Outside Mingde Gate, the main south gate of Chang’an City.
The city wall of Mingde Gate in Chang’an City towered high and majestic, like a giant dragon coiled at the southern end of the city.
The wall was dozens of zhang tall and built from enormous blue stone bricks, solid beyond doubt. Watchtowers and arrow towers stood on the wall, and the Left Brave Guard of the Imperial Guard guarded the city day and night.
Standing atop the wall and overlooking the bustling scene of Chang’an City, one could not help but feel a surge of heroic pride.
In the distance, the palaces inside the city were arranged in neat order, and the streets were packed with endless streams of pedestrians, carts, and horses. The moat beneath the city wall rippled in the water, reflecting the wall’s shadow like a painting.
As the sun set, its afterglow spilled across the wall, draping it in a golden coat.
At that moment, the wall seemed to become a witness to history, silently telling the rise and fall, glory and disgrace of this city.
At the city gate, commoners and merchants entering the city stood in long lines, filing in orderly under the soldiers’ inspections.
A carriage slowly approached the line. Bai Zhao looked at the towering city and could not help but sigh with emotion.
Chang’an, your young master is back!
He had left the capital at the age of eight. Eight years had passed, and after many twists and turns, he had returned to the city where he was born.
Time had left no trace on the city walls. Yet he had already grown accustomed to going from an eight-year-old child to a sixteen-year-old youth.
“Chuntao, come down with your young master and queue up. I’ve been sitting in the carriage for several hours, and my waist is sore.”
Bai Zhao stretched lazily and said in a languid voice.
“Okay, young master.” Chuntao replied cheerfully. She reached up to straighten Bai Zhao’s collar, then jumped out of the carriage first. Bai Zhao let Chuntao do as she pleased, then followed right after her.
“Old Mo, take the carriage to the city guards first and have them inspect it. Then just wait for me and Chuntao inside the gate.”
After calling out to Old Mo, Bai Zhao was tugged by Chuntao toward the line of people entering the city.
Old Mo chuckled in response, then drove the carriage toward the gate.
“Slow down, Chuntao. What’s the rush? We still have to queue.” Bai Zhao let Chuntao pull him along, smiling as he said it.
“Oh, young master, hurry, hurry. Madam said she misses you!” Chuntao kept dragging Bai Zhao forward without a care.
This scene drew kind smiles from the commoners nearby.
After all, this young man in white looked handsome and elegant, and quite a few married women and young ladies nearby lit up at the sight of him.
Chuntao was also a lively, pretty little girl. A pair of handsome and beautiful youths like that drew people’s attention no matter where they went.
And this scene happened to catch the eye of someone in an antique-style carriage not far away in the line.
A slender jade hand lifted the carriage curtain, revealing a face so beautiful it could steal one’s breath.
Her features were exquisite and lovely, with a pair of sharp, heroic brows that gave off an imposing air. Her bright phoenix eyes were deep and lively, as if they could see through everything.
Her nose was straight, her lips were red, and the faint upward curve of her mouth held a smile that was hard to notice, yet still made one feel her dignity.
Her black hair, like a waterfall, was tied high and held only with a simple jade hairpin, yet it gave her a noble and dignified aura. Her skin was as white as snow, with a faint blush beneath it, like blooming peach blossoms.
At this moment, the woman narrowed her phoenix eyes slightly and stared at Bai Muran’s profile, murmuring, “This person really does look a little like him, but his personality doesn’t. Interesting! Are you him or not?”
At that moment, the maid beside her spoke up. “Young lady? What did you say? Are you looking at that handsome young gentleman? He really is handsome, and he is very gentle to his maidservant.”
As she spoke, the maid made an infatuated expression, full of envy.
Hearing this, a trace of speechlessness flashed across the woman’s brows. She said flatly, “I didn’t say anything. I just think this person looks a little like an old acquaintance of mine. You girl, why are you acting all lovestruck? Do you want to get married?”
The maid beside her hurriedly said, “This servant does not. This servant just likes looking at handsome young gentlemen. Besides, this servant is the young lady’s maidservant. For the rest of my life, I will only follow the young lady.”
“Enough, let’s not talk about that. We need to enter the city quickly. Father wants to see me tonight.”
After saying that, the woman lowered the curtain and no longer looked at Bai Zhao. She closed her eyes to rest.
The maid stuck out her tongue and stopped talking, but she kept leaning by the carriage window, staring at Bai Zhao.
On Bai Zhao’s side, he and Chuntao were standing in line.
Chuntao noticed that women nearby would occasionally glance at her young master, then secretly giggle and whisper to the women beside them.
Her gaze turned displeased. Puffing up, she clung to Bai Zhao’s left arm like a little hen guarding her food, and from time to time she shot sharp looks at the women who kept glancing over.
Bai Zhao saw all this and looked at Chuntao’s puffed-up, delicate little face, and could not help but laugh.
He lowered his head slightly and leaned close to Chuntao’s ear, teasing her, “Oh? Our little Chuntao has grown up. You even know how to get jealous now? Haha.”
Bai Zhao’s warm breath brushed against Chuntao’s neck, and her body trembled. Her face instantly turned bright red.
She said in a shy, embarrassed voice, “Young master, you always bully me~ These women are bad. They all want to eat you, young master. I have to protect young master.”
“Fine, fine. Chuntao protects young master and drives all those bad women away.”
“Young master, you’re so annoying~ I’m not talking to you anymore.”
While they were talking, it was already Bai Zhao and Chuntao’s turn to enter the city. Chuntao was just about to take out the identity papers from her waist when a cry of alarm suddenly rose from behind them.
“Oh no, how can that person ride a horse straight into the city?!”
“Whose young master is this? So rude! So arrogant!”
“Shh! Keep your voice down, unless you want to die! That’s the youngest son of Duke Dingguo’s family, Wang Li, a tyrant of Chang’an. Why bother reasoning with a wastrel like that?”
Bai Zhao and Chuntao turned around at the sound and saw a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old youth in fine clothing riding a tall horse, charging straight forward from behind.
Several hulking servants with fierce faces followed behind him, aggressively driving the pedestrians away.
“Move aside! Move aside! Make way for our young master!”
“Are you blind? Dare to block our young master’s path!”
“If you don’t get out of the way, you’ll be trampled to death. Remember to be smarter in your next life.”
Bai Zhao frowned at the scene, feeling completely speechless.
“The young son of Duke Dingguo’s family? Wang Li? I don’t remember him. But this kid really looks like he needs a beating. A proper brat.”
Just then, a cry rang out from the crowd. “Don’t push me! My child! Let me through, that’s my child!”
Bai Zhao looked over sharply, and his pupils suddenly contracted. Not far ahead of him, a little girl was sitting on the ground, crying and calling for her mother. Wang Li’s horse was already about to step on her.
He had no time to think. Bai Zhao pushed off with the tip of his foot, and his body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. Others could only see a white blur flash past.
Bai Zhao had already scooped up the little girl with one hand and, with the other, slammed a palm into the horse’s front leg. Then he pushed off the ground again and returned to his original spot.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Bai Zhao returned to Chuntao’s side with the little girl in his arms, Chuntao had not even managed to cry out before the horse’s front leg gave way. Wang Li was thrown straight off and landed face-first in the dirt.
Only then did Bai Zhao look at Chuntao and give her a look that told her not to make a scene. Then he handed the little girl in his arms to Chuntao and told her to take the child to the woman in the crowd who had collapsed in fear.
Chuntao had no choice but to swallow what she was about to say. She took the little girl and went to the woman, handing the child over to her.
“Thank you, thank you, little girl. Thank your young master for saving my daughter. If anything had happened to my daughter, I, I wouldn’t have gone on living! Wuwuwu!” the woman cried gratefully.
“It’s all right, auntie. Move back a little with your daughter, quickly. There are too many people here. Be careful and protect your daughter so you don’t get separated again.” Chuntao waved her hand and reminded her.
Then she returned to Bai Zhao’s side and no longer paid attention to the woman’s endless thanks behind her.
By now, Wang Li, who had fallen to the ground, seemed to have been stunned. He lay there for a long time without getting up, while the lackeys behind him rushed over in a flurry, chattering noisily as they helped him up.
“Young master, are you all right?”
“Who was it? Which damn bastard did this? Get the hell out here!”
“A bunch of trash, get out of the way! Can’t you see our young master is injured?!”
…
The surrounding commoners hurriedly backed away, and the area instantly became much emptier. Bai Zhao and Chuntao, who had not moved from where they stood, became especially conspicuous.
That earlier scene had happened too fast. Aside from the woman and Chuntao, almost no one had seen exactly what happened, so naturally everyone backed away and did not want to get involved.
By then, Wang Li had finally caught his breath. His face was bruised and swollen, and he had even spat out a tooth, making him look especially ridiculous.
“Hahaha, young master, he looks so unlucky.”
Chuntao looked at Wang Li’s miserable state and could not help bursting out laughing.
Hearing that, Wang Li suddenly raised his head. His vicious eyes locked directly onto Chuntao, and a gleam flashed in them.
A low, sinister laugh came from his throat as he ordered, “Go! Grab that bitch for me! Break the legs of the boy standing next to her!” His voice was a little hoarse, so it sounded slightly ridiculous.
“Yes, young master!” The servants by Wang Li’s side answered in unison. Then they dropped Wang Li and walked toward Chuntao.
“Ow! Are you pigs? To catch a little girl and break that boy’s legs, you need all five of you? Leave two to help me up! A bunch of pigs. Damn it, this hurts like hell!”
Thrown to the ground, Wang Li writhed in pain and howled miserably.
The two servants closest to him hurried over in fear and helped him up.
Seeing this, Chuntao laughed so hard she could barely stand it, and Bai Zhao was amused too.
Wang Li flew into a rage out of shame. “Is it that funny? Hurry up and bring that girl over to me! Take her back to the estate! I’m going to teach her a proper lesson, you bunch of stupid pigs!”
“And that boy, you dare laugh at me too! Break both his arms and legs right now, and then slash up that annoying face of his! I hate looking at it!”
The expressions on Bai Zhao’s and Chuntao’s faces instantly darkened!
In her heart, Chuntao raged: It is fine if you insult me, but if you insult young master, you are asking for death!
Meanwhile, the surrounding crowd watched the scene, wanting to laugh but not daring to. Their gazes toward Bai Zhao and Chuntao were filled with pity.
The woman in the carriage had witnessed everything Bai Zhao had done. Her phoenix eyes turned thoughtful as she thought to herself, Is it you? But from what I remember, you should not have this kind of skill, should you?
The little maid beside her said anxiously, “You… young lady, please save that gentleman and his maidservant! That Wang Li really is a rotten bastard!”
But the woman gave her a stern look, and she could only shut her mouth indignantly.
“Keep watching. That gentleman is no ordinary person.”
The scene returned to the gate. The other three lackeys grinned wickedly as they moved toward Chuntao, shouting as they walked, “Little girl, are you coming over on your own, or do you want us to catch you?”
“Such a pretty little face, but your eyes are not very good. You dared provoke our young master. Who told you to have such a filthy mouth and laugh at our young master?”
“And you, kid, hurry up and kneel down and beg for mercy. Maybe our master will be kind enough to spare one of your hands.”
Bai Zhao stared coldly at the three approaching men, then turned toward the four city gate guards who had been watching the show for quite a while and said in a cold voice:
“Is this how you soldiers guarding the capital watch these wastrel descendants bully the common people?!”
Chuntao immediately understood that young master did not want to reveal his identity, so she also looked at them with a cold gaze.
The four soldiers, stared at coldly by the master and servant pair and hearing Bai Zhao’s questioning tone, burst out laughing and said mockingly:
“Boy! Is that how you speak to the soldiers? You want us to handle this? Then kneel down and beg the soldiers properly. After that, offer your maidservant to us brothers for some fun. Maybe then we brothers will help you. How about it?”
After speaking, the four of them laughed heartily, staring at Chuntao’s graceful figure with vulgar grins.
“Hahaha, boy, don’t you think it’s a little late to beg for mercy now? Why not beg little master here instead?”
“Let your maidservant stay with little master for a few days. Once little master gets bored of her, maybe I’ll be in a good mood and let you go.”
Hearing the soldiers’ words, Wang Li also spoke up with a lecherous expression.
“That’s right, that’s right. Begging them is not as good as begging our master. Ask them whether they dare interfere with our master!”
“Haha, they definitely wouldn’t dare! Don’t they know who our lord is? He is the current Minister of Rites, and our master’s grandfather is none other than Duke Dingguo himself!”
“Yes, yes, young master is right. We brothers are just teasing this stupid boy. Such a lovely little girl should of course be for you to enjoy.”
…
Listening to those soldiers’ and lackeys’ laughter and lewd teasing, Bai Zhao’s eyes turned completely cold.
He patted Chuntao on the head and comforted her.
“Don’t be afraid. I didn’t expect that after eight years away from Chang’an, they would not even recognize me anymore. A wastrel dares to act so high and mighty in front of me!”
Chuntao had been furious, but when Bai Zhao patted her head, she immediately turned into an obedient little cat and nodded.
Bai Zhao swept his gaze over everyone before him and said in a chilling voice:
“You really are courting death. You dare even flirt with this young master’s woman? As the descendant of Duke Dingguo and the son of the Minister of Rites, you know nothing of propriety, you charge into the common people, and you harass respectable women. As servants, you do not try to restrain your master, but instead help him commit evil. As guards of the capital, you collude with the wastrels of noble families and oppress the common people. A bunch of trash. Today has truly opened my eyes.”
After saying that, Bai Zhao ignored the darkening faces of the people on the scene and shouted toward the carriage inspection area nearby, “Old Mo! Break all their legs! Knock out every last tooth too! As for that damned Wang Li, leave him alive and bring him over to me!”
“Understood! This old servant was already displeased with these little bastards. How dare they offend you? They deserve a beating!”
As soon as the words fell, a gray figure leaped out from the nearby carriage and landed in the middle of the scene. It was Old Mo.
“Old Mo, break their arms and legs too! How dare they insult young master? They’re courting death!” Chuntao said indignantly.
Old Mo did not answer. He instantly turned into a blur and rushed into the crowd.
After a series of bone-chilling cracks and the slapping sound of faces being struck, Old Mo held Wang Li in one hand and stood before Bai Zhao. Lowering his head, he said, “Young master, it is done.”
The moment he finished speaking, waves of agonized screams rose from all around.
The five family servants and the four military ruffians, who had been foul-mouthed and aggressive only moments before, were now lying on the ground with their limbs twisted at bizarre angles and blood all over their mouths, wailing in pain.
Wang Li, now hanging in Old Mo’s hand, finally regained his senses. Looking at the two people before him, he shouted weakly but fiercely, “You bastard, you’re finished! You dared to hurt my people! And you dared to hit people from the Left Brave Guard! You’ve caused a huge disaster for yourself! I will make my father kill you! Even the heavens themselves can’t save you now!”
Bai Zhao only smiled faintly at that and said calmly, “Is that so? Do you know what the situation is now, boy? At your age, you should be learning something decent. Since your family can’t discipline you, I’ll do it for your father!”
“You’re still being stubborn and threatening me at a time like this. You really are not afraid of death! Old Mo, do to him what you did to the others. Break his hands and feet, knock out all his teeth. Brat, you need a lesson!”