A Clash of Gods - Chapter 58
Chapter 58 Ximen in Black
Yuan Rong helped Yang Ning up. Yang Ning felt his legs soft and almost couldn’t stand steadily. He was shocked and thought it might damage his body because he used the inner force in his anxiety and the meridians in his legs were injured. Would he become disabled?
“Oh, dear. Look at this bloke. He is going to pee in his pants.” The guy who almost let his horse tread the child suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Yang Ning’s shaking legs. He laughed loud and seemed not to care that he almost killed a person.
Yang Ning stared at that man and finally saw him clearly. The man was only 24 or 25 years old, dressed in light yellow brocade clothes. The bright-colored clothes were matched with the angry horse. He had a golden belt around his waist, with something around his head, a purple headcloth, not the white headcloth like the others.
Apparently the headcloth was carefully made, with a red gemstone inlayed in the middle of the forehead and golden silks around. It was priceless. But Yang Ning had never seen such a headwear, and their accent was not from the capital but seemed from Chuanshu.
The other riders laughed recklessly.
The young man in yellow didn’t speak much. He shook the rein and urged the horse to go. But Yang Ning shouted in a deep voice, “Stop!”
They were stunned and reined their horses. The young man in yellow looked Yang Ning up and down several times and smiled with disdain. “You told us to stop?”
Yang Ning felt his legs burning, but he seemed to regain some strength, and they were not as soft as before. He took a breath slowly and responded indifferently, “Right. I told you to stop.”
The young man in yellow was surprised and sat on the saddle with interest. He fiddled with the horsewhip in his hand and asked, “Why did you tell us to stop?”
Yang Ning knew from these men’s clothes that they might be some local officials’ sons coming to the capital from another city or sons of local tyrants. This kind of people must be the second generation of officials or rich men outside the capital, and they were arrogant in their hometown. Now they came to the capital and still acted recklessly.
Yang Ning thought, “You are out of luck today. I am the heir of the Marquis of Honor. Not to mention my status, even Yuan Rong, a young master from the mansion of the Minister of Rites, is not a nobody.”
Yuan Rong found Yang Ning winking at him and guessed that those men in front of them might be bumpkins from the rural area and ignored rules even in the capital. He saw many onlookers around, so he wanted to show off. He took out the fan and opened it instantly. Then he shook the fan gently and sneered. “Do you have eyes? Where are you? Do you know what to do if you hurt somebody as you act recklessly on the busy street?” He closed the fan and pointed at that child. “If my brother didn’t save him in time, you would hurt him. Do you know the consequence?”
The young man in yellow glanced at Yang Ning and asked playfully, “I really don’t know the rules in your city. Tell me. If I kill that child, how much silver should I pay?”
After he said that, many people around whispered and condemned him.
But the young man in yellow and his followers seemed not to hear that and didn’t care.
That woman said, “If you kill somebody, you have to pay with your life. You are lawless and should be put in prison.”
“Pay with my life after killing somebody? Be put in prison?” The young man in yellow laughed presumptuously. “I never know that I will pay with my life after killing a person. And I have put many people in prison and killed countless people, but I have never been in prison.”
Yuan Rong wondered why this guy was even more unbridled than him. He put on a straight face. “Get off the horse’s back and apologize to everybody here. Otherwise…”
Before Yuan Rong finished his words, the young man in yellow whipped him abruptly. Yuan Rong was caught off guard and raised his hand to resist it subconsciously. “Clap.” The horsewhip hit Yuan Rong’s arm, and he shouted “Ouch”. Then he roared, “Son of a bitch, how dare you beat me?”
The young man in yellow changed his expression and questioned, “You curse me?” Then he waved his whip again. When Yuan Rong was about to dodge, a shadow next to him flashed. Yang Ning had moved forward and reached out his hand to grab the horsewhip, saying coldly, “This is Jianye, where His Majesty lives, a place with laws. Restrain yourselves. You urged horses on the street outrageously. You have disturbed the common people and almost killed somebody. It’s reasonable to tell you to get off the horse’s back and apologize.”
The young man’s horsewhip was grabbed and surprise flashed in his eyes. Then he looked angry and tried to pull back the whip. Yang Ning felt that this man had powerful strength and obviously had martial skills. He sneered and exerted more strength. The young man in yellow was stubborn and pulled harder. Soon his face turned red.
Seeing the prominent blue veins on the back of the young man’s hand which grabbed the horsewhip, Yang Ning knew that this guy had used all his strength. With a sly expression in his eyes, he loosened his hand out of the blue. The young man in yellow was caught off guard and couldn’t keep balance. He leaned over backward and fell off the horse’s back. All the onlookers burst into laughter after seeing that.
The men with white headcloths behind him got off the horses’ backs. Somebody went to help up the young man in yellow, and some people rushed to Yang Ning with their machetes.
At the moment, somebody howled harshly, “Who dares to fight?” Two men rushed out, and they were the guards following Yang Ning from the mansion of the Marquis of Honor. They had knives in hands and stood in front of Yang Ning to protect him.
Meanwhile, they heard horses’ hoofs. Two horses came over, and the one on horseback in the front was dressed in a black robe with a black headcloth. The one following him was an attendant with a headcloth. They were on the side of the young man in yellow. The man in black was thin, about forty years old. He rode the horse here and found that the men with white headcloths had machetes in their hands. He put on a cold face. “Stop, all of you. What are you doing?”
They heard the middle-aged man’s voice and looked back, seeming to be in awe of this man in black. They stood there and didn’t dare to move.
The man in black jumped off the horse’s back. Yang Ning found that he looked gentle and tolerant.
“Your Excellency, what happened?” The man in black seriously looked at the young man in yellow who was just helped up. “What is going on here?”
Your Excellency? Which one?
Yang Ning and Yuan Rong looked at each other. Soon, Yuan Rong trembled with shock in his eyes, and Yang Ning thought this guy might have guessed the identity of the young man in yellow, but he couldn’t ask his friend in public. Seeing Yuan Rong’s reaction, Yang Ning believed this young man had a powerful family background.
Then he thought, “I am the heir of the Marquis of Honor, one of the four hereditary titles in the state. Even if he is also a nobleman’s heir, would he be superior to me?”
An attendant with a white headcloth moved closer to the man in black and whispered in his ear for a while, and the latter looked more serious.
Seeing the common people around pointing at him as he fell off the horse’s back in public, the young man in yellow felt embarrassed and furious. He abruptly grabbed the machete from an attendant and pointed it around, roaring, “I will kill anybody who dares to say something.”
He looked ferocious and the common people knew that they couldn’t afford to offend him, so they walked backward.
“The public opinion is more horrible than flood.” Yang Ning mocked as the young man in yellow was still threatening the common people. “Do you want to frighten the people in the capital just with one machete?”
The young man in yellow turned around all of a sudden and stared at Yang Ning, with killing intent in his eyes. “You asked for it. I will cut you into pieces.”
“Jianye is the capital and His Majesty is in this city. We abide to the laws here,” Yang Ning announced coldly. “The emperor of our country sets rules in order to make the common people live in peace. You acted recklessly regardless of rules in public, and you just don’t take our emperor seriously. Now you even want to cut me into pieces? In such a peaceful country and under His Majesty’s eyes, do you dare to kill?”
Yuan Rong glanced at Yang Ning and was impressed, thinking that this guy was too wise. He had overanalyzed with just a few words and took the young man’s behavior as disrespecting the emperor. If the young man was charged, he would suffer more than having his whole family sentenced to death.
The young man in yellow was about to say more but the man in black called in a deep voice, “Your Excellency!”
The young man seemed to be afraid of the man in black and softened. “Mr. Sima, they…”
Before the young man finished his words, the man in black stepped forward and looked Yang Ning up and down before saluting with a smile. “His Excellency is still young. If he offended you, please forgive him.”
“It seems that there is somebody sensible,” Yang Ning responded. “Your master stormed through the streets and almost killed somebody innocent. I advise you to teach him more after you go back home.”
The man in black just smiled faintly and turned to leave. Yang Ning frowned. “Stop!”
The man in black stopped and looked back with a smile. “What can I do for you?”
“I thought you know the rules.” Yang Ning wrinkled his brows. “Do you think you can leave without worry after hurting somebody?”
The man in black saw the blood stains on Yang Ning’s forehead and smiled. “It’s my fault.” He took out some silver. “Is it enough for the treatment?”
The silver was not a small amount and it was naturally more than enough to pay the doctor, but Yang Ning shook his head. “This little boy and I should get the treatment fee and some money to comfort our fright. But your master hurt somebody, and won’t he apologize?” Thinking of Yuan Rong, Yang Ning pointed at him. “Uh, and this man was beaten by your master with the horsewhip, so you should pay for his clothes. And of course, he should get the treatment fee and some money to comfort his fright.”
The man in black frowned, but he was apparently patient and took out a note from his pocket. “I don’t have much silver at hand. This is a bank note of two hundred taels of silver and you can withdraw money from anyone of the four banks at any time. Is it enough?”
Yang Ning received it without saying anything. Then he gave it to the woman. She was stunned, and he had put the bank note in her hand.
“As for apologize…” The man in black saluted them. “I apologize to all of you on behalf of my master. We are on a trip and misunderstanding is inevitable. I am sorry.”
The man in black thought he had done enough to satisfy the speaker, but Yang Ning shook his head. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You don’t need to apologize.” He pointed at the young man in yellow. “It’s you who should apologize.”
At this time, there was an uproar. A voice shouted, “Where are they? How dare! Is there any law? Where is Young Master? Guys, surround those lawless men. Don’t let any of them go!”