Chapter 41: Another Shameless One

"Shh! Don't shout. This short blade has been boiled in gold juice. One small cut is all it takes to give a man blood poisoning, and he'll die in agony!"

Zhang Zhao swiftly took a short blade with a gray-black edge from the rosewood chest and spoke to Cao Yanming, who was just about to call for help.

'Mm...!' Cao Yanming, who had just begun to shout, hastily clapped both hands over his own mouth.

Gold juice is human and animal excrement. In ancient times people liked using the stuff to add a bit of poison damage to weapons, which really just increased the chance of tetanus and septicemia infection.

It may not sound like much, but in ancient times these illnesses were absolutely incurable!

Moreover, contracting tetanus or septicemia was far more agonizing than being stabbed to death. Cao Shisi, Cao Yanming, naturally knew just how terrifying these two afflictions were.

"Call me Cousin-Uncle and let me hear it!" A wicked smile spread across the corner of Zhang Zhao's mouth.

"Ah? Ah?" Cao Yanming was momentarily dumbfounded. What sort of trick was this? Holding a short blade boiled in gold juice to his throat just to hear him call out "Cousin-Uncle"? What kind of bandit are you?

"Hurry up! What are you dawdling for? Is the Lady of the Commandery, Madam Suo, your grandmother? If I tell you to call, then call!"

Cao Yanming's father, Cao Yuande, was Cao Yijin's eldest son, and his mother was none other than Zhang Zhao's paternal aunt, Madam Suo. By that reckoning, Cao Yuande was Zhang Zhao's genuine elder cousin, so unlike Cao Sanniang, Cao Shisi, Cao Yanming, really did have to call him Cousin-Uncle.

"You're Zhang Erlang! You're Zhang Erlang!" Cao Yanming caught on, pointing at Zhang Zhao and exclaiming in a low voice.

"No manners! Is Zhang Erlang something for you to shout? Hurry up and call me Cousin-Uncle so I can hear it!"

Zhang Zhao lightly patted Cao Yanming on the head, the way an elder dotingly treats a junior, though Cao Yanming was only a little over a year younger than him.

"Quite the tough one, aren't you!" Seeing the reluctance written all over Cao Yanming's face, Zhang Zhao pressed the short blade against Cao Yanming's neck.

"Would you like Cousin-Uncle to leave you a little keepsake?"

"Second Cousin-Uncle!" As the icy short blade slid across his neck, Cao Yanming's soul nearly fled his body, and with a face like he was constipated, he forced out a "Second Cousin-Uncle."

"And you, stop playing dead! Get up this instant. I have something to say!" Seeing that Cao Yanming's psychological defenses had been breached just a little, Zhang Zhao kicked the sole of the scholar's shoe beside his foot.

Damn, eyes rolled back, body curled up like a shrimp — he was putting on quite the act, except his breathing was a bit too rapid.

"Young Lord Erlang has fine skills! It seems what those people in Qi Xiahu's mountain stronghold said was true — you really did kill Ge Duo!"

The scholar scrambled up from the ground with a whoosh, not a trace of embarrassment on his face at having his death-feigning exposed. He was a shameless fellow too.

"What is Young Lord Erlang trying to do? I take it Lady Sanniang was also abducted by you? And now you dare barge in here. If anything at all happens to Shisi Lang, neither Princess Yuchi nor Madam Song will be able to protect you!"

"Cut the damn nonsense. Go outside and send the guards at the gate away. I want to have a little reunion with my nephew!" Ignoring the scholar's words, Zhang Zhao circled behind Cao Yanming and took control of him.

"Good nephew, I merely wish to make a deal with my elder cousin Yuande. If you behave, I guarantee you'll be fine. If you don't cooperate, let me tell you — your Cousin-Uncle's head doesn't work quite right. If I end up doing something else, well, that would hurt the harmony between relatives!"

"What sort of place does Young Lord Erlang take this for? There are three hundred elite Yueqi cavalry outside. If we let you simply carry Shisi Lang off, what use would we be? Believe me when I say one loud shout from me right now and your head will be separated from your body!" The scholar's eyes darted about as he issued a low threat.

Hmph! Zhang Zhao sneered at the scholar's guilty yet outwardly fierce expression. "Good nephew, you'd best remember this — if anything happens to you in a moment, it will certainly be this man's doing.

Because the short blade isn't pressed against his neck. If he can't save you, then it's your Cousin-Uncle being ruthless. If he can save you, then it's a great merit for him. A man so full of schemes is the least trustworthy of all!"

Feeling the icy touch at his neck, wondering whether the short blade had already cut his skin and whether he was about to contract blood poisoning, Cao Yanming — who had never weathered many storms — broke out in goosebumps all over his body, his heart terrified to the extreme.

"Registrar Yang, save me! Save me!" His voice was already trembling.

"Don't be afraid, Shisi Lang. He wouldn't dare do anything, because if he harms you, Zhang Erlang will also be hacked to death!" The scholar continued to put on a brave front.

"Registrar Yang, is it? Do you know what it means when a man who recited the Buddha's name for over ten years suddenly has a complete change of temperament and kills Ge Duo?"

Without waiting for Registrar Yang to answer, Zhang Zhao answered his own question: "It means this old man's head isn't working so well anymore. It means I would rather die than be penned up and raised like a pig or sheep.

I'll count to ten. If you don't agree, we all go down together. Rest assured, before the guards outside get in here, I'll have more than enough time to stab you both to death!"

Registrar Yang stared at Zhang Zhao for a long while. Only after confirming that Zhang Zhao truly did not seem to be lying did his expression turn grave.

"Young Lord Zhang Erlang, what exactly do you want?"

"I don't want anything. But I can no longer stay in this Dunhuang state. If my elder cousin Yuande is willing to grant me a little convenience, Zhang Zhao wishes to go west and seek refuge with my maternal uncle, the Son of Heaven Yuchi of the Golden State of Khotan.

The several hundred people you brought back from the mountain stronghold must be granted a pardon, so they can go on living!"

Zhang Zhao stated his proposal calmly. He had deliberately left the several hundred people from the stronghold for last, mentioning them lightly, precisely so that this Registrar Yang would understand that his greatest wish was still to go to Khotan.

"Then you may release Shisi Lang. These terms are not harsh. I believe Lord Yuande will certainly agree!" After pretending to think it over for a moment, Registrar Yang immediately expressed his agreement.

"Screw your mother. Do you take me for a three-year-old child?" Zhang Zhao was angered into laughter. "Ma Yaozi!" Zhang Zhao tilted his head toward Ma Yaozi.

Ma Yaozi, who had by now steadied his nerves, raised a fist the size of a clay pot and slammed it into Registrar Yang's stomach, doubling him over like a shrimp.

"I'll give you half a cup of tea's time to move all your men to the left side of the estate. If you're not back in half a cup of tea, I'll give Cao Shisi a cut. I think he'll understand who it was that cost him his life!"

A few minutes later, Zhang Zhao, holding Cao Yanming hostage, walked to the bank of the Ganquan River on the right side of the estate. Registrar Yang indeed had not dared to cause trouble, though he hadn't been entirely honest either — Colonel Kang of the Yueqi regiment followed with a dozen guards, blades drawn and arrows nocked.

But just as they were looking for an opportunity to seize the hostage, a cloud of dust rose from the opposite bank of the Ganquan River, and dozens of elite riders appeared. With one whistle from Zhang Zhao, arrows flew like locusts toward the dozen Yueqi cavalry, and Colonel Kang and his men could only scramble to flee.

"Ma Yaozi! This Registrar still isn't being very honest! Leave him a keepsake!" A small boat rowed over from the opposite bank. As Zhang Zhao retreated onto the boat, he shouted at Ma Yaozi.

His face already completely black, Ma Yaozi — now aboard the pirate ship with no way off — could only step forward with a cold expression and stab Registrar Yang in the shoulder. He knew he was done for now; Zhang Erlang had well and truly screwed him over.

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