Chapter 90 — Uproar
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 1 of 4
Since ancient times, the common folk have not contended with officials.
Chen Lanxu's expression turned somewhat grim: "Young Miss, I'm afraid we're in trouble—that Pang Kunbai has most likely quietly borrowed troops from the guard post to help him..."
But the deed was done. Did they think that if they simply surrendered, the Pang family would let them off?
Dou Yan's fury burned hotter still. "Are you certain you can hold those men here?" she demanded.
Chen Lanxu hesitated. "We're all commoners..."
In other words, they were confident they could keep the men there—they simply dared not, held back by the men's official status.
"Then keep them all for me!" Dou Yan cut Chen Lanxu off with the decisiveness of a born commander. "If they have the audacity to be so reckless, what have we to fear? If we can hold every one of them, then with officials and bandits colluding, even if Wang Xingyi were the Shaanxi provincial governor himself, he couldn't cover this up!" As she spoke, she turned and strode toward the door. "I'd like to see who has the nerve to mobilize men from the guard post to do the Pang family's private bidding?"
Seeing Dou Yan so calm and assured, Chen Lanxu felt somewhat reassured.
Perhaps to them the Shaanxi provincial governor was already an unattainably great official—but the Dou family did not even deign to notice such a person!
The Dou family's young miss was so young, yet she did not shrink back in the face of trouble. For that bold spirit alone, she was worth fighting this battle for.
It was only a pity that the Dou family's young miss was a girl. If only she were a young master!
He sighed inwardly and followed Dou Yan out of the hall.
In the courtyard, Uncle Duan and the others stood staring at one another, their expressions very grave. Pang Kunbai and his attendants all lay limp on the ground, groaning in agony, utterly unable to fight back.
When they saw Dou Yan come out, everyone's eyes fell upon Dou Zhiwei.
"Don't worry, everyone!" Dou Yan stood straight as a spear on the steps, her expression composed, imposing without anger, and said calmly, "No matter who comes, colluding with robbers is a crime punishable by exile three thousand li away. I've said it before: if anything happens, it all falls on the Dou household. All you brave men need do later is keep these people here."
So she said, but Dou Yan was a woman, and far too young. Many still wore hesitant looks. It was Uncle Duan who, seeing this, spoke up: "Things have come to this. There's only one road left—we walk it to the end. The more hesitant you all are, the more fear you'll show when the fighting starts; and the more fear you show, the less likely we are to keep those men here. And then I fear for all our lives. So I beg you, brothers, to pull together and see us through this crisis first—at worst we can flee beyond the passes and hide for a few years." Then he added teasingly, "Since Miss Dou has already paid out so much, I doubt she'll mind sparing a few more taels of silver for our settling-in expenses. Isn't that so, Miss Dou?"
This Uncle Duan seemed to command great respect among them. The moment he finished, everyone burst out laughing, and their faces relaxed.
"Naturally," Dou Yan said with a smile.
Seeing that Dou Yan valued his words, Uncle Duan volunteered to organize everyone into a strict defense.
The sound of hooves swept up to the gate like wind scattering clouds. With a crash, the door panel fell, and several guards in blue rushed in.
Dou Chu froze.
Weren't these Ji Yong's retainers?
Ji Yong's retainers froze as well.
Hadn't they heard that Miss Dou had been taken hostage?
But there stood Miss Dou, perfectly well, surrounded by strong guards, with groaning wounded men sprawled at her feet... This looked nothing like a hostage situation—it looked more like she had beaten people up while abusing her power...
Dou Qu shouted, "Stop!"