Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 77: Bold Madman
A man walked out of the private room. He was wearing a long, dark blue robe with a dark blue edging and red diamond patterns dyed with madder on the lapels, which overlapped tightly. The white jade pendant with two fish hanging from his waist twitched with his steps. He was dressed in the same brocade as when Tan Huaike saw him last time.

The noble young man said, "He is not in the right, yet he still uses his power to bully a young lady who is doing business honestly. Such a scoundrel would have been imprisoned and punished in Andu long ago. It shows that there are indeed many barbarians in this border area who are still uncivilized and as shameful as animals."

The four sturdy men looked him over. Seeing he was a stranger and followed only by a single attendant, they assumed he was a wealthy merchant visiting the four Hexi counties for the first time. They showed no fear at all and even taunted him, saying, "We advise you to stay out of other people's business. Don't you see where this is? Without us wealthy families, there would be no Ringing Bell Street today. Before you act like a hero, you'd better consider your own worth, or you'll end up with nowhere to stay here!"

"If I want to do business in the Four Counties, do I have to go door to door and pay my respects to you local tyrants? I've never heard of such a custom," the young master sneered. "You see others' business is booming, but instead of trying to win over your own customers, you team up with them to ruin their business... Ha, the imperial merchants the court wants to appoint won't come from among you merchants, right?"

"Oh, you even know about the selection of imperial merchants?" the fat Hu man spat. "You're a foreigner from Andu, right? Today I'll show you the rules of our four Hexi counties!"

The four men started to fight. Two of them skillfully smashed the table, cups, plates, dishes and decorations. Two of them pushed and beat the waiters who came to stop them, and also punched the young master and his follower.

Regardless of who this person was, seeing that he was about to harm an innocent person, Tan Huaike, regardless of the pain in his back, quickly stood up from the overturned table and shouted, "I admit that you smashed my shop, but this young man is a guest from afar and has no grudge against you. If you really want to hurt him, aren't you afraid of being punished by the county magistrate?"

The noble young man remained calm and collected, protecting Tan Huaike behind him and saying, "It's okay, they can't do anything to me."

As he was speaking, the greedy follower had already knocked down two strong men in just a few moves. It was so fast that Tan Huaike could only hear the sound of wind in his ears and could not see clearly how he did it.

Seeing this, the two men who were still smashing things became even more ruthless, grabbing the cups and wine glasses nearby and attacking them. Although the follower was quick, he was not superhuman after all. He could stop the first few, but he couldn't stop the continuous "secret attacks". In the chaos, several broken pieces of cups flew towards the young master's face. The follower turned around and shouted, "Young master, be careful!"

In the private room where no one was paying attention, Xu Guanbai couldn't help but half-sit up from the table, his heart in his throat.

The young master was leaning sideways towards Tan Huaike, unable to avoid him. Tan Huaike, without a second thought, waved his sleeve to block the attack for him. The sound of silk tearing was heard, and a drop of warmth instantly splashed onto the young master's cheek.

His originally relaxed expression immediately darkened, and the nobleman said coldly, "They're committing violence in the street, using sharp weapons to injure people. Lei Zhe, there's no need to hold back on them."

The greedy follower immediately agreed and attacked without holding back his strength, throwing the four men away with unparalleled bravery. The broken pieces of cups and plates on the ground scraped blood all over their bodies.

The four men suffered a lot and lost their previous arrogance. They wailed, "Sir, please spare us! Please spare us, my dear!"

Lei Zhe ignored their pleas for mercy and continued to beat them violently. Seeing the four of them bleeding, Tan Huaike couldn't help but persuade them, "Sir, stop now. Tie them up and send them to the authorities..."

The noble young master was still angry: "They are so arrogant and have no regrets, and the boss still wants to plead for them?"

"I'm not trying to plead for them," Tan Huaike said anxiously. "If they keep fighting, my place will be a mess. The blood on the wooden boards is hard to wipe off, and seeing blood in a shop is always unlucky. I don't want these hooligans to ruin my good business. If you want to vent your anger, you can drag them out and beat them up. I won't stop you."

"So that's what I was afraid of." The nobleman couldn't help laughing, and then instructed Lei Zhe, "Alright, drag him out, kick him a few times, tie him up, and send him to the authorities for punishment."

"Wait, let me ask them a few more questions." Tan Huaike said.

The young master waved his hand, and Lei Zhe stopped by holding the collars of the four people.

Tan Huaike said to the fat, bruised-faced barbarian: "I did steal a lot of your customers, but you guys don't get along with each other. Is it really just because you don't like me and think I'm easy to bully that you gang up on me and cause trouble?"

After thinking it over, she still felt something was amiss. These businesses were indeed dissatisfied with her, but there had been plenty of instances of businesses competing for business on Xiangling Street, and most businesses in the same industry had some issues. Why were they suddenly targeting her this time?
The fat Hu man said weakly, "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for not understanding the ways of the world. Even your own family is trying to set you up. We can get some benefits and suppress you at the same time. Why not?"

Tan Huaike was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: Family...
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Lei Zhe dragged the four hooligans out and continued to beat them up. After a while, another follower of the nobleman came with the police. This man had gone out to report to the police when this group of people were looking for trouble with Hu La Yang Ti.

Inside the restaurant, the young master wiped the blood from his cheek, frowned, and asked, "Did the boss get hurt just now?"

Tan Huaike raised his arm and looked at it: "It's okay, just a scratch."

Seeing the glaring red stain on his apricot sleeve, the noble young man bowed politely: "I wonder if the tendons and veins are injured. I made an emergency decision. I apologize for the offense." Lifting Tan Huaike's sleeve, he saw the wound on the jade-white skin. He took a deep breath and said to the calm attendant who had just entered, "Jiao Xu, bring me the hemostatic powder."

Jiao Xu presented it as instructed.

The noble young man removed the wax seal and applied medicine to Tan Huaike personally.

In the private room, Shentu Ji had seen enough of the excitement and curled his lips and said, "She's really lucky to have such a noble person to help her."

Xu Guanbai remained silent, his eyes fell on Tan Huaike, then moved to the young master's face, picked up the teacup and took a sip.

At the same time, Shen Tu Zhuo, who had just received the news from the guy who tipped off the person, rushed over in a panic.

When he entered the room, he saw the mess on the ground. He also saw three people with their backs to him. One of them seemed to be forcibly pulling Tan Huaike's arm. He mistook them for hooligans causing trouble and shouted angrily, "You bold lunatics, let her go!"

Before he finished speaking, he rushed forward and pulled the young master away.

Lei Zhe, who was standing by, was so frightened that he almost attacked. Fortunately, after seeing the young master's appearance, Shen Tu Zhuo withdrew his hand in amazement, and the young master also stopped Lei Zhe's action with his eyes.

Shentu Zhuo muttered, "Song Shu... Third Prince? Why are you here?"

Zhou Wencong also called him by his courtesy name: "Zhongqi, I want to ask you, who are you calling the lunatic?"

Tan Huaike endured the stinging pain from the wound covered in powder and said helplessly to Shen Tu Zhuo, "Didn't I warn you that a nobleman was coming to the restaurant's opening to show his support? Maybe it's one of your old friends? What are you surprised about?"

Shen Tu Zhuo said bewilderedly, "When...ah, that day? I'm afraid I forgot because I was drunk..." His expression froze as he spoke, "But Third Prince, why did you grab my sister-in-law?"

"Can't you see she's injured? I'm applying medicine to her!" Zhou Wencong, who prided himself on being a gentleman, was furious. "Are you blind? Do you think I'm a lunatic?!"

"She's injured?!" Shen Tu Zhuo's mind was in a mess.
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　Next chapter: All parties meet, each with different thoughts.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)