Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

Xue Wei strode out of the Yuan family home and waved to flag down a slowly approaching oxcart. Just then, a horse-drawn carriage sped up and stopped in front of Xue Wei with a 'creak!'

The car door opened, revealing Yuan Min's stunningly beautiful face. She extended her hand to Xue Wei, "Get in!"

Xue Wei got into the car in surprise. "Why did you come out?"

Yuan Min pulled Xue Wei into the inner carriage, and said with a sneer, "If they want to kick you out, then I don't need to stay either."

"Amin, today is your birthday, you're the birthday girl. If you leave, the Yuan family will lose face."

"They treated you like that, and you're still worried about saving face for them?"

"I'm not thinking about them, I'm thinking about you. Are you going to sever ties with your family?"

Yuan Min shook her head. "Today is also my eldest brother's birthday. My uncle was very unhappy at first, but I've already spoken to Yuan Mao. He will give my grandfather a suggestion. We can easily change it at the last minute. It's the eldest grandson's birthday, which is more prestigious than my seventh granddaughter's."

Xue Wei suddenly hugged her and whispered in her ear, "You look beautiful today, I love you!"

Yuan Min's ears turned red, and her heart felt sweet. She gently pinched Xue Wei's arm and said shyly, "I'll take you to another place to attend my real birthday banquet."

"where?"

You'll see when you get there!

The carriage sped up and drove out of Xiuwenfang.

Yuan Min lay lazily in Xue Wei's arms, and Xue Wei held her tightly.

"Amin, your grandfather will ask you about the gold medal tomorrow. Just say it's my mother's gold medal!"

Yuan Min sat up abruptly, asking in surprise, "You took out the gold medal?"

"My secret guard badge accidentally fell to the ground and was seen by the young man next to me."

"That's my older brother, Yuan Kun!"

"Yeah! Your older brother saw it, and I reckon he'll tell everyone."

Yuan Min suddenly hugged him and punched him on the shoulder, "You bad guy, you did it on purpose!"

"Of course not!"

"It's you, I know you too well. You must have disliked Cui Shi's attitude and deliberately dropped the gold medal to disgust him."

"I suspect your grandfather was also injured. Isn't that a bit excessive?"

Yuan Min rolled her eyes at him. "Of course it's excessive!"

She suddenly laughed again, "But I like it. I like your kind of underhanded stabs."

Xue Wei laughed loudly, "This isn't a sneak attack, it's a blatant slash to the neck!"

…………

The carriage entered the northern market and stopped in front of an afternoon teahouse. Four female warriors got off first, and Xue Wei helped Yuan Min out of the carriage.

"Is this also your teahouse?" Xue Wei asked curiously.

"This is the best teahouse in Luoyang, but it's closed today. I need to use it!"

Xue Wei gave a thumbs up, "Domineering!"

Yuan Min smiled, "Now you know, I have many domineering traits!"

"By the way, do you know Rongchang Tea Shop in Taipei?"

Yuan Min nodded. "Of course I know. It's Zhang Changzong's business. The manager was originally named Zheng Ping'an, but to mislead others, he changed his name to Zheng Rongchang so that people would think it was his tea shop. Do you know him?"

Xue Wei nodded. "He's the one who took me out of the water dungeon. He's actually a Plum Blossom Bronze Guard."

"A professional informant? I need to be careful, lest he target me."

"Do the Plum Blossom Guards still wield that much power?"

Yuan Min shook her head. "The era of getting promoted through informing is over. Now it's about extortion through informing. Informers are disgusting. Let me give you an example: ordinary people are not allowed to wear gold or silver jewelry, only copper or stone. This is stipulated by law. But in reality, which woman doesn't wear gold or silver jewelry? No one reports it, so of course the government won't care. The law doesn't punish everyone!"

"So professional informants use this to blackmail people?"

"That's right! If you ignore him, he might actually file a lawsuit against you. The law is there, and the government has no choice but to intervene. They'll confiscate your gold and silver jewelry, give you a beating, and then release you. If I were to be beaten on the ground, I'd rather kill myself, you know? In court, you can't beat someone through clothing, and the same goes for women. So many lecherous men gather outside the county government office every day just to see women get beaten."

"Could such a thing really happen?"

Yuan Min rolled her eyes at him. "You don't want to go see it too, do you?"

Xue Wei nearly choked on his own spit. "What nonsense are you spouting? I meant there was no flexibility!"

"Yes! They offer money to avoid being caned; how could the county government let go of such a money-making opportunity?"

"That's fine, isn't it? You won't get beaten with a cane."

Yuan Min pinched his cheek and said with a grin, "Of course not, I was just kidding!"

"But I took it seriously, and I want to spank you tonight."

Yuan Min blushed instantly. She quickly turned around and glanced at the four female warriors behind her, then secretly reached out and pinched Xue Wei's arm hard.

"You scoundrel!"

...........

They arrived at Wensuxuan, when suddenly three young women rushed out, surrounding Yuanmin and shouting, "Amin, happy birthday!"

Xue Wei suddenly felt a little dazed. What was the difference between this and later generations? It seemed that human emotions had remained the same from ancient times to the present.

"You came so fast, I thought you were behind us."

"Hehe! We took a shortcut."

Yuan Min pulled Xue Wei over, "Old Xue, I bet you've forgotten. This is Dugu Jiao, a month younger than me. We've known each other since birth. Her nickname is Ajiao, you can call her that too."

Dugu Jiao was not tall, about 1.6 meters. She was a fair-skinned, voluptuous woman with the charm of a Tang Dynasty woman. Her face was heavily rouged with red rouge, and she had cherry-like lips. Her eyebrows were drawn in the most popular willow-leaf style. This was the face of a lotus and the eyebrows of a willow.

But Xue Wei couldn't help but glance at the top of her ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). The ruqun was too low-cut. She should have worn a necklace like Yuan Min, but she didn't. It looked like a blank exam paper handed in by a primary school student, or like two big, white, greasy Shandong steamed buns that were dazzlingly bright.

Yuan Min gently pinched Xue Wei's waist, then subtly pulled her other best friend over to block the temptation of those white steamed buns.

"This is Hou Mochengxian'er, who dreams of becoming an immortal all day long. We call her the candidate fairy."

This candidate fairy was petite and delicate, with a pretty face. Her big eyes always looked surprised. Xue Wei wasn't very interested in her and just hoped she would get out of the way quickly.

"This is Dou Wenniang, nicknamed the Wine Lady. She has a special skill: she can drink with twenty of my father's personal guards, and all twenty of them are passed out."

This Dou Wenniang was thin and withered, like a hanged ghost, with no expression on her face. She gave Xue Wei a cold look, and Xue Wei felt a chill run down his spine, and all the hairs on his body stood on end.

The three girls didn't have a good impression of Xue Wei at first, but their opinion of him changed drastically after seeing his chibi comics.

"Poet Xue, I've long admired you!"

"Heh! Heh! Young Master Tianjue."

"Xue Wei, right? Let's have a drink later."

..........

Just as everyone sat down around the table, two more men arrived. One was Yuan Mao, and the other was a man Xue Wei didn't recognize. He was about twenty-four or twenty-five years old, tall and imposing, with a square face and large ears, and exuded an air of authority.

When Yuan Min saw him, her face immediately became unnatural. She glared at Dugu Jiao, but Dugu Jiao looked completely innocent.

Yuan Min took a deep breath, pulled Xue Wei up and introduced him, "This is Ajiao's brother, named Dugu Yizhi, currently serving as the Left General of the Imperial Guard."

Dugu Yizhi nodded. "Amin, I didn't come here for you today. I just wanted to get to know Young Master Xue. I admire him greatly."

Xue Wei, observing Yuan Min's expression, noticed her unnatural demeanor and guessed that this Dugu Yizhi was Xue Min's suitor. However, Dugu Yizhi actually claimed to be his fan.

"Does Young Master Dugu also enjoy playing polo?"

"It's not polo!"

Dugu Yizhi took a deep breath and said, "It's that poem you wrote, 'Why shouldn't a man carry a Wu hook and seize fifty states beyond the passes?' I was moved by this poem, and I've decided to go to the Anxi Protectorate to serve my country!"

Xue Wei was stunned.

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