Chapter 40: Talents of Martial and Civil Arts, the Four Pests of Chang'an

Chai Lingwu was caught completely off guard. With a miserable scream, he staggered back seven or eight paces before managing to steady himself. Swaying unsteadily, he somehow remained upright, and when he reached up to touch his face, blood was streaming freely from his nose.

Li Tai was dumbfounded, muttering blankly, "Again, it's happening again... One punch, just a single punch, and right on the nose. Damn it, this is professional street fighting..."

To be fair, Chai Lingwu was not entirely a pushover; since childhood, he had tempered his muscles and bones, adept at wielding sabers, spears, and staves. However, following the recent passing of his father, Chai Chao, earlier that year, Chai Lingwu had been left without supervision and indulged increasingly in hedonism. Wine and women had hollowed out his constitution, leaving his reflexes and strength at less than half of what they used to be. Combined with Fang Jun's sudden and unprovoked ambush, he had taken the blow squarely.

Yet, having lorded over Chang'an all his life, when had Chai Lingwu ever suffered such treatment?

Instantly overcome with rage and humiliation, he roared, "You dare hit me? Everyone, gang up together and beat this bastard to death!"

At his roar, the seven or eight youths surrounding him immediately swarmed forward, pummeling and kicking Fang Jun from all sides.

With Chai Lingwu and Li Tai present, as long as nobody was beaten to death, nothing serious would come of it!

However, was Fang Jun some delicate, pampered cushion like Chai Lingwu?

Tucking the hem of his brocade robe into his belt, he moved like a fierce tiger. Instead of retreating, he took a mighty stride right into the crowd, truly resembling a tiger plunging into a flock of sheep. Though blows landed on him without causing the slightest injury, every single punch he threw sent someone crashing to the ground with a miserable howl.

Possessing greater strength and superior resilience than the others, even though he was outnumbered several times over, he was simply in an entirely different league.

King Wei, Li Tai, mindful of his noble status, naturally refrained from joining the general melee. Yet, as he watched from the sidelines, his heart grew increasingly alarmed and terrified!

This Second Young Master Fang moved like a startled rabbit, was as agile as an ape, and possessed the strength of an ox. Fighting ten opponents single-handedly, he was utterly fierce, intrepid, and unstoppable!

If placed on a battlefield, he would undoubtedly be a valiant general capable of slaying enemy commanders and seizing their banners!

Quietly, Li Tai took a few steps back to avoid getting sucked into the fray, feeling a surge of secret relief. Fortunately, he hadn't come into direct conflict with Fang Jun. Otherwise, if this blockhead lost his temper and threw caution to the wind, knocking him flat with a single punch, wouldn't that be an unbearable disgrace?

Naturally, this pack of young masters was no match for Fang Jun. Half of them were knocked flat within a few rounds, and the remaining ones, all nursing bruised and swollen faces, dared not approach, shouting instead, "Someone come! Help!"

The bodyguards and retainers they had brought with them were originally stationed outside the temple. Hearing the summons, they swarmed through the temple gates like a hive of bees, rushing toward the Mahavira Hall. Seeing their young masters beaten half to death like dogs, how could they let this pass? Howling furiously, they charged forward and surrounded Fang Jun in a tight circle.

They had their people, and the Fang residence had theirs as well. Furthermore, the guards brought by the Princess Consort of Han from the Prince of Han's estate also surged in. Seeing so many people ganging up on a single person, they were almost incensed to the point of fury and joined the battle without a word.

Now things became truly lively. Dozens of people from both sides were locked in a chaotic melee, trading punches and kicks, gouging eyes and biting, descending into utter turmoil.

Onlookers who failed to dodge in time were also sucked into the chaos. Particularly among the female dependents, who were groped and pinched in the ensuing pandemonium by servants and guards taking advantage of the disorder, their indignant shrieks and screams pierced the air continuously. How could their men possibly endure such an outrage?

Consequently, the battle grew larger and larger, involving more and more people, turning the sacred Buddhist sanctuary of Qingyuan Temple upside down in absolute chaos.

King Wei, Li Tai, stood off to the side with guards shielding him front and back, watching with a gaping mouth and blank stare.

For a time, the area outside the main hall echoed with wails of ghosts and howls of wolves. The majority of incense burners were drawn into the fray, with candles and offerings dancing through the air while garments, hats, and shoes flew randomly. Interspersed were the angry roars and miserable cries of men alongside the shrill shrieks of women—what a scene of unmitigated disorder!

It was not until the Magistrate of Lantian County arrived with the three divisions of yamen runners upon hearing the news that this farce subsided slightly. Some innocent incense burners, seeing that the situation was turning ugly, hastily withdrew. However, when the yamen runners attempted to intervene and stop the still-brawling guards and retainers, it merely triggered a fresh wave of chaos.

"Damn it, I'm the one who got beaten up, and you're trying to pull me away?"

"You puny little runners, how dare you act so arrogantly in front of me? Do you even know who my father is?"

"What the hell, you tore my robe, compensate me immediately!"

These scions of privilege had already been thoroughly battered by Fang Jun, and it was only with great difficulty that their guards and retainers had stepped in to slightly salvage the situation. Before they could even settle the score, they were being interrupted by these yamen runners—how could they not be furious?

Disregarding whether these were yamen runners or not—a mere Magistrate of Lantian wasn't even fit to carry their shoes, so he could go cool his heels wherever he liked!

With pushing and shoving, runners and retainers, retainers and guards collided into another chaotic mess.

The Magistrate of Lantian shook with rage from head to toe. "Preposterous, simply preposterous! To completely disregard public instruments of the state—are you attempting to resist arrest?"

Suddenly, a shoe flew out from the crowd. Tossed by an unknown hand, it struck the Lantian Magistrate squarely on the forehead, knocking his official hat completely crooked.

With a flushed red face, the magistrate was nearly choked with anger, his lips trembling. "Utterly lawless! You just wait for this official... just you wait..."

Yet, despite threatening to "wait" for a long time, he could not come up with any substantive action.

He was not entirely a fool; he took a look at who was actually participating in the brawls.

Chai Lingwu, the Duke of Xiangyang and Commandant of the Imperial Guards; Fang Jun, the second young master of Fang Xuanling; Zhang Shenwei, the eldest son of Zhang Liang, the Duke of郧 (Yunzheng); Tang Shanshi, the fifth son of Tang Jian, the Duke of Ju, and Imperial Son-in-law...

Those watching from the sidelines included King Wei Li Tai, the Princess Consort of Han, and Lady Lu, wife of Fang Xuanling...

To this crowd, laws were nothing more than empty nonsense. As the saying went regarding high officials of the Ministry of Punishments, these individuals existed entirely above the law! The only authority capable of reigning them in was the Emperor's own spoken decree.

Yet, would the Emperor truly punish them?

Punish them? Certainly, but how? Even a fool knew it would amount to nothing more than a symbolic token punishment of a few strokes with the cane and a mild reprimand.

The Emperor had always been overly indulgent toward the military nobility and meritorious officials, which in turn fostered the arrogant and tyrannical behavior of their descendants. Usually fearing neither heaven nor earth, treating the law as if it did not exist, engaging in all manner of outrage and stirring up trouble, they had long become universally recognized "pests" among the common folk of Chang'an.

Right at that moment, a commotion erupted outside the temple gates, followed closely by the sound of hurried footsteps. Another contingent of men rushed in aggressively, and the leader, roaring from thirty paces away, shouted, "Whose guts have grown so large that they dare disturb my Aunt Fang?"

Striding with athletic vigor, the man covered the distance in a few bounds and bellowed, "Beat them all!"

Plunging into the melee like a tiger descending a mountain, the followers behind him shouted eagerly, refusing to fall behind. Disregarding yamen runners or anyone else, they waded in with blows. In the heat of the moment, with heads spinning from the chaos, they could no longer distinguish whose servants belonged to the Fang household and whose belonged to others; they simply struck out first and sorted it out later. The battle instantly expanded, boiling like a pot of porridge.

Upon laying eyes on the newcomer, the Lantian Magistrate thought to himself: isn't this Li Siwen, the second son of Duke Ying, Li Ji? He patted his forehead in speechlessness. Oh wonderful, the "Four Pests of Chang'an" were now completely assembled...

What were the "Four Pests of Chang'an"?

Historically in Chang'an, among the younger generation, there were three outstanding figures whom the townsfolk playfully dubbed the "Three Young Masters of Chang'an"—namely Li Siwen (second son of Li Ji), Chai Lingwu (second son of Chai Shao), and Hou Shijie (the only son of Hou Junji).

All three were youthful, handsome, born of illustrious lineages, and possessed talents that stood out among their peers. However, their characters were frivolous, given to hedonism and sensual pleasures, accustomed to monopolizing markets, bullying others, and picking fights while seeking the spotlight. The common folk nursed their grievances in silence, daring not speak out.

However, recently, Fang Jun—the second young master of Fang Xuanling—had suddenly risen to prominence, instigating several massive disasters in rapid succession and making quite a name for himself. Consequently, some witty gossips lumped him together with the "Three Young Masters," playfully dubbing them the "Four Youths of Chang'an."

Some even extracted characters from the names of all four to refer to them as "Literary, Martial, Outstanding, and Heroic, the Four Youths of Chang'an," but in private, more people referred to them as the "Four Pests of Chang'an"...

Tears streamed inward within the heart of the Lantian Magistrate, who thought that the moniker "Four Pests of Chang'an" was painfully accurate. These four bastards were going to plague him to death...

Much like Magistrate Zhou Fu of Chang'an, the Lantian Magistrate had no desire to meddle in this affair. However, unlike Zhou Fu, he lacked the connections; there was no one in the Secretariat like Ma Zhou to submit favorable reports upwards to shift perspectives and help him extricate himself, leaving him no choice but to bite the bullet and take the blame...

Why did he call it "taking the blame"?

Ignoring this wretched mess was impossible since it fell squarely under the official duties of the Lantian Magistrate; turning a blind eye would constitute criminal negligence and severe dereliction of duty. Yet if he tried to intervene, he truly lacked the capability to handle it. Standing behind each of these brats was a colossal deity, and as a mere Lantian Magistrate with meager influence, whom could he hope to move? A single mishandling could easily offend some influential bigwig, and by then, he wouldn't even have a place to cry...