Taiping Dao at the end of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 50! Stop! We are here to escort you!
In the southern market town, the Nuo opera performances continued, and the people celebrated joyfully. Soldiers from the prefecture and state drank and ate meat in the taverns, while followers of the Taiping Dao squatted on the earthen slopes. In the city, wealthy merchants were still lighting firecrackers, creating a festive atmosphere.

"Crackling! Crackling!..."

"Hmm, did you bring the portrait?"

"Yes, I brought it! There are two more copies. Magistrate Wang sent them to the two local chieftains in the north of the city. They're in charge of watching over the north side..."

"very good!"

Zhang Chengfu smiled gently and extended his hand. The old official Sang Ping looked around, glancing at the group of low-key Taiping Dao followers, before taking out a scroll from his robes and handing it over.

"Young master! Magistrate Wang said that the head of the Cheng family will definitely escape... but he only has these two legitimate sons, and he will surely send someone to pick them up. As long as we keep an eye on these two legitimate sons of the Cheng family, we'll know how that old fox will escape!"

"The troops from the prefectures and kingdoms are coming from the south, which is the Jiyin Prefecture of the Duan family. Puyang, west of the Eastern Prefecture, is also under strict control by the imperial court... Magistrate Wang guesses that the main members of the Cheng family will either flee north, like Zhang Jian, to Youzhou, or flee east, heading towards Qingxu via Mount Tai! And spies have been placed in both places to keep a close watch."

The county magistrate said, "The longer we wait, the more problems may arise. The gentry are interconnected and protect each other. Moreover, the head of the Cheng family is cunning and resourceful, posing an endless threat. The best course of action is to intercept the head of the Cheng family right here in Dong'e County and eliminate him on the spot!"

"Ok!"

Zhang Chengfu nodded, opened the scroll, and saw a portrait of a middle-aged scholar with a refined and dignified appearance. The scholar in the painting had high cheekbones that were not sharp, thick eyebrows and deep-set eyes with hook-like gazes, and looked authoritative without being angry.

He examined the painting closely for a while, closed his eyes to memorize the portrait, and then handed it to Gao Daonu. After a moment, he looked at the old official Sang Ping and smiled.

"Does Mr. Sang know how to ride a horse?"

"meeting!"

“Excellent! Then you shall travel with us and wait for the Cheng family to arrive… This Lord Cheng is very cunning and may well be able to disguise himself. We need Lord Sang to accompany us to confirm his identity!”

"Ah! I'm participating too? This..."

"What? Sang Jun is unwilling?"

Sang Ping hesitated for a few breaths, looking at the young man's smiling face, and then at the Taiping Dao followers who were looking around. Only then did he grit his teeth and reply.

"Yes! I will join my lord in assassinating the head of the Cheng family!"

"No! Lord Sang, we are not attacking. We are eliminating a vicious and treacherous villain for the sake of the people!"

Zhang Chengfu spoke each word with a serious expression. Then, he patted the seat next to him, gesturing for Sang Ping to sit down so they could continue watching the Nuo opera together.

"Sit down! The Nuo opera is almost over."

"promise!"

"With the arrival of the gods, evil spirits have departed! Peace reigns in all directions, and the people live in tranquility."

May the year be free from disasters, and may people be free from illness. May the sky be clear and the earth peaceful, and may the harvests be plentiful!

As the exorcist Fang Xiangshi chanted the concluding prayer, the nearby people joined in singing and dancing, celebrating the New Year's Eve festival. Just a quarter of an hour later, amidst the celebration and dancing, six knights hurriedly arrived from the city and stopped outside the crowd performing the exorcism.

Then, the two dismounted and went straight into the crowd. A short while later, they emerged from the crowd, leading a young man and a boy. The boy was still wearing a red turban and black robe, his face showing fear and unease. The young man, however, who was barely twenty, wore a beast-faced belt around his waist, but remained calm.

"Um... Cheng Yan, Cheng Wu."

Zhang Cheng watched from afar as the young man and boy mounted their horses. Then, the six of them rode off directly northeast. The two who dismounted looked around for a while, then turned back to the city. The soldiers of the prefecture and kingdom ate a meal of wine and meat, and Dong Dubo, seeing the six riders come and go, clapped his hands and got up.

"Let's go! To Dong'e County, to see the Dong'e County Commandant!"

Zhang Chengfu squatted on the earthen slope, seeing everything clearly. Then, he smiled at Sang Ping and the Taiping Dao followers.

“Wang Du is right, the head of the Cheng family must indeed be eliminated on the spot. If we hand him over to this Earl Dong, he'll probably just mysteriously escape again the next day…”

"Let's go! We'll ride our horses and follow the Cheng family's disciples from a distance!"

"only!"

The group discreetly descended the earthen slope and entered a cluster of inns on the outskirts. Half an hour later, fifteen riders galloped out of the inns. Zhang Chengfu rode in the center, with Gao Daonu and Peng Gui on his left, Bu Si and Fan Shuo on his right, and Sang Ping behind them. Underneath their straw raincoats, all the riders wore leather armor, long staffs hung from their horses, and knives were concealed at their waists.

"Giddy up! Giddy up!..."

The three Jiang brothers from Youzhou were in charge of tracking, following the hoofprints several miles ahead. The hoofprints were very clear after the snow, and after turning left and right, they finally reached the official road leading east.

After chasing for another half hour, the number of hoofprints suddenly increased! Clearly, a new group had joined them from a hidden path in the northwest and then headed east together!

"Jiang Qian, how many new people have joined?"

"Zhang Jun, there are eight riders! That makes fourteen riders in total, and there are no hoofprints indicating they've left!"

"Fourteen riders? In such a hurry, the Cheng family was able to assemble fourteen riders so quickly. They are indeed a prominent family in the county! And the Cheng Jun I have heard so much about must be among them."

Zhang Cheng smiled gently and expressed his approval of the Cheng family of Dong'e. Then, he looked around and saw the most elite leaders and disciples of the Taiping Dao.

He was caught off guard, fifteen against fourteen, and there was another boy like him... There was nothing more to say, only drawing his sword and drawing blood!
"Let's go! We've been raising Mali for so long, feeding him plenty of soybeans, and we've been waiting for this moment!"

"Spur your horses onward! Catch up with the Cheng family's cavalry! Then, leave no one alive except the head of the Cheng family and his two eldest sons!"

"promise!"

Everyone agreed in unison, and without further hesitation, they sped off in pursuit. The chase lasted another half hour. Only when the horses were panting heavily did they finally see fourteen riders resting and recovering their strength by the roadside in the distance.

"Twelve knights, all wearing armor?"

Zhang Chengfu squinted and peered into the distance, his horse's speed undiminished. Of the fourteen riders ahead, twelve were clad in lamellar armor, covered by robes, with no discernible difference in their attire. He wondered if Cheng Li was among them. Only two wore black robes, unlike the others; these were the eldest sons of the Cheng family who had left earlier.

"Clatter, clatter, clatter!" The clatter of hooves followed, the sound absorbed by the soft snow, becoming very faint. Yet, on this quiet, deserted official road, the sound of galloping horses was all too conspicuous. A middle-aged scholar in armor, hearing the sound, was startled and turned to look.

"Huh? At this time? A knight?"

"No! Mount up, mount up now!..."

At his command, fourteen riders mounted their horses in an instant, without pausing. The two eldest sons of the Cheng family were a little slower, but they were equally skilled horsemen. Seeing that the riders ahead were about to flee, Zhang Chengfu took a deep breath and shouted loudly forward.

"Is that Cheng Jun ahead, Cheng Zhongde?! We are wandering knights from Runan, entrusted by someone to escort Cheng Jun!..."

Upon hearing this shout, the middle-aged scholar ahead turned around and carefully examined the man. Then, without hesitation, he cracked his whip and galloped even faster!

"Giddy up! Giddy up!..."

"Cheng Jun! Wait a moment! We were sent by the Yuan family of Runan to assist and escort you!..."

"Giddy up! Giddy up!..."

Led by the middle-aged scholar, the twelve riders in front didn't hesitate for a moment, simply fleeing eastward. Zhang Cheng shouted a couple more times from his horse, but the other party didn't respond at all, as if he hadn't heard him. He then realized that the other party was completely different from Shen Pei, so he stopped speaking and just kept chasing relentlessly.

"Da da da!"

"Tap Tap!"

On the snow-covered official road, on the auspicious day of New Year's Eve, two cavalry forces fled eastward in a desperate attempt to escape. The pursuing force behind them was clearly better prepared and had more powerful horses.

After chasing each other for another half hour, the distance between the two sides finally shrank from two li to less than two hundred paces, and then to within one hundred paces, and then within seventy paces!

"Whoosh!"

Zhang Cheng took his hunting bow from his horse and tried his best to draw it, shooting an arrow at an angle! Unfortunately, although he was a good archer, he had never learned mounted archery, and the arrow flew crookedly, its destination unknown.

"?!"

Upon hearing the sound of an arrow, the middle-aged scholar in front suddenly changed his expression! He took out a crossbow from the side pouch of his horse, loaded it with a bolt, and then turned around and fired an arrow as well!
"call out!"

The sound of crossbow bolts rang out, and Zhang Chengfu was startled, quickly lowering his head. As a result, the crossbow bolts from the other side also went astray, flying far away.

Horseback archery is a skill that depends heavily on time and talent; it cannot be mastered quickly. One either needs to start training from a young age, like the nomadic people, for over a decade, or possess extraordinary talent like certain heroes, training for four or five years… Otherwise, with both sides' horses moving at such high speeds, it's simply impossible to shoot accurately!

"Da da da!"

When the cavalry behind him caught up to within sixty paces, the middle-aged scholar in the lead finally couldn't hold back any longer. As he loaded his crossbow, he turned around and shouted.

"Who are you? Why are you chasing us?"

"We were sent by the Yuan family of Runan to assist and escort Lord Cheng!"

"You've mistaken me for someone else! This is the Zhang family of Dongping, not the Cheng family! And I don't know any Mr. Cheng!"

"Ah! It's the Zhang family of Dongping? Then please stop your horse, Mr. Zhang, and allow me to come forward and pay my respects! We will leave after we have paid our respects!"

"…Pooh!"

The middle-aged scholar spat and fell silent, continuing to urge his horse on. Only when the two were within forty paces did he suddenly turn and fire another arrow at the leading youth!
"call out!"

Zhang Chengfu was prepared and had been keeping a close eye on the middle-aged scholar. When the arrow suddenly came, he immediately ducked back on his horse, causing the crossbow bolt to miss. Then, his expression changed, and he shouted sharply.

"Cheng Zhongde! The imperial court has issued an edict to arrest you and bring you to Luoyang! Your crimes of seizing land, driving ordinary people to their deaths, and harboring fugitives are irrefutable! Why don't you stop confessing your crimes, surrendering to the law, and begging the court for leniency?!"

"Damn it! They really are Duan's lackeys! That mad dog of the Duan family, biting people indiscriminately!!..."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged scholar could no longer contain his anger and glared back fiercely! Then, gritting his teeth, he shouted at his confidants around him.

"The engine is about to give out; we can't go on like this!"

"Yan'er, Wu'er, split up and escape, don't stop!"

"Everyone else, draw your weapons! Follow me and wipe out these Duan family pursuers!"

As he spoke, the middle-aged scholar turned his horse around, discarded his crossbow, and drew an eight-sided Han sword. Immediately afterward, the remaining eleven riders also drew their ring-pommel swords and began to turn.

The two eldest sons of the Cheng family on horseback, their eyes red, looked back. The young man on horseback, in particular, couldn't help but shout at the middle-aged scholar.

"Father!"

"Come on!"

Upon hearing the word "Father," the middle-aged scholar trembled, confirming Cheng Li's identity. Zhang Chengfu immediately understood and felt reassured. He put away his bow and arrows, took out the long iron staff from his horse, and shouted.

"Grab your canes! Prepare for the charge!"

At his command, the Taiping Dao cavalrymen all took down their long staffs. Holding these staffs at their waists, they were like carrying spears, ready to charge forward!
"Tap Tap!"

With hooves flying, Cheng's twelve riders finally turned their horses around. From a distance of twenty or thirty paces, they raised their swords, mustered their last bit of strength, and charged towards the Taiping Dao cavalry.

"Kill them!"

"kill!!"

The Taiping Dao cavalry also let out a shout, raised their staffs, and charged forward. With faster horses, longer weapons, and a fierce charge, they sped off!

(End of this chapter)