Xiahou Zuo’s footsteps stopped.
This was something he absolutely should not involve himself in. Even though he was a man who wanted nothing to do with his status as imperial royalty, he was still Prince Yu’s son—no matter how hard he tried to distance himself from that fact, the blood connection was inescapable.
Whether it was Tang Pidi’s case or Master Yuming’s situation now, he wanted nothing to do with any of it. This had no bearing on him whatsoever, and he wanted to keep it that way.
And yet Li Diudiu had stopped moving. He was standing at his master Changmei’s side.
Xiahou Zuo’s temper flared. He looked at Li Diudiu and roared: “You’re nothing but a little idiot!”
Then he looked at Changmei: “And you’re a big old idiot!”
Blunt words, without a trace of courtesy.
Li Diudiu and Changmei simply looked at him with calm steadiness—neither refuting him nor finding the grounds to do so. After all, Xiahou Zuo was right.
Xiahou Zuo exhaled a long breath, then pointed at himself: “And this man here—he’s the goddamn biggest idiot of all.”
Then he walked in silence to stand beside Li Diudiu. After a moment he nudged Li Diudiu with his elbow and asked: “Since you’ve chosen to stay, warrior—do you have any kind of plan?”
Li Diudiu looked toward Changmei. Changmei said: “He’s asking you.”
Li Diudiu thought for a moment and said: “It’s not as though we have no chance. The people pursuing them aren’t a large army…”
After saying this, he looked toward Master Yuming and asked: “Roughly how many people are giving chase?”
Master Yuming shook his head with a bewildered expression: “I… I don’t know.”
The injured young man stood up and said: “About thirty or forty of them. They should all be hired muscle from Liu Chongxin’s estate in Laihuxian County—mostly men recruited from the martial world, all of them skilled fighters.”
“Thirty or forty?”
Li Diudiu said: “They can’t make Master Yuming’s death a public spectacle. That’s why they disguised themselves as mountain bandits to storm Gui’an Villa. If this spreads across the land, even Liu Chongxin won’t be able to weather the fallout. So… we go outside.”
“We go outside?”
Xiahou Zuo looked at Li Diudiu with some surprise: “To reason with them?”
Li Diudiu said: “We go to the Tangxian County government office.”
Xiahou Zuo fell silent for a moment, then suddenly understood what Li Diudiu meant—though he wasn’t at all certain it could work.
“You want to bet that those people won’t dare kill anyone inside the county office? They’re desperate and ruthless—they might just dare.”
“I think it’s worth trying.”
Li Diudiu said: “When we passed the county office earlier today, I took note of the route. If we ran, it would take less than a quarter hour. But we don’t need to run—we walk there, and we can’t walk too quickly.”
Yan Qingzhi said: “They’ve been this openly brazen about chasing and killing someone through a county seat, and yet not a single patrol constable has appeared. Obviously they’ve already reached some arrangement with the county office. The authorities definitely will not intervene.”
“Master Yuming.”
Li Diudiu looked toward the equally puzzled Master Yuming and asked: “How loud is your voice?”
“Loud? Why would I be shouting?”
Master Yuming looked completely baffled. “We can barely manage to hide—why on earth would we be making noise?”
Xiahou Zuo, meanwhile, had already fixed on something else entirely. He asked Li Diudiu: “When we walked past the county office earlier, I remember you were talking with the Daoren about the tavern’s food. I don’t recall seeing you look in that direction even once—so how do you remember where it is?”
Li Diudiu said: “I just happened to catch a glance. What’s so surprising about that?”
Xiahou Zuo fell into thoughtful silence, but said nothing more about it.
“We’re just going to walk straight up there?” the young man named Cai Sanxin asked.
He didn’t entirely trust the judgment of a child. But at present, the old man who seemed to have vast worldly experience had nothing to say; the older young man who looked like a capable leader had nothing to say; and the Four-Page Academy teacher also had nothing to say. So Cai Sanxin figured that a half-grown child was the only one he could look to.
“Yes—walk straight out there.”
Li Diudiu walked over and pulled open the courtyard gate. “Even if it comes to a fight, our combined number can handle ten or more without trouble.”
Cai Sanxin said: “There are thirty or forty of them. And those we’ve seen may not be all of their forces—there could be additional pursuers elsewhere in the city.”
Li Diudiu looked toward Ye Zhangzhu, who was standing guard at the door. “He can handle twenty or thirty by himself without trouble.”
Ye Zhangzhu: “Hmm?”
Li Diudiu smiled, and the moment he stepped out the door he began shouting at the top of his lungs: “Is anyone there? Help! Someone please help!”
His clear, young voice cracked open the still night like a bolt of lightning.
“Everyone shout together.”
Xiahou Zuo thought to himself—well, it’s already come to this. He’d just follow this little fool one step at a time. If it truly came to the worst, he’d have Ye Zhangzhu produce Prince Yu’s official token—something he was deeply unwilling to do, but if things reached that point, it would be the only option. Liu Chongxin’s people, no matter how arrogant, wouldn’t dare lay a hand on anyone bearing Prince Yu’s credentials.
He followed Li Diudiu’s lead and shouted: “Help! Someone come help!”
He shouted, and Changmei shouted too. Yan Qingzhi felt this was entirely unreasonable and rather undignified, and yet his body proved more honest than his feelings and he joined in anyway—his voice quite carrying.
The shouts grew louder and more numerous. Gradually, residents began emerging from their homes, curious about the commotion.
Li Diudiu turned to Master Yuming: “Your turn, Master. Just say who you are, why you’ve come here, and ask the townspeople to escort you to the county office. Once we’re at the county office, we can figure out the rest.”
Master Yuming still hesitated. He genuinely felt this approach would accomplish nothing and would only draw those hunting him straight to their location.
“Master, shout. Maybe it will help.”
Cai Sanxin said: “This might be our only option.”
Master Yuming shook his head with a bitter smile, gathered his courage, and called out to the onlookers: “My name is Guo Songming. I live at Gui’an Villa on Yuantuo Mountain. Mountain bandits have pursued me all the way here. Could anyone tell me where the county office is? Would someone show me the way?”
Cai Sanxin shouted: “This is my teacher, Master Yuming! We ask the good people here for help!”
Master Yuming’s true name was Guo Songming. He had given himself the elegant style name Yuming Hermit, and many people had come to address him respectfully as Master Yuming.
The townspeople certainly all knew that name. At first they continued to hang back and watch—but finally, someone stepped forward and said: “I know where the county office is—I’ll show you the way!”
Once one person moved, others followed. They weren’t all there to lead the way, of course—they were there to watch the spectacle.
Xiahou Zuo looked at Li Diudiu with admiration: “You knew—when there’s a good show, townspeople will always follow to watch.”
Li Diudiu smiled: “Of course. And this is a very good show. Not all of them will have the courage to actually help—but they all have the courage to watch. All I need is for them to walk along with us. The more people, the better.”
Cai Sanxin, hearing Li Diudiu’s words, felt a new surge of respect for this half-grown child. He kept shouting vigorously, and his companions joined in. Before long, the crowd of onlookers had swelled considerably.
In a side alley, a number of black-clad assassins lurked in the shadows, watching Li Diudiu’s group. One made a move to rush out, but was stopped by the man at the front.
“Have you lost your mind!” the lead man said. “With this many townspeople watching—and they all know now that this person is Guo Songming—do you want to make a move in front of all of them?”
One subordinate said: “But Sir Liu, if we don’t act now, they’ll actually reach the county office.”
“All the better if they reach the county office,” said the man called Sir Liu. “Once they’re inside the county office with the gates shut and the townspeople can’t see, who’s going to care whether they live or die? But not here—not like this. Those idiots will think we’re actual bandits…”
He waved his hand: “Stay hidden and follow. Once they’re inside the county office, we move.”
“Understood!” the group murmured in low acknowledgment.
Li Diudiu and the others walked on, shouting as they went, heading toward the county office. The crowd swelled further and further—already numbering in the hundreds. Li Diudiu leaned close to Xiahou Zuo and said in a low voice: “There shouldn’t be any trouble on this stretch. Those people won’t dare commit violence in plain sight of so many people.”
Xiahou Zuo flicked Li Diudiu on the head: “You have some talent, boy. Where did you learn all this?”
Li Diudiu replied: “You should be able to tell—this kind of approach definitely wasn’t something my master taught…”
Changmei tapped him on the head—not quite as lightly as Xiahou Zuo had.
“A bit of praise and you’re already getting proud?” Changmei asked. “We’re almost at the county office. What’s your plan for what comes next?”
Li Diudiu looked toward Master Yuming and said: “In a little while, when we reach the county office gates, strike the complaint drum. If the county office personnel come out and invite you inside—do not agree. Even if they try to pull you in, don’t go.”
Master Yuming was puzzled. “Why not?”
“Don’t go inside,” Li Diudiu said. “Just tell them you want to rest here at the county office entrance, and ask the townspeople to remain with you.”
Master Yuming said: “Townspeople are here to watch the excitement. They’ll eventually get tired and go home to sleep. No one can stay until dawn.”
“Tell them what happened—tell it with embellishments. Make it vivid.”
Li Diudiu said: “Start from when the bandits broke into your home. The more detailed the better. But under no circumstances mention Liu Chongxin’s name. Don’t tell the townspeople those people are Liu Chongxin’s associates. Just insist—firmly insist—they were mountain bandits.”
Master Yuming finally understood: “I see. I’ll do my best.”
Li Diudiu asked Xiahou Zuo: “How much money do you have left on you?”
Xiahou Zuo said: “Still a fair amount. Why?”
Li Diudiu said: “If Master Yuming runs out of things to say, and you see the townspeople starting to leave, step forward and say you’ll pay good money for food to be made—pay well above the going rate—but for safety’s sake, the cooking must happen right here at the county office entrance. A bid of ten taels of silver will have people fighting over the chance.”
Xiahou Zuo laughed: “Put a tail on you and you’d be a fox spirit.”
Li Diudiu made a dismissive face.
And so, with an entire crowd of townspeople who had no idea what was really happening, they escorted Master Yuming’s group all the way to the county office. Master Yuming approached and struck the complaint drum. The muffled booms rang out like rolling thunder breaking through the summer night.
Li Diudiu felt sleepy. He sat down on the steps and looked out at the townspeople clustered around—every one of them bright-eyed and alert—and felt no sense of satisfaction in his heart. Instead, a wave of sadness washed over him.
He wondered if there would come a day when townspeople who witnessed an injustice would not need to be drawn along like this, but would step forward on their own initiative.
He wondered if there would come a day when court officials and local officials would no longer be as corrupt and filthy as Dachu’s officials seemed to be.
He wondered if there would come a day when great scholars like Master Yuming needed only to teach younger generations in their academies, rather than risking their lives like this.
He wondered if there would come a day…
At that thought, Li Diudiu felt puzzled. *What does a child need to worry about all this for? Saving the world—that’s the business of great men.*
—