Chapter 65: The Instructor and the Young Master
“Brother Zhang San! Are you okay?”
Zhang Fei, who hadn’t yet recovered his senses, suddenly felt a bright light in front of him. He instinctively raised his hand to shield his eyes and looked intently. He saw Ma Xiaoyi tilting his head, staring at him with wide eyes. Just as he was about to ask what was happening, he suddenly heard a groaning sound. He looked back and saw Li Si struggling to raise his hand and said, “Quick, go help Li Si.”
After saying that, he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
Ma Xiaoyi immediately ran over and untied Li Si.
Li Si broke free from the ropes and saw that Zhang Fei was still on the ground, not yet recovered. He ran over immediately, helped Zhang Fei up, and nervously asked, “Brother San, are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” Zhang Fei shook his head, then glanced at Li Si, who also had bruises on his face, and asked, “Are you okay?”
Li Si gently touched his face, immediately grimacing in pain, but said, “I’m tough, it’s nothing.”
Zhang Fei pressed his aching abdomen with one hand, furrowing his brows, and asked angrily, “Who are they?”
Li Si shook his head blankly and said, “I don’t know either. More than an hour ago, four masked men broke in suddenly, grabbed me, and asked about your whereabouts. When I said I didn’t know, they started beating me.”
Ma Xiaoyi suddenly jumped forward. “Brother San, do you think it’s people sent by Chen Yuteng?” Zhang Fei frowned and suddenly looked at Ma Xiaoyi. “Why are you here?”
Ma Xiaoyi said, “I came here specifically to look for you.”
Zhang Fei curiously asked, “What for?”
“Oh, it’s my big brother!”
“Little Ma!”
Suddenly, someone outside the door shouted.
Zhang Fei looked up and saw a slightly older young man in a red robe riding a tall horse, galloping to the door. He pulled the reins, and the horse’s front hooves kicked in the air, showing off its mightiness.
Behind him followed a few idle men, all looking exhausted.
“Big Brother, did you catch those bandits?” Ma Xiaoyi asked anxiously.
The young man dismounted, threw the reins back, and shook his head with a sigh. “Those bandits ran too fast. They disappeared in the blink of an eye.”
Ma Xiaoyi couldn’t believe it. “Big Brother, even on horseback, you couldn’t catch up?”
The young man looked a little embarrassed. “It was because I was too fast, and Taozi and the others couldn’t keep up. I almost got surrounded by those few men. Fortunately, my riding skills are excellent. When Taozi caught up, they disappeared.”
Ma Xiaoyi sneered, “You always boast about being able to handle three opponents by yourself.”
The young man sighed, “They happened to be four, and I didn’t bring any weapons.”
“?”
Zhang Fei had been watching the two of them all along, thinking, it seemed like they weren’t the culprits. Could it really be Chen Yuteng? Or was it his uncle, Director Wang?
The young master, seeing the disdain still present in Ma Xiaoyi’s eyes, felt a bit awkward. He suddenly turned to Zhang Fei, sized him up for a moment, then turned back to Ma Xiaoyi and asked in a low voice, “Is he the Zhang San you mentioned?”
Ma Xiaoyi nodded.
The young master whispered, “Look at him, he looks frail, can he handle it?”
Ma Xiaoyi replied, “Big Brother, winning lawsuits relies on one’s tongue, not on fighting. If fighting could help you, would we need to find help?”
The young master nodded, “That’s true.”
Ma Xiaoyi then said to Zhang Fei, “Brother San, this is my brother, Cao Dongdong.”
Zhang Fei, enduring the pain, clasped his hands and said, “Greetings, Young Master Cao.”
Cao Dongdong waved his hand casually.
Zhang Fei nodded and asked, “May I ask why you have come to look for me?”
Ma Xiaoyi interjected, “Big Brother came because…”
“Cough!”
Cao Dongdong suddenly coughed a few times, interrupting Ma Xiaoyi, then said to Zhang Fei, “Let’s talk inside.”
Zhang Fei also realized and quickly said, “Li Si, please lead the Young Master and Little Ma inside.”
“Yes, yes.”
Li Si was also dealing with someone of Ya Nei’s status for the first time, feeling a bit flustered. He said, “Young Master, Little Ma, please come inside.”
Cao Dongdong glanced at the main hall, scratched his nose, and said, “Let’s talk in the back.”
Seeing Cao Dongdong’s mysterious demeanor, Zhang Fei was very curious. He nodded and said, “Alright, let’s go to the back to talk.”
“Let’s go!”
Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi didn’t act reserved at all, leading their lackeys and swaggering towards the backyard, as if they were in their own home.
“Brother San, I’ll go boil some water for you to apply a compress.” Li Si saw that Zhang Fei was still clutching his stomach.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, “You should apply one for yourself too.”
“Okay!”
Just as Li Si was about to go boil water, Zhang Fei suddenly called out, “Wait.”
Li Si walked over again and asked, “Brother San, do you need anything else?”
After thinking for a moment, Zhang Fei said, “Don’t rush to apply it. I need to think about this matter more. First, we need to figure out why they came here.”
Li Si was curious upon hearing this; those two things didn’t seem contradictory! But he didn’t ask further.
After sitting down in the back room, enduring the pain all over his body, Zhang Fei asked again, “Welcome, Young Master. I wonder why you have come here.”
Cao Dongdong hesitated and turned his head to Ma Xiaoyi, whispering, “Xiao Ma, can we really trust this person?”
“Big Brother, you can rest assured. Zhang San is a righteous man who stands up against injustice. He is absolutely trustworthy,” Ma Xiaoyi assured, patting his chest.
Zhang Fei was deeply moved upon hearing this. This young man had a promising future!
However, Cao Dongdong looked at Ma Xiaoyi with a skeptical expression.
Zhang Fei took the initiative and said, “You are here to seek my help with a lawsuit, right?”
Cao Dongdong looked surprised. “How did you know?”
“Because besides legal matters, I can’t help you with anything else,” Zhang Fei replied.
Cao Dongdong nodded. “That’s true.”
Zhang Fei continued, “If it’s about a lawsuit, please rest assured. We can first sign a confidentiality agreement to ensure that I won’t disclose any information.”
Cao Dongdong waved his hand. “That’s not necessary. I doubt you would say much. But!” He glanced at Zhang Fei sideways. “What measure are you able to take?”
Zhang Fei smiled. “I can take plenty of measures, but I don’t dare to make any judgments until I know exactly what you are involved in.”
Ma Xiaoyi exclaimed, “Big Brother, why are you acting like a woman? What are you afraid of? My brother Zhang San is excellent at handling lawsuits. He can even win contractual lawsuits. Your issue is nothing.”
Cao Dongdong snapped irritably, “What do you know? If this isn’t handled well, I’ll be in big trouble.”
Ma Xiaoyi felt offended. “Big Brother, do you think I would harm you? Trust me this time, Zhang San will definitely help you.”
“Alright, alright! I trust you!” Cao Dongdong was getting a headache from Ma Xiaoyi’s persistence and said, “Go ahead.”
Ma Xiaoyi was taken aback. “Why don’t you tell the story yourself, Big Brother?”
Cao Dongdong scratched his cheek. “Just tell it.”
With that, he discreetly observed Zhang Fei again, feeling increasingly unsure about him.
“Alright then, I’ll explain.” Ma Xiaoyi said excitedly, “Zhang San, the thing is, a few days ago, my brother slept with the wife of an Imperial Guard instructor, and…”
Cao Dongdong immediately interrupted him, “Stop making things up. I only got halfway. If I had really slept with her, then I wouldn’t be aggrieved.”
Zhang Fei suddenly felt refreshed as if he had consumed a miracle cure and all his pains had vanished. He asked eagerly, “What do you mean by ‘halfway’?”
Cao Dongdong looked frustrated. “I was just about to undress.”
Was this called “halfway”? This clearly meant that nothing happened at all! Zhang Fei suddenly felt the pain again. “Understood. Little Ma, please continue.”
“Oh!” Ma Xiaoyi continued, “Just as my brother was halfway through sleeping with the woman, he was discovered by the instructor. Now, the instructor is threatening my brother, demanding a promotion from him. If my brother doesn’t promote him, he will go to the Kaifeng Prefectural Office to complain against my brother.”
Cao Dongdong exclaimed indignantly, “It would be one thing if I had slept with that woman, but I hadn’t even gotten to sleeping with her! How can he threaten me?”
“What’s the instructor’s name?”
Cao Dongdong replied, “His name is Lin Fei. Do you know him?”
Zhang Fei shook his head. “I don’t.”
Ma Xiaoyi interjected, “Zhang San, I think this was a trap.”
If the other party wasn’t a powerful young master, Zhang Fei would have thought so. He asked, “What makes you say that?”
Ma Xiaoyi immediately explained the reason to Zhang Fei.
It turned out that Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi had been good at practicing staff combat since childhood and had good relations with many instructors in the military. A few days ago, Cao Dongdong, Lin Fei, and another military office surnamed Wu had gone hunting together, and they had caught some prey. Afterward, they went to Lin Fei’s house for dinner.
After three rounds of wine, they were all quite drunk.
It just so happened that Lin’s wife was as beautiful as a flower. According to Cao Dongdong, during the banquet, Lin’s wife had flirted with him, arousing his lust. Taking advantage of Lin Fei and Officer Wu’s drunkenness, he hugged and kissed her and ended up in bed with her.
Just as they were about to get intimate, Lin Fei and Officer Wu burst in. Lin’s wife immediately cried out, accusing Cao Dongdong of attempting to rape her. Lin Fei seized Cao Dongdong and was about to take him to the authorities. Fortunately, Officer Wu intervened. With Officer Wu’s mediation, the three of them reached an agreement: Cao Dongdong would help Lin Fei get a promotion, and Lin Fei would let him go.
Zhang Fei was somewhat incredulous and asked, “Forgive my rudeness, but Young Master, if you can help him get promoted, why are you afraid of his threats?”
Cao Dongdong said, “As a young master, I wouldn’t fear a mere instructor. But if my grandaunt and aunt were to find out about this, they would surely have me killed.”
So he was not afraid of his father, but afraid of his grandaunt and aunt? That’s rare! Zhang Fei asked, “Your grandaunt is…?”
Ma Xiaoyi said, “His grandaunt is the Grand Empress Dowager.”[1]
Zhang Fei stopped breathing for a moment. “Then, what about his aunt?”
“The Empress Dowager.”
[1] The Empress Dowager is the wife of the previous emperor. The Grand Empress Dowager is one generation older, ie the wife of the emperor before the previous emperor.