The Great Martial Arts World: Hot Topics and Great Heroes

“No… ah.” Yunlu said without meeting Chu Luren’s gaze.

Before Chu Luren could ask any more questions, Yunluo asked, "When did you say we were leaving?"

"I'll leave this afternoon." Chu Luren didn't want to linger any longer.

Yunluo also knew that since she was worried about her friend's safety, the sooner they set off, the better.

Although she had never actually ventured into the martial world, Princess Yunluo, who was known for her "wandering" spirit and chivalrous nature, would not act recklessly at this moment.

“Okay, I’ll take you then!” Yunluo said through gritted teeth.

Chu Luren became increasingly puzzled—wasn't it just sending me off? Why make such a big decision?

Originally, Chu Luren wanted to go to Changqing Tower with Yunluo one last time before leaving as a farewell banquet. However, Yunluo said that she had something to do at noon and asked Chu Luren not to go to the palace when the time came, but to wait for her at the city gate.

"If you're very busy, you don't need to come all the way to see me off..." Chu Luren saw that Yun Luo was really busy and wanted to avoid bothering her with so many formalities.

"No rush! In short... just listen to me!" Yunluo quickly said.

Although he didn't understand why, Chu Luren did as he was told. At the hour of Wei (1-3 PM), Chu Luren led his little red horse and waited at the south gate of Lin'an. He saw Yun Luo, dressed in men's clothing, rushing over... and leading a white horse!

It has to be said that Yunluo's menswear actually fits Chu Luren's ideal self-image quite well—a figure dressed in flowing white robes, holding a fan.

As for the 20% that didn't fit, when Yunluo was dressed as a man, his clothes were more capable and he had a dashing and heroic feel. In comparison, his gentlemanly demeanor was a bit weaker... The one that Chu Luren had seen who best matched his ideal setting was still Hua Wuque—he had a kind of fresh-faced feeling!

"Haha, thank you so much, Brother Yun, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to see me off." Chu Luren also cupped his hands in greeting and addressed him as "Brother Yun".

Chu Luren wasn't surprised that Yunluo came dressed as a man, since it was more convenient; otherwise, it wouldn't be good if people saw the princess seeing her off.

However, Yunluo immediately said, "Stop talking nonsense. I have already asked the Emperor... my brother and my mother. They have agreed to let me go with you. Let's go!"

Chu Luren was taken aback upon hearing this, then frowned and asked, "What else did Brother Huang and your mother say?"

"You even said... that you should protect me!" Yunluo was a little flustered.

"What exactly happened?" Chu Luren pouted—I've seen plenty of runaways like you, Brother Lu.

When Yunlu noticed that Chu Luren had discovered her, she looked around in a panic, then whispered to Chu Luren, "We'll talk on the way!"

Although I don't know what's going on, well... let's talk about it on the road. If Yunluo really quarrels with her brother, I'll definitely side with Yunluo.

"and many more!"

Just as Chu Luren and Yun Luo were about to leave the city, the city gate guard on duty called out to Chu Luren and then walked over with a stern face.

Yunluo felt a pang of guilt, while Chu Luren glanced over—were the guards really that brave today?

But at the same time, a cynical voice rang out: "What are you waiting for? Are you trying to rip me off?"

Cheng Shifei, dressed in a disheveled military uniform, came over with a swaying gait and then slapped the city gate guard's helmet on the back of his head.

"Commander, I am..."

"What do you mean, 'me'? Am I the Commander-in-Chief, or are you? I think you're just trying to rip us off! Our Lin'an's transaction tax has dropped by several percentage points recently, and the market is gradually declining, which has greatly affected the prosperity, stability, and unity of our Great Song Dynasty. I think the root cause is that you're here ripping off passing merchants!" Cheng Shifei retorted in a barrage of words.

Shortly after the assassination attempt, the emperor selected men from the Imperial Guards to form a new Imperial Guard, and Cheng Shifei was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief... concurrently serving as the chief commander of the Royal Gambling House and the Royal Brothel—the latter two positions should be considered "rewards" and were also conditions for him to join the Imperial Guard!

In the following days, Cheng Shifei generously treated Chu Luren to meals and drinks for several days, thus learning some new words.

The little city gate guard was dumbfounded—how could this be my fault?

At the same time, Chu Luren also realized that something must have happened, so he followed Cheng Shifei's instructions to his subordinates and took Yunluo away first.

The city gate guard was originally entrusted with a task, but now that he himself was in dire straits, he could only watch Chu Luren and Yun Luo leave...

After the two left the city, they rode their horses for a while. Once they were quite a distance away, Chu Luren couldn't help but ask again, "What exactly happened?"

Yunluo looked back and saw that no one was following, so she said angrily, "Those hateful ministers submitted a memorial asking me to go to Dali for a marriage alliance, and that hateful imperial brother actually agreed to it and even went to discuss it with the Empress Dowager!"

"Dali?" Chu Luren sensed something.

Chapter 282 Revenge

"Dali?" Chu Luren heard a familiar word.

"Hey! The point is the marriage alliance! Is it a matter of whether Dali or not?" Yunluo said, dissatisfied.

"Who is Dali marrying?" Chu Luren was still focused on this seemingly unimportant but crucial question.

"It seems to be some kind of prince of Dali... He's definitely not a good person. He's most likely a spoiled brat, and maybe even a pervert!" Yunluo was so angry that she took her anger out on Dali.

"Why did you say my third brother is a pervert! Do you even know him?" Chu Luren didn't like hearing that.

How is my third brother a pervert?

"Your third brother?" Yunluo was taken aback at first, then... felt a pang of grievance.

They didn't even bother to ask about the matter of whether he was a third brother or not.

"Fine! You want me to go and marry into a foreign land, don't you? Then, then I'll go back!" Yunluo said angrily, and tried to rein in her horse and turn her head away.

"Wait, don't rush... I only said that my third brother is a very good person, I didn't say that I support your marriage. This matter requires mutual understanding, and arranged marriages are not encouraged." Chu Luren quickly reassured him.

"What nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean by 'intervention' and 'not encouraged'?" Yunlu stopped and turned her horse around when Chu Luren came to stop her, but she still muttered angrily.

"Well... you wouldn't understand even if I explained, anyway, I don't advocate it." Chu Luren figured that he was the only one here who didn't advocate it, so he explained, "Anyway, if you're not happy about it, I support you. Besides, even if you are happy about it, it still depends on my third brother!"

Yunluo felt a little better after hearing that Chu Luren was on her side, but she instinctively retorted, "He still doesn't agree? A mere prince of Dali, let alone me being a princess of the Song Dynasty, even if I weren't... am I not good enough for him?"

“Well… as far as I know, my third brother likes pretty girls.” After Chu Luren finished speaking, Yun Luo glared at him fiercely. Then Chu Luren added, “The princess is naturally beautiful, so there’s no need to worry about that. However, my third brother also likes aloof girls. It’s best to ignore him no matter how much he tries to please you.”

"Huh?" Yunluo looked completely bewildered.

"It's best if they're related by blood," Chu Luren concluded.

Yunluo: ...

After a moment of silence, Yunluo said, "Now I understand from you, he's a pervert!"

"By the way, what kind of girl do you like?" Yunluo asked nervously, her eyes darting around.

"Me?" Chu Luren was taken aback upon hearing this, then thought for a moment before saying, "I'm still young and haven't thought too much about it, but... I think I should like the kind of person whose eyes light up when they see me!"

"Like when you see a secret manual?"

Chu Luren: ...

Afterwards, Yunluo also talked to Chuluren about the "marriage alliance". In fact, the imperial decree has not yet been issued, since they still need to contact Dali. Right now, it's just a few corrupt officials banding together to submit a petition.

However, this time the emperor really said he would consider it and even went to discuss it with the Empress Dowager. Upon learning of this, Yunluo decisively fled.

"It must be that eunuch Cao Zhengchun!" Yunluo cursed.

"Hmm? It was a group of officials bribed by the Eastern Depot who submitted a memorial?" Chu Luren was somewhat puzzled. If that were the case, wouldn't it only make the emperor dislike the Eastern Depot?

“Well… no, but all these corrupt officials are suddenly submitting memorials. Someone must have been behind it. Who else but that eunuch Cao would do something so wicked?” Yun Luo stated his reasoning process with righteous indignation.

Chu Luren neither confirmed nor denied this, but vaguely guessed that it might be because he had been getting closer to the princess recently.

However you look at it, he is indeed a "corrupt official," and I need to think of a way to rob the rich and help the poor...

"Among those who led the petition, who are the most famous? Are there any whose hometowns are near Jiaxing?" Chu Luren didn't want to delay his journey and didn't mind doing something along the way.

"Don't make too much of a scene, or your brother will be in a difficult position," Yunluo advised, seeing that Chu Luren was truly determined to retaliate.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I won't cause any deaths, and I won't do anything that's not something a martial artist should do," Chu Luren said confidently.

Yunlu thought that since she was going along anyway, she thought for a moment and said, "Tao Sheng, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, seems to be from Jiaxing... I heard that he often writes poems about Jiaxing."

Chu Luren nodded, without saying anything more at first.

Lin'an is not far from Jiaxing. On September 28th, Chu Luren arrived near Jiaxing and, after making a few inquiries, learned the location of Tao Sheng's ancestral home...

On September 29th, Tao Sheng's rural hometown was robbed, and by thieves who were "upright and honorable." After robbing the Tao family of their wealth that night, they spent the day helping the poor in the local countryside, reportedly distributing tens of thousands of taels of silver. This amount became hundreds of thousands of taels after the news spread for over fifty miles, and by the time it reached Lin'an, it had become hundreds of thousands of taels of gold...

The indentures of the long-term laborers and tenants were also burned—rumored to be the Tao family’s wealth accumulated through forcing people into slavery, being rich but heartless, hoarding grain during famine years, and looting during disasters. The news even reached Lin’an, where it became a source of joy for everyone in the village.

As for the truth?

Chu Luren didn't know either. He just distributed the money. Whenever someone said they had been harmed by the Tao family, they could take a relief fund. When he burned the written contract, no servant tried to stop him.

When Tao Sheng found out, he was so angry he almost vomited blood. He said, "In all honesty, while I wouldn't say I was completely clean in my land acquisitions and the enslavement of people, I was only at the average level of the scholar-official class. I definitely didn't do so many heinous things... And hundreds of thousands of taels of gold? Dig up all the buried stuff! We don't even have that much money back home!"

However, in the end, he had to swallow his pride and bear it. Since no one had died, Tao Sheng held back, unwilling to escalate the situation further, especially not wanting the matter to spread further, otherwise, even if it wasn't a tragedy, it would still be a tragedy...

Even the re-registration of household slaves and tenant farmers was carried out privately and gently, otherwise Tao Sheng would have been worried about ruining his reputation.

As for whether they are innocent or not... the methods of land annexation may have been in accordance with the laws of the Song Dynasty, but for the people of Chulu, the landlord class was guilty of original sin, and the scholar-officials were no good either.

The people of Chulu have no ability to change the world, but they are not innocent no matter what they do to the literati who have offended them.

This is generally how people in the martial arts world rob the rich to help the poor. When it comes to officials, they usually just swallow their pride and admit it. However, if they find out who did it, they will definitely try to find other charges against them so that they can't get involved.

As for martial arts practitioners...

The prestigious sects are themselves large landowners, so they don't need to make trouble for themselves. However, if a lone wolf offends too many officials and landowners, it's not impossible that he might be "managed" by the imperial court to become a wanted thief.

Especially in the Song court, with the "List of Righteous Men" as a check, no one could easily go too far.

Involving the Vice Minister of Rites is already considered a very large undertaking...

Tao Sheng could guess who it was, so he was even less willing to make a scene—otherwise, he was only losing money to avoid disaster now, but what if the other party became desperate and did something rash?

Moreover, Chu Luren also chose a good time: robbing the rich on the night of the 29th and helping the poor during the day on the 30th. On the first day of the tenth month, Chu Luren was already in Jiaxing, looking at the latest issue of the chivalrous list!

Even if Tao Shengzhen were to go to the Dragon Guard Manor to complain, Chu Luren wouldn't believe it. The Dragon Guard Manor would contradict itself so soon after the "Heroic List" was released; they would most likely cover for Chu Luren.

Moreover, just as Chu Luren had predicted, Tao Sheng did not dare to resolve the matter in a high-profile manner. In fact, the ministers who had previously joined together to submit a memorial suddenly became much more docile—letting the emperor take his time to consider it!

Chapter 283 Praise to Death

"What kind of crazy ranking is this? How much money did they give to the number one manor in the world?"

"A complete cover-up, a blatant cover-up!"

"Still calling him a 'heroic hero, the backbone of the martial world'? We'd accept that assessment of Guo Jing, but what makes Chu Taisui so special?"

"He discovered and stopped the Japanese assassination attempt on the emperor... He certainly deserves credit, but is this evaluation unfounded?"

"You wouldn't understand. This week's list needs to be interpreted in conjunction with the gossip. It's said that someone saw Chu Taisui and the princess of the Great Song Dynasty... hehehe."

"How is it with the princess?"

Let's eat together!