Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 133

Chapter 133 Factory Guard Struggle
Lu Zhen did not understand martial arts, so he naturally could not tell if Lin Lie was the opponent of the gloomy East Factory’s Thousand Households and the group of people behind him. However, he knew a wise saying-no matter how good his martial arts were, he was afraid of kitchen knives. Obviously, the bows and arrows outside the courtyard were much more powerful than kitchen knives.

Therefore, just as the scene was about to explode, Lu Zhen patted Lin Lie’s shoulder and said, “Forget it, don’t make meaningless sacrifices for me. This is something a fool would do.”

“But my lord” Lin Lie was obviously unwilling. He wanted to say something, but Lu Zhen had already snatched the conversation away. He took another step in front of Lin Lie and said to Mo Cang, “Mo Qianhu, I’ll go with you. I hope you don’t embarrass my family.”

A cruel sneer appeared on Mo Cang’s face. “Naturally, our East Factory will act according to the rules.” As he said this, his gaze unrestrainedly began to look up and down at Chu Yunrong and the other two women behind him. Afterwards, the others also let out a hehe sound, and there was a hint of obscenity in the description.

Lu Zhen’s heart suddenly sank, and he knew that something bad had happened. These people from the East Factory were not good things. They did not talk about the court’s laws and only took them. But now, no matter if he resisted or not, it seemed that he could no longer change the situation in front of him. Could it be that he really wanted to fight them to the death?

For a moment, Lu Zhen regretted his previous choice. He was excited to do his best for Daming. Even if he was taken down by the people from the East Factory, he had no regrets. However, he really shouldn’t let others be implicated by him.

Originally, he thought that his arrangements were clever enough to leave the capital in a short period of time. However, he still underestimated the efficiency of the other party and Dongchang’s methods, and it was still in their hands. Actually, he was just a small county magistrate, so why bother with this kind of leisure for the Imperial Court? Could it be that those big shots were willing to fight against Wang Zhen and his subordinates for their own sake?

Just as he was thinking about this bitterly, Lu Zhen’s eyes narrowed and he saw another group of people rushing over from outside. At the beginning, his spirits were still refreshed. It seemed that the current dynasty was indeed ruled by a righteous gentleman. Even if he was just a nobody, they would not give up. However, after seeing the person’s attire clearly, his heart sank again.

Dozens of men dressed in red arrow sleeves and with long and narrow knives on their waists came. Although Lu Zhen had never interacted with them in this era, he had seen these outfits online before. They were the Royal Guards that were as famous as Dongchang!

A bitter smile emerged from Lu Zhen’s mouth again. In order to take advantage of him, the other party had actually used troops from both the factory and the guard. He didn’t know whether he should be worried or proud. Not many officials and civilians in the capital could receive such high standards of treatment, could they?

The arrival of the Royal Guards not only surprised Lu Zhen, but also surprised the people from the East Factory. Mo Cang heard the commotion and turned his head to look. He saw two groups of people standing together, seemingly with a conflicting intention. This made him frown. Then, his gaze naturally fell on the young man in the lead. “Yang Baihu, why did you also come?” “However, there is no need for your Royal Guards here anymore. You can go back. Our East Factory will bring them back for interrogation.”

Although the voice was not loud, it was clearly heard in the noisy rain. “Yang Baihu, did you hear what Qianhu said? If you still don’t leave, this person is from our East Factory!” The crowd of Dongchang and Brocade Guards, who were facing each other, snorted at first and then said, “Yang Baihu, did you hear what Qianhu said?”

The young man’s face was rigid and his expression was cold. Even at this moment, he still didn’t show any signs of being moved. He only coldly spat out a sentence, “I was ordered to come and get Lu Zhen. It’s not something that your East Factory can let go of in a few words. Otherwise, I won’t be able to explain myself when I go back.”

Along with his stubborn words, the brocade-clothed guards beside him suddenly took a step forward, truly forming a confrontation with the Dongchang Fanzi who were blocking the courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, Mo Cang’s expression immediately darkened, and anger flashed in his eyes. Originally, he thought that everything was under his control and that he had caught him, but he never expected that so many meritorious brocade guards would come out of nowhere! But then he laughed again. Now that Lu Zhen was in his grasp, could it be that the embroidered clothes guards outside really dared to snatch it away?

Thinking of this, he waved his hand and said, “Take them down, let’s go!” However, he did not intend to argue with the people of the Royal Guards anymore, causing him to lose face. Of course, he wouldn’t let this matter go just like that. At that time, he would naturally think of a way to return the favor.

Upon hearing the order, the few Fanzi immediately pulled out the bull tendons and ropes from their bodies, wanting to tie Lu Zhen and the others up. But at this moment, Lin Lie moved again. He pulled out his saber and pointed it at them. Although he didn’t say anything, the meaning he expressed was very obvious.

“You actually dare to resist arrest?” Dongchang Fanzi looked at the silent man in front of them in disbelief. This was a situation they had never encountered before. In the past, when they went anywhere to pick up people, as long as they revealed their identities, the other party would have long since been captured and tied up in tears. Some of the cowards even directly killed themselves on the spot, lest they suffer after entering the East Factory.

Although they had shown some performance just now, they were only talking about it. But now, he really wanted to draw his saber and fight against them, which made the crowd instantly angry. They also drew their sabers and surrounded him aggressively.

When Mo Cang saw this, killing intent burst out from his eyes. The people of the Royal Guards outside don’t take themselves seriously, because it’s not good for people from the same dynasty to attack in person. This commoner in front of us actually dares to resist, do you really think that my Dongchang doesn’t dare to kill him? Thinking of this, he said coldly, “Go! But if you resist, kill anyone except Lu Zhen!”

“Yes!” The few Fanzi agreed, and the sabers slashed towards Lin Lie. These people were obviously practitioners, and they cooperated very well. Several knives simultaneously greeted their opponents, sealing off all paths of escape for Lin Lie.

Lin Lie didn’t have the slightest bit of fear towards this. He made a mistake and waved the saber in his hand, welcoming it without hesitation.

After choking several times with the sound of weapons hitting each other, the few Fanzi let out a soft shout and retreated. One of them let out a muffled harrumph, and the saber in his hand landed on the ground. His left hand tightly gripped his right wrist. There was a blood trail flowing down from there, but it was injured by Lin Lie’s saber strike.

“You” I didn’t expect that this inconspicuous fellow was actually an expert. This caused a panicked expression to appear on the faces of all of them. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the arrogance from before had dissipated.

When Mo Cang saw this, the killing intent in his eyes became even stronger. However, he did not use his saber to avenge his subordinates. Instead, he flashed to the side, “Where is the archer?”

Because he knew that Lu Zhen had received the help of the Green Bamboo Gang, Mo Cang had brought more than ten archers with him just in case. Now that the situation had indeed changed, it was up to them to support the situation.

When the archers heard this order, they immediately raised the bow in their hands and placed the arrow on it, ready to shoot. But at this moment, an order came from beside them, “Crossbowman!”

Immediately after, the men of the Royal Guards suddenly revealed a few crossbow machines they were wearing, and then the arrows were aimed at the people of the East Factory.

“What are you doing?” When Mo Cang saw this, he was so angry that he was about to tremble.

“I’ve already said that I want to take this person away. If you insist on hurting someone, you can’t say that only your subordinates will see the true chapter.” Yang Baihu coldly tossed out these words, his eyes slightly narrowed without the slightest bit of emotion. It seemed that as long as the other party dared to shoot an arrow, he would not hold back.

This time, the scene became a little strange.

In the courtyard, Lin Lie was facing everyone from the East Factory alone, and he wasn’t at a disadvantage at all. Outside the courtyard, a group of archers aimed at Lin Lie. It seemed that as long as they let go, they would be able to shoot people on the spot. However, they did not dare to make a move, because there was a group of brocade-clothed guards with crossbow machines on their side, eyeing them covetously. This was no joke, it was all his own life.

“Yang Zhen! Are you really going to make an enemy of our East Factory? Have you ever thought about the consequences of doing this?” Mo Cang finally couldn’t help but ask loudly.

The hundred households of the Brocade Guard called Yang Zhen were completely unmoved. The lines on their faces were as hard as before, and they didn’t even frown. “I only knew that I received orders to take people, but I didn’t pay any attention to anything else!”

Hearing this, the Dongchang Muslims, who were already worried, became even more panicked. Several archers even lowered their hands. Evidently, they were afraid that if they accidentally shot an arrow, the Royal Guards would be enraged.

Seeing this strange situation, Lu Zhen’s face also revealed a strange expression. This kind of situation was beyond his imagination, but it was clearly beneficial to him. Originally, he thought that with Wang Zhen’s current momentum, the Royal Guards would be one head lower than the Eastern Factory, but now, it seemed that was not the case.

In the entire Great Ming Dynasty, there were several stages when the factory guards felt the weakest sense of existence, and this was one of them. Therefore, Lu Zhen really didn’t know who the current leader of the Royal Guards was. How could he have the guts to challenge Dongchang? However, it might be much better for him and the others to fall into the hands of the Royal Guards than to fall into the hands of Dongchang. Therefore, he was happy to see this situation.

He was satisfied, but Mo Cang, who was standing in front of him, was extremely angry. His face turned green and white. He gritted his teeth and thought of a countermeasure, but he couldn’t come up with a proper method. Judging from the attitude of the Royal Guards, it seemed that they could only choose to admit defeat today. But he really didn’t want to end up like this, otherwise, he would really become a laughingstock in the East Factory and wouldn’t be able to raise his head.

The situation had completely frozen, but the rain was getting heavier and heavier …