Chapter 62 Good Dogs Don't Stand in the Way

Without a moment of hesitation, Third Yan died, his headless corpse crashing heavily to the ground.

"Eldest brother—" Third Yan was Fourth Yan's biological elder brother. Abandoning Li Dahuniang, Fourth Yan charged toward Zhang Chen, determined to kill Zhang Chen to avenge Third Yan.

"Trying to run?" Li Dahuniang took a swift step forward, swinging her blade to strike Fourth Yan squarely in the back.

The wound was deep enough to expose the bone, and blood spattered everywhere. Fourth Yan stumbled, only to see a flash of blade light coming straight at his face.

A heavy slash landed right across Fourth Yan's brow. Zhang San'an, gravely injured, and Fourth Yan, on the verge of death, collapsed to the ground together.

Third Yan and Fourth Yan were the commanders of the third and fourth guard units under Yan Zibei, respectively. Now, both of them were dead.

With Yan Zibei's guards left without a leader, the balance of victory tipped decisively in favor of Zhang Chen's guards.

After Zhang Chen and Li Dahuniang successively slew two bandits each, the remaining bandits panicked and scattered in all directions. Scrambling over one another, they rushed toward the main gate of Tian Xuewen's residence, desperate to break through and escape.

Zhang Chen's guards had received virtually no formal training and lacked real combat prowess, but they were quite adept at capitalizing on momentum.

Zhang Chen blocked the gate with his saber, while Li Dahuniang and Li Chongshan, leading Zhang Chen's remaining score of guards, swiftly slaughtered the remaining bandits in the Tian courtyard, even executing the few who knelt and begged for surrender.

At Zhang Chen's request, Dongmei brought a bedsheet, which Zhang Chen tore into strips of cloth to briefly dress the external wounds of Zhang Min, Zhang San'an, and the other guards.

"Li Chongshan, carry Zhang San'an, and let's head to the East Gate." Glancing at the stalwart Li Chongshan, Zhang Chen picked up Zhang Min and started walking outward. "The medical corps should have set up a temporary aid station near the East Gate." Trained in martial arts since childhood, Zhang Chen's deputy guard commander Li Chongshan was a native of Zhangjiacun and a veteran member of the Zhangjiacun militia.

With a prompt response, Li Chongshan lifted Zhang San'an and followed Zhang Chen out.

Li Dahuniang split Zhang Chen's guards into two groups: one stayed behind to clear the battlefield at the Tian estate, while the other escorted the remaining wounded to the East Gate alongside Zhang Chen.

Their home had been breached by bandits, and just as she was about to be defiled and humiliated by them, Zhang Chen had arrived.

After wiping out the bandits, Zhang Chen had walked away carrying a heavily wounded man from Zhangjiacun. Tian Yachun bit her lower lip fiercely until she broke her own crimson skin.

"He asked me for the sheet and didn't act like an outsider at all. Young Mistress, just now Young Master Zhang—well, Zhang Chen said you are his woman." After whispering these words to Tian Yachun, Dongmei cursed Zhang Chen inwardly, though she was immensely relieved that he had arrived in time; she had been frightened to death just moments ago!

The members of the Tian family neither thanked Zhang Chen nor obstructed him, nor did they question his actions.

However, Zhang Chen was intercepted on his way out. A eunuch, accompanied by a lackey, stepped directly in front of him.

"You must be Zhang Chen of Zhangjiacun. I am An Dafu, the chief steward of Prince Heng's Heir Apparent's estate. Knowing full well that bandits were coming to attack Fushan County city, you Zhangjiacun militia actually failed to enter the city ahead of time to help defend it. Zhang Chen, do you know the gravity of your crime?"

***

Acting on the orders of Zhu Cikao, the Heir Apparent of Prince Heng's estate, An Dafu had come to the Tian residence in Fushan County city to handle a trivial matter, confident it would be as easy as reaching out and taking something.

Yet the Tian family had offered all sorts of excuses and stubbornly refused to comply.

An Dafu was furious, but he dared not discipline the Tian family.

After all, Tian Xuewen was the biological father of Consort Tian Yuecha. With nowhere to vent his anger, An Dafu felt utterly stifled and frustrated.

Upon arriving in Fushan County city yesterday afternoon, An Dafu had heard numerous accounts concerning Zhang Chen.

The Zhangjiacun militia had failed to defend the county city, and their rescue of the town had been untimely.

An Dafu had already decided that Zhang Chen was guilty.

He believed that by putting on airs in front of Zhang Chen, the latter would not dare to resist.

"I have people to save. Move aside." Zhang Chen walked to the side, attempting to bypass An Dafu.

"Hah! You, a former son-in-law discarded by the Tian family, actually dare to ignore me." An Dafu took a step to the left, blocking Zhang Chen's path once more.

"A good dog doesn't block the way." Zhang Chen raised his leg and kicked An Dafu sprawling onto the ground. "I need to save lives and have no time to deal with you, a ball-less dead eunuch."

Cursing wildly, An Dafu was burning with rage. "You dare curse me? Well—you dare strike me? There is no law left in this world! Zhang Chen, I will have your entire clan executed to the ninth degree!"

"Zhang Chen, I only learned after returning from Zhangjiacun yesterday that the Heir Apparent of Prince Heng's estate intends to take Young Mistress as his fifty-sixth concubine." Dongmei wished Zhang Chen would beat An Dafu to death—indeed, she wished he would beat Prince Heng's Heir Apparent, Zhu Cikao, to death as well.

Zhu Cikao, the Heir Apparent of Prince Heng's estate, was a demon of debauchery who had taken dozens of concubines over the past few years.

Tian Yuecha was Tian Yachun's biological elder sister. Though she had been married to Zhu Cikao for three years, she had never conceived or borne a child, nor had any of Zhu Cikao's dozens of other concubines produced a single offspring.

In other words, Zhu Cikao, crippled by excessive indulgence, was undoubtedly sterile.

Aside from the first few days of their marriage, Zhu Cikao had virtually never shared a bed with Tian Yuecha in three years.

Yet Zhu Cikao now desired to take her second daughter, Tian Yachun, as a concubine. Naturally, Tian Xuewen was unwilling and kept stalling with endless pretexts.

"The Heir Apparent of Prince Heng's estate wishes to take little Tian as his fifty-sixth concubine? That is a joyous occasion! Let me offer my congratulations to little Tian in advance!"

Having already stepped outside the Tian estate, Zhang Chen retreated a few steps and brought his foot down heavily onto An Dafu's right thigh. "You dead eunuch, why are you still lying on the ground? Good dogs don't block the road. Oh, well—pardon me, that was entirely intentional!"

***

Everyone present, including An Dafu himself, heard a crisp, light snap.

Zhang Chen had actually broken the right thigh of An Dafu, the chief steward of Prince Heng's estate, showing utter disregard for Prince Heng's formidable house.

Uttering a shriek like a slaughtered pig, An Dafu was in such agonizing pain that he nearly passed out.

"Qingzhou and Laizhou prefectures are already boiling with public resentment because of Prince Heng's household. If the Heir Apparent does not restrain himself soon, the catastrophe of Zhu Cixuan will be right upon him."

Carrying Zhang An, Zhang Chen walked out of the Tian estate, his voice echoing back: "An Dafu, is it? Go back and tell Prince Heir Zhu not to torment the people of Dengzhou, or else he will meet a grim end and surely die!"

The fact that Zhang Chen dared to disparage Prince Heng and threaten the Prince's Heir Apparent left everyone on the scene momentarily stunned.

Well, ever since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, literati scholars and local officials had frequently criticized regional royal houses and found fault with them.

While Zhang Chen's criticism of Prince Heng's estate might be considered rebellious, his direct threat to Zhu Cikao was unquestionably a crime.

For now, Zhang Chen might not dare to murder members of the royal family, but the imperial court would certainly ignore mere verbal insults directed at them.

Zhang Chen departed, and after finishing clearing the battlefield, Li Dahuniang left with Zhang Chen's guards as well.

It was only then that Tian Xuewen, whose right arm had suffered a saber slash, regained consciousness. He began directing the surviving maids and servants to put out fires and clean up the mess at home.

More than an hour earlier, when the bandits had slaughtered their retainers and Tian Xuewen had sustained a cut to his right arm, he had muttered to himself, "This old man must preserve this useful life of mine," before collapsing to the ground in a faint.

Most of the estate guards were already dead; continuing to resist would only get him killed by the bandits without achieving anything.

Nearing fifty years of age, Tian Xuewen was long past the age of rash, hot-blooded impulses. Weighing the pros and cons, he had chosen to fake unconsciousness and ignore the humiliation of his family members by the bandits.

Yet, just as his second daughter, Tian Yachun, was about to be violated by the bandits, Zhang Chen had descended like a heavenly soldier to wipe out the bandits in their courtyard.

Tian Xuewen cursed Zhang Chen silently in his heart: just when the bandit leader had brushed his fingers against Yachun's inner thigh, Zhang Chen had hurled a steel saber, impaling the bandit leader squarely in the back.