Chapter 39: Wu Yong: Elder Brother, You're Awesome!

"Good morning, Master!"

The next day, after waking up and finishing his morning routine, Cai Fu was practicing with a broadsword in the courtyard when Shi Xiu approached and paid his respects.

Cai Fu was stunned. "Brother, are you still recovering from last night's heavy drinking?"

"I am wide awake, Master!"

Shi Xiu widened his eyes after speaking. "Master, surely you are not going to go back on what happened last night?"

Ah, this...

Of course it was a good thing!

Only then did Cai Fu realize that Shi Xiu was being entirely serious, having previously suspected that Shi Xiu had simply been dead drunk the night before...

With a debt of gratitude for saving his life, coupled with the bond of master and disciple, Shi Xiu was now completely and firmly bound to him!

Since ancient times, loyalty and righteousness were difficult to balance, but what if the side of "righteousness" was further reinforced by "filial piety"?

"How could that be? Your master's words carry the weight of a tripod!"

Cai Fu smiled warmly and patted Shi Xiu on the shoulder. "Xiuer, you are my first and foremost disciple!"

Overjoyed, Shi Xiu pleaded, "I humbly ask Master to instruct me in the art of the blade!"

"No need to rush."

Cai Fu waved a hand. "There is plenty of time. Recover from your injuries first, and then I will pass the saber techniques on to you."

Shi Xiu bowed. "Many thanks, Master!"

Yang Xiong, watching from outside the doorway, looked unimpressed.

In truth, he too was a practitioner of the saber, and he had long harbored a desire to take Zhou Tong as his master...

Taking Zhou Tong as a master was one thing, but lowering himself to become Cai Fu's disciple was a bridge too far for his pride.

Mainly because, like Cai Fu, he had formerly served as a prison warden and executioner in Jizhou, and he was older than Cai Fu to boot...

Yang Xiong had hesitated back then, and once he hesitated, he could no longer bring himself to ask.

Yet, Yang Xiong felt no regret.

He believed his saber skills were quite respectable—even if they fell slightly short of Cai Fu's, they were on par.

Three years later, he would finally realize what he had let slip right through his fingers...

...

Daming Prefecture, Office of the Prefect.

"Useless trash!"

In a fit of rage, Governor Liang flipped the table over once more.

*(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻*

"They come and go as they please!"

Liang Zhong书 trembled all over with fury. "Do these rebels take my Daming Prefecture for a pleasure house?"

Wen Da, the commander of garrison forces, was rendered completely speechless.

In the past, he would have dared to confront Liang Zhongshu head-on, but now that Li Cheng was dead, he no longer had the clout to stand against Liang Zhongshu...

"Trash! Every last one of you is useless trash!"

Righteously indignant, Liang Zhongshu pointed a finger straight at Wen Da and cursed him out loud: "Are you still capable of doing your job as garrison commander or not?"

"Your Excellency, this had nothing to do with me!"

Wen Da argued, his face flushed red up to his neck. "By the time my men and I arrived, the rebels had already unseated Suo Chao and fought their way out of the city gates!

"I challenged the rebels to exchange three hundred blows with me, but knowing of my peerless valor, they whipped their horses into a gallop and fled for their lives!

"I only regret that the scoundrels ran too fast, otherwise I would certainly have lopped off their heads and presented them to Your Excellency!"

"That good-for-nothing Suo Chao!"

How could Liang Zhongshu fail to see that Wen Da was merely passing the buck?

The problem was that Liang Zhongshu was also in need of a scapegoat...

Suo Chao had originally been one of Li Cheng and Wen Da's men, only leaning toward Liang Zhongshu after his duel with Yang Zhi.

Liang Zhongshu discarded Suo Chao without batting an eye. "Didn't he also boast of having peerless valor?"

Wen Da's small eyes rolled rapidly as a scheme formed in his mind.

"Your Excellency, Suo Chao and Yang Zhi originally became sworn friends through their combat, and they have always been very close!

"Yang Zhi has long since gone to Liangshan as a rebel; could it be that Suo Chao has been secretly colluding with him all along?"

"Could such a thing be true?"

Liang Zhongshu suddenly saw the light.

That made complete sense!

Wen Da wanted to say it was an unfounded fabrication, but fearing it wouldn't convince the public, he instead heavily smeared Suo Chao with mud.

"Your Excellency, it is most likely true! If Suo Chao had not deliberately let the rebels escape, I would have captured them long ago!"

"The ungrateful beast!"

Although Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu had both been captured by Suo Chao in the first place, both Liang Zhongshu and Wen Da conveniently chose to forget that fact.

Liang Zhongshu cursed violently: "He ignores the Emperor's grace, a beast in human form! Guards, bring Suo Chao before me at once!"

Within the space of a single incense stick, Suo Chao, who was recuperating from his injuries in bed at home, was dragged to the Prefect's Office by a pack of fierce bailiffs.

With a look of utter bewilderment, Suo Chao knelt before the hall. "Your Excellency, what crime has this humble general committed?"

"Suo Chao, your treason has come to light!"

Liang Zhongshu sneered, and Wen Da immediately stepped forward, pointing at Suo Chao and roaring abuses:

"Audacious Suo Chao! You ignored the imperial grace and dared to secretly collude with the Liangshan rebels! What crime is it to release the rebel ringleaders Cai Fu and Lu Junyi?"

It was like a bolt from the blue!

Suo Chao was struck dumb, taking quite a while to recover his senses. "I am wronged! I am utterly wronged, Your Excellency!"

"Silence! I have never seen such a shameless wretch!"

With an air of supreme righteousness, Wen Da reported to Liang Zhongshu, "Your Excellency, this stubborn villain will never confess without a beating!"

"Commander Wen speaks wisely!"

Liang Zhongshu caught his drift and barked an order: "Beat him!"

The bailiffs on either side pounced on Suo Chao, binding him and throwing him to the ground. Without another word, they beat him until his skin was torn and blood flowed freely!

Suo Chao lost consciousness two or three times. Unable to withstand the torture any longer, he signed the confession, though he could only direct his furious curses at Wen Da:

"Shameless scoundrel! Even as a ghost after death, I will not let you go!"

Wen Da sneered repeatedly.

Liang Zhongshu then ordered the bailiffs to shackle Suo Chao with a hundred-pound death-row cangue and lock him away in the deepest dungeon.

...

Mount Liang.

"What?"

Before the Golden Sand Beach, Song Jiang met Dai Zong. Upon hearing the full sequence of events from Dai Zong, he was greatly shocked.

"Military Advisor, in that case, not only have we failed to save Lu Junyi, but we actually owe them a favor instead!"

"You are mistaken, Brother!"

Wu Yong gave a wry, bitter smile. "I fear there is no favor here—only deep enmity..."

"Hiss—"

Song Jiang could not help but draw a sharp breath.

He suddenly remembered: it was he who had driven Lu Junyi into the death row in the first place...

Pale with horror, Song Jiang cried out, "Military Advisor, what are we to do now?"

Wu Yong shook his goose-feather fan like a dog's tail before finally asking Dai Zong, "Where are they now?"

"Ah..."

Dai Zong's words reached his lips, but he hesitated. "Not far from Daming Prefecture, I parted ways with them! This younger brother has no idea where they might be currently residing..."

"How muddle-headed!"

Wu Yong shook his head back and forth like a rattle-drum. "Grand Preceptor Dai, you should have first figured out where they were settling down before coming back to report to our brother!"

Dai Zong lowered his head. "Yes, this younger brother was muddle-headed..."

"This matter is not the Preceptor's fault!"

Song Jiang quickly took the blame upon himself. "It was I who instructed the Preceptor to return and report immediately upon any news!"

Normally, Dai Zong should have felt much better hearing this, but for some reason, he felt even more conflicted instead...

"What is to be done?"

Wu Yong let out a sigh and spread his hands. "Things having come to this, we have no choice but to send out men to search everywhere for their whereabouts and find them first."

Song Jiang sighed as well.

"That is all we can do. Once we find them, Song Jiang shall carry brambles on his back and beg for their forgiveness! If they refuse to forgive Song Jiang, Song Jiang will not get back up!"

"If you do that, I believe they will surely understand the brother's bitter and painstaking efforts."

Wu Yong cradled his goose-feather fan in both hands and bowed deeply to Song Jiang.

Though he said nothing aloud, in his heart he was roaring:

*Brother, you are truly magnificent!* (Voice cracking)

Dai Zong breathed a sigh of relief.

*This way, I neither betrayed the debt of gratitude for saving my life, nor failed in my loyalty to the brother... Can this be considered the best of both worlds?*