Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 57: We've Been Deceived

There was a light drizzle.

Zhao Changhe did not wear his straw raincoat or bamboo hat anymore, and instead held a big umbrella and walked with Cui Yuanyang along the city streets.

Even though the umbrella was big, to completely shield Cui Yuanyang from the rain, he had to expose half of his shoulder. It gradually got soaked, but he did not mind.

Cui Yuanyang silently walked by his side, staying half a step behind. In her heart, she felt that her expectations of what leaving the house to travel beside her idol would be like were shattered, but not completely so.

She could tell that Zhao Changhe wanted to distance himself from the powerful families to the point that he harbored contempt for them. It felt like they did not belong together... Even though he never said any of this out loud, she could vaguely tell.

Of course, Cui Yuanyang still knew where she stood. She would side with her family. Suddenly, she felt like there was a vast distance between Zhao Changhe and herself.

That was why she felt like her expectations were shattered.

Moreover, Cui Yuanyang was embarrassed to admit that to a young woman like her, who had been raised in a cultured and refined environment since childhood and had just reached her rebellious phase, Zhao Changhe’s coarseness and valiance had a sort of lethal attraction. However, once she actually met him, she realized that he was actually very gentle and well-mannered. The way he looked out and took care of people was like that of a family member.

Perhaps all this is normal. With mountain bandits, he’ll naturally be coarse and wild, and to a young lady from a powerful family he’ll naturally be more courteous. In any case, that attraction of his isn’t as intense anymore. It’s like he’s been reduced to a normal person... Eh, I’m really embarrassing myself by thinking about all this, huh...

She scratched her head. As she touched the rabbit ears on her hat, her mood mysteriously lightened up.

Whatever the case, that gentleness and courtesy of his are completely different from others that show them to curry favor with me. He may be polite on the surface, but on the inside, he’s incredibly proud and unyielding.

That was why her expectations were not completely shattered.

Cui Yuanyang suddenly thought that everything that made him seem far away from her were precisely the things that made him so attractive. Is this a sort of contradiction?

The young lady was not certain.

Anyway, he’s indeed noble. I didn’t make a mistake trusting him, right? I’ll be able to say this confidently and with assurance when I receive a scolding from Father and my brothers.

I mean, I’m simply learning from the jianghu, right? If I was with my brother, I couldn’t learn anything. For the whole journey, government officials and all those families kept following us to get a chance at bootlicking. By the time we got to Beimang, we hadn’t even fought a single battle. How can this compare to traveling with Zhao Changhe, who walked through the jianghu always facing life and death?

Now, even when Cui Yuanyang looked at beggars on the side of the street, she would do so with great suspicion, always wondering if they were yet another murderer.

“Hey...” Cui Yuanyang could not help but subtly tug on Zhao Changhe’s clothes. “Look at that beggar. He’s staring at us. Could he be a murderer?

“...” Zhao Changhe could not be bothered with her and continued walking.

“Say something...”

“Have you considered that he’s looking at you because you keep staring at him? Maybe he’s thinking that a young lady like you is going to give him money and he’s wondering why you haven’t walked over yet.”

Cui Yuanyang said, “But what if he really is a murderer?”

“We haven’t approached him. If he’s really a murderer, what’s he going to do?”

“What if he has a hidden weapon? Or a bow or crossbow?”

“Then why isn’t he hiding somewhere else? Why does he have to pretend to be a beggar and squat in the rain? Is he stupid like you?”

Cui Yuanyong’s mouth was agape, but she was enraged and said nothing.

“I have no experience in the jianghu. Yue Hongling taught me a little before. However, whatever she told me wasn’t that much different from what I’d read in novels. In the end, I still have to experience it for myself.” Zhao Changhe said slowly, “However, some things require one to build up experience while other things can be figured out using plain old deductive reasoning[1]. I’m also afraid of encountering situations I can’t reason my way out of. They’re really big headaches to deal with, like your sudden appearance.”

Cui Yuanyang: “...”

What kind of thing is “deductive reasoning?” Just what sort of place is the Zhao House? Why is its dialect so strange?

Zhao Changhe suddenly stopped.

Cui Yuanyong was not paying attention and bumped into him from behind. She felt that the muscles on his back were tense, as if he was ready to go into battle any moment.

Cui Yuanyang stuck her head out from under his armpit and took a look. A storm of footsteps came from ahead—a group of imperial soldiers had come.

“Zhao Changhe! You dare to strut into a city just like that when you’re a wanted criminal? Do you have no regard for the authorities?”

Zhao Changhe’s head was beginning to hurt. He really had no intentions of challenging the authorities. They were a legal, well-supplied, well-armed, violent gang. There was no way Zhao Changhe could take them down.

When he entered the city at night, he only planned to challenge the martial arts school and leave. How could he have known that he would meet a little idiot and have to get servants in an inn to prepare a bath for her. While dealing with all this, the part about leaving the city had slipped his mind...

To slip up like this—maybe I’m not as alert as I think I am.

“Hey!” Cui Yuanyang stuck her head out. “Do you people know who I am!?”

“Good! Zhao Changhe! We’ve heard that you’ve abducted a young woman. So it really is true! Little girl, don’t be afraid. We’re here to save you!”

Cui Yuanyang: “?”

Zhao Changhe: “...”

Dumbass, you’ve never left your house before! How the hell would they know who you are? In fact, it’s even better if they don’t know who you are. Otherwise, if people found out that I stayed in the same room as the daughter of the Cui Clan, it wouldn’t be good.

Swoosh!

The wind picked up and elites from the Demon Suppression Bureau in the city appeared on the rooftops.

Seeing that there was no way out of this mess, Cui Yuanyang was about to take out her Cui Clan identification token. However, Zhao Changhe pulled out his saber before she could do so and held it next to her neck.

Cui Yuanyang: “???”

“Since you all know I’ve abducted a young woman, do you think I won’t use her as a hostage?” Zhao Changhe said, “Don’t you all know what she meant when she asked if you people recognized her? It means that she’s related to the imperial court; she has a powerful identity and isn’t someone you can casually cut down together with me. Look at her round face, her temperament, hmmm? And on that note, it would be best if none of you asked which family she’s from. Otherwise, you’d be the ones to damage her reputation, not me.”

The soldiers: “...”

This is something our leader should tell us. If you’re so smart, why the hell don’t you become an official? Why are you even a bandit?

Cui Yuanyang understood everything and, without making a sound, put on a pitiful expression and tilted her head. She did not let people see the admiration and excitement in her eyes.

From a rooftop on the right, a leader of the Demon Suppression Bureau, a middle-aged man, said sternly, “Zhao Changhe! I thought you were a good man! I’m shocked that you dare to do something this shameless!”

“Tsk. Why would you ever think I was a good man? Aren’t all bandits like this?” Zhao Changhe shouted, “If you don’t want to see this white rabbit’s delicate head fly, then let me pass!”

The soldiers present all looked to their leader. The middle-aged man hesitated for a while. There was absolutely no way he could order his men to cut Zhao Changhe down with his hostage in broad daylight and with the eyes of the people on them. Finally, he could only wave his hand and say, “Let them pass.”

Zhao Changhe pulled Cui Yuanyang and slowly exited the city gate. Once he was outside, he suddenly ran and fled into a forest a few zhang away from the road. He moved swiftly and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

There only remained his laughter in the air. “Not only am I a bandit, but the next time I have a woman in my arms, it might be Tang Wanzhuang! Tell her to wash herself and wait for me!”

A group of elites from the Demon Suppression Bureau chased him but lost track of Zhao Changhe in the blink of an eye.

“This guy moves through the forest like it’s his own home.”

“No shit, he’s a mountain bandit.”

“Do we pursue him?”

Nobody answered. In reality, no one wanted to give chase. Taking hostages was the most despicable thing someone could do, but what could they do even if they managed to catch up to him? Zhao Changhe was not someone they could easily offend. Even if they all attacked him, there was still a chance he could heavily injure all of them. Why would they sell their lives for a measly few taels of silver every month?

Everyone looked at each other. They all felt this was a pain in the ass, and someone asked, “Should we tell First Seat Tang what he said?”

“What the fuck are you saying? If you want to die, don’t drag me with you!”

“With so many people watching, First Seat Tang is bound to hear of it...”

“That’s none of our business.”

“Which powerful family does that young lady belong to? She’s really cute, but she’s about to get eaten by a pig.”

“I don’t know. What Zhao Changhe said was right. It’s best not to ask. Otherwise, we might rouse the enmity of her clan.”

“Daughter of a powerful family my ass!” Someone from behind caught up to them, panting. “The Embroidered Brocade just reported to us that a set of rabbit fur clothes went missing last night. Isn’t that what she was wearing!? They also lost a dudou with mandarin ducks embroidered on it. That’s something the night ladies at the Yihong Courtyard wear, how could it be worn by someone from a good family!? That woman is definitely a bandit, in cahoots with Zhao Changhe from the start. She’s cute, but she’s a goddamn witch! It all makes sense now! The two of them fooled us!”

1. He says “logic” here, but there are two ways to say “logic” in Chinese. One way is 论理 lùnlǐ. The second way is 逻辑 luóji, which is a transliteration from English—it’s pronounced like “logic.” Zhao Changhe is using the latter, so it makes no sense to someone who doesn’t know English is a thing. ☜