Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. The injured dandy stopped his wailing, and only one question filled everyone’s minds: who was this guy? Li Chengqian picked up the broken ox tendon rope and gave it a tug. The rope was fine—the problem was that giant of a man. Though the monk had fled, the temple couldn’t run away. Li Chengqian wasn’t worried at all about failing to catch this monk; it was just a matter of time. What concerned him now was the chaotic scene before him.

Yun Ye was carried home on a stretcher. The young lady in the green dress insisted on following Yun Ye back. The plump madam was about to speak when a slap from the Crown Prince’s guard sent her reeling, too dazed to say another word.

“Getting you out is no problem. Just for helping me today, I’ll do you this favor. But following me home—that’s a problem. If you can’t explain yourself clearly, you’ll be in for trouble.”

The girl in green lowered her head and said, “You are a noble person. Please let this humble woman take shelter under your wing. I will obey your every command, only please don’t make me return to that brothel. I cannot bear to stay in that place even one more day.”

“Dream on! Just because I help you once, you want to pledge yourself to me? I’m not doing that. Go live your own life properly. I imagine the brothel madam won’t dare come looking for you. Settle down at the Yun family estate. I gave you plenty of silver earlier—rent a small shop and support yourself. In a few days, I’ll have the steward take you to the county office to register. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have papers. After a year or so, find a good family to marry into. Won’t your whole life pass peacefully and happily then? Whatever happened before, forget it all. Living well is what truly matters.”

He had left home perfectly fine that morning, only to be carried back by afternoon. The household in Xinghua Ward erupted in chaos again. Yun Ye rolled himself up from the stretcher and said to Xinyue, who was wiping away tears, “I’m fine. I just got hit with a shoe sole and my nose bled a bit. It’s nothing serious. The main thing is they were all carried back, so it wouldn’t look right for me to walk home by myself.”

“What damned scoundrel dared to hit you with a shoe sole? We absolutely won’t let this bastard off!” Xinyue was furious and wanted to put on her official lady’s robes to file a report at the Jingzhao Prefecture.

“Forget it. The officials at the Jingzhao Prefecture are scared half to death. If not for others blocking the way, even the Crown Prince’s safety would have been in question today. Don’t add to the chaos. Oh, that young lady helped me out, so our family won’t treat her poorly. Find her a small shop on the estate so she can support herself. Have Old Qian register her at the county office.”

“Are you sure she’s not a mistress you’re keeping on the side? If you want to take her as a concubine, keep her at home. Our family can’t afford to lose face like that. Besides, I’m not a jealous person.” Xinyue wiped Yun Ye’s face while stealing glances at the young lady.

“Come on, you’re not jealous? Who would believe that? First let go of the hand that’s pinching me. Your husband walks straight and acts righteously—no need to try to trap me with words. The matter with the young lady is settled. I need to take a bath. That broken shoe was too smelly. I keep feeling like there’s a smell on me. Help me scrub properly in a bit.”

Seeing that her husband truly had no intention of taking the young lady as a concubine, Xinyue immediately warmed up to her. After all, she had helped her husband, so treating her as a benefactor wouldn’t be wrong.

The young lady was perceptive too. She immediately started calling Xinyue “elder sister” left and right with great affection. Not only did she portray Yun Ye as completely innocent in the incident, but she also joined Xinyue in cursing that monk. She even said the monk had already been caught by the Marquis, but the useless guards let him escape again. As for Cheng Chumo, Zhangsun Chong, Liu Zhengwu and the others—they were nothing but wine sacks and rice bags. Hearing this, Xinyue was delighted and pulled out a hairpin from her hair to give to this young lady called Jiu’er.

The Jingzhao Prefecture conducted a massive search. All monks had to be registered—not one could be missing. The constables took the sketch and checked it against each person. They even went to Jianfu Temple where Daoxin resided, demanding he hand over the culprit to avoid implicating other monks. This wasn’t unreasonable—Daoxin was the Chief Monk, so it was proper to seek him out when monks committed crimes.

Daoxin sighed deeply. Pressing his palms together, he chanted a Buddhist invocation and knelt before the Buddha statue to recite sutras. He already knew the severity of the situation. Having offended nearly half the nobility, there was no way to conceal it.

Daofa, whose head bore a large sunken depression, raised his head and said, “Gentlemen, there’s no need for trouble. The one who caused the incident is this poor monk’s disciple, Kuangyue.”

The constable was overjoyed. Shaking his iron chains, he said to Daofa, “Master, you are all enlightened monks. This constable doesn’t wish to make things difficult for monks, but this case has reached the heavens. It’s a criminal personally designated by His Highness the Crown Prince. As a mere minor official, I dare not and cannot conceal it. Please hand over the monk Kuangyue, Master, and I’ll report back immediately.”

Master Daofa, his long eyebrows trembling, said to the Jingzhao Prefecture constable, “Monk Kuangyue is a pitiful soul. Years ago he lost his memory. I found him in the South Sea and brought him back. He’s been with me for a full five years. Though he’s violent, he never harms anyone. Regarding today’s matter, I ask you to investigate thoroughly, sir. If blame must be assigned, let it fall on this old monk. He is a simpleton. Now that he’s been seriously injured, please let him go.”

The constable chuckled and ordered the bailiffs to surround the meditation room. With a great roar, a giant of a man charged out from the meditation room, his head wrapped in white cloth stained with blood. In two strides he seized the terrified constable, lifted him upside down, and was about to split him in half when Master Daofa shouted, “You fiend! Stop this instant!” The giant froze and set the constable down. The constable kicked his legs frantically, scrambling backward—he had truly thought he was done for.

Master Daofa picked up the iron chains. He locked one end of the shackles around his own hand and secured the leg iron around the giant’s wrist. In a gentle voice he said, “My disciple, no matter what happens, this master will accompany you.”

Hearing Daoxin’s chanting grow somewhat fervent, Daofa turned toward the great hall and called out, “No suffering unrelieved, no joy unshared!” Daoxin’s chanting paused briefly, then returned to its previous calm and serenity.

The group left Jianfu Temple. No one dared show disrespect to Monk Kuangyue again. Master Daofa walked steadily, blessing the faithful on both sides of the road with joined palms as he went. That iron chain seemed not to be his shackle at all—it appeared to belong naturally on him, no different from prayer beads.

The bailiffs grew more numerous, and the constable’s spine straightened more and more. When they passed the Western Market, Monk Kuangyue smelled wine and wouldn’t move. Daofa took a bowl and begged from the tavern owner, obtaining a bowl of wine for him. Kuangyue drank it in one gulp. Though somewhat reluctant, he still took steps toward the Jingzhao government office.

The Jingzhao office generally had no principal official—various high ministers took turns serving concurrently. The position of Yongzhou Governor should have been Li Tai’s, but Li Tai currently had no interest whatsoever in this post. He was completely absorbed in gunpowder research, believing that eighty Yongzhou Governors weren’t as important as gunpowder.

Currently sitting in the main hall was Duke Wei, Li Jing. Today he had received the Crown Prince’s directive to pursue and capture a monk, so he had issued orders and sat in the rear hall reading. But his heart felt uncomfortable and anxious for some reason. He put down his book, preparing to walk in the garden to clear his mind.

Just then, a familiar roar came from the front hall. His heart lurched. He hurried to the front hall and saw a familiar back, roaring at the bailiffs. An emaciated monk sat in the middle of the hall, blood at the corner of his mouth, speaking in low tones.

Seeing the bailiffs’ fire-and-water staffs about to fall on the giant, Li Jing flew into a rage. He stopped the bailiffs and came before the large man himself, asking in a trembling voice, “Third Brother, how did you end up like this?”

The shackles rattled as the large man twisted them. Hearing Li Jing’s voice, he raised his hand to scratch his bald head and asked in a hoarse voice, “Who are you?” He found Li Jing’s voice familiar too, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t remember who it was. Growing anxious, he became agitated again. The constable rushed forward to protect Li Jing but was kicked aside by Li Jing himself.

In moments, Li Jing removed his official robes and hat, loosened his hair, retied it into a topknot, pulled a wooden hairpin from his robe, inserted it in his hair, and said with a smile to the giant, “Second Brother, how can you not even recognize your elder brother?”

The giant made guttural sounds, pointing at Li Jing, wanting to speak but unable to get out a single word. In his distress, he struck his own head with the shackles. Blood immediately flowed down. Li Jing embraced the giant, preventing him from harming himself.

Taking the key from the constable, he unlocked the shackles. Patting the giant’s shoulder, he said, “No rush, no rush. If you can’t remember, we’ll think slowly. When we get home, we’ll remember together with Third Sister. We’ll remember eventually.”

After the giant calmed down, he also unlocked Master Daofa’s shackles and said, “Master, where did you find my second brother?”

Daofa’s eyes were full of joy as he said to Li Jing, “This poor monk encountered Kuangyue five years ago on the shores of the South Sea. At that time he was nearly completely naked. It appeared he had suffered a shipwreck. This poor monk brought him back to the temple to recuperate. He kept running a fever, mumbling about Penglai, Fangzhang—these legendary immortal realms. He burned with fever for a full half month before waking. But he knew nothing of his past, not even who he was. Seeing him alone and helpless, this old monk had him ordained. Only because he would rage and roar whenever the moon was full did I give him the dharma name Kuangyue.”

Li Jing knelt down and kowtowed respectfully three times to Master Daofa, thanking him for rescuing and caring for his second brother. Daofa accepted Li Jing’s thanks with joined palms, then said with a smile, “Every drink, every peck—is it not predestined? In the dark there are arrangements. Amitabha.”

He declined Li Jing’s invitation, shook out his sleeves, and walked straight back to Jianfu Temple. But the joyful expression on his face gave his features more vitality—no longer the previous sorrow and suffering.

Li Chengqian received Li Jing’s letter and his head immediately swelled. The words in the letter were very direct: he didn’t intend to let off a single one of those little bastards who had bullied his second brother, even if they were lying in bed. Even Li Chengqian needed to give him an explanation—why had his second brother appeared on his boat, only to be beaten by a mob?