Nightwatcher

# 22. Teaching the Young Lord a Principle

In Xu Qi’an’s heart welled up a gust of angry hellfire. In the moment that the horse’s hooves raised, he pulled out that string of copper cash, and threw it with all his might. At the same time, the flagstones under his feet broke with a crack, as he shot forth like lightning.

Seventy-two copper coins howled through the air, splashing towards that brocade-wearing pampered young lord.

He had no reaction to the oncoming slaughter, that mildly interested, sadistic expression of deliberately stepping on an ant still on his face. Rather, one of his bodyguards reacted first, as his expression changed, and leapt towards his master, pushing him off the horse. The two of them rolled on the ground, dishevelled.

*pat pat pat…* A portion of the copper coins missed, but the other sank deep into the horse, the ensuing spatter of blood covering Xu Lingyin.

Bang!

At this time, Xu Qi’an had arrived, body leaning forward, striking the horse flying with his elbow.

The tall warhorse was flung a few metres away, leaving a trail of brilliant red on the flagstones.

The commoners around the commotion scattered, hiding far away and watching the scene.

Xu Qi’an immediately picked up Little Pea in a large embrace, holding her tightly, simultaneously paying attention to her expression, and also comforting her “Don’t be scared, your big brother is here.”

Little Pea’s mouth twitched, and coming out of her stunned trace, finally began to cry.

The guards surrounding Xu Lingyue didn’t bother with her any more, and ran towards their young lord.

Xu Qi’an took this opportunity to give his baby sister to a white-faced Xu Lingyue, saying in a low voice “Take her to the Changle County Constabulary, knock on the door, and say it was me who sent you. Afterwards ask constable Wang to send people to the royal guards, asking for Uncle. It’s on Huanglin street, quick!”

Xu Lingyue looked deeply at her older brother, and ran, carrying Little Pea in her arms.

“You dare to kill my horse,” the brocade-wearing pampered young lord laughed maniacally, pushing through his guards. He waved his hand, signalling them to surround Xu Qi’an.

*I want to kill you too…*

That horse was a “Snow-hooved Black Dragon” Warhorse, something that even a fortune would be hard to buy. In the army, only brigadier generals or above could ride this breed of horse.

Uncle Xu grew up in the army, and Xu Qi’an naturally was influenced by him, and immediately recognised the cost of that horse. In modern times, it would be equivalent to a Lamborghini.

The ones who could drive Lamborghinis were definitely the descendants of the top of the top, and the *guanerdai* and *fuerdai*[^1] were not worth money, and had no titles.

Apart from the warhorse, those beautiful azure robes with purple cloud patterns, that dragon-patterned white jade belt, those pouches clanging with precious metals, that jade amulet… these details all showed this pampered young man’s status.

The son of a top official.

“My name is Xu Qi’an, the son of Xu Pingzhi, captain in the city guard. They were my two younger sisters, may I ask where they offended milord.” Xu Qi’an clasped his hands together, controlling his temper, asking politely.

“To save my younger sister, I accidentally killed milord’s beloved horse. I will definitely compensate milord for this.”

Even Xu Qi’an’s little toe knew very clearly what was the origin of this conflict. It was most definitely that this young lord saw Xu Lingyue’s looks, and wanted to play around with her, and even perhaps kidnap her.

Having worked at the constabulary for a month, Xu Qi’an had heard of the actions of these young men: domineering and outrageous, and no one could stop them.

They were not above kidnapping commoner women, and being careless with commoners’ lives was a common occurrence.

And setting such matters was also very easy, one could use force to intimidate, and riches to persuade. And for those that didn’t bow down? Well, maybe your whole family didn’t deserve to live.

The higher-up the rankings the family elders are, the more their children are like this. Would the court really expel a top official for the deaths of a few commoners?

In the eyes of the Constabulary, bullying commoners was hardly considered an issue.

The only people who could defeat a *guanerdai*, was another *guanerdai*.

And Xu Qi’an barely counted as a guanerdai; Xu Pingzhi was a seventh-rank green robe, and at the very least had an official rank, and was not a mere commoner.

Guanerdai could bully the common people with abandon, but to others who took the crown’s salary? They would have some reservations.

Because the water in the capital was deep!

Having listened to Xu Qi’an’s words, he first was confused, asking “Xu Pingzhi? The one who lost the tax silver?”

“Yes!” Xu Qi’an let out a breath.

The young lord’s face darkened, as he replied with malice, “Break his arms, we’ll just leave a message.”

*What mental disorder do you have…* Xu Qi’an nearly couldn’t control his words.

The guards were all well-trained, strong men. They all drew daggers from their robes.

In the capital, if one didn’t have an official role, one was not allowed to carry swords. To carry a sword and not have an official’s robe, carried a sentence of 18 strokes of the cane, and a fine of a hundred taels of silver.

To be a group of sword carrying people, one would simply be executed.

Daggers however were not counted as swords, and so this group of people were just about legal, having found a loophole in the law.

Five of them were not only strong and well built, but also learnt group fighting techniques, and could work together perfectly.

Two guards rushed forward together, striking their daggers towards Xu Qi’an. The latter raised his hands, and grabbed the two guards’ wrists, and was just about to respond, when the two men separated left and right, revealing that guard which had saved the young lord jumping into the sky, bringing his knee down in a ferocious attack.

Xu Qi’an could not but respond, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Thud!

The guard’s kneecap crashed into his arms, and he felt a fiery pain.

The other two guards sandwiched him from both sides. One dagger missed, the other one drawing a red glistening line across Xu Qi’an’s waist.

“Break his wrists and ankles, make him useless!” The brocade wearing young man shouted.

Xu Qi’an glanced at him, not saying anything, analysing the situation within his mind.

*They’re all refining body, but not at its peak, in a one-on-one fight I could take any of them on easy, but they know how to fight together…*

The daggers again whistled towards him. Xu Qi’an used the fighting techniques learnt in his past life, and pretended to get weaker and weaker.

At the peak of Refining Body, a martial artist’s energy is limitless, and wouldn’t run out any time soon, but Xu Qi’an couldn’t let them figure out how much energy he had left.

Seeing his guards unable to bring down Xu Qi’an in a short time, the brocade-wearing young lord furrowed his brow. Standing far away, he mocked, “Oy, the one called Xu, kneel and kowtow to me, call me ‘grandad’, and this lord will spare your life.”

Xu Qi’an replied loudly “Grandad, Grandma is really good in bed!”

Having failed to anger Xu Qi’an, and instead being made fun of himself, the young lord shouted “Kill him.”

Thud!

The strongest guard struck at Xu Qi'an. The latter pretended that he couldn’t defend against this, staggering backwards.

The other four guards saw an opportunity, and came at him from all sides.

At this time, the flagstones under Xu Qi'an’s feet split, as the muscles in his legs made his trousers bulge. Like an arrow, he shot forward, crashing into the guard on his left, causing the latter to spit out a glob of blood, and fall back, ribs broken.

The guards didn’t expect that he would have that much hidden energy left, and being caught unawares, allowed Xu Qi'an to escape from the encirclement.

Xu Qi’an didn’t escape, rather sprinting towards the young lord, and under his shocked and fearful expression, grabbed his neck, and savagely struck him in the stomach.

The brocade wearing young lord’s body bent like a shrimp, vomiting.

Without any change in expression, Xu Qi'an gave him a few more punches, and hit him until the young man was clutching his stomach, kneeling on the floor.

The hellfire in his heart slowly settled, and he did not continue his attack, turning his head towards the advancing guards, shouting “Stay where you are, or I’ll kill him.”

The guards were afraid of causing such collateral damage, and did as he said.

“Good, very good…” the brocade wearing young man raised his head, face full of venomous fury, “Do you know who I am?”

Thud!

Xu Qi’an stomped his face into the vomit, silently using more power, causing the young lord to let out a heart-wrenching cry of pain.

“Then I’ll teach milord a principle,” Xu Qi’an said, face dark, “common men also have anger, and if you bring one to anger, five paces will blood spatter.”

The two sides faced off for a while, before a group of black cloaked, sword wearing bailiffs, with some assistant runners rushed over.

At their head was constable Wang.

Hearing that young Xu was taking a beating, Constable Wang was initially very angry, but seeing the young man’s brocade dress, his face stiffened, as his gaze flickered, and he resumed his angry expression.

“Who dares in broad daylight to fight on the streets in Changle County?”

Seeing that his colleagues had already drawn their blades, and had surrounded the bodyguards, Xu Qi’an let go of the young lord.

The latter pointed at him, shouting angrily, “Arrest him, arrest him! This young lord will kill him by a thousand cuts!”

Constable Wang pretended not to hear, scolding, “Bastard things, arrest them all.”

No matter what the pampered young man said, Wang maintained a base attitude of *I have no culture to behold, with a “fuck you” I’ll travel the world*.

Most likely seeing that these bailiffs had no brains, the young lord stopped his racket, and was escorted to the Constabulary under watch.

Constable Wang stayed back from the group a few steps, going to Xu Qi'an’s side, asking, “Brother, you’ve got yourself into big trouble, that bastard’s background isn’t simple. Have you thought of how to get out of this?”

Old Wang’s eyesight was like an eagle.

*I, Liu Jianming, had no choice…* Xu Qi’an replied quietly “Have you notified my uncle?”

Not long after, they reached the constabulary.

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[^1]: 官二代、富二代 the children of officials and rich families.