scene of Nan Jiyun being beaten to the ground did not occur. With a light shout, he lifted his toe, sending a piece of broken stone flying toward the face of one of the evil servants right in front of him. Unfortunately, the servant had already rushed at Nan Jiyun and could not stop in time; struck by the stone, his face was covered in blood as he fell to the ground in pain. Two other evil servants attacked from Nan Jiyun’s left and right, trying to take advantage of his distraction. But Nan Jiyun was no ordinary person—he grabbed the arm of the attacker on his left with his left hand and twisted it slightly, causing the man to cry out in pain and fall to the ground. Seeing his companion’s miserable state, the servant on the right slowed down slightly, but Nan Jiyun didn’t give him time to react. He smacked the servant’s face with the hilt of his sword, sending him sprawling to the ground as well.

Seeing his servants repeatedly subdued by this rough man surnamed Nan, the eldest son of Prince Wang Zhao lost confidence. Yet he couldn’t give up easily—otherwise, how could he continue to live in Chang’an in the future? With this thought, Wang Zhao gritted his teeth and shouted at the distracted evil servants, “Don’t be afraid! Whoever knocks this brute down today will be rewarded with two maids and ten strings of silver when we return to the mansion!”

These words had an immediate effect. Driven by greed, the evil servants lost their rationality and launched an even more fierce attack on Nan Jiyun. It should be noted that the purchasing power of Tongbao coins during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao periods was quite high—one Tongbao was equivalent to one tael of silver. In the early years of Kaiyuan, one dou of rice cost only five wen, and even during the Tianbao period, when rice prices rose, it still only cost a dozen wen or so. Thus, ten taels of silver was enough for these servants to squander for some time, not to mention the maids as additional rewards. After all, the maids from wealthy families were often beautiful, and it was hard not to be tempted by both wealth and beauty.

Nan Jiyun, however, had no time to ponder such matters. He felt as though the combat strength of these evil servants had suddenly increased by a notch. Their eyes, when looking at him, revealed a greedy glint, like that of beasts staring at prey. Yet Nan Jiyun remained calm. With a light leap, he dodged their attacks, then, like an eagle, flipped behind them. With a single sweep of his iron legs, all the servants fell to the ground. A few who tried to advance stopped when they saw the killing intent in Nan Jiyun’s eyes.

The common people of Chang’an present were thrilled by this scene. Most of them suffered under the oppression of these wealthy young masters’ servants. Although they dared not complain due to the latter’s power, their resentment had accumulated over time. Now that there was a hero willing to stand up for them and teach these masters a lesson without them having to take any risk, they were naturally delighted to see this.

Seeing his servants fall one after another, and those who managed to stand still being terrified by that bastard rogue, Wang Zhao was filled with rage. By now, he had lost his sanity; his chest heaved violently, his shoulders trembled slightly, and finally he pulled out a crossbow from the pouch on his saddle and shot an arrow at Nan Jiyun.

After dealing with those evil servants, Nan Jiyun had no intention of getting entangled any further. He turned to leave when suddenly he felt a pain in his shoulder. Turning angrily, he saw Wang Zhao holding a military short crossbow, smiling coldly at him.

Nan Jiyun flew into a rage. From Wang Zhao’s gaze, he could tell that the other man intended to kill him. As for why the arrow hit his shoulder instead of his chest, it could only be explained by poor marksmanship. Although this kind of military short crossbow had a short range, it was still deadly within twenty steps. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, the culture was open, and there were no restrictions on the use of swords, knives, bows, and arrows among the common people. Thus, even scholars often carried a long sword to show they were not weak scholars. But the imperial court strictly prohibited the common people from using such military crossbows. How dare Wang Zhao steal and use one?

Realizing the situation couldn’t be resolved peacefully, Nan Jiyun was about to lash out when he heard a somewhat lazy voice coming from behind him, “You must be Prince Wang Zhao, right? Might I ask if you’d listen to what Li has to say?”

Amidst the surprised gazes of everyone, Li Kuo pushed his way forward and asked, panting.

Wang Zhao, already annoyed by the rude tone, waved his hand and snapped, “Spit it out if you’ve got something to say. Don’t get in the way of my business.”

But Li Kuo wasn’t offended. With a faint smile, he asked, “I’m rather ignorant. I was wondering if the crossbow in Prince Wang’s hands is military property?”

Without hesitation, Wang Zhao retorted impatiently, “So what if it is? Do you plan to accuse me of hiding military equipment at the Yanzhao Prefect’s office?”

His arrogant words sparked discussions among the crowd, with many marveling at the deep influence of the Wang family in Chang’an.

Li Kuo raised the corners of his mouth slightly, bowed in the direction of the north, and said, “Of course, I wouldn’t dare offend Prince Wang. But if Deputy Minister Yang Zhao finds out about this and accuses your father of failing to discipline you properly, I’m afraid Prince Wang won’t be able to handle it well.”

Hearing this, Wang Zhao’s face, which had been full of disdain, turned pale instantly.

Note 1: Nan Jiyun: A famous rogue during the Tang Dynasty’s Tianbao era. He later served under Zhang Xun and died heroically in the defense of Suiyang City.

Note 2: It must be admitted that the purchasing power of Tongbao coins was extremely high during the Tang Dynasty’s Kaiyuan era. Although it depreciated slightly during the Tianbao era, it was still quite strong.

By the way, during the Tang Dynasty, one chi was equal to 30.7 cm today, so 6 chi equalled 1.84 meters—quite impressive, right?