Chapter 455: The Anti-Cropped-Hair Patriots
The five men in scholar’s robes and Huang Binkun stood in a standoff, each glaring at the other, their eyes seemingly ready to drip blood. The leader, as if to declare his cause and show he wasn’t a common robber, pointed at Huang Binkun and said loudly, “You dog traitor! You have brought chaos to the South Sea, slaughtered the gentry, harmed the common people, and resisted the royal army—”
Huang Binkun didn’t know who these people who had suddenly appeared were, but it was clear they hated the Cropped-Hair Bandits and wished for their destruction. He quickly said, “Brother, you are mistaken. I am no traitor…”
“Bah! If you’re not a traitor, who is? You have received the grace of the court, yet in Lingao, you allowed the Cropped-Hair bandits to grow strong. You have forsaken the teachings of the sages to deeply study the arts of the Cropped-Hairs. How can such an unloyal and unfilial person not be a traitor? To die is a small matter, but to lose one’s integrity is a great one. You do not serve the court with filial piety, you do not die defending the nation’s gates to share the Emperor’s worries. How are you not a traitor? Today, we shall eliminate a scourge for the court above, and below…”
The word “below” had just left his mouth when a clod of earth hit the leader in the head. With a cry of “Aiya!”, he immediately squatted down, clutching his face. It turned out that Huang Binkun, seeing that the other party had clearly mistaken him for a Cropped-Hair and wanted to eliminate him, acted on the principle that a wise man does not fight when the odds are against him, and struck first.
As the clod of earth flew, he charged at a shorter man to his right, snatched the wooden stick, pushed him away, and ran.
His opponents were in scholar’s robes and caps, which were designed for elegance and were a hindrance in a chase or a fight. It was clear that none of the five could outrun Huang Binkun.
However, Huang Binkun himself was also wearing a long robe for his visit to the gentry. In his haste, he didn’t watch his step, and the long robe got tangled with a stone on the ground. He immediately fell flat on his face, hitting his right shoulder against the wall as he went down. The stick flew from his hand. By the time he tried to get up, the others had caught up. The one in front swung at his head, shouting, “Cropped-Hair bandit, die!”
Huang Binkun had years of experience fighting bandits and was quite skilled in combat. Seeing that he couldn’t dodge, he covered his head with his hands and took the blow on his back. The strike left him dazed, but fortunately, it wasn’t a vital spot. He took the opportunity to pick up the wooden stick he had dropped and fought with the men who had caught up. These men in scholar’s robes were not as weak as ordinary scholars. They were strong and swung their clubs with vigor, but luckily, they lacked fighting technique. Huang Binkun, struggling to defend himself, managed to hold them off.
However, he was outnumbered five to one and had no proper weapon. He gradually lost the upper hand. Just as he was trying to figure out how to escape, a shout came from a distance, “Over there! Hey, what’s going on over there?” It sounded like the yamen runners on patrol. Seeing that things were not looking good, the men attacking Huang Binkun turned and ducked into the alley, quickly disappearing from sight. Only the one who was grappling with Huang Binkun was left. His robe was held fast, and he couldn’t break free in time. The yamen runners rushed over noisily and grabbed both of them.
Two yamen runners each held one of their arms, immobilizing them. When Huang Binkun got up, he felt something flowing down his face. He touched it and his hand came away covered in blood. He was horrified. Fortunately, a second wipe revealed that he had only scraped his scalp when he fell; it was not a serious injury. He calmed down. The scholar in the long robe, his arms pinned, was still cursing incessantly, “Cropped-Hair bandit, you corrupt the teachings and the hearts of the people! Cropped-Hair bandit, what crime did my parents commit that you hanged them!? Cropped-Hair bandit, you are lewd and shameless, what crime did my sister commit!? You took her away as a slave! Cropped-Hair bandit! You are greedy and unrighteous, you even took my family’s ox—” Hearing him curse the Cropped-Hair bandits, a yamen runner quickly shouted, “What nonsense are you spouting! Go sober up first if you’re drunk!”
Because both men were dressed as scholars, the night patrolmen were unsure of their status and feared they might be scholars or provincial graduates with official ranks who were causing trouble while drunk. They didn’t dare to use rough force, only restraining them to prevent further trouble.
However, the man paid no heed and kept struggling and kicking. “Cropped-Hair bandit! You do heaven-defying and reason-destroying things, you collude with the government, how much silver did you give Xiong Wencan…”, a couple of sharp slaps were heard. A yamen runner, fearing he would blurt out something “inappropriate,” had directly slapped the scholar twice. They were professionals at this, their strikes both fierce and vicious. Blood immediately trickled from the corners of the scholar’s mouth, and he could no longer speak. The head yamen runner, hearing his words, knew that this man was likely connected to the “Australians” and could not be offended. He quickly put on a fawning smile and bowed to Huang Binkun, “Sir, you’ve been frightened. Are you alright?”
“It’s nothing. Thank you for your trouble.” Huang Binkun took out a calling card. The yamen runner’s eyes flashed: it was a card from the Liang residence! He quickly smiled obsequiously, “If you’re alright, sir, please go back first. We’ll sober this madman up for you, lest he cause more trouble…”
Huang Binkun felt no surprise at this strange street attack, let alone fear. Ever since he had organized scholars to spy on the military, Huang Binkun had been constantly prepared for a group of vicious Cropped-Hair bandits to suddenly appear and shoot at him with their short-barreled firearms. Today’s scene, however, left him at a loss for whether to laugh or cry. He watched as the yamen runners held down the nearly crazed scholar. His cap had fallen off, his hair was as messy as a refugee’s, and all he could hear were his hoarse shouts, though he couldn’t make out what he was screaming.
He gave a wry smile. Just as the yamen runners were about to take the scholar back to the county yamen, the scholar, with a sudden burst of strength, struggled and lunged at Huang Binkun. Fortunately, the yamen runners had already tied him up and pulled him back at once. But at that moment, a glob of bloody phlegm flew from the scholar’s mouth and landed right on Huang Binkun’s face. Huang Binkun quickly wiped it with his sleeve and found it covered in fresh blood. Mixed with the phlegm and blood was a newly dislodged tooth.
Huang Binkun lay in bed until noon the next day. Although he hadn’t been seriously injured yesterday, the servant boy had found a doctor to apply some cuttlefish bone powder, which stopped the bleeding on his forehead. However, his body was still bruised. He thought he might as well rest for a few days before making any further plans, but visitors came in an endless stream. It turned out that the servant boy had reported the attack to Scholar Lin first thing in the morning. The members of the Yuyuan Society came one after another to visit. Those who didn’t come themselves sent their servants with food and medicine for his injuries.
Huang Binkun had never been the center of so much attention in his life. He had to get up and entertain them. By the end of the day, his back ached and his mouth was dry. After finally seeing off the last group of guests, he was able to sit down and rest.
The servant boy brewed him a medicinal soup to promote blood circulation and reduce bruising. After a few sips, he felt sore all over. He had been running around for days, visiting many people and befriending the scholars at the county school. He had been in Guangzhou for over a month now, and he hadn’t had the time to read some of the miscellaneous books by the Cropped-Hairs. Now that he was relaxed, his mind felt clearer.
He thought back on his various actions in Lingao. It couldn’t be said that he hadn’t exhausted all his efforts, yet the Cropped-Hair Bandits had neutralized them without much action. “A clown jumping on the beam” probably described him perfectly.
After finally arriving in Guangzhou, these past few days had not given him the feeling of “the sky in the liberated area is a bright sky.” Instead, they had brought him deep disappointment and doubt. The filth and chaos here, the poverty of the people… everything seemed to be a stark contrast for him to see. And the Cropped-Hair Bandits did as they pleased inside and outside the city, while the government not only did nothing but many profit-seeking petty people fawned over them. Even the students at the county school had lost their integrity.
It was ironic that his success in Guangzhou was because everyone thought he was well-versed in “Cropped-Hair studies.” Huang Binkun squeezed the tooth in his hand. After it was spat on him yesterday, he had kept it carefully. His only like-minded allies in Guangzhou were probably these few unknown scholars.
Yes, I should talk to him!
Huang Binkun called for the servant boy and told him to go to the Nanhai County Yamen to inquire about the man who was arrested yesterday. The servant boy returned not long after.
“That scholar died yesterday,” the servant boy said.
“What?!” Huang Binkun was shocked. “He died in just one night?”
“Yes,” the servant boy said. “I heard from the people inside that the night patrol locked him in the jail cell last night, and when they went to check this morning, he had already hanged himself from a beam!”
A sharp pain shot through Huang Binkun’s palm, as if pricked by the tooth. He quickly threw the tooth away. He then asked:
“Was it really suicide?”
“The head bailiff said it was indeed suicide, and that it wasn’t the first time he had been arrested…”
“What happened? Tell me in detail.”
“Yes.” The servant boy said that this scholar was originally the son of a grain-producing household in Dongguan County, named Lei Lunfu. A few years ago, when the Cropped-Hair Bandits passed through, his family organized the local militia to resist them, and as a result, his entire family was wiped out. Only a sister was said to have been taken to Lingao. He himself was studying in the county town and, because Dongguan had paid the ransom, had escaped the disaster.
“No wonder he harbors such hatred for the Cropped-Hair Bandits,” Huang Binkun nodded to himself.
“After that, he became a bit deranged,” the servant boy continued. “He spent his days distributing posters in Guangzhou and went to the yamen several times to file complaints. Seeing that the officials ignored him, he went to the Ziji establishments to cause trouble. Not only was he driven out by the security guards, but Proprietor Guo probably used some means to have his scholar title revoked and had the Nanhai County Yamen arrest him and lock him up for half a month, where he was given a hard time.”
“And then?”
“And then he became even more opposed to the Australians—” The servant boy said this man gathered a group of people with similar experiences, went to the Ziji establishments to cause trouble again, and was recently arrested by the Nanhai County authorities, given dozens of strokes with the paddle, and had just been released.
So that’s how it is. Huang Binkun was filled with solemn respect. This is a righteous man! He just didn’t know who the other men were. If he could contact them, his great cause of resisting the Cropped-Hairs would have some helpers.
“Go to the yamen and find out who the others in his group are, their names, and where they live.”
The servant boy smiled. “Master Huang, why go to such trouble? For a few taels of silver to the head bailiff at the yamen, you can do with them as you please, Young Master.”