Chapter 2663: The Capital (Part 19)

Liao Sanniang's left foot touched ground a heartbeat before Liu Wu's. She shifted laterally, a subtle adjustment that forced his center of gravity forward. In the same motion, she abandoned the throw for a grapple, her left hand seizing Liu Wu's right wrist in an iron grip while her body pivoted back to the left. Her right arm drove against the big man's left elbow joint as her right leg snapped toward the hollow behind his knee.

Liu Wu clamped his body tight, bending his arm and retracting his elbow to break free before the hold could fully form. Liao Sanniang flowed into a new stance, retreating half a step to create distance between their lower bodies.

By the time Liu Wu's right foot finally landed, Liao Sanniang had already destroyed his positioning, forcing him into constant defense. His center of gravity rode high, the vertical line of his balance hovering at the very edge of his base of support—teetering on the brink of instability. Unable to fully adjust his posture, Liu Wu's right leg splayed outward at an unnatural angle.

Liao Sanniang's sense of timing was razor-sharp. In that hairsbreadth of a moment, she lifted her right leg and drove her heel down with vicious force onto the proximal end of Liu Wu's hip.

The human hip is remarkably solid, but the posterior inferior wall lacks ligament reinforcement—a structural weakness.

With Liu Wu's right leg already abducted nearly forty degrees, his body was caught in an unnatural state. The greater trochanter of his femur formed a lever's fulcrum against the hip socket. Under Liao Sanniang's violent stomp, the femoral head slipped forward and downward, wrenching the joint apart and dislocating the bone entirely.

Liao Sanniang seized Liu Wu's thumb with both hands and twisted, channeling the force of her stomp into a forward shove. Liu Wu screamed as he was sent flying.

The moment Liu Wu struck the ground, Liao Sanniang closed the gap with a single stride and lashed out with her toe. The steel tip of her shoe drove into Liu Wu's forehead. He managed one strangled cry before consciousness fled.

Liao Sanniang had struck like an eagle taking a rabbit, cycling through throw, grapple, and strike in a single fluid instant. Every transition between offense and defense was nothing more than a micro-adjustment of her body. To the onlookers, the two had barely touched before Liu Wu was kicked to the ground—victory decided in a heartbeat.

A deep chill settled into Song Da's chest. Liu Wu was a renowned local wrestling expert; normally, five or seven men couldn't get near him. Yet this woman had put him down in a single exchange.

Liao Sanniang leapt toward Song Da. He couldn't evade, and that very helplessness ignited the ferocity buried deep in his heart—the savage instinct of a big guanggun [bare-stick/rascal].

Song Da roared, charged to meet her head-on, and swung his fist with every ounce of strength he possessed.

The fitted silk shirt hugged Liao Sanniang's curvaceous figure, accentuating her graceful lines.

Liao Sanniang drew a long, deep breath. Before the onlookers' eyes, her back seemed to expand by a full measure. Her inverted-triangle frame unfurled like a spreading fan. Through the thin fabric of her shirt, a mountain range of muscle revealed itself—trapezius, scapular spine, acromion, deltoid, rhomboid major, and latissimus dorsi undulating in continuous waves, each ridge and contour sharply defined.

She pushed off the ground, rotated her body, twisted her hips and drove through the shoulder, extended her arm and unleashed her fist—no tricks, no flourishes. Hard against hard. Tough against tough. A woman who could wield heavy double sabers could only be a natural-born powerhouse.

Their knuckles collided with a muffled peng. Their punching arms formed a single straight line. The crack of shattering hand bones split the air, raising the hair on every listener's neck. Song Da's outstretched right hand went slowly limp. He sank to his knees bit by bit, clutching his hand and groaning in pain. The groans swelled louder and louder until Song Da's body collapsed into a heap. Cradling his wrist, now broken clean through, he wailed and rolled across the ground, pitiful as a child without a mother.

The body beneath Liao Sanniang's silk shirt slowly settled, contracting back into its soft, lovely form.

She drew a handkerchief from her bosom, wiped the bloodstains from her knuckles, then walked over to retrieve her cloak. A large hole gaped where the sharp knife had pierced through. Liao Sanniang stroked the fabric, sighed, and said wistfully to Li Rufeng, "Chief Escort, I bought this at the Lingao Department Store with half a month's salary. Look at it now. What should be done?"

Li Rufeng wiped the cold sweat from his brow, cleared his throat with two dry coughs, and said, "Reimburse it. Full reimbursement!"

Song Da lay on the ground clutching his right wrist, his body trembling violently from fear.

Li Rufeng walked slowly toward Song Da. His burly frame radiated an immense pressure. From Song Da's vantage point, he looked like a giant holding up the sky.

Li Rufeng produced a bank note worth twenty taels from his robe, gave it a shake, and tossed it out. The note drifted down to settle on Song Da's face. Li Rufeng's deep voice rumbled: "Brother, take these twenty taels and go recuperate. Consider it a small punishment to warn against larger mistakes—learn from this. Since ancient times, only one stick of first incense is burned. This time it was a broken hand. Next time what gets sent..."

Li Rufeng's voice dropped low. "Will be a life."

He waved his hand, signaling Song Da to leave.

Song Da scrambled up, clutched the bank note tight in his uninjured left hand, and knocked his forehead hard against the ground twice. His voice came out in a ragged hiss: "Many thanks to the Bureau Chief for sparing me today. You receive thunder on the high mountain; I drink the west wind on the flat ground. We lowly folk would never dare touch the tiger's might again. Whether we meet on small roads or big roads, this lowly one will engrave the Bureau Chief's grace in my five viscera. May the Chief Escort cross mountains and seas smoothly in the future, with a flat river ahead."

With that, Song Da struggled to his feet.

Liao Sanniang approached from the side and rested her hand on Song Da's shoulder. At the sight of her, his face blanched and his whole body shuddered.

Liao Sanniang smiled gently and spoke in a soft voice. "Brother, don't panic. This slave knows the measure of her own hand. The three of you have broken skin and dislocated joints, but these are only superficial wounds. You'll be fine in a few days. Only don't delay—you must seek treatment quickly. The escort agency can beat people, but we're even better at healing them. For falls and injuries of every severity, we have good prescriptions and medicines. The senior brothers in the agency all possess secret methods of bone-setting. If you're willing to let us treat you, no aftereffects will remain."

Song Da understood the implied meaning at once. He kowtowed and said, "Sanniangzi is a Bodhisattva reincarnated. When we lowly folk return, the outside world will immediately learn that Grandpa Bureau Chief and Sanniangzi have clear ears and eyes and cannot tolerate even a grain of sand. Even if there are still fools blinded by lard and greed, they wouldn't dare come to the door trying to trick the Master again. We will ensure peace and quiet for your ears."

Liao Sanniang nodded. "This slave has weak Qi and blood and cannot stand much noise troubling my heart. We didn't know each other until we fought. I accept Brother's good intentions here."

She called toward the doorway, "Bazi, take the three brothers down to set their bones." Then she gave Song Da's shoulder a gentle pat.

Little Bazi acknowledged the order, summoned a few fellows, and had the three men carried out.

Liao Sanniang moved to Little Bazi's side and whispered, "Set their bones and send them back. Find out where they're staying."

Little Bazi nodded and hurried off.

Watching the men being carried away, Li Rufeng sighed and shook his head. "There are many such swindlers. When a wealthy family suffers a kidnapping, sometimes multiple groups arrive simultaneously to propose ransoms after the incident. No one can tell which is genuine and which is false—it only adds to the chaos. But usually, we don't fight like this. We simply drive those idlers away."

Liao Sanniang replied coolly, "That Song Da played the fool and wanted to strike first. Besides, having a fight isn't such a bad thing. It lets the outside world know we aren't just muddled, confused worms. We shouldn't let people look down on us."

At this point, Wu Kaidi spoke to Li Rufeng from the side. "I'm afraid the Chief Escort cannot leave here. In that case, I'll return to Delong first to handle the situation. You and I can gather later."

Li Rufeng nodded. "Alright. Sorry to trouble you so much, Mister Wu."

"It was originally my duty," Wu Kaidi said. "As it should be." He cupped his hands and strode out quickly.

After Wu Kaidi departed, Liao Sanniang asked Li Rufeng, "Did you manage to learn anything from Wang Shizhen and Steward Zhang?"

Li Rufeng shook his head. "If they knew anything critical, would the bandits have let them live?"

Though he said this, they had still gleaned a few key details: Wang Shizhen had acted on commission and received four hundred taels of silver for his part. As for who had commissioned him—he confessed, but by the time the escorts rushed to apprehend that person, the man had already hanged himself. Needless to say, he had been 'suicided.' Secondly, Steward Zhang had been promised five thousand taels upon success. Half the silver had been paid in advance; the other half was to be given to him once he escaped to a designated location.

"If he'd received that other half, he'd probably be dead by now."

"Not receiving it just means he'll live a few more days." Liao Sanniang sighed. "Who gave him that promise?"

Given Steward Zhang's experience and worth, simply sending someone to persuade him would never have worked, nor would flashing silver on the spot have steeled his resolve. The middleman must have possessed considerable status and prestige.

"Speaking of which, it's an old acquaintance," Li Rufeng said with a sneer. "Steward Qiao of the Xia Family Shanxi House."

Since Delong had opened in the capital, friction between the Shanxi Houses and Delong had never ceased. It was only because Delong had such a powerful backing that, despite their abundant funds, the Shanxi Houses dared not employ tactics of extermination. They could only make petty moves to vex Delong.

"So it was him!" Liao Sanniang sneered. "No wonder. No wonder!"

"I suspect he was also acting on someone else's orders and may not be the true mastermind," Li Rufeng said. "However, to reassure Steward Zhang, they had to borrow his credibility."

Without such a leading figure in the banking world stepping forward, Steward Zhang would never have summoned the resolve to betray Master Leng.

"Where is Steward Qiao now? Jumped into the river or hanged himself?"

"They say it just happened to be his turn for the once-every-three-years annual leave, and he went back to his hometown in Shanxi."

"In this chaos of war, abandoning the capital to rush home—is he not afraid of being robbed by bandits on the road? And even if he reaches Shanxi, roving bandits are everywhere. What's the rush?" Liao Sanniang's voice dripped with ridicule.

Needless to say, whether dead or alive, they would never find Steward Qiao.

"Even if we can't find Steward Qiao, the Xia family must be aware of something."

This remained useless. Among the eight Shanxi Houses in the capital, though the Xia family's was not the largest, the Shanxi Houses shared the same voice and breath through ties of fellow villagers. After years of careful operation, they had grown deeply rooted, their branches thick with leaves. Their power was far beyond what Delong could match. Hoping to approach the Xia family for information was nothing but wishful thinking.

Liao Sanniang let out a sigh of disappointment.

Li Rufeng said, "Just now, Old Wu mentioned we could make an educated guess..."

Wu Kaidi had reasoned that whoever could compel the Xia family to act must not only be a major figure at court but also, inevitably, an important client of theirs. Simply following that line of thought, the mastermind behind the scenes would be identified nine times out of ten.

(End of Chapter)