Chapter 33: Setting the Trap

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Constable Xin stood nearby, rubbing his nose as he listened. It seemed Qiu Rong had nothing to do with the matter at all!

Yet that afternoon, he had received fifty copper coins from Madam Qiu, in exchange for making a few extra rounds through Pear Blossom Lane during his night patrol.

There were many people out on the streets during the Double Seventh Festival, most of them unmarried young women who had gone out to worship the moon. The constables had no choice but to work overtime and patrol the streets.

After all, it was only natural to be pleased at earning an extra fifty coins for working hard during the festival, and Pear Blossom Lane fell within his jurisdiction.

He had not expected to encounter someone causing trouble while drunk—and this was clearly more than an ordinary case of drunken mischief.

But he had already accepted the money, and matters had already progressed this far. Constable Xin had no choice but to ask Qiu Rong, “Your name is Qiu Rong? You just helped out, didn’t you?”

Qiu Rong did not have his sister’s thick skin. By now, he understood exactly what she was trying to do: she wanted him to play the hero rescuing a beauty, just as in a storyteller’s tale, and use the opportunity to establish a connection with Lady An.

At the thought, his gaze drifted toward the courtyard gate.

Someone had lit a lamp by then, illuminating An Chunfeng’s face clearly. One glance was enough to make his breathing quicken and his heart race.

Although Lady An was a widow, she was even more beautiful than the flower girls in the lane. If he could really marry such a woman, as his sister had suggested, he would be willing a thousand times over.

But he could not stand before everyone—especially before Lady An—and brazenly tell a lie. All he could do was stammer, “R-Revered Constable Xin! I… I just… I didn’t, I didn’t lay a hand on him… It was… it was Lady An… all by herself…”

He had always stuttered, and now that he was nervous, his tongue seemed hopelessly tangled. The short sentence left Constable Xin’s brows knotted together.

Madam Qiu was quick-witted and sharp-tongued. How was it that her younger brother was not only short and frail, but could not even speak properly?

The man pinned to the ground had finally begun to recover from the aching in his joints. He stared at Madam Qiu’s back for a long while before suddenly shouting, “Officer, it was that old woman who told me there was a secret prostitute here! She deliberately lured me over!”

Madam Qiu jumped in fright. She had not expected him to recognize her even though she had been wearing a veil at the time. She absolutely could not admit to it.

She turned around and cursed at the man. “Your rotten eyes are seeing things and your filthy mouth is spouting nonsense! Who lured you here? Produce your evidence!”

The man had no evidence, of course. He had merely been wandering along the street when an old woman suddenly approached him and said there was a fresh girl available, arranging to meet him that very night.

The two of them began arguing over each other, their voices rising into a chaotic quarrel, while An Chunfeng watched coldly from the side.

This Madam Qiu was no simple woman. With nothing more than her words, she had played several groups of people for fools.

If An Chunfeng had just been harassed by a drunken lunatic, then been rescued by Qiu Rong in full view of the crowd, she would surely have been unable to escape the man later using the favor to demand marriage—or even claim that she should repay him with her own person.

Unfortunately, Qiu Rong had not managed to help at all. With no confidence behind him, he had been exposed by the other man. Now Madam Qiu herself was having trouble getting away.

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The patrol was not yet complete. Constable Xin had no desire to waste time here, so he waved his hand decisively. “Take them all away. You can explain yourselves at the yamen at your leisure!”

“No! Constable Xin, we were only trying to help!” Madam Qiu had never expected to be dragged into the matter herself. In her panic, she seized Qiu Rong and cried out.

The man found his courage at once. “You set me up! You’re Constable Xin, right? Do you know who my father is? I’ll have my father strip you all of your uniforms and drive you out of the capital to beg in the streets!”

Constable Xin: “...?”

Everyone else thought: We do not know who your father is, but surely you cannot just make wild claims like that!

The man shoved away the patrol guard’s hand, tugged open his robe, and lifted his chin proudly. “My father is Jin Zhan, Commander of the Capital Garrison!”

The entire scene fell silent.

No one knew who Jin Zhan was, but everyone knew that there was a commander in the capital with the surname Jin—bloodthirsty, ruthless, and notorious for killing. Once, a band of thieves had fallen into his hands, and all four had been hacked into pieces in the middle of the street, their blood staining half the road red.

Constable Xin hesitated only briefly before bursting into laughter. “You’re the tenth fool to make up such nonsense in front of me. Take him away at once.”

He had never met Commander Jin, but as chief constable of Wanni County, he knew more than ordinary people about the affairs of the capital.

The capital of Great Liang was divided into five cities. The eastern, southern, western, and northern districts were each patrolled and administered by their respective City Garrisons, while the central city was the imperial palace and naturally fell under the authority of the Palace Guard.

The man had said his father was a City Garrison commander, but he had not specified which city.

The incident in which a commander had hacked people apart in the street had taken place two years earlier. That commander had been in charge of the western city at the time and had nothing to do with the northern city.

The commander of the northern city, to which Chessboard Street belonged, was surnamed Xia, not Jin. His eldest son was only in his teens, making it even more impossible for him to be this broad-shouldered man with a full beard.

Constable Xin was certain that this drunkard could not possibly be Commander Xia’s family member. Even if he had made a mistake, he could always excuse himself by claiming that he had not known.

The moment he ordered them taken away, the courtyard and the street outside erupted into an uproar.

The residents of Pear Blossom Lane were naturally unwilling to stand by while the Qiu siblings were arrested for “doing a good deed.” What was more, Lady An had been the innocent party who had suffered the insult.

If everyone remained silent now, who would dare speak up when they themselves were wronged for doing good in the future?

The people who lived beneath the imperial city were no ordinary commoners. One after another, they stepped forward to block the road, refusing to let the patrol guards take anyone away at will. Their clamoring voices drowned out the music of strings and bamboo and carried far into the night.

They were resisting an official order!

Madam Qiu’s face had gone pale. An Chunfeng’s expression was grave as well. This was no longer a situation in which she could say anything.

Only Qiu Rong gazed at An Chunfeng with a face full of guilt.

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He thought to himself that An Chunfeng had suffered because of him. Once he married her and brought her home, he would certainly treat her well and never allow her to endure the slightest grievance again.

Just then, the sound of hoofbeats came from outside the lane, but the agitated crowd did not hear it.

By the time a group of brightly armored soldiers rode close, everyone realized that Pear Blossom Lane had already been completely sealed off.

The narrow lane and the tall horses made it seem as though Mount Tai itself were pressing down upon them. The residents of Pear Blossom Lane instinctively shrank back, feeling as though even breathing had become difficult.

Lanterns hung high on every side. One of the mounted officers slowly rode forward from among the soldiers.

He wore an indigo official robe and looked to be in his twenties. His eyes were bright, his features handsome and well-proportioned, his frame tall, and his bearing cold and stern.

He merely glanced around in an indifferent manner, yet within several yards of him, everything seemed to fall beneath the weight of his authority.

The military officer first swept his cold gaze across the crowd, then asked in a deep, resonant voice, “Who is in charge here?”

Constable Xin lowered his head and stepped forward to salute. “I am Xin Zhi, a constable of Wanni County. While patrolling the streets, I received a report that someone was causing trouble while drunk. I was just about to take the offender back to the yamen. May I ask who Your Excellency is?”

The military officer gave a cold snort. “I am Jin Zhan, Commander of the Northern City Garrison.”

Jin Zhan? The surname Jin? A commander?

Everyone’s eyes instantly turned toward the man who had been arrested.

Had the bearded man’s father really come to rescue his son?

But the ages did not seem right. Where in the world was there a son older than his own father?

With a clang, the lecher’s legs went weak, and he dropped to his knees. He wanted to call the man “Father” and bluff his way through, but he was equally afraid of being beaten to death on the spot.

Jin Zhan’s brows drew together slightly as he looked down at the group surrounded by the patrol guards.

The kneeling man plainly had a guilty conscience. The fellow cowering behind a woman and trembling from head to toe was obviously a coward.

Jin Zhan’s gaze passed over Qiu Rong and Madam Qiu before settling on An Chunfeng, and he paused faintly.

The woman before him appeared to be in her early twenties. She wore a plain blue-green dress of coarse cloth and was dressed as a married woman. Her brows were open and graceful, her gaze tranquil.

Despite being caught in the midst of chaos, she showed neither resentment nor sorrow, as though the matter had nothing to do with her.

Only the blue flower tucked beside her temple was somewhat jarring. And there was something faintly familiar about her face, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

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