Chapter 3: A New Complication

The next moment, the watching crowd was shoved aside, stumbling, as seven or eight military constables in black robes, thin-soled swift boots, and waist-swords slung diagonally pushed in from outside.

"Young Master, they're from the Military Patrol Bureau," Bai Zhan said, his bushy brows knitting.

Zhao Ti nodded. Kaifeng Prefecture had yamen constables and military constables; the yamen constables only handled matters within the prefecture, while patrols and arrests outside were the military constables' job — they belonged to the Imperial Guards, under the command of the Left and Right Military Patrol Bureaus.

"Hah!" The leading military constable was fat-headed with big ears and a pale, greasy face. His gaze swept over the sprawled ruffians on the ground, and at once spotted Gao Qiu, his mouth twitching.

"Who—who did this? Has the culprit fled?" He drew his waist-sword in one motion, scaring the commoners on both sides into hastily retreating.

"Sir, it's… it's those murderous brutes!" A yellow-faced man with a thief's squint, half-unbuttoned shirt revealing tattoos, shouted from the side.

"Young Master, these should be the ruffians' lot. They were standing farther away earlier; seeing things turn bad, they went to fetch the military constables for help," Zhou Dong said after a moment's thought.

"Master Zhou is right," Zhao Ti said with a smile. "A fish that slipped the net, and it still dares come back."

"How dare you! In broad daylight, in the middle of the city, you hurt people—beat them half to death!" The fat leading constable, sword in hand, roared: "On your knees and bind yourselves at once, and come back to Kaifeng Prefecture with me to confess your crimes and stand trial!"

Su Da called out roughly from the front: "You military constable have no sense at all—you won't even ask the reason before dragging people away?"

"Reason? What reason!" The fat constable glanced at Gao Qiu wailing on the ground, his face darkening. "Hurting people is reason enough, and crippling them is an even greater crime!"

"These ruffians were playing cuju in the street, beating up merchants, and even dared curse our Young Master. They deserved a beating—I held back from killing them, and that was generous!" Su Da snorted coldly.

"You villain, you still dare talk back!" The fat constable was furious. Tokyo's daily order was usually quite good; aside from gang fights over territory, open brawls in busy streets were uncommon.

And gang fights, as long as no one died, were never reported to the authorities. Even when deaths occurred, they were covered up as much as possible, and Kaifeng Prefecture turned a blind eye. But street brawls like this were different—they had to be arrested.

"So what if I talk back?" Su Da looked utterly unconcerned. "These ruffians bullied people first—they deserved a beating. And you want to drag us back? What a sweet dream!"

"Where the hell did you lot come from? Are you bandits who've come down from the mountains, sneaking into Tokyo to plot mischief?" The fat constable raged. "Seize them all! Anyone who resists gets the sword and spear!"

As his words fell, the other military constables drew their steel swords one after another and moved to act.

Su Da's eyes bulged: "You dare!"

The fat constable hated him to the bone. Though he felt some wariness at the sight of all those battered ruffians on the ground, his men were officials with weapons in hand and carried authority by themselves. Grinding his teeth, he resolved to cut down this rough, burly fellow first.

But just then, Yu Er walked up to the front with a grin, suddenly pulled something out, and flashed it forward: "You lot dare lay hands on us?"

The object was a palm-sized bronze token, engraved with floral patterns, with a coiled dragon faintly visible in the middle. One side was raised-carved with "Yuan 38," and the other bore three seal-script characters: Imperial City Command.

"Y-you…" The fat constable abruptly checked his forward charge, his face going deathly pale in an instant. Every constable in every yamen knew this token—it was the exclusive credential of the Imperial City Bureau, a special military office within the palace.

The Imperial City Bureau was a guard institution. Not only did it bear the duty of protecting the Son of Heaven and the imperial family, it also had the authority to monitor the military and officials, and to carry out important secret matters.

It was something like the later Jinyiwei or the Stick Bureau, only not so brutal. But it stood independent of all the other offices of the court, answerable to none, and its powers were vast.

The fat constable's sweat dripped down as he cursed inwardly. He had never expected the men before him to be Imperial City Bureau guards. Not only could he not afford to offend them, even his superiors, the Left and Right Military Patrol Commanders, could not.

"What? Still want to drag us back to Kaifeng Prefecture?" Yu Er's smile vanished as he said coldly.

Su Da now produced a token of his own: "You bird-constable, look carefully, see clearly which office we belong to. Even if we'd truly committed some crime, it's not something your Kaifeng Prefecture can handle!"

His token was slightly different from Yu Er's. Yu Er's was carved "Yuan 38," while his read "Di 19."

Imperial City Bureau guards were ranked by Heaven, Earth, Primordial, and Sovereign. Each had a fixed number for the bureau's registration, and when assigning tasks, they called each other by number, never by real name.

When Zhao Ti left the palace to set up his own residence, he not only brought along the eunuchs and palace maids who had always attended him, but also took seven men from the Imperial City Bureau.

These seven had followed at his side since childhood. Every time he left the palace to wander the markets and alleys, they were his dedicated guards, protecting him at close range.

Bai Zhan was one of these seven, with the number "Di 13."

"G-gen…gentlemen commanders…" The fat constable forced out an ugly smile. "Isn't this the Dragon King flooding his own temple—one family not recognizing another? How would I dare take you in? I didn't know you gentlemen commanders were out on official business…"

Yu Er stroked his sparse yellow beard: "Official business, hardly. Seeing injustice on the road is the truth of it. These ruffians were playing cuju in the street, beating up merchants, flouting the law, harming the neighborhood. Naturally, when we saw it, we had to punish them. As for what comes next, report it yourself to the Military Patrol Bureau."

The fat constable groaned inwardly. He knew Gao Qiu's background. If these had been ordinary ruffians and scoundrels, even if beaten to death by Imperial City Bureau men, as long as there was solid evidence of a crime, his side would have cleaned up the aftermath. But Gao Qiu had come from the household of Young Su Li Xianggong, and was now a personal attendant of Prince Duan. Not only could the Military Patrol Bureau not handle it, even Kaifeng Prefecture would find it difficult.

"This…" The fat constable said, bracing himself: "Gentlemen commanders…"

"If you've got something to say, say it. If you've got nothing, get lost!" Su Da said impatiently.

"Gentlemen commanders, th-that Gao Qiu…" The fat constable truly did not want to take the blame—this blame was more than he could bear—and wanted to reveal Gao Qiu's identity.

But before the words left his mouth, a sudden clatter of hoofbeats came from afar. The watching commoners all started, hastily turning their heads to look.

The Great Song forbade riding horses in busy streets, unless there was military intelligence or some special circumstance. But now the realm was at peace, with few military matters, so the people were puzzled.

They saw several riders galloping from afar. The man on the leading horse had a red face, wore the dress of an inner palace attendant, and was whipping his horse and peering ahead.

"Is the Gao Qiu who can kick the leather ball here?" The eunuch reined in his horse and called out in a shrill voice.

The commoners fell silent. The Gao Qiu who could kick the leather ball was lying right there on the ground, but no one dared speak up.

Seeing no one answer, the eunuch frowned and leaned forward: "What are you all doing? These on the ground are… ah, isn't that Gao Qiu? Who beat him into this state!"

So saying, he hurriedly dismounted. The guards behind him leapt down as well, parted the crowd, and came forward.