Chapter 3: Chapter 3 – Night Talk Outside the City

How could Fang Zheng, the son of a merchant, dare to beat up a Minister's son? 

Because they were kicked out of the flower boat yesterday, Liu Pan pointed at them to let this matter settle after school the next day, where he would wait outside the city for Qi Shuzhi. It's a fight between young men, which is why Qi Shuzhi must come to the academy today.

Liang Dong didn't know about this. Because he was a serious person, he didn't go to Qinhuai River at all yesterday. Fang Zheng told Liang Dong about this, and finally asked him, "Are you coming?"

Liang Dong didn't speak for a while after hearing this, but turned his head and saw Liu Pan eating from a distance across three to four tables. Maybe he felt someone was looking at him, Liu Pan looked at their table at this moment. The eyes of the two met, and the atmosphere became tense for a while.

When Liu Pan revealed a sneer, Liang Dong turned his head back and said, "Of course I'm going, we are friends."

"Good brother." Tang Lizhi slapped Liang Dong on the shoulder, "I knew it. I read you right."

Liang Dong smiled, and then asked, "Is it just the four of us?"

"Well." Tang Lizhi said, "Why not?"

Liang Dong felt that this was problematic, "You all know Liu Pan is a very despicable person, what if he brings a large group of people there?"

"Yeah, we shouldn't drop our guard." Fang Zheng scratched his head and said, "But if Liu Pan doesn't cheat, and we took a lot of people with us, doesn't it make us feel guilty and despicable?"

Liang Dong rubbed his chin and glanced at Qi Shuzhi, Qi Shuzhi whispered, "Really... There's no need to get so many people. I'm not necessarily afraid of him if we go with just us."

Liang Dong's eyes lit up, and said, "How did I forget? Brother Qi is the Grand Prince's son, and your family is extremely skilled in martial arts. Brother Qi wouldn't be too bad at martial arts too, right?"

Qi Shuzhi blushed and coughed dryly. He said in a single voice, "That... I have bad health, so... I didn't learn martial arts."

"Ah?" Tang Lizhi said, "Why don't you take the time to go home and get help then?"

"No need." Qi Shuzhi said in a low voice, "I already asked my coachman to drive us to the outside of the city." 

All three of them including Liang Dong looked puzzled, Qi Shuzhi explained, "My coachman used to follow my father to fight in the north and south border. He could fight ten at a time."

"Oh..."

After saying that, Tang Lizhi said excitedly, "Okay, Liu Pan, wait for me to deal with you, humph!"

Qi Shuzhi is not the kind of person who likes to be brave and fight others. The reason why he promised Liu Pan to go outside the city to compete for a match was for the sake of Miss Shuangshuang.

Shuangshuang is the girl he rescued on the flower boat yesterday, and Liu Pan had set his sights on Shuangshuang. Qi Shuzhi could ignore Liu Pan's provocation, but he couldn't ignore Shuangshuang. If he win against Liu Pan today, he doesn't want Liu Pan to do anything towards Miss Shuangshuang and disturb her in the future.

In the afternoon, Qi Shuzhi was absent-minded in his favorite Poetry class because of this matter. After finally getting out of the academy, Qi Shuzhi left with his good friends, and Liu Pan left with his followers.

Since the incident yesterday, Tang Lizhi's family has been watching him very closely, so it was impossible for him to go directly outside the city. Fang Zheng proposed to go to his house first, and then sneak out through the back door. The four of them went to Fang's house on the pretext that Fang Zheng had dinner at home.

When he arrived at Fang Mansion, Fang's uncle was not at home. Fang Zheng said: "After today, the four of us can be considered sworn brothers. Before my father sent me to study in Luming Academy, I was reluctant. I didn't expect to meet such three good brothers. I think we might as well take advantage of today's opportunity to become sworn brothers."

Tang Lizhi immediately agreed: "Okay, I agree."

Then he hooked on Liang Dong's shoulder and said, "Brother Liang, are you willing to be sworn brothers with us?

Liang Dong nodded happily, "Of course, I'm willing." 

After that, the three of them looked at Qi Shuzhi. Qi Shuzhi liked watching plays and street theaters all his previous life. How could he miss such an opportunity at this time? He said, "What should I do if I make a sworn oath? Is it the same as in the plays?"

Liang Dong, the most knowledgeable of the four, said, "We need to prepare four incense sticks with golden orchids. After that, we cut our palms and drip blood into the wine. After the last person takes a sip, we all kneel down and swear to the sky, then we will become sworn brothers."

Since this is the Fang Mansion, Fang Zheng said excitedly: "I'll prepare something, you all wait here." 

The three sat on the chairs quietly. While waiting, Qi Shuzhi touched his wrist with his hand in his sleeve, excited and nervous. He was finally able to do this kind of thing that a heroic man could do, but he was afraid that if he couldn't control his strength well, he could cut his wrist and kill himself?

After a while, Fang Zheng came back, and four people stood side by side, each holding a stick of incense and a bowl of wine in front of them. Qi Shuzhi stared nervously at the wine, and saw Fang Zheng took out an embroidery needle from his sleeve. He held the needle and smiled at the crowd, and said, "I just thought about it, it's too dangerous to cut the hand with a blade. Anyway, as long as there is blood, let's pierce the finger and let it bleed."

Qi Shuzhi: "... "

The nervousness and excitement just now disappeared, and he even thought that this sworn oath was a bit of a joke, especially when Tang Lizhi poked three times without bleeding.

In a short while, they became sworn brothers. Nineteen-year-old Liang Dong was the oldest brother, seventeen-year-old Tang Lizhi was the second brother, sixteen-year-old Fang Zheng was the third, and thirteen-year-old Qi Shuzhi was the youngest.

After his head was clear, Qi Shuzhi felt a little regretful in his heart. This sworn oath was a real loss. Why did he find three brothers for himself, and these three brothers had to rely on himself to cover them.

They quietly went out through the back door of Fang Mansion. Qi Shuzhi's coachman waited early at the corner of the street. The four of them got into the carriage and went out of the city like this. They came to the pavilion next to the peach tree that Liu Pan mentioned.

It was already evening, and there were fewer people out of the capital, and there was no one at the pavilion outside the city. Tang Lizhi frowned and said, "What's the matter with that boy Liu Pan? We've all sworn in, but he comes later than us."

Fang Zheng said, "Maybe they're sworn in too?"

Qi Shuzhi looked towards the city gate. After looking at it, he said, "I saw Zhou Qi and Lu Yanshi following Liu Pan when I was going to school."

"Zhou Qi?" Tang Lizhi thought of Zhou Qi's rough appearance, and said with some worry: "Zhou Qi has been studying martial arts with his father since young. He's not going to follow Liu Pan's lead, right?"

Liang Dong sat on the stone bench and said: "Don't worry, Zhou Qi's father is under Grand Prince Qi. He wouldn't dare to hurt Brother Qi."

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"He really wouldn't dare to hurt Brother Qi." Fang Zheng shrank his neck and said, "But he would definitely dare to hurt me."

They waited until the sun was almost set, but Liu Pan and the others still hadn't come. Tang Lizhi couldn't stand it anymore, he stood up and walked around the pavilion twice, saying, "Do you think that we have been tricked?"

Liang Dong squinted his eyes and thought, "No, Liu Pan has a face. Is he not afraid that we will preach in the academy tomorrow that he is as timid as a mouse and dare not take on the challenge?"

Qi Shuzhi also felt that Liu Pan would not come. After all, he initiated this matter on his own accord, and it would be unreasonable for him to not come. Tang Lizhi looked at the sky anxiously for a while, and said, "But if he doesn't appear, the city gate will be closed. What do we do?"

It was dark and the gates were closed. Liu Pan never showed up.

Tang Lizhi kicked the pillar of the pavilion angrily, and growled: "I thought Liu Pan was just a scoundrel, but I didn't expect him to be such a coward. Just wait. Even if he is the son of a minister, I will let him stay in the academy with no face."

It was already late autumn, earlier in the day was not bad, but the night was really cold. Qi Shuzhi instructed the driver to pick up some firewood and make a fire before comforting Tang Lizhi: "Don't be angry, it's not worth being angry for this kind of person."

"How can I not be angry?" Tang Lizhi said: "Are we going to spend the night in a fucking place like this?"

Fang Zheng sat aside and said, "Is Brother Tang sleepy? Why don't you go to sleep in the carriage."

Seeing Qi Shuzhi's calm face, Liang Dong asked, "I see fourth brother, you are calm and relaxed. Have you think of a good way?"

"There is none." Qi Shuzhi said, "It's just that I'm not home at this late hour, my father will always send someone to find me."

"Yes!" Tang Li patted his thigh, "Wouldn't it be easy for the Grand Prince to open the city gate to bring in a few people?"

Fang Zheng, who had been afraid to act too anxious, said at this time, "Brother Qi, why don't we call someone at the city gate now, so that His Highness will be informed and let us go back early."

"Absolutely not." Qi Shuzhi smiled bitterly: "We may be able to enter the city if we wait here. If we go to the door, we will definitely stay outside the city overnight."

Liang Dong raised his eyebrows, "Why is that?"

Qi Shuzhi explained, "If I just wait here, my father wouldn't know my situation outside the city. He will be worried and will definitely send someone to find me. If I call him at the gates, he will know that I was fine, and think that I go outside the city at night to make trouble. If he gets angry, I would be punished by staying outside the city all night to teach me a lesson."

Qi Shuzhi waved his hand and said, "So, calling at the gate is not good."

After listening to his remarks, Liang Dong's face flashed a hint of surprise, and said: "It makes sense, Brother Tang, Brother Fang, why don't you go and take a look at the front and see if the people in the Grand Prince's mansion are sending people to search."

Tang Lizhi and Fang Zheng gotten up, leaving Liang Dong and Qi Shuzhi alone. The moonlight shone on the faces of the two teenagers, and Liang Dong said, "I just heard what Brother Qi said, but I don't know why you agreed to Liu Pan recklessly?"

Qi Shuzhi was scratching on the ground with a branch in his hand, and when he heard the words, he said, "You also know why I had a conflict with Liu Pan on Qinhuai. If I don't agree to him, what will he do if he troubles Miss Shuangshuang in the future?"

Hearing Qi Shuzhi's words, Liang Dong was very surprised, and he said again, "I wonder how you feel about what happened today?"

"What's the matter?" Qi Shuzhi was a little at a loss.

"Let's start with Fang Zheng." Liang Dong said, "Yesterday, the matter on the flower boat has little to do with him. He, the son of a businessman, is rushing to deal with the son of a minister. Why do you think that is?"

Qi Shuzhi blinked his eyes and said: "It's to make good friends with us. I am the son of Grand Prince, Tang Lizhi is the son of a chief information officer, and you are a talented person with a bright future. What's the point of being a brother with us and offending a minister's son?" 

Liang Dong listened with a complicated expression. He said, "Long before you came to Luming Academy, Tang Lizhi and I were friends. Don't think that I was rushing to curry favor with him. In fact, he took the initiative to befriend me. Do you know why?"

"My father said that the current chief information officer is a rare smart man. He's so clever. How can he not know that his son is not actually a good student." 

Qi Shuzhi said: "The reason why he sent his son to the Luming Academy because it's a place full of talented people. So he hope his son can recruit one or two talents and make plans for the future, and Brother Liang, you are the most promising talent in this academy."

Liang Dong smiled and said: "But in the past year, Tang Lizhi has not been as enthusiastic toward me as he used to be."

"Because he met me." Qi Shuzhi did not pretend to be stupid, and said calmly: "If he befriends me, in the future, our family will be able to take care of him. Since I'm the son of a Grand Prince, it is also possible to help him in the military in the future. Since there is a better choice, of course, he must put his stakes on me."

Liang Dong asked him: "They approach you with ulterior motives, aren't you angry?"

"Why should I be angry?" Qi Shuzhi gave him a strange look, "I want to make friends. Since they're my friends, shouldn't I help them to the best of my abilities in the future?"

Liang Dong finally laughed, pointed at Qi Shuzhi and said, "You, you, everyone thinks you are a fool, but in fact your heart is like a mirror, and everyone has been deceived by you."

Qi Shuzhi frowned, "Don't say that, who did I deceive? I'm not a fool."

Liang Dong stopped smiling, and suddenly said seriously: "Then do you know why I want to get involved in today's affairs?"

Qi Shuzhi didn't blink. Looking at him, he nodded slowly and said, "You are here for Miss Zhang."

"You really know." Liang Dong said, "I have a relationship with Miss Zhang, but the one who competes with me is from a minister's family. No matter how you look at it, I can't do anything about it, but today I saw an opportunity. If Liu Pan is seriously injured in the fight then the marriage will be temporarily put on hold. I will participate in the imperial examinations next spring, relying on my talent and learning. I will definitely achieve good results, and then I will be qualified to face Shunying's father..."

Qi Shuzhi silently listened to what he said, and sighed: "Why do you have to say it directly?"

"You won't know if I don't tell you." Liang Dong looked at Qi Shuzhi seriously and said, "Since you already knew, why did you pretend you don't know anything?"

Qi Shuzhi lowered his head and said, "Because I feel Miss Zhang is a very good woman, and I don't want her to marry someone like Liu Pan."

Liang Dong's eyes widened in disbelief...

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