Chapter 2: Severely Punished

Cuju is also called a leather ball, used when playing the cuju game.

Cu means to kick with the foot, ju is a round ball with a leather skin outside stuffed with rice bran and a pig's bladder, the two characters together mean to kick a ball.

The game of cuju has existed since ancient times and is currently the most fashionable, played everywhere from the palace down to the marketplace; in Jingcheng there are organizations called Yuan She and Qi She dedicated to kicking the ball, and bookshops even sell small booklets teaching people how to play.

At this moment the ball had already flown near Zhao Ti and his group. Bai Zhan darted forward with a stride, let out a light whistle from his mouth, raised his arm, and punched out.

That punch looked fierce on the surface, but actually contained a supple, concentrated force within. A muffled "puchi" was heard — the ball was not sent flying, but was punched clean through the middle, and ended up slipped over his arm, with the rice bran inside scattering everywhere.

Zhou Dong praised from the side: "Bai Dalang has fine punching power!"

Su Da and Yu Er now leapt forward as well. Su Da was born with a thick, curly beard, powerfully built like a bear; Yu Er was thin and nimble, like a macaque. The two shouted together: "How dare you!"

The eyes in the field were immediately drawn over. The ruffians wore vicious expressions, glared fiercely, and rolled up their sleeves.

The long-faced ruffian who had thrown the ball looked this way, saw Zhao Ti dressed as a scholar in white, Zhou Dong in plain cloth, and the other three also plainly dressed, and sneered coldly: "Good, good! Today my luck is bad. Earlier that old fool and his son blocked me from playing ball, and now you've ruined my gear and still dare to speak up — aren't you just looking to die?"

Su Da roared: "This is the middle of the street, meant for people to walk on — where is there room for cuju? Are you deliberately using this as an excuse to swindle good citizens out of their money?"

His voice was loud, like thunder on dry land, making the ruffians clap their hands over their ears.

"Swindle money?" The long-faced ruffian was so startled his body gave a shudder, and he turned from embarrassment into rage: "You murderous wretch! Go and inquire around — what status is this old master under now? Would I swindle you for your measly pennies? Today I demand you kowtow and beg forgiveness, slap your own mouths, and don't leave until you've lost every tooth in your head — that'll teach you the might of me, Gao Qiu!"

"Filthy little bird, a thing no better than pigs and dogs, and you dare to talk wild!" Su Da clenched both fists into bowl-shapes, looked back at Zhao Ti, and was about to charge forward and fight.

Zhao Ti's gaze had been fixed on the long-faced ruffian the whole time. Hearing him announce his own name, he narrowed his eyes slightly: "Your name is Gao Qiu?"

The long-faced ruffian saw the white-clad figure like drifting clouds and flying snow, yet also like a mountain standing above a deep pool, and his heart skipped for no reason. But he had backing — currently he feared no ordinary household, nor even official ones. He slapped his chest and said: "I am Gao Qiu. Have you heard of me, pretty boy?"

"The Gao Qiu who plays ball well?" Zhao Ti rubbed his chin.

"So you know — then hurry up and kowtow and admit fault, and take a few dozen slaps as atonement!"

Zhao Ti smiled, his gaze dropping slightly. Seeing this, Su Da and Yu Er sprang into action and rushed over at once.

The ruffians who had been beating the old and young vendors earlier came forward with howls, but how could they be a match for the two? It was like a tiger into a flock of sheep, or a falcon into a nest of crows — in no time at all they had these ruffians flipped onto the ground, each one crying for his father and mother, wailing without end.

From behind, Zhao Ti said coolly: "Too light."

Bai Zhan heard and said: "Young Master, I'll go!" With that he leapt a full zhang in a single bound, arrived before the fallen ruffians, raised his foot and stomped — immediately the sounds of cracking bones and wailing rose one after another.

Gao Qiu's face changed drastically across the way. Seeing Su Da and Yu Er now charging at him, he immediately retreated several steps and called out: "How dare you… I am a man who came from Young Master Su's door, a personal attendant of Prince Duan — how dare you lay hands on me? Are you tired of living?"

Hearing this, the corners of Zhao Ti's mouth twitched upward — it seemed this really was that Gao Qiu.

Whether the Gao Qiu of history or the Gao Qiu of later romances, his experiences were more or less the same: a street-corner idler by status, a ruffian and rogue by nature. After many twists, he struck it lucky and was admitted into Su Shi's household. Later, when Su Shi was demoted and sent away from the capital, he was dispatched to his brother Su Zhe's residence, then sent off again by Su Zhe elsewhere, and finally by a stroke of chance ended up at the side of Prince Duan Zhao Ji.

The "Young Master Su" Gao Qiu spoke of was Su Zhe, who currently held the post of Vice Chancellor, a mainstay of the old party and a trusted confidant of Grand Empress Dowager Gao Taotao.

Gao Qiu, seeing the other side silent, immediately showed a pleased look. With such backing, he could say he feared no one within Dongjing city — just as that poem says, "The squalor of former days is no longer worth boasting of; today, unbridled, my thoughts know no bound." Even the authorities now had to give him three points of face.

"Since you know my name, why don't you beg for mercy…"

"You kick a good ball," Zhao Ti said, folding his sleeves before him, smiling faintly. Then, as if thinking of something, he shook his head.

"Of course this old master kicks well, you… ah-ya!" Su Da had already reached him. Before he could finish, Su Da reached out and lifted him up like grabbing a chick.

The remaining ruffians on either side saw things going badly and turned to run, but Bai Zhan and Yu Er caught up, and in no time had them all beaten to the ground — broken sticks, shattered slingshots, endless screams.

"Whose old master are you?" Su Da glared at Gao Qiu in a muffled, hollow voice.

"I, I…" Gao Qiu's eyes darted about, unable to break free: "But I'm Prince Duan's…"

"Slap!" Su Da landed a slap across his mouth: "Stop trying to scare people with Prince Duan!"

"You, you aren't afraid of Prince Duan?" Gao Qiu spat two teeth from his mouth, his face full of astonishment: "You dare hit me? Prince Duan won't let you off!"

Su Da ignored him, looked back at Zhao Ti: "Young Master, how should we deal with him?"

Zhao Ti said slowly: "This man may only commit small evils now, but his nature is treacherous and cunning, skilled at using tricks to bewitch his masters. In the future he will surely become a great scourge. So let's just shatter both his legs, and cut off the very skill he uses to flatter his masters!"

"What?" Gao Qiu's body went limp at once. All his ability lay in cuju — if both legs were shattered, what would he kick with?

"Mercy, mercy! This one failed to recognize greatness, this one…"

Su Da paid no heed, raised his knee, and with two "beng beng" strikes shattered both his legs, then tossed him to the ground like a limp strand of noodles.

The watching commoners burst into cheers at the sight. From Zhou Bridge to Xiangguo Temple, on this stretch of street, who didn't know Gao Qiu? In the past they had loathed him; now they truly feared him, because he had not only attached himself to Young Master Su, but had become Prince Duan's personal attendant.

Some blunt, hot-tempered folk urged the group to leave quickly, saying that if the patrolling soldiers came by there would surely be trouble, and they would be hauled off to the great prison.

Bai Zhan returned to Zhao Ti's side: "Young Master, shall I send word to Kaifeng Prefecture?"

Zhao Ti glanced at the wailing ruffians on the ground: "This stretch of street is usually patrolled by men of the Military Patrol Office during the day, but now we haven't seen a single one in a long time — they're probably deliberately avoiding this Gao Qiu."

"Young Master, Kaifeng Prefecture manages the civil order of the capital region, and its chief official ranks among the highest ministers — how could it let its men dodge a mere street-corner rogue?" Zhou Dong asked in puzzlement from the side.

Zhao Ti shook his head: "The chief official wouldn't order them to dodge, but the constables of the subordinate offices have long been stationed in the wards and neighborhoods, dealing daily with ruffians and gang members. Knowing this Gao Qiu has attached himself to Prince Duan's household, they curry favor with the powerful, evade and indulge him, and let him run amok. Prince Duan and Su Zhe cannot tell a man from a beast — now they shelter a small evil, and in the future it will surely grow into a great one."

"So that's how it is. This commoner understands now." Zhou Dong worked through the key to the matter and nodded in sudden realization.

Just as the two were speaking, a sudden commotion of running footsteps came from outside the crowd, and a voice shouted: "What's going on? In broad daylight, you dare brawl in the market — arrest them all and take them to Kaifeng Prefecture for punishment!"