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Chapter 48
Chapter 48: Chaos in Lingshui
Teahouse.
Tan Ting had finished reading two letters. He borrowed paper and a pen to write a reply home to Qingliang.
Just as he prepared to go out to the street to find his wife after finishing the letter, he looked up and saw a woman walking toward him. The sky was dim, making it difficult to see clearly. Thinking it was his wife, he was about to step forward when he realized, to his surprise, that it was Huang Si-niang.
Huang Si-niang was carrying a box of pastries. At first, seeing the very gentle look in the eyes of the Tan family's Eldest Master, her heart fluttered slightly, and she felt a bit more relaxed. Unexpectedly, the man took a closer look and realized who it was; that gentle gaze vanished in an instant.
"Miss Huang?" he asked with a casual, questioning tone.
For some inexplicable reason, Huang Si-niang felt a bit afraid of him. At that moment, she couldn't bring herself to offer the pastry box she held in her hand. She cast a sidelong glance at Nanny Zhang, who was continuously signaling her with her eyes.
Huang Si-niang felt helpless. Just as she steeled herself and was about to step forward, a sudden burst of chaotic shouting came from the street.
Huang Si-niang shook with shock, while the man before her went directly past her to look outside.
He saw that the previously peaceful Yamen Street was suddenly being flooded by a crowd of people. They were running extremely fast, shouting "Murder! Murder!" and charging forward as if fleeing for their lives. In the direction from which they came, flames climbed into the clouds; nobody knew when, but half the county seat had been illuminated as red as blood.
Nanny Zhang, who was guarding outside the teahouse, was heavy bodied and failed to dodge in time, getting knocked to the ground by someone. Just as she was about to start cursing, she looked back and saw that even more crowds were surging forward from behind.
This time, unlike the panicked people fleeing for their lives earlier, the people behind were all red-eyed with veins bulging; there were scholars in scholarly robes and burly men in plain clothes, and half of them were even wielding knives, spears, or axes.
The killing began in an instant; two silk-clad men running in the back were suddenly hacked to the ground by those who caught up to them. Blood splattered everywhere, and panic and screams followed one after another. Nanny Zhang no longer dared to curse; she shrieked and ran behind the Tan family's guards.
The Tan family guards were also taken by surprise. Xiao Guan, who was guarding nearby, did not dare to delay for a second after seeing this; he immediately called the guards back to hold the teahouse.
Tan Ting’s expression darkened. The thing he had been worrying about for so long had finally happened.
They pulled over a local resident who was fleeing in a panic and asked, only to learn the cause of this chaos. After the Jiangxi fraud case was retried, scholars from humble backgrounds everywhere were furious, feeling aggrieved that they had been unable to take the examinations for years. Some even wrote books or articles containing truths and falsehoods to spread the word.
Lingshui County was originally a place with a rich tradition of learning, but because fewer and fewer people had passed the civil examinations in recent years, even the stationery shops were becoming deserted. Many humble scholars had to return home to farm, but who could have expected that last year's severe winter would make survival impossible, forcing them to sell their last bits of land to the aristocratic clans at a pittance? Although they were angry, that was the way the world was, so they all endured it and bottled it up in their hearts.
The truth revealed in the Jiangxi fraud case was like a needle; with just a light prick, it burst the abscess in their hearts and broke through their final line of defense. Today, the humble scholars who had long failed their exams gathered together to go to the Yamen to demand justice.
Unexpectedly, before they even reached the Yamen, they happened to run into people from the local aristocratic Feng and Xue families, who had booked a restaurant to drink. The two sides met, and within a few words, they were arguing. An old scholar, seeing a fool from the Feng and Xue families who had bought his way into a juren degree, stepped forward to debate the man. The man, naturally, did not rely on his own merit for his rank; feeling guilty and shamed, he flew into a rage and ordered his servants to pin the old scholar down and beat him.
In the past, even if someone stepped forward, such a matter would have ended inconclusively. But today, the humble scholars were filled with extreme fury; seeing the aristocratic clans acting with such rampant arrogance, daring to beat someone in the street, they were incensed to the extreme. In a moment, unable to care about much else, they all rushed up.
The local aristocratic clans were used to being overbearing; usually, a flick of a leather whip could make these commoners shrink their necks and walk away. Seeing them actually dare to rush over, they screamed and called for help: "How dare you cause trouble?! Beat them to death!"
No one was timid at this moment, and the entire restaurant exploded into a riot.
But nobody expected that once they started fighting, they would actually kill someone. It was that old scholar; he was suddenly pushed from the second floor, hit the lobby below, and died on the spot. The people of the Feng and Xue aristocratic clans thought the commoners would be docile now, but the blood of the old scholar directly turned the eyes of the scholars red.
Just in the back street of the restaurant, there happened to be two blacksmith shops. The scholars, having no weapons to fight these people, rushed into the blacksmith shops. The men in the blacksmith shops, also commoners who had been oppressed for a long time, immediately distributed all the knives, spears, and weapons in the shops, shouting and joining the fray.
But were there only scholars and blacksmiths among the commoners? Looking at this street, how many people did the aristocratic clans really have? Those hidden, inconspicuous vendors, artisans, and even the errand boys and servants surviving beneath them were all commoners!
The killing started just like that, and someone set a fire to the restaurant. The fire flared up to the sky, as if it had ignited the fire in the hearts of all the humble commoners.
The people of the aristocratic clans finally realized something was wrong and took to their heels, shouting and reporting the news to the gathering places of the two major families at the other end of the city. The more they fled in terror, the more fiercely the fire, now believed by the commoner populace—raged.
At this moment, the people Tan Ting and his group had pulled in had finished their story; the killing had already reached the vicinity of the teahouse. Seventy percent of the shops on this street belonged to the local aristocratic clans. The red-eyed commoners simply broke into the surrounding shops to loot and smash.
Seeing this, the owner of the teahouse abandoned it and fled through the back door.
But Tan Ting and his party could not leave, so they simply fortified their position here. While ordering his men to defend the teahouse, Tan Ting ordered someone to go to the Yamen immediately to beat the drum and report the news, and sharply called out for Xiao Guan.
"Hurry and find the Madam, the Second Master, the Second Mistress, and the Huang family young ladies!"
Tan Ting had been cautious and gave order after order before coming, yet they had still run into such a thing. Perhaps encountering such a riot was already an unavoidable matter.
He looked uneasily at the chaotic crowd. Yizhen is right here nearby; she should be back soon, right?
Yang Zhen and Tan Jian were eating two pieces of local cake by the roadside when they suddenly heard a clamor behind them. Yang Zhen subconsciously thought there was some excitement nearby and pulled Tan Jian to run toward the noise. Who would have thought that as soon as they arrived, a huge wave of people surged out, and the sky in the distance, set ablaze by fire, was reflected on their surprised faces.
The people running in front were busy fleeing for their lives, while those chasing from behind held knives, spears, and torches, with screams and shouts following wherever they went.
Tan Ting quickly pulled Yang Zhen into his arms and hurried back, "Quick! Hurry back!"
Unexpectedly, they had only run a few steps when they were blocked by someone. The person blocking them shouted immediately: "These two are wearing fine clothes; they must be Feng or Xue people. Guards, come! Don't let them run!"
As he spoke, he raised the knife in his hand and rushed over, as if to hack the two of them to death in the street immediately.
Tan Jian and Yang Zhen were both shocked. Fortunately, both possessed martial arts skills; Tan Jian seized the knife from the man’s hand, and Yang Zhen kicked the person to the ground.
Taking advantage of the fact that no more people were coming, the two hurriedly put their outer garments on backward and ran back in a rush.
In this world, people had already stopped caring about consequences.
Fortunately, they met the Tan family guards not long after running, and under their protection, they returned to the teahouse without incident. Seeing his brother and sister-in-law return safely, Tan Ting breathed a sigh of relief, but his wife, whom he thought would not have gone far, had not returned yet.
Tan Ting was astonished: "Why hasn't the Madam returned yet?!"
Xiao Guan had already sent people to look for her three times and hadn't found a trace of Xiang Yi.
Qin Jiao, on the other hand, pursed his lips and didn't dare to speak at this time. He had seen the Xiang woman from a distance earlier; she was originally intending to come back, but it seemed she saw Nanny Zhang letting the Huang Fourth Young Lady enter the teahouse with pastries. She didn't come back and instead turned and walked away.
Qin Jiao was surprised for a long while then. It turned out the Xiang woman truly had no intention of occupying the position of the Eldest Master’s legitimate wife, which was truly different from the greedy official’s daughter he had thought she was.
But as Qin Jiao looked at those crazy humble scholars outside, he suddenly remembered that after he had passed the juren exam, he had been unable to pass the jinshi exam no matter what he did. But he always felt that a person in this world had to be sensible; one had to cling to the legs of the aristocratic clans to plot an official position.
The sounds of killing outside continued, and Qin Jiao fell into contemplation.
Tan Ting sent even more people out to find Xiang Yi.
Nanny Zhao watched and muttered quietly: "Madam Xiang is also a commoner; those people won't lay a hand on her, right? Perhaps she hasn't returned yet because she has walked off with those commoners."
Looking at these commoners in Lingshui, they had gone completely insane, actually daring to lay hands on the aristocratic clans. That Xiang woman was also a commoner; she shouldn't have been occupying the position of a clan mistress of an aristocratic family in the first place. The wife of the Tan family's Eldest Master should be a lady from an aristocratic family.
However, before she finished speaking, Tan Ting’s cold, stern gaze fell upon her, and Yang Zhen even stepped forward directly to interrupt her.
"Shut up! It is precisely because of people like you that they were forced to revolt! If you dare to say one more word about my sister-in-law, I will cut out your tongue!"
Nanny Zhang staggered back in fear. Seeing that this young lady from the Zhongqing Earl's mansion was still holding a seized knife, she was truly afraid of her and retreated behind Huang Si-niang one step after another.
Huang Si-niang had long been annoyed with Nanny Zhang for talking too much, so she called out to her as well: "The Sixth Sister hasn't returned yet either, Nanny, do not speak nonsense."
Seeing Huang Si-niang scolding the old hag, Yang Zhen grumbled and didn't say anything more.
On the contrary, Nanny Zhang wouldn't give up, whispering in Huang Si-niang’s ear: "This old servant was just testing the Tan family’s attitude toward that Xiang woman."
Yang Zhen’s attitude went without saying, and Huang Si-niang had also seen the Eldest Master of the Tan family’s cold, stern gaze just now. Her heart sank.
"After all, they are husband and wife, so he will always care," she said, watching Tan Ting send people repeatedly to find Xiang Yi. "Just by looking at him sending people one after another to look for the Xiang woman, one can tell."
Nanny Zhang, however, did not think so: "Looking for someone is always something that has to be done; it is just for face."
However, the moment her voice fell, Huang Si-niang saw the Eldest Master of the Tan family seize a guard’s sword and head straight outside.
Seeing Tan Ting go out with a sword, Xiao Guan and Tan Jian both knew he was truly unable to sit still and was going to find Xiang Yi in person. But he was, after all, the clan heir, the most important person in the Tan family; how could he go out and take risks at such a time? Both were trying to dissuade him, wanting to look for Xiang Yi on Tan Ting’s behalf.
Tan Ting watched the people outside run past in waves, and although many guards had been sent out, his wife’s shadow was nowhere to be seen. The longer the time, the more anxious he became. Thinking that his wife had only just learned to ride a horse, unlike his sister-in-law, who was from a military background and possessed martial arts skills, she was merely a weak woman with no weapon, how could she protect herself in this insane riot?!
Thinking of these things, Tan Ting felt a searing anxiety in his heart. No matter who tried to dissuade him, it was useless; he directly ordered Tan Jian to hold this place and took Xiao Guan as he plunged into the chaotic crowd.
"Yizhen! Yizhen!"
He kept shouting his wife’s name.
In the teahouse, Huang Si-niang and Nanny Zhang were both frozen in place. Just from the fact that he had sent people out one after another to find someone, one could tell a thing or two; now, he was even disregarding his own safety to go find her. Even if Huang Si-niang were foolish, she knew that this Eldest Master of the Tan family was not at all like what others said, that he had a very poor relationship with his wife; on the contrary, he had placed his first wife at the very center of his heart.
Even Nanny Zhang was left speechless: "Ah, this..."
"Nanny, you had better stop speaking."
Huang Si-niang looked at Tan Ting’s departing back, her expression becoming a bit dejected. That Eldest Master of the Tan family was very good, much better than her own father and brothers, and also very heart-stirring. But, he was someone else's husband.
Huang Liu-niang had originally intended to go back to rest her feet, but Nanny Zhang said that it wasn't easy to get off the boat once, and that there was something fun to see on the other side, urging her to walk around a bit more. Her feet were tired, and she didn't want to walk around, but when she thought that if she went to the teahouse, she might run into that Xiang woman, she reconsidered.
During these few days on the boat, the Xiang woman had behaved properly and hadn't bumped into them constantly, ruining the good mood of the voyage. However, Huang Liu-niang did not want to have any familiarity with her either, lest she be laughed at by other aristocratic ladies upon arriving in the capital. She followed Nanny Zhang’s wishes and continued to walk around.
Who could have thought that in doing so, she would encounter the chaos in the city.
Huang Liu-niang and her maid were separated; they screamed and called to each other, but the more they called, the further away the voices became. She was bumped around by those insane men until she was dizzy and nearly fell to the ground; she could only find a corner to hide in, wanting to wait for these fanatical, desperate people to run past, and then find a way to find someone to go back.
Who would have thought that after these fanatical, desperate people left, the street didn't become quiet; instead, many people were left behind, and many more people ran out from unknown places to break into the shops on the street and smash things.
Huang Liu-niang was terrified, but just at this moment, someone suddenly grabbed her arm. She turned to look; it was a strange man with a greasy face. The man’s look at her made her blood run cold; he clicked his tongue twice at her, then gave a weird laugh and dragged her hard into the depths of the alley.
Huang Liu-niang screamed in fear; unexpectedly, this attracted another man, who also rushed toward her with glowing eyes. In the midst of the struggle, her clothes were torn open quite a bit, and her hairpins fell all over the ground. But there was no one left who could save her; the whole street was in chaos, and screaming might lead to even more evil people.
At that moment, Huang Liu-niang’s mind went blank. She was a pampered young lady of an aristocratic family; she had never encountered such a thing!
However, just at this moment, someone suddenly flew forward and kicked the two evil men to the ground.
Huang Liu-niang turned to look; it was a guard from the Tan family.
The guard said directly: "It was my Madam who sent me to save you, Miss!"
"Your Madam?"
Huang Liu-niang was stunned. Before she could react to the meaning of these words, she was pulled by the guard to run in the other direction.
On the other side was a narrow door. She ran in quickly and saw at a glance Xiang Yi waiting inside the door.
"Is the Sixth Young Lady all right?"
The voice was still faint and emotionless, but Huang Liu-niang heard it at this moment as if it were the sound of heaven. Beside her, someone else ran up; it was the maid she had been separated from.
The master and servant couldn't help but hug each other and cry.
After a while, Huang Liu-niang slowly stopped crying; she knew she had survived a near-death experience. And the person who saved her was precisely the Xiang woman she looked down upon and couldn't wait to stay far away from.
Huang Liu-niang looked at Xiang Yi, and her tears couldn't stop flowing again. She performed a proper, upright bow to Xiang Yi, no longer possessing a shred of contempt.
"Huang Sixth Young Lady, many thanks, Madam, for your life-saving grace!"
After Xiang Yi and Qiao Xing were separated from the crowd, they felt that things were going to become chaotic, so they hurriedly found this door in the narrow passageway to take refuge temporarily, and incidentally saved two terrified children and a woman who had been knocked down and injured.
They did not dare to make a sound while taking refuge here; fortunately, the guard Tan Ting had assigned to her side soon found them.
Xiang Yi breathed a sigh of relief. But they were all women and children, and one guard simply couldn't take them away safely. Xiang Yi simply ordered them to stay there for the time being, and wait until things settled down or for the Tan family people to find them.
Unexpectedly, things became increasingly chaotic. Originally there was only a group of people rushing onto the road, but as time passed, many local residents also took advantage of the chaos to hit the streets—some followed along to smash and loot, others took advantage of the situation to steal, and some even set their sights on lone women.
Xiang Yi first saved Huang Liu-niang’s maid, and hearing that the Sixth Young Lady might be nearby, she had the guard go out to search, and he truly rescued the person in the nick of time.
At the moment, a group of people was taking refuge in the narrow passageway.
Xiang Yi waved her hand, saying it was just something done in passing and could not be considered a life-saving grace. Today, whether it was Huang Liu-niang, Huang Si-niang, or any other woman, Xiang Yi had no reason not to save them.
The commoners turning things around because of the Jiangxi fraud case was originally a good thing, but it had become a disaster when it reached this state.
Outside was another burst of smashing; shops nearby had also been set on fire by people, intending to burn them to the ground. The riot showed no signs of stopping, and it even seemed to be becoming increasingly fierce.
And at the county Yamen in the county seat, for some reason, there had been no movement the entire time.
Just then, it seemed someone wanted to break in, and they actually crashed into the narrow door where they were taking refuge. Everyone in the passageway was shocked; Xiang Yi hurriedly signaled everyone not to make a sound, but she herself stood firm against the door.
The people outside crashed into it several times without breaking it, before cursing twice and leaving temporarily.
The faces of everyone behind the door became ugly; if this continued, perhaps they wouldn't even have this place of refuge left.
Xiang Yi also furrowed her brows.
The magistrate probably couldn't be counted on; if only someone could take over the Yamen with one effort, dispatch troops to suppress the riot, and put down this disaster, that would be wonderful.
Xiang Yi couldn't help but look expectantly toward the invisible distance.
"Yizhen! Yizhen!"
Tan Ting’s voice was hoarse, his heart extremely anxious, but after searching back and forth for a long time, he could not find a trace of his wife.
Where exactly had she been separated and swept away?
And what was her situation at this moment?!
Tan Ting could not find the person, only seeing more and more shops being smashed and burned. Unexpectedly, just at this moment, he turned his head and actually saw a team of government soldiers. Those government soldiers were not here to suppress, but were instead protecting someone and slinking away in panic.
Tan Ting understood in an instant, his eyes widened, and he called people directly.
"Block the path of that corrupt official! Seize him and bring him over!"
No wonder the chaos had lasted for so long; he had even sent people to beat the drum in front of the Yamen, and there hadn't been any signs of government soldiers moving. So, the magistrate had actually turned into a deserter and was trying to run away at this moment!
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