Chapter 355: Happenings in Shangjing (12)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Yingyang Kuaixian: “Oh my gosh. The netizens are so shocked that their jaws have dropped. I’ve been watching this streaming for the past few years, and it’s my first time seeing such a huge gang fight. Moreover, both parties are affluent second generations who have high social statuses. It’s an inexpressible feeling.”
Laosiji Lianmeng: “Tsk. To be honest, they’re just upstarts or local tycoons with no heritage. From this, we can also see what the upbringing of both families was like. If they’re aristocrats with a real heritage, even if they want to trample each other to death, they are still polite on the outside.”
Linglong Mibaosuo: “#proppingonmyelbow. Compared to a fake battle with words only, I prefer this way of fighting.”
Nuanbao Baotie: “Hahaha. I prefer to fight, too. Just like what the streamer said before––what’s the point of being eloquent? Despite that the opponent has turned on their maximum volume, the other party won’t be affected if they choose not to listen. What’s the use of quibbling? Just beat them up. If you can fight, you absolutely don’t have to be eloquent.”
Because of Jiang Pengji’s influence, most of the viewers in the streaming room had picked up her temperament. In defiance of death, fight. There was no need to quibble when one could fight.
Jiang Pengji raised her hands to protect Xu Ke, lest the weak scholar be swept up in the fight.
She glanced at the expressions of the people around her out of the corner of her eyes. They were all onlookers who were not afraid that things would get serious. She suddenly thought of something. “Are you just going to let them fight? Aren’t you going to look for someone to separate them?” Jiang Pengji asked the manservant with a poker face. She lowered her eyelids.
The manservant smiled bitterly, as if he drank a large bowl of bitter gourd juice. He was about to crumple into a ball. “What you said…” It was totally easy for her to say. The manservant did not dare to say his thoughts out loud and could only grumble in his heart. Although my boss is Prince Changshou, Prince Changshou deals with many problems every day. How will he have the time to manage these trivial matters? Be it the god-grandson of Secretary Huang or the son of Army General Fang, they’re untouchable. Who dares to stop them from fighting each other?
It was not a huge deal to stop them from fighting each other. However he was afraid that the two parties might think that the third party was a nuisance and would hit the person who tried to stop them from fighting each other. By then, one would be unable to express their discomfort and would thus be forced to suffer in silence.
The mortals would suffer when the gods fought.
They could only hope that they would finish fighting as soon as possible. The teahouse would close soon. As for the broken objects, a list could be made and sent to their residences directly.
The owner of the teahouse was Prince Changshou. Secretary Huang and Army General Fang would weigh the matter and pay the damages out of deference to Prince Changshou.
Jiang Pengji responded coldly with an “oh” and declined to comment.
“A gang of spoiled brats is creating trouble and wrestling each other on the ground. You don’t have any technical skills.” Jiang Pengji crossed her arms in front of her chest and stepped backwards a little to dodge the delicate tea bowl that was thrown towards her toes. “Who do you think will win?” she ridiculed, tilting her head towards Xu Ke.
Xu Ke glanced at his Langjun, secretly hoping that he would not cause any more trouble. He lowered his eyelids and muttered, “I think it’ll be the god-grandson of Secretary Huang. Nowadays, the government relies on the eunuchs even more.”
The group of eunuchs had great power. Those days, they were swollen with arrogance and very influential.
However, in essence, everything that they owned came from the emperor’s connivance. The emperor also secretly allowed them to sell official posts for his consideration. They depended on the emperor closely. Their lives and deaths were all determined by the emperor. If the emperor was still young, they would be able to develop their abilities to the full. However, the problem was that, although the present emperor was decrepit and muddleheaded, he was blinded by greed and valued his power a lot. The eunuchs were just dogs controlled by the emperor and were used to attack people.
The group of relatives to the emperor were different.
Although they were also the emperor’s dogs, they had their own roots and had greater autonomy than the eunuchs. The emperor put the imperial guards of Shangjing under the control of the Fang family, which showed that the emperor valued the Fang family, who were a group of relatives to the emperor. They had a higher status in the emperor’s heart.
Be it the group of relatives to the emperor or the group of eunuchs, they were promoted by the emperor to counter the aristocrats. Most of the aristocrats in Shangjing had retreated. Many high-ranking officials had retired as well, like the head of the secretariat, Feng Ren, had done that year. That had produced a fatal misconception to the emperor.
What misconception was it? He mistakenly thought that he had already taken back the power from the hands of the aristocrats and felt that he was no longer a puppet with his hands tied!
In that case, the two dogs that he had fed, which were the group of eunuchs and the group of relatives to the emperor, were eyesores.
The group of eunuchs could only rely on the emperor. In contrast, the group of relatives to the emperor seemed to become even more troublesome.
Jiang Pengji guessed that Secretary Huang’s god-grandson would win the fight, but her reasoning was different than Xu Ke’s.
The contest between the group of relatives to the emperor and the group of eunuchs was real. If they were in the court, why would they put the responsibility on the juniors?
“Army General Fang’s son is too fat. Look at his body. He can block half of the entrance of the teahouse by himself. He’s still a huge target no matter how he moves. Secretary Huang’s god-grandson is agile. He keeps hiding behind the manservants and makes sneak attacks. He’ll go far.”
Who gave the human shield the courage to compete against others with their flexibility?
Xu Ke stayed silent. He suddenly felt that his serious analysis had all gone down the drain.
Jiang Pengji added, “However, gang fights are either dependent on force, in which one man can hold back all of the enemy forces, or the number of people that can drown the enemy with their saliva. There aren’t enough hatchet men from Secretary Huang’s god-grandson’s side. If they keep dragging this on, I’m afraid that they’ll lose.”
Xu Ke secretly rolled his eyes. He only acknowledged his Langjun’s skills in gang fights.
As they were talking, the situation became clearer and clearer. Army General Fang’s son was very favored. He took 20 to 30 hatchet men with him, but only half of them joined in the fight. The other half had received the news that their Langjun was beaten, and they hurriedly dashed in from outside.
The two parties were initially matched in strength, but the increase in the number of people on Army General Fang’s side disrupted the balance.
Secretary Huang’s god-grandson was about to get caught and receive a good dressing. He suddenly rolled backwards, ignored his state, and shouted, “Brother Jue, come and save me!”
Brother Jue? Jiang Pengji was originally tired of the fight. She did not expect that both Secretary Huang’s god-grandson and the fat boy would call for help all of a sudden.
She scanned her surroundings, wanting to see who the so-called Brother Jue was.
The fat boy’s side already had an overpowering advantage. His super-huge figure formed a shadow as he pushed Secretary Huang’s god-grandson into a corner.
“Bah! Call for help. I’ll see who will come to your rescue!” There were greenish and purplish bruises on the face of Secretary Huang’s god-grandson. He looked shabby, but his eyes still looked aggressive.
“Hmph. Take back your words. You better not wet your pants in terror.” The fat boy’s heart was fuming with rage. He raised his huge fist and wanted to hit him. At that moment, a clear voice that sounded like a jade compass was heard from the crowd.
“Wait!”
“Who dares to stick his nose in my business?” The fat boy turned his head and fiercely looked into the direction of the voice.
The crowd immediately looked in the direction of the voice as well, only to see a young man of 15 or 16 years standing in the corner. He was dressed in a green scholar’s costume, which elongated his body.
Even though the young man looked somewhat immature, he had a sophisticated aura.