Aoyama

Chapter 327 Civil War
In the early morning, cocks crow.

Xiaoman opened her eyes drowsily and went out carrying the little black cat.

She saw Chen Ji sitting on a stone bench under the ginkgo tree, silently looking at the map of the outer city.

Xiaoman asked curiously, "Sir, when are you going to start?"

Chen Ji looked up and said, "Don't worry. Hundreds of people from Heji and Fu Ruixiang have stopped doing business and are staying in the Eight Great Hutongs. Let's see who can't stand it first. Hundreds of them have been beaten with sticks and are recovering at home. If we launch a few more night raids, we can make sure they can't gather so many people and take away the business in the Eight Great Hutongs."

Xiaoman was shocked: "Young Master, are you going to take over all the businesses in the Eight Great Hutongs? There are big shots behind those businesses."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "We have big shots behind us, too."

Xiaoman was puzzled: "Who?"

Chen Ji pointed to the sky and said, "The future Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Mr. Zhang Zhuo."

"Oh..." Xiaoman rolled her eyes and said, "Zhang Zheng invited you to drink in Baishun Hutong last night? Don't be seduced by the women there."

Chen Ji put down the map and said with a smile: "I didn't ask the women to accompany me, I just played drinking games among myself."

Xiaoman asked curiously, "Where's Zhang Zheng?"

Chen Ji glanced at her and said, "Neither does Zhang Zheng."

Xiaoman let out a long "oh", "Sir, I heard from other maids in the mansion that Liang has been inviting some wives of officials to go to Yuanjue Temple to burn incense and worship Buddha every day these days. In fact, she is looking for a suitable marriage for you. Sir, I know it's not my place to get involved in this matter, but I think that instead of just finding a random woman to marry, you might as well marry the second..."

Chen Ji put down the map and interrupted, "Xiao Man, I will leave sooner or later. When the time comes, no matter who I get engaged to, it will damage the other person's reputation, which is extremely unfair to the person I am engaged to. So I can only be selfish and hope that the person I am engaged to is someone that everyone hates, so that I don't have to feel too guilty."

Xiaoman whispered, "So that's how it is."

Chen Ji stood up and walked out: "I'm going to report to the government office."

When I went out, Li Xuan and Qi Chenzhuo were already waiting outside.

Qi Zhuozhuo's face was filled with excitement, he kept chattering, "Master, I went to Yanzhi Hutong last night, there were fewer people there than in Lishamao Hutong, when are we going to go and take down them again?"

Chen Ji said calmly: "It's not time yet."

"Ah?" Qi Chenzhuo was stunned: "When will it be possible?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "When they can't stand it anymore, we don't have any property in the Eight Great Hutongs anyway, so we can go there anytime we want."

"Oh……"

The three of them walked along West Chang'an Street and turned into the Yulin Army Governor's Mansion. When they entered, they saw that Chen Wenren and others were no longer training with ceremonial guards. Instead, they were training with spears and deploying troops, looking murderous.

When the three came in, Chen Wenren glanced at them and asked casually, "Have you heard about the big incident in the outer city recently?"

Qi Chenzhuo pretended to be confused, "Big deal? What big deal?"

Chen Wenren sneered, "It is said that a group of elite soldiers in the army went masked and beat up some hangers-on in the outer city, disturbing the peace of the outer city, and they don't feel ashamed."

Qi Chenzhuo was surprised and said, "How did Lord Chen hear about this? Could it be that the second branch of your Chen family still has some financial dealings with those hangers-on? This is absolutely impossible. If the censor finds out, he will definitely impeach your Chen family!"

Chen Wenren's expression froze for a moment, and after a while he sneered, "Some people are too timid to kill the thieves of Jing Dynasty, and only dare to kill some idlers in the market. I feel ashamed for them. If you really think you have the ability, practice with my Yulin Army."

Qi Zhuozhu's face darkened. He had just found his confidence in the Eight Great Hutongs, but now someone was bringing up the past again.

They both guessed something about each other, but no one wanted to expose it, and no one wanted to embarrass that person.

Li Xuan took Qi Zhuozhuo's arm and walked towards the government office: "Don't say too much to him, practice the formation well, and you will be proud of yourself one day."

Qi Chenzhuo took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry, brother-in-law. I understand!"

Chen Ji ordered the Yulin Army to lie in wait and wait for an opportunity, and this wait lasted for five days.

Until the evening of the fifth day, Chen Wenren and others returned home early, and Chen Ji still led the Yulin Army to train the Mandarin Duck Formation in the Governor's Mansion.

"Chen Ji!" Zhang Zheng shouted from under the window of the building in the Governor's Mansion.

Chen Ji pushed open the window and looked down to see Zhang Zheng moving his left hand backwards three times.

He nodded to Zhang Zheng and closed the window again.

After an incense stick of time, Chen Ji led Qi Chenzhuo and others to get on the carriage outside the gate.

In the alley opposite the Yulin Army Governor's Mansion, a man secretly watched the carriage heading towards Zhengyang Gate. He immediately led a horse out of the alley and galloped towards the Chen family.

……

……

Li Shamao Hutong, Chunfengyuan.

The young man leaned against the window and yawned. He waited from the hour of You to the hour of Hai, feeling extremely bored.

The young man sighed and said, "You shouldn't have chased all the women from Chunfeng Courtyard out. It would be good to let them stay and sing some songs."

Zhou Kuang sat aside, his eyes also dull: "Master, if you leave them here, what if they find out your identity and go out and talk nonsense, will I still kill them? It's been the fifth day, and you didn't go to the appointment of Lord Wu from the Ministry of Rites, and you didn't go to the appointment of Lord Zhang from the Ministry of Personnel. How many things have you wasted just to watch this play? If they don't come today, let's not come again."

The young man smiled and said, "You fool, you don't understand. Why would I meet so many ministers? It would only arouse suspicion. Don't worry, that group of people will definitely come."

Zhou Kuang looked up: "When will you come?"

The young man looked through the window at the alley below: "Hundreds of people from Heji and Fu Ruixiang have stopped doing business and are staying here. How long can they hold out? Will Chongnanfang, Zhengxifang, and Liulichang still have business? Will the ghost market in Panjiayuan still be open? It all depends on who gives up first."

At this time, there was a quarrel downstairs.

But Zhu Guan was standing in Lishamao Hutong, arguing loudly with Qian Ping: "Don't stop me. This is the fifth day. If you and Heji don't want to do business, I, Fu Ruixiang, still want to do business."

Qian Ping stood at the foot of the red light tower and said calmly, "Master Zhu, you and I, Hutchison Leader, have sworn an oath of blood in front of Lord Qi. Are you going to break your word now?"

Zhu Guan sneered, "I'm not treacherous, I just can't afford to delay the business. If I ruin the business of Panjiayuan because of this little thing, I can't bear the blame from the boss. If that group of people comes again, you can send someone to call me quickly. I, Fu Ruixiang, will never sit idly by and watch the fire."

The young man upstairs laughed and said, "Zhou Kuang, look, someone can't stand it anymore."

Zhou Kuang frowned: "Master, do you want to exchange this Zhu Guan?"

The young man was amused: "What should I do in his place?"

Zhou Kuang thought, "This person is jealous. He has suppressed countless outstanding people in Fu Ruixiang in the past ten years. This has also harmed your interests."

The young man rested his arms on the windowsill and his chin on his arms, watching Zhu Guan and Fu Ruixiang's men hurriedly leave with boredom.

He suddenly sighed, "When I was young, Master Xu taught me that evil people will be punished. Later, I followed Xu Jianzheng to practice Buddhism, and he also said that karma is reincarnation, and we must accumulate virtue and do good deeds. Later, when I met Zhu Guan, I deliberately did not touch him, wanting to see when this evil man would get his retribution. But Zhou Kuang, you see, Master and Xu Jianzheng are not right. In this world, the more evil people are, the better they live."

Zhou Kuang whispered: "But most of the evil people died tragically."

The young man laughed: "Decades of happiness, tragic death in an instant, using a moment of pain to exchange for decades of freedom, is it a loss or a gain? In my opinion, this is a huge gain! Zhou Kuang, the reason why Wenyuan Bookstore doesn't want my storybook is not because I don't write well enough, but because I write too realistically, without the heroes they want." At this moment, shouts and screams suddenly came from outside Li Shamao Hutong, and the young man's eyes lit up: "Look at what I said, as soon as Fu Ruixiang left, they came! That's right, if they only acted rashly, I would not be happy to see it. Now that they can be patient, it means they have great ambitions, which is interesting... But how should they deal with the sitting officials of the fighting industry?"

"Zhou Kuang, quickly make me a pot of tea and a plate of melon seeds!"

……

……

Outside Li Shamao Hutong, Chen Ji and others came in masked and rushed in.

Chen Ji warned at the end of the team: "Be sure to beat them so hard that they can't get out of bed for ten days or half a month. This way, we can reduce their number."

The stick fighters came from the other end of the alley, and as soon as the two sides came into contact, a six-foot-long iron wolf-whip forced the stick fighters to retreat.

A man with a stick tried to grab the end of the Iron Wolf Whip and wrestle with the Yulin Army to take the Iron Wolf Whip away, but the end of the Iron Wolf Whip was covered with fine thorns. The slightest touch left several holes in his hand and blood was flowing.

A stick angrily rushed into the brothel and shouted, "What are you waiting for?"

He Ji used the same trick with his stick again, rushing out from the brothels one by one, trying to cut off the Mandarin Duck Formation.

But just as they came out, Duobao suddenly roared: "Change the formation!"

The Yuanyang formation immediately shrank like a hedgehog with its hair standing on end, with spears everywhere. A stickman rushed forward holding a table as a shield, and a Yulin soldier used a trident to hold the table against him to prevent him from getting close. Li Cen acted decisively, lowered his body, and used the tail of his spear to sweep at the stickman's legs under the table.

The screeners holding iron wolf spears, tridents and rattan shields made the formation watertight, while the spearmen waited for an opportunity to attack.

The young man upstairs looked through the window and murmured, "What a good formation, it was born for street fighting. Zhou Kuang, if your Fifth Army Battalion encounters this formation, how will you solve it?"

Zhou Kuang thought for a moment and said, "Use cannons and guns to attack them."

The young man said unhappily, "In such a complicated and narrow alley, by the time you drag the cannon over, the people will have already hidden themselves."

Zhou Kuang thought about it again: "Indeed."

The young man touched his chin and said, "This group of people is also strange. A group of elite soldiers in the army used sticks from the market as elite soldiers of Jing Dynasty to beat them. It's too unethical. Zhou Kuang, can you tell where they are from? Shenji Battalion? Wujun Battalion? Wansui Army?"

Zhou Kuang observed carefully for a moment and said, "Neither of them look like this. The Wansui Army has a domineering style of fighting, the Shenji Battalion doesn't like close combat, and the Five Army Battalion has excellent coordination. This group of people is not domineering enough, and their coordination is far from being excellent... but they have definitely seen blood."

The young man was puzzled: "Where did this group of people come from? Could they be the Yulin Army?"

"You mean that group of dandies? Impossible."

The young man looked at the fighting in the alley and said, "However, although this formation is powerful, it is not very interesting. To break it is nothing more than to sacrifice lives. This fighting style is so ugly. Go and let Fu Ruixiang's sitting official take action to make the scene more interesting."

Zhou Kuang whispered, "Master, the official methods of the two Zuo brothers are still hidden by their fellow practitioners. If they are exposed, it may cause disputes... and it is Heji who is being beaten now, so Fu Ruixiang does not need to get involved."

The young man said nonchalantly, "You have a point, but if the martial artist on the stage has no opponent, the show will not be good enough. The officials sitting in the court of Heji are too timid, so Fu Ruixiang has to set an example for them. Go, let the Zuo brothers take action."

Zhou Kuang turned and walked out of the door, waving a black flag at the railing on the second floor of Chunfeng Courtyard.

……

……

In the narrow alley, under the red lanterns, the Yulin Army was running over the men with sticks.

Just as they were turning to Hanjiatan Hutong, Chen Ji suddenly said, "Be careful, there are officials here."

Everyone looked up and saw two people coming in the night, stepping on ropes used to hang red lanterns, one in front and one behind, sandwiching the Mandarin Duck Formation in the middle.

Chen Ji raised his head and looked over, only to see two people wearing black costumes, with four flags on their backs, and their faces painted with white and detailed masks.

The two of them stood on the rope with the red lanterns hanging on it, swaying slightly, as if they were weightless.

The next moment, the official in front of him wiped his face, and his white face and fine eyes suddenly turned into a black face with a curly beard, and he rushed towards the Yulin Army in the alley. But he caught the two iron wolf whisks that were swept towards him with his hands, and his hands seemed to be made of iron, making a sound of metal clashing with the iron spikes.

The officer behind him also wiped his face, and his white face and fine eyes suddenly turned into a red face with a curly beard, and he rushed towards the Yulin Army at the end of the mandarin duck formation. The Yulin Army thrust out the trident, but he caught it in his hand and pulled it out with all his strength.

Li Cen shouted in a low voice: "Be careful, this guy is very strong, he is a Xiantian official!"

The two officers attacked the Mandarin Duck Formation from the front and the back, forcing the Yulin Army to continuously shrink its formation.

"Step aside!"

Li Xuan and Chen Ji crossed the road separated by the Yulin Army at the same time, one facing forward and the other facing backward, one holding a sword and the other holding a spear. Sword lights and spear flowers burst out at the front and the end at the same time, forcing the two officers to let go and retreat.

At the same time, they wiped their cheeks and turned their fair faces back to their delicate features, then flew back to the red lantern and stood on one foot.

One of them looked down at his body and saw a bloody mark on his chest and abdomen left by Li Xuan's cut. If he had not retreated quickly, he would have died on the spot.

The other man was also frightened. He originally wanted to take Chen Ji's gunshot head-on, but his hand went numb as soon as it came into contact with the gunshot, and now he is still shaking uncontrollably.

The two men looked at each other, and immediately chose to avoid the front and back of the formation, stepping on the ropes and falling into the formation.

The two men wiped their faces at the same time in mid-air, leaving red faces and long beards.

Qi Zhuozhu saw through their thoughts and angrily said, "You think we are easy targets? Go back!"

The ninety-jin iron wolf whisk in his hand whistled and fanned at a man like a banana fan, forcing the man to wipe his white face and jump back onto the rope.

Before the other person fell, a Yulin Army soldier swept past with a spear and hit him right in the face.

The man quickly wiped his face and turned into a black face with a beard, and with a clang, he was hit by the spear and flew far away. Before he landed, his right hand wiped his face and turned white, and with his left hand, he supported the ground and flew up to the lantern like a feather.

The two brothers of the Zuo family hesitated, and for a moment they didn't know where to find the flaw in the formation.

The young man upstairs exclaimed, and he subconsciously exchanged a glance with Zhou Kuang: "Are they all officials?"

Zhou Kuang hesitated: "They can't all be officials."

At this time, Chen Ji turned his head and looked at the two officers who had changed their faces. The other side was unable to do anything with the Mandarin Duck Formation for a while, and the Yulin Army was also unable to do anything with the other side, so they could only remain in a stalemate.

He shouted in a low voice: "I'm afraid Fu Ruixiang will arrive soon. Let's stop here today and retreat!"

As soon as the words fell, the Yulin Army changed their formation in unison and charged out of the alley. The two brothers of the Zuo family were about to stop them, but they heard the sound of uniform footsteps coming from outside Li Shamao Hutong, and another group of masked men holding spears blocked the way of the Yulin Army, as many as eighty people.

Duobao was surprised: "Who is it?"

Li Xuan in the team narrowed his eyes slightly. "It's a spear from the Yulin Army's armory. Chen Wenren thought I wouldn't recognize it if he took off the white tassel from the spear? It seems that the second branch of the Chen family is the boss behind Hutchison. Yes, the Wang family likes to do these sneaky things the most."

Qi Zhuo subconsciously tightened his grip on the iron wolf whisk. He looked at the officials above his head, then at the masked Yulin soldiers at the entrance of the alley, and said nervously, "Brother-in-law, what should we do? They are all officials too."

Li Xuan looked at Chen Ji.

Chen Ji said calmly: "Kill them."

(End of this chapter)