Chapter 33: Oh No!

"The refined and the wise associate only with each other, and no commoners cross their threshold." This saying describes high-ranking court officials of noble lineage, such as Li Jingxuan.

Like Hao Chujun and Xue Zhen, those who frequently visited Li Jingxuan’s mansion were almost exclusively his social equals. If a person of low status were suddenly allowed to enter, there would naturally be something highly suspicious about it. However, figuring out how to investigate such a matter was a difficult task.

"Glug, glug..."

Clear, crisp tea was poured into a bowl. A pair of delicate yet rough hands lifted the bowl and respectfully placed it before Wu An.

The person kneeling and serving the tea was not one of the concubines from the mansion, but a young girl dressed in a plain silk jacket. She wore a sheepskin cloak over her shoulders; although she was bundled up thickly, one could still see she was painfully frail. When Wu An had encountered this young beggar in the street, she had been curled up in a corner, nearly frozen to death.

Wu An had brought her home and had a physician examine her. There were no infectious or severe diseases, just hands and feet covered in chilblains; she was as fragile as a newborn kitten, looking utterly pathetic. Now that she had been washed clean and dressed in proper clothing, she appeared fair and innocent.

The servants and the estate manager were somewhat confused. Given their master’s status, he could easily afford to have beautiful women serve him, or even buy several clean young girls to act as maids. They could only interpret this as some sort of "refined quirk."

"Master," the girl spoke up, "the two concubines in the mansion were secretly passing things out through the small back gate last night. It looked like several sheets of paper."

"Hmm."

Wu An nodded noncommittally. He had long known that these two women, whom he kept around for his own amusement, were suspicious—most likely planted by the Empress. However, he saw no need to deal with them just yet.

The girl knelt before him. Seeing Wu An glance at the inkstone, she immediately reached out, gripped the ink stick, and began to grind the ink. Over the past few days, she had clearly grown familiar with her master's habits and was learning quickly how to please him.

"Is the master going out today?" She set the inkstone aside, washed her hands in a copper basin filled with cold water, and continued to kneel by Wu An's side.

"I have something to ask you." Wu An did not answer her question. Instead, he said slowly, "In the place where you were, how many people were there like you?"

The girl looked surprised but thought carefully. "About several dozen, I suppose."

"So few?" Wu An was taken aback. That location had a high flow of people. To put it bluntly, feeding more beggars would not have been a problem.

The girl glanced at him, her voice dropping lower. "In reply to the master, the weather is too cold. Even if there is food, it is easy to freeze to death. Furthermore... those beggars fight among themselves to snatch things; they are even more ruthless than the government runners clearing the streets."

In this regard, the authorities generally did not interfere. Even if they fought and killed each other, the officials welcomed it, as it reduced the pressure on public order. It wasn't that they didn't know how to be united. In a city as vast as Chang'an, it was hard to imagine how much filth lay hidden at the bottom of society. Various gangs were a mixed bag of people, all poor wretches struggling to survive with bloodshot eyes. They had their own rules, and there was a certain small-scale loyalty within their groups. But if anyone harbored "loyalty" on a larger scale, the authorities would quickly notice and send officers to crush them ruthlessly.

These beggars were mostly displaced people and refugees from the capital region and Longyou, which was why even the commoners of Chang'an loathed them and would often actively report them to the authorities. Obtaining information from these beggars was not uncommon; any official with a bit of sense would actively develop "informants." As for officials on the level of Di Renjie, they would certainly have direct access to some of the gang leaders, controlling highly efficient information channels.

Wu An turned these thoughts over in his mind. At that moment, the girl lowered her head and whispered, "I was once a daughter of a respectable family in Chang'an. When famine struck, I sold the family estate to pay off debts for my relatives. My parents took poison and died, and I was left to survive on my own. Within a month, I was out on the streets, surviving on scraps every few days, lucky not to have perished. If not for you saving me, I..."

"I know you are from a respectable family," Wu An said, not looking up from his writing. "You have fair skin and no illnesses, yet you were nearly starving and freezing to death among a pile of beggars, with wounds from fighting on your body."

Even with his professional background from his previous life, he knew clearly that a female beggar was like a stray cat on the road—highly vulnerable to pregnancy. In this ancient era, this was especially true.

A mist began to form in the girl's eyes. She stared at him with watery eyes, feeling that her master was truly reasonable and gentle.

Wu An set down his brush and placed his hand on the small head she leaned toward him, gently rubbing it. "So, you must remember who gives you food, who lets you wear warm clothes, and who lets you... live like a human being again."

His hand stopped, and he cupped the girl's face. "Remember this, understand?"

...

"Whatever Captain Wu has ordered, keep every word of it in your heart."

Zhang Wu raised his hand and pressed it slowly against the hilt of the sword at his waist. His gaze reflected the figures of several dozen burly men. These were soldiers belonging to the Hundred Riders, and though they wore no armor today, only swords at their waists, the cold, murderous aura radiating from them was still daunting. They sat or stood in silence. The flickering candlelight on the table cast huge, monstrous shadows against the wall.

Outside the window, the cold wind roared, bringing with it the first heavy snow of the year. Zhang Wu looked at his men, feeling a bit more settled as he frowned and pondered the night's mission. For the past few days, he and Liang Xin had been leading their men to scout Li Jingxuan’s mansion and several private residences, recording a vast amount of detailed information. Now was the time to act—to capture and interrogate them one by one.

In truth, they didn't need definitive evidence of any specific crime. In the end, even if they had to base it on hearsay, they could gather a basin full of dirty water to splash onto Li Jingxuan.

Over the past few days, Zhang Wu and his men had already swept through several small gangs. Tonight was the last one. According to intelligence, there were several individuals in this gang who were rumored to have connections with certain high-ranking figures in the imperial court, including people from Li Jingxuan’s household.

Feng'an Ward, East Street, in a corner.

Black figures appeared in the night, but besides Zhang Wu and his men, there were also some men in plain clothing emerging from the dark corners, gripping sharp short weapons. Some would be crushed by the oncoming wind, but naturally, others wanted to ride the wind to greatness.

If the Duke’s mansion in Yongning Ward could be described as a prime location with no flaws, then this small house in Feng'an Ward could only be called "well-priced, quiet, and suitable for health preservation"—the house seller could tell such lies with a straight face. The owner of this small house was a monk named Huian, who was said to be in charge of debt collection for a nearby temple. He was plump and prosperous-looking, possessing a silver tongue that could convince female devotees to sacrifice themselves for charity. His companions had let him buy the house, and they would stay there from time to time, each busy with their own schemes.

Bang!

When the doors were smashed in from the outside, Huian hurriedly pushed the woman in his arms away. Ignoring the cold, he threw on a light tunic, jumped out the window, and landed outside with practiced ease. The government wouldn't be out making arrests in the middle of the night, would they? Could it be that someone was trying to rob them in the dark?

Doubt filled his heart. At that moment, shouts and cries of alarm came from the courtyard. Huian heard them clearly; among them were the wails of his companions, followed by the sounds of desperate, dying struggles. He listened intently for a moment and heard the voices of the attackers. Within a few sentences, Huian realized that a man called "Captain Wu" was ordering the raid.

*Forget it, I have to escape!*

Huian scrambled through a hidden small door and fled out of the residence, arriving on the street. He, who usually feared attracting the attention of government runners, was now desperately looking for the Gold-Wu Guards patrolling the streets. To facilitate his escape, his house was located at the edge of the ward; as long as he climbed over a wall, he would be on the main avenue outside.

Behind him, the house had gone silent. A great terror welled up in Huian. Before he could even grieve for his companions, he saw many torches lighting up the other end of the street. But the next moment, movement began behind him. Huian summoned a burst of strength and instinctively glanced back. He saw a scene that would become his nightmare for the rest of his life:

A burly man walked slowly out of the darkness, carrying two dangling, severed heads. Blood dripped from the severed necks onto the cold ground, steaming in the frigid air. Beside him, more black shadows emerged. The wind and snow howled mournfully around them, as if the souls of the recently deceased were forced to follow in their wake.

The burly man’s cold gaze swept over him. Huian shuddered and bolted, running as fast as he could until he saw the figures of the Gold-Wu Guard armor-clad soldiers.

"Who goes there!"

"Stop! Walking the streets during curfew—seize him!"

"Help! Help me... I am a law-abiding citizen! There are people behind me killing!"

A young man in armor emerged from the crowd. Huian judged him to be the leader of these Gold-Wu Guards and immediately knelt, crying out, "I am a monk from a nearby temple, invited tonight by a patron to perform a service at her home. I didn't expect violent men to break in and kill the patron and my companions..."

He seemed to have lost his wits, rambling on while his eyes darted around uncontrollably.

"Do not panic."

A calm voice sounded, and beside the Gold-Wu officer appeared a black-clad young man with a martial bearing. He squatted in front of Huian and said softly, "Tell me clearly, what exactly happened?"

Seeing the man's face, Huian felt a bit of comfort. He hesitated for a moment and said, "I don't know why, but I heard those violent men saying that a 'Captain Wu' ordered them to do this. I..."

"Oh, Captain Wu." The black-clad young man acknowledged this with interest. "What else did you hear?"

"I... when I was escaping, I saw those men grab the female patron and force her to take out the gold she had saved for years."

If this were a later age, Huian's behavior would be considered money laundering at a critical moment. He knew that if he were caught by the Gold-Wu Guards, it would be hard to hide certain things, but if he could deceive them, he would remain the harmless, handsome monk. *Amitabha, Amitabha.* When he got back, he would definitely copy thousands of scriptures for the Buddha.

"Oh, is that so?"

The entire squad of Gold-Wu soldiers had begun to line up, and some had even pulled out their crossbows, aiming at the dead-silent night ahead. Seeing this, Huian felt a lingering fear, thinking to himself that at least he had survived.

"Don't worry, you're safe now."

Huian looked gratefully at the black-clad young man. He had encountered a good person.

The next moment, he heard a sound and looked back in terror. Footsteps began to echo. Under their gaze, figures appeared in formation from the darkness. Many were covered in large patches of blood, and the leader among them had several heads hanging from his waist, their eyes still wide and mouths agape, as if still wailing.

"Th-that's them!"

Huian’s pale flesh trembled in the cold wind. Whether from fear or the biting cold, he grabbed the leg of the black-clad young man and cried out, "Noble sir, save me!"

"That's them! They are the thieves!" Huian proclaimed with righteous indignation.

"Rest assured..."

The black-clad young man patted his bald head, a smile appearing on his face, as if everything was under his control.

Huian’s heart, which had been slightly settled, now sank to the very depths. He had expected to see a righteous clash between government officers and bandits, but the next moment, the burly man with the heads hanging from his waist walked right over!

The Gold-Wu Guards made no move to stop him!

The burly man came before them, glanced at the trembling monk kneeling on the ground, and then said respectfully to the black-clad young man:

"Reporting to the Captain, this subordinate comes to ask for punishment. My brothers were a bit slow, and one slipped away."

*Cap... tain?*

The sense of impending doom in Huian's heart grew stronger and stronger.