Chapter 142: The Amorous Young Master with the Merciless Sword

That Master Shen carefully scrutinized the alluring maid Charm, his gaze carrying a mix of admiration and pity.

While Ye Chang was still hesitating whether to accept this gift—after all, who doesn't love a beautiful maiden—Master Shen had already let out a long sigh.

"What a pity, what a pity."

"What does Master Shen find pitiful?"

"This maid's natural endowment is not bad, but it is a pity she has been poorly trained." Master Shen gestured toward Li Guo. "Elder Li, you are a worldly man, why dabble in such refined matters when the result is neither fish nor fowl?"

Li Guo seemed somewhat wary of this Master Shen and did not directly reply. Instead, he cupped his hands toward Ye Chang: "As long as Master Ye is satisfied."

Ye Chang, however, found himself in a difficult position.

Presenting female servants was considered a refined gesture at this time. If Ye Chang refused, it would mean showing disrespect to Li Guo, and most onlookers would accuse him of not knowing what is good for him. Moreover, his purpose in coming to Luoyang was to open up new horizons, not to make enemies. The two of them had just reached an agreement; refusing the other's gift now would not that be a clear signal that he wished to have no further dealings with them?

Yet, accepting this maid was hardly a good idea either. Such female servants were raised from childhood, and there was no telling what notions Li Guo might have instilled in her. Keeping her by his side could very well introduce a spy into his household. Perhaps she had even been given orders to steal the so-called "secret recipe" of Drunk Yellow Chrysanthemum.

After only a brief pause, however, Ye Chang had made up his mind.

He had plenty of places to settle this maid named Charm. As long as she was not allowed to enter Crouching Dragon Valley for a prolonged stay, she would have zero chance of coming into contact with his core secrets.

"In that case, I offer my thanks to Elder Li," Ye Chang said, cupping his hands.

Seeing him accept the gift, Li Guo smiled, returned the salute, and retreated back into the Peony Pavilion.

Master Shen made a clicking sound with his tongue and said to Ye Chang, "Since Master Ye has accepted this gift, you must truly treat her well and take care not to cause her grief or sorrow. Maidens of this world were naturally created for men to cherish and adore; as a man, one cannot be ignorant of this principle."

This perspective amused Ye Chang greatly. He looked at Master Shen and smiled, "I have yet to ask your esteemed name, Master Shen, and how is it that you recognize me?"

"Shen Xi, style name Zizhen," Shen Xi replied, adding, "In truth, I am not a man of Tang, but a native of Bohai."

"The Bohai Kingdom?"

Ye Chang was momentarily stunned. This Shen Xi appeared every bit the scion of a great Tang aristocratic family, and the pampered kind at that. He would never have guessed that Shen Xi actually hailed from Bohai rather than being a subject of the Great Tang!

"During my late father's time, our family came to the Great Tang. I grew up here, and had it not been for my father's constant reminders, I would have nearly thought myself a true man of Tang." A trace of gentle regret laced Shen Xi's words.

The man's candor greatly increased Ye Chang's favorable impression of him. After the two exchanged formal greetings once more, Shen Xi explained how he had come to know him: "When Master Ye was at the tavern just now, I happened to be upstairs. I chanced to see that Master Ye possessed an extraordinary demeanor and wished to make your acquaintance, which is why I made bold to present myself."

"I found Master Shen to be as transcendent and refined as an immortal stepping down from the heavens..."

As the two walked and talked, the companions around Ye Chang drew slightly close, which caused Shen Xi to show a trace of subtle displeasure. As for Shen Xi's own attendants and even those alluring maids, they had all been sent far back.

Going from the North Market toward Accumulating Virtue Ward, Ye Chang did not take the original route. Instead, Shen Xi led him turning southward first, passing through the Anyi Gate vertical street to the edge of the canal, and then following the canal eastward. Shen Xi lived in Luoyang permanently and was extremely familiar with the place. As they passed each ward, he would point and explain: what kind of figures lived in this ward, and which famous historical figures had once resided there.

Although Shen Xi possessed no particular poetic talent, his speech was thoroughly cultured and elegant, truly displaying the bearing of a scion from a great aristocratic clan. Ye Chang felt a lingering hesitation; this man appeared to have some influence within the city of Luoyang, but his exact background remained unclear. Since it was their first meeting, it was difficult to inquire directly.

Following the canal past Shiyong Ward, the sky gradually grew dim. The curfew drums within the city had begun to sound, and the surrounding pedestrians were hurrying along—if one failed to return to their lodging before the six hundred drumbeats ceased, they would be forced to spend the night sleeping on the streets. Just as Ye Chang was about to bid farewell to Shen Xi, he suddenly sensed that something was amiss.

Before and behind them were more than a dozen men. Although they appeared entirely ordinary on the surface, Ye Chang instinctively felt danger.

Having survived numerous assassination attempts, his reflexes for such situations were naturally much sharper.

He took a hurried step to the side, called out "Step aside!" to Shen Xi, and widened the distance between them, fearing he might implicate this fellow. No sooner had he retreated than he saw the men before and behind them all shout in unison, drawing knives and short blades from their garments and waistbands as they swarmed forward.

Facing their opponents, Ye Chang and his companions likewise drew their weapons in unison.

In the era of the Great Tang, scholars all wore swords and knights-errant carried blades; consequently, weapons were in no short supply among Ye Chang's party.

As soon as their weapons flashed out, one of the assassins was heard shouting in a harsh, accented Tang dialect, "Irrelevant people, clear out!"

Ye Chang certainly wished that irrelevant people would clear out so he wouldn't have his hands tied. He knew his own limits well; having trained under Shanzhi for a year, dealing with an ordinary adult man was not a problem, but if the opponents were assassins and warriors skilled in combat, his meager skills would fall terribly short.

Therefore, Shanzhi leaped forward alone while the rest formed a protective ring around Ye Chang. Wuguli stayed tightly pressed to Ye Chang's side, ready at a moment's notice to use his own body as a shield.

Having already put two to three zhang of distance between himself and Shen Xi, Ye Chang figured he shouldn't be implicating him anymore. But immediately afterward, he discovered something strange.

In the enemy's camp, fewer than ten men charged toward them, while the remaining nearly twenty men lunged entirely at Shen Xi!

Ye Chang was dumbfounded.

The target of the enemy wasn't him at all—it was Shen Xi!

And this was right in the middle of the city of Luoyang!

Ye Chang could never have imagined that within Luoyang city, and in the early years of the Tianbao era when the rule of the Tang was exceptionally solid, such a brazen act of wielding weapons and inflicting violence in broad daylight could occur. Even the assassination attempts he had encountered previously had taken place either in the dead of night or outside the city walls; absolutely no one had ever dared to commit such lawless acts within the city itself!

In a fraction of a second, his thoughts raced: should he save this Shen Xi or not?

Shen Xi's guards were all several dozen paces away, cut off by the assassins, with only the six alluring maids lingering slightly closer. On Ye Chang's side, both of his formidable combatants, Shi Shanzhi and Wuguli, were very close by. Coupled with Jia Mao'er and several other Chang'an swordsmen, although they were fewer in number than the assassins, holding them off until Shen Xi's guards could catch up was entirely achievable.

He had to save him!

Ye Chang deliberated for only a brief moment before reaching a decision.

He had come to Luoyang to cultivate good relations, not to stir up trouble. If Shen Xi were to be assassinated right in front of his eyes while he stood by and did nothing—well, if Shen Xi were an ordinary person it would be one thing, but how could someone with a certain degree of background let such a matter go?

Afterward, he would undoubtedly face endless harassment and obstruction everywhere he turned.

Furthermore, although the main focus of this group of assassins was Shen Xi, they hadn't let Ye Chang's party off the hook either. While over a dozen men rushed at Shen Xi, the other half came charging directly at them.

Besides, doing nothing was simply not an option; Shi Shanzhi possessed an unyielding and fierce temperament. Having survived several assassination attempts alongside Ye Chang, he reacted almost the exact moment he realized the men were assassins.

With a fierce flash, his ring-pommeled saber leaped from its scabbard, and the monk roared angrily as he charged straight at the enemy.

Simultaneously, among Shen Xi's retainers, a figure sprinted forward with astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, he moved fast enough to compete in a hundred-meter dash in another lifetime. Although he had originally been left several zhang behind by the assassins, within just two breaths he had already overtaken one of them. Brandishing a crescent-shaped scimitar of unknown origin from his hand, he ruthlessly swept it across the assassin's neck.

"Let's fight then," Ye Chang muttered with a mixture of grief and indignation as he gave the order.

Why did he always run into these kinds of assassination plots? Just when no one was trying to kill him anymore, he still ended up getting dragged into someone else's mess...

In truth, he knew that from the High Tang to the Mid-Tang, the culture of assassination had always been rampant, spawning numerous highly skilled killers. He simply hadn't expected to encounter them right inside Luoyang city, and before the daylight had even fully faded.

The battle began abruptly and ended just as swiftly.

Shanzhi's combat prowess completely exceeded the assassins' expectations, and the lightning-fast retainer at Shen Xi's side proved capable of taking on three opponents single-handedly. Coupled with Jia Mao'er and the others fighting like sly street ruffians, the enemy was unable to harm Shen Xi for a moment and instead suffered several injuries. They were decisive, too; giving a whistle, they wheeled around, broke into a sprint, quickly leaped onto a boat docked in the canal, and vanished in the blink of an eye.

They left behind several wounded men, and as they retreated, they even dealt finishing blows to their own comrades so that not a single one was left alive.

Ye Chang's brows furrowed deeply. For these assassins to be so ruthless even toward their own people meant they were by no means ordinary rogues or swordsmen; standing behind them must be a massive, formidable force that compelled them to act with such grim resolve.

He looked back at Shen Xi, only to find that the previously poised and elegant young master had now turned "colorless with fright," shrinking into a ball on the ground and trembling all over.

"Don't kill me, don't kill me!" Ye Chang stepped up and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to cry out in terror.

"It's over, it's over," Ye Chang said with a wry smile, realizing this young aristocrat was all show and no substance. "The assassins have already fled."

Only then did Shen Xi lift his head. Realizing that the assassins had indeed departed and left only a few corpses on the ground, he slowly recovered his wits. With tear-filled eyes, he turned back toward his own people and spotted one of his maids lying on the ground, covered in blood, whereupon he let out a shrill scream and dashed over.

"Luming, Luming, what's wrong with you?"

It turned out she had merely been grazed by an assassin's blade in the heat of the moment. The wound wasn't actually fatal, but having never witnessed such a scene before, she had simply fainted from shock.

Ye Chang's attention was not on the injured maid, but rather on the retainer of Shen Xi's who had sprinted with such incredible speed earlier.

The most striking impression that man left was his exceptionally thick thighs, which explained why he could run so fast. He, too, had been slashed and wounded, sitting on the ground and gasping for breath while casting a helpless look toward Shen Xi.

Shen Xi was entirely occupied with bandaging the maid named Luming and paid him no heed whatsoever.

Ye Chang walked over and inspected the man's wound. Fortunately, it was nothing more than superficial lacerations that would heal after a period of rest. He instructed someone to apply bandages for the man, who looked up with gratitude and said, "This humble servant thanks Master Ye."

His accent was slightly strange, and his appearance was exceedingly ugly: dark-skinned, with a face full of rugged, coarse flesh and scabs on his scalp. Ye Chang patted his shoulder. "Fine warrior... Are you not a man of Tang?"

"A mixed-Hu sea traveler," the man said with a self-deprecating smile. "Adrift in Luoyang, taken in by my master just to earn a bite to eat."

"What is your esteemed name?"

"My Han surname is Su. Because of these legs of mine, those familiar with me just call me Su Thick-Legs; I've long since forgotten my original name."

"Your martial skills are impressive. If not for you just now, your master's life might have been in grave danger," Ye Chang said with a smile. "I can see that your master is a man of true sentiment. A loyal and brave warrior like you is bound to be heavily rewarded."

Su Thick-Legs, however, merely offered a bitter smile.

His combat skills were indeed solid. While he couldn't match Shanzhi's ability to take on ten men single-handedly, facing five opponents at once earlier, he had still managed to hack down two of them with his scimitar before sustaining his injury.

Over on the other side, Shen Xi still hadn't come over. After finishing the bandage for the maid, he remained stationed by her side, merely dispatching another maid to thank Ye Chang and casually tossing out a promise of a ten-string reward for Su Thick-Legs.

Ye Chang felt a quiet sense of annoyance. Shen Xi might be a romantic soul, but even if he was full of affection for his maids, he shouldn't be giving the cold shoulder to a warrior who had just risked his life for him. Unwilling to say more to Su Thick-Legs for fear of creating a rift between master and servant, Ye Chang walked over to Shen Xi and said in a low voice, "Master Shen, your servant fought without regard for his own safety just now; you really ought to go and comfort them."

Shen Xi cast a fierce, sideways glance at him. "You fellow seemed so clever earlier, yet you haven't the slightest inkling of how to cherish jade and pity flowers... What harm is there in a thick-skinned fellow shedding a bit of blood? I wouldn't be of any help over there anyway. On the other hand, these maidens made of water are the ones who need me by their side right now."

Ye Chang was struck completely speechless. He never imagined that this Master Shen would turn out to be such a character!

Wasn't this the living image of Jia Baoyu from *Dream of the Red Chamber* right before his eyes?

To look down upon brave warriors while placing excessive value on feminine beauty was truly not the behavior of a great man. Ye Chang couldn't help thinking: if Shanzhi and Xiang'er were both injured at the same time, he would undoubtedly go tend to Xiang'er and leave Shanzhi aside. Still, he shook his head and said, "Even so, you should at least go offer a word of inquiry to soothe the heart of a brave warrior."

"I've already sent someone to offer comfort!" Shen Xi sighed. "Master Ye, I know you mean well, but with my beloved maid injured, my mind is in complete disarray; I simply cannot manage all these matters... Since Master Ye's retainers are valorous, I must ask you to escort me back to my mansion."

Ye Chang had originally wanted to refuse this request. However, thinking of the inexplicable group of assassins he had just offended without even knowing the reason why, a lingering reluctance made him change his mind. "Are you not going to report this to the authorities?"

"I know full well who the assassins are. Even if I reported it to the authorities, it would ultimately end in nothing," Shen Xi said, glancing at Ye Chang.

A wave of astonishment rose in Ye Chang's heart. It was true that Shen Xi had massive flaws in his personality, but his judgment was remarkably sharp, and his insight was far out of the ordinary. Since he spoke with such certainty, he clearly had his own reasons.

Having said that, Shen Xi shook his head and murmured, "Let's go."

Since he was unwilling to elaborate, Ye Chang could not press further and could only reluctantly escort him along his way.

Having gone through such an ordeal, Shen Xi had entirely lost the mood for conversation. All the way back, he spoke almost not another word to Ye Chang, until they finally reached their destination, where he offered a formal bow of farewell: "Today I am indebted to Master Ye for saving my life, and I know not how to repay you... Master Ye, we shall meet again."

By this time, the second curfew drum closing the city gates had already begun to sound. Shen Xi's mansion was located in Yuji Ward, a considerable distance from the Dafuxian Temple where Ye Chang resided. For a host not to invite a guest to stay—especially a party that had just saved his life—was an extremely discourteous act.

Ye Chang, however, didn't care for such formalities and simply laughed it off. Yet within his heart, a growing web of doubts began to take root: Living in Yuji Ward not far from the eastern gate of the imperial city, he should logically be a person of wealth and high standing. When wealthy and powerful families suffered an assassination attempt, which of them wouldn't kick up a massive storm and pressure the officials to track down the culprits posthaste? How could someone like Shen Xi act with such unconcerned detachment, leaving only two attendants behind at the scene to await the authorities' disposal?