Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

Xue Wei rode his donkey through the gate of Tongjifang, and a sour, pungent smell of tofu hit him. Right next to the gate was a tofu shop, with large amounts of tofu dregs piled up in the nearby ditch, fermenting.

The streets were filled with barefoot children running around. The ground was filthy, littered with rotten vegetable leaves, yellow urine stains, and swill puddles crawling with maggots. Two shrewish, fat women were arguing hysterically over who got priority to use the well. Several teenagers fled in terror from the alley, followed closely by a dozen or so teenagers wielding wooden sticks.

Xue Wei sighed. There are always trade-offs. Living here is very secluded, but you have to endure the filth and chaos of the slums.

Soon, he could see a cluster of red-tiled roofs in the distance; that was his own residence. It seemed that Ah San next door hadn't gone out and was practicing his acrobatics in the yard.

What bothered Xue Wei wasn't the filth and chaos of the slums, but rather the noise of these Indians, day and night. It only became slightly quiet when they went out to perform.

Xue Wei rushed back early because he was a little worried about the group of Indians. They were always lurking on the wall, looking around his yard furtively. Xue Wei wanted to buy a safe to store his weapons inside.

The safe is a clay box, made of fired clay. It is not valuable in itself, but it is very heavy, weighing several hundred kilograms, and most people cannot move it. When a large lock is installed, it is basically quite safe.

As soon as Xue Wei returned home, a sense of foreboding washed over him. There were many dirty, barefoot footprints in the yard and on the walls; no one was wearing shoes. He had clearly closed the back gate when he left that morning, but it was now open.

Xue Wei had a bad feeling and rushed to the back of the house. His brain went blank. He saw that his bedroom door was wide open and the room was in complete disarray.

Xue Wei entered the room and found that the wooden box containing valuables had been pried open, and all the weapons inside had been taken away, including the Zhijie Sword. The envelope containing a 1,000-guan banknote was also gone.

Although the money won't be lost, the thief won't know the agreed-upon password, and there's still half a copper coin with the secret code on him, he can't withdraw the money with just a counter ticket.

But his swords, polo mallets, bow and arrows, and the Zhijie sword he was preparing to use to reconcile with the Cheng family, have all been stolen.

A surge of overwhelming hatred welled up in his heart. He strode out of the mansion, went to the next door, kicked open the door, and rushed inside.

Who else could have left those dark, dirty footprints on the wall but these barefoot Indians?

There were at least thirty or forty Indians in the courtyard, men and women, in small groups, each busy with their own tasks.

A dark-skinned, thin, older Indian man with a turban stepped forward, clasped his hands in a respectful greeting, and asked, "What can I do for you, young master?"

Xue Wei said coldly, "I'm the neighbor next door. My things were stolen, and you are the prime suspects!"

"Young master thinks we stole it? There's no evidence whatsoever. Just because we're foreigners, you're discriminating against us?"

Xue Wei glanced at everyone's bare feet. "I'm going to search your houses!"

"Please, sir, make yourself at home!"

The old man suddenly shouted a few words, and a scene that left everyone speechless appeared. All the Indians gathered in the courtyard, lay down on the ground, and the old man also lay down. No one spoke or looked at Xue Wei. Dozens of men and women adopted a posture of being completely unfazed.

Xue Wei didn't stand on ceremony and barged into their house to search, but he found nothing. It seemed that the things had already been moved.

He went back to the courtyard and carefully examined the shape of each person's soles. He quickly identified five Indian men whose foot shapes matched the footprints on the wall.

He reached out and slapped each of the five men hard across the face, saying viciously, "Hand over my things, and I'll spare your lives."

The five men remained silent, offering no resistance, staring blankly ahead as he beat and verbally abused them.

Xue Wei drew his sword and pressed it against their throats. "None of you will talk, huh? Then don't blame me for being impolite."

With a wave of his hand, five cuts appeared on the faces of the five men, blood flowing freely. The five men remained motionless, silent, and their eyes did not even blink, like five wooden puppets.

Xue Wei suddenly thought of the non-resistance movement of India in later generations. History really is a continuous process!

Xue Wei really had no way to deal with them. If he reported it to the authorities, he had no direct evidence and probably wouldn't care. But if he admitted defeat, he was unwilling to accept it. The Zhijie sword alone was worth over a thousand strings of cash, and the Cheng family was willing to pay a thousand strings of cash to redeem it.

Helpless, Xue Wei had no choice but to go to the Tongji Boat Association, which also took orders and helped people solve their problems.

An old man sat in the shop of the Tongji Boat Association. He smiled and said, "I am Chao Sheng, the head of the Tongji Boat Association. We specialize in resolving civil disputes at fair prices. What troubles do you have that you need help with, young master?"

Xue Wei sighed and said, "My valuables have been stolen. A group of Indians live next door, and there are their footprints on the wall. I suspect they stole them."

When Chao Sheng heard that the person was from India, his eyes visibly shrank, and he shook his head vigorously.

"No doubt about it, it was them who stole it. I know that group of Indians. They are a major scourge in Tongjifang. They are petty thieves who steal everywhere and take things as they please. We have caught them countless times, but in the end, nothing ever gets done."

"Why? Why can't we deal with them?"

"Their shirking of responsibility is unparalleled. A group of people lie on the ground and you can beat or scold them however you want. They don't resist, they don't explain, and they don't admit anything. This is their usual three-no strategy. If you kill one of them, all the Indians in the city will run to the Honglu Temple to protest, carrying the corpse and crying and wailing. The crowd will be indignant and make a big fuss. It might even alarm the emperor. It's not worth it for a few measly things."

"Young master, the things were stolen and never returned. They were sold. I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do about it."

Xue Wei then contacted several other local associations, but they all expressed their inability to help, saying they couldn't deal with these Indians and that money wouldn't help.

Finally, Xue Wei returned to his residence in dejection, only to find the gate wide open and the donkey he had tied up in the yard nowhere to be seen.

Xue Wei had never encountered anything like this in his two lives. He was so angry that he was trembling all over and almost went crazy.

Just then, a magnificent carriage slowly came to a stop in front of his mansion, and a familiar voice rang out, "Xue Wei, what's wrong?"

Turning around, I saw Yuan Min; they had just broken up an hour ago.

She changed into a long purple dress and walked in gracefully.

"I--"

Xue Wei suppressed his anger and gritted his teeth, saying, "I've been robbed! They stole all my weapons. I went to look for someone just now, but in the blink of an eye, my donkey was stolen too."

Seeing Xue Wei's furious and helpless expression, Yuan Min covered her mouth and chuckled. Her beautiful eyes sparkled with charm, and Xue Wei's heart skipped a beat. The anger he felt over the theft dissipated by more than half.

"I just heard that a group of Indians live next door to you?"

"It was these Indian bastards who stole it, but they absolutely refuse to admit it. They won't fight back no matter how much I beat or scold them. A bunch of bastards who are as thick as a rock!"

Yuan Min smiled slightly, "Do you know how Wei Zheng, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, evaluated the Indians?"

"What did he say?"

"The Prime Minister of Wei said that the Indians have white eyes and black skin, their bodies reek of filth, they are unintelligent, and their temperament is violent. Although they have human form, they have no human heart. They are difficult to influence with virtue, and they fear power but not morality. They must be herded."

Xue Wei sighed, "Wei Zheng, 1,300 years ago, already saw through the Indians."

"So how do we deal with their scoundrels?"

Yuan Min turned around and gave her subordinates a few instructions, then handed them a gold token. The female guard in green then turned and disappeared.

Yuan Min stepped forward and said softly, "Leave this to me. I'll help you get it back. Based on a century of accumulated experience, there's only one way to deal with the rogues of the Indians."

"What method?"

You'll find out soon enough.

Xue Wei nodded. "You called me, is there something you need?"

"Of course I have something to say. What, won't you invite me in?"

Xue Wei was a little embarrassed. "There's no furniture in the house; we haven't had time to buy any yet. There's only a bed. How about I invite you to a teahouse for tea?"

Yuan Min shook her head. "I can't say I'm impressed with the water used in your teahouses. Let's get in the car! We're going to the West Market."