Protect our Daxia!
With Lu Ying’s single command, all her subordinates followed without question. Having such a superior who would argue and even risk her life for her subordinates, the men knew the enemy was formidable and outnumbered them, but they all steeled their hearts—let’s fight!
Since they had only come to capture a lecher, Lu Ying hadn’t brought many people—just seven men. Seven against over seventy opponents, all of whom were experts, was truly difficult.
Fortunately, Piaomiao Peak was a narrow space. When these seventy-plus men rushed forward all at once, there wasn’t even room to stand. In reality, only a dozen or so could actually engage Lu Ying’s group in combat, beginning a rotating battle.
Lu Ying’s men were fighting desperately to protect Wang Daxia, but Lu Jing and Prince Jing’s manor guards held back, not daring to strike killing blows against the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
Because Lu Ying, despite being the commanding officer, always charged at the very front, never retreating a step, steadfastly protecting her subordinates. If they wanted to shoot arrows, Lu Ying served as a human “shield.” They would have to take her down first before they could shoot Wang Daxia behind her.
Killing Wang Daxia or other Embroidered Uniform Guards didn’t matter, but if they killed Lu Ying, who could bear that responsibility?
Neither Lu Jing nor Prince Jing could handle it!
Lu Ying also knew that in terms of martial strength, they were bound to lose, so she deliberately played dirty, leading her subordinates in fighting retreat to a narrow passage between two giant rocks. She alone held the pass—one woman guarding the gate against ten thousand men. The guards pursuing Wang Daxia had no solution.
Seeing the stalemate continuing, Prince Jing grew anxious. If Wang Daxia wasn’t killed, the scandal of peeping at palace ladies might spread. He grabbed Eunuch Wei beside him and whispered: “He must be killed. We can’t let him go. This is an order. Otherwise, you can go sweep latrines at Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing.”
“Cleaning troops” was a euphemistic term meaning toilet cleaners. Being demoted to Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing ranked first among the worst fates for eunuchs in the court, with gardening second and incense duties third.
Eunuch Wei still hoped that when Prince Jing ascended the throne in the future, he would become the Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, the head of all eunuchs.
Wealth comes from taking risks. Eunuch Wei decided to go all out. He found some Prince Jing’s manor guards who hadn’t had their turn and whispered a few words to them.
The guards were shocked: “Really use that? It’s too dangerous. What if we accidentally injure Commander Lu—”
Eunuch Wei drew the complex terrain of Piaomiao Peak on the ground with a tree branch: “Commander Lu is guarding the front of the stone crevice; we can’t assault directly. But Wang Daxia is at the very back. You tie ropes around your waists, swing down the cliff face, then attack from behind. Wang Daxia will be the first to fall. Even if you accidentally injure other Embroidered Uniform Guards, it doesn’t matter. Except for Commander Lu, the other Embroidered Uniform Guards’ lives aren’t worth mentioning. This is Prince Jing’s order. Go handle it quickly.”
The guards acknowledged the order, picked up their crossbows, and five men secured ropes to pine trees on the mountain, then swung down like monkeys.
Wang Daxia saw his superior and brothers risking their lives for him and was deeply moved. He knew this great disaster had started because of him. They wouldn’t kill Lu Ying, but Wang Daxia couldn’t let his brothers die for him alone. Once Lu Ying was exhausted and restrained, when the guards rushed over, all five brothers would die.
Wu Xiaoqi’s father, Wu Mask, had died unjustly in the moat during the Dragon Boat Festival. Wu Xiaoqi depended on his grandmother—they couldn’t let the grandson die too.
Wang Daxia made a quick decision, saying to Wu Xiaoqi behind him: “Commander Lu is struggling too hard alone. There’s a small path below. I’ll quietly go down and find a place to hide, then throw my hat and badge down below to create the illusion that I’ve fled down the mountain. Then you let them through and let them chase me. When they’re all gone, I’ll come out of hiding and reunite with you all.”
Wu Xiaoqi nodded: “Go quickly and hide well. We’ll stall as long as we can.”
Wang Daxia crouched down, instantly transforming from Wu Erlang’s height to Wu Dalang’s three-inch stature. He pressed close to the rocks, walking hunched over, concealing his form as he “rolled” down the mountain.
Just as Wang Daxia threw his black hat downward and deliberately kicked loose several stones to create the illusion of descending, five guards suddenly appeared ahead, converging on him from all sides.
These were precisely the Prince Jing’s manor guards who had come to ambush from behind.
Wang Daxia had just removed his hat, revealing his face, and was isolated—like finding a pillow when sleepy, a perfect opportunity to achieve merit!
The guards raised their crossbows and shot at Wang Daxia.
Swoosh swoosh!
Several sharp arrows flew over. Wang Daxia quickly hid behind a rock. The escape route down the mountain was blocked. With Wang Daxia fighting five enemies who also had crossbows, he couldn’t break through and could only run up the mountain in a serpentine pattern.
Arrows pursued relentlessly. Fortunately, the mountain had many rocks and trees. Wang Daxia ran in a zigzag pattern, his form ghostlike, and none of the arrows hit him.
Wu Xiaoqi had been watching Wang Daxia’s movements. Seeing him being hunted by five guards shooting arrows from below, he immediately warned: “Commander Lu! They’re flanking from below, shooting arrows at Wang Daxia—truly vicious and sinister!”
Hearing this, Lu Ying immediately turned to rescue Wang Daxia.
Wang Daxia, fearing he’d implicate his comrades, kept running into the dense mountain forest. Unexpectedly, he was tripped by tree roots underfoot. The guards immediately aimed arrows gleaming with blue light at Wang Daxia.
Lu Ying saw the wrong color of the arrowheads and knew they were coated with deadly poison—even a non-vital wound would cause death by poisoning. She picked up a stone and hurled it fiercely at the archer!
This throw hit the guard’s arm, causing the arrow to go wide and embed in the tree roots, missing Wang Daxia’s leg by only a paper’s thickness.
Wang Daxia also saw the blue arrowhead and knew the thing was poisoned, breaking into a cold sweat. Just then another guard shot an arrow. Wang Daxia couldn’t get up in time, so he propped up his body with both hands while kicking with both legs, jumping backward like a frog.
This arrow hit the tip of his boot.
Just as the guards were about to shoot again, Lu Ying and the others arrived. Each person grabbed one guard and began fighting, knocking the crossbows to the ground.
However, the rear guards also surged to this location—nearly ten against one. Lu Ying’s six men couldn’t hold out and were subdued on the ground. Lu Ying roared furiously: “Whoever dares kill him, I’ll kill you! I swear by my father’s name! If you kill him, whether gold, silver, treasures, or promotions and titles—you’ll get none of it!”
Lu Ying brought up her father Lu Bing, causing all the guards to hesitate. Wang Daxia took the opportunity to get up and run toward the forest.
“How impressive, Commander Lu.” Prince Jing walked over. He had just taken pants and shoes from a guard to wear, though his face was still dirty. He picked up a fallen crossbow and said to the guards: “I also swear by my father’s name—whoever kills this traitor will be appointed Commander of Prince Jing’s manor guards, rewarded with a thousand taels of silver, and enjoy lifelong wealth and honor!”
Who was greater—the Emperor or Lu Bing?
Of course the Emperor was greater!
Hearing this, the guards were greatly encouraged and picked up crossbows to continue hunting Wang Daxia.
Wang Daxia was like a bear who had stolen a beehive and honey, being chased by a swarm of yellow wasps with poison stings. He plunged into the dense forest where trees grew thick with lush foliage and climbing vines attached to them. Wang Daxia grabbed the vines, climbed into the trees, then swung and climbed through the various trees like a monkey.
On the other side, Lu Ying and her six men were pressed to the ground but continued cursing. Prince Jing ordered their mouths gagged—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth—except he didn’t dare gag Lu Ying’s mouth.
Prince Jing didn’t touch Lu Ying, but Lu Ying wouldn’t spare Prince Jing: “My father has only been ill for a few days, and you dare bully me like this, beating Embroidered Uniform Guards. Prince Jing, dragon son and dragon grandson, how impressive!”
“Poor my father, old and weak, falling ill, no longer useful, so you trample and bully me like this. My father risked life and death for the Ming Dynasty and His Majesty, running into fire to save the sovereign. Prince Jing probably wasn’t even born then.”
Lu Ying looked at Prince Jing with contempt: “If father hadn’t carried His Majesty out of the fire, how would Your Highness have today? Your Highness dares treat me this way today—who knows how you’ll humiliate my father in the future!”
Prince Jing angrily replied: “I have always respected Commander Lu. Don’t make false accusations! If not for your poor supervision, deliberately opposing me and protecting your subordinate’s wrongdoing while framing me, would I be forced to restrain you? Everything is your own doing—I haven’t harmed you at all!”
Things having reached this point, Lu Ying simply threw caution to the wind: “Does Your Highness think killing Wang Daxia will silence everyone about Your Highness’s scandal of peeping at palace ladies? Hmph, Your Highness is too naive. As long as I live one day, I’ll tell everyone about Your Highness’s disgraceful deeds!”
The veins on Prince Jing’s forehead bulged with rage: “You dare!”
“What wouldn’t I dare! Everything I’ve done proves I dare!” Lu Ying said: “Unless Your Highness kills me too, there will be endless trouble!”
“You—” Prince Jing was about to draw his sword when a hand reached out to press down on his sword hilt—it was Lu Jing.
Lu Jing shook her head at him: “Don’t make things worse.”
Lu Ying was Lu Bing’s most beloved daughter, and Lu Bing was no pushover.
Lu Ying said: “Consort Jing, if you want today’s disgraceful affair not to be publicized, there’s only one way—withdraw the kill order against Wang Daxia. We each take a step back, sit down and talk properly, smooth over today’s events. This is a huge misunderstanding. Whether to eliminate the misunderstanding or persist in error and make things worse is entirely under Your Majesty’s control.”
“Mother, it won’t work.” Prince Jing said: “Now it’s already caused a huge commotion. The only path is to kill Wang Daxia. Lu Ying is just a woman after all, and I haven’t touched a hair on her head. When the time comes, I’ll go to her door to apologize, even bearing thorns to beg forgiveness. Commander Lu wouldn’t dare do anything to me. It’s just a dead nobody—this matter will gradually fade.”
Lu Jing felt the same way. Lu Ying was a girl, and already eighteen years old—”advanced age.” When women marry and have children, returning to family life, they won’t be as passionate as now, daring to oppose favored consorts and princes. In the future, she would still have to submit.
So Lu Jing ignored Lu Ying’s reconciliation proposal.
Seeing Lu Jing ignore the reconciliation proposal, Lu Ying closed her eyes. The guards restraining her thought she had exhausted her tricks and stopped struggling, so they relaxed their vigilance and lightened their grip.
Lu Ying took the opportunity to stomp hard on the left guard’s instep while headbutting the right guard. Both men, in pain, couldn’t help but release her arms.
Lu Ying broke free and chased after to rescue Wang Daxia. The rear guards pursued relentlessly. Just then, Lu Ying saw a pair of long pheasant tail feathers appear on the mountain ahead, the tail plumes showing brilliant colors in the setting sun—quite beautiful!
Perhaps due to psychological compensation after castration, having lost one small “tail,” they wanted to attach artificial tails to their bodies. Many high-ranking eunuchs in the palace liked to wear long pheasant tail feathers in their hats. This decoration, originally from opera stages, became popular in the Ming court—the Monkey King making havoc in Heaven on stage had such pheasant tail feathers.
Cut off one small tail, insert two long, gorgeous, swaying pheasant tails as psychological compensation for physical deficiency.
During Wang Daxia’s years as a eunuch, the pheasant tails on his hats and crowns were always the highest, most luxuriant, and most dazzling. From far away, without seeing the person, just seeing those two pheasant tails, people knew Director Wang was coming.
Now, Chief Eunuch Huang Jin of the Directorate of Ceremonial had the same hobby, liking to adorn himself with pheasant tails. As the highest-ranking eunuch, his pheasant tails were also the longest in the Forbidden City, practically towering into the clouds!
So although in backlighting Lu Ying couldn’t clearly see the newcomer’s appearance, from this pair of exaggerated pheasant tails, she guessed the arrival was Huang Jin.
Lu Ying shouted toward the mountain: “Old sir! Save me! They want to kill me!”
Huang Jin, fearing to disturb Emperor Jiajing who had just acquired the intoxicated beauty, personally descended the mountain to see what was happening. Then he saw Lu Ying running toward him from halfway up the mountain, crying for help, with a group of guards in hot pursuit.
Huang Jin was greatly shocked: In broad daylight, someone actually dared to kill Lu Bing’s precious daughter!
Huang Jin quickly ordered the imperial guards to support Lu Ying. Due to the cliff between them, they couldn’t immediately provide close protection for Lu Ying. Fortunately, Emperor Jiajing’s imperial experts were all equipped with the latest flintlock rifles developed by the Royal Armory. They immediately formed a three-volley formation, with the front row half-kneeling, aiming at the guards chasing behind Lu Ying, and pulled their triggers.
Bang bang bang!
Gunshots echoed through the valley…
Author’s Note: The big fight continues~