Chapter 152 — Counterattack
Purple Streets of Chang'an · Page 2 of 4
Song Qin and Song Duo, close behind, looked grave as well; Song Duo even said, "Could Tianci be going to settle scores with Uncle?"
At that, Song Qin grew anxious. "I'll go take a look—we can't let Tianci clash with Uncle, or a single charge of filial impiety will be enough to cast him out of the family!"
Song Duo nodded again and again. "Eldest Brother, I'll go with you."
"Is this any business of yours?" Song Maochun hurried forward to block them, but his two sons had already bolted for the hanging-flower gate.
Song Maochun stamped his foot and followed.
Song Fengchun thought for a moment, then followed as well.
They were all stopped before the hanging-flower gate.
"The heir has spoken—thieves have come into the house," said the four burly men who had entered with Song Chuqi, standing guard at the gate with blades drawn. "To keep the innocent from harm, no one may pass through the hanging-flower gate."
In times of peace, under the bright clear sky, at the very foot of the imperial city—thieves had come to rob the hereditary First-Rank Yingzhen Garrison Manor? Who on earth would believe it?
It was as flimsy a tale as the claim that Song Yan had tried to ravish a maid.
The faces of Song Maochun and the others turned strange.
From the principal courtyard came the harsh clash of weapons, mingled with screams and panicked shouts: "Who are you people? You dare come into the inner courtyards of the Yingzhen Garrison Manor to kill..."
Kill!
It had come to killing!
Song Maochun and the others felt their legs go weak, and wondered in terror whether they ought to flee this den of trouble at once—when a voice, coarse as thunder, burst beside their ears: "You bastard, I was just about to ask who you are, and here you are asking me! Then listen well, you: I am a guard under the heir of the Yingzhen Garrison Manor, sent by the heir to seize the thieves! You say you're a guard of the Yingzhen Garrison Manor—then why doesn't our heir know you? You dare impersonate a guard of the Duke of Ying—surrender at once!"
As the voice died away, Song Maochun saw one of the guards at the hanging-flower gate grin soundlessly.
He shuddered, seized his two sons, and made for the outside. "This is none of our affair, none of our affair! We're going back—hurry, back!"
Song Qin and Song Duo no longer had the courage to stand their ground against their father; stumbling, they were dragged by Song Maochun away from the hanging-flower gate.
Song Fengchun and Song Tongchun dared not linger either, and fled in panic with Song Maochun and his sons out of the Yingzhen Garrison Manor.
And by now, within the hanging-flower gate, all was panic.
In secluded corners, in the hollows of rockeries, beneath the beauty seats... serving women cowered, trembling. Of the guards Song Cen had left behind, apart from a few of exceptional skill still resisting stubbornly and trying to break through the encirclement, the rest were either kneeling with their sabers held high and crying "Spare us!" or, bewildered and terrified as though they had no notion what was happening, shouting "We're no thieves, we truly are guards of the Yingzhen Garrison Manor!" Guard Xie, still locked in combat with Song Yan's men, cried out in horror, "Who are you, really?! Why do you wield Mandarin Duck blades?"
The Mandarin Duck blade had been devised by the Duke of Ding specifically to deal with the Japanese pirates who raided ashore.
The men besieging Guard Xie chuckled darkly and struck all the harder.
Song Yan ignored the turmoil around him and walked straight, with Chen He close behind, into the easternmost room of the rear quarters of the upper courtyard.
Xia Lian hurriedly bowed and stepped aside.
At once the two of them saw the corpse in the middle of the room, beaten beyond recognition.
Chen Tao...
Song Yan's eyes moistened at once, and he faltered in his step.
Chen He had already darted past Song Yan in a single bound.