Chapter 32: The Drunkard Forces His Way In
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An Chunfeng was just beginning to feel the wine rise to her head when the sudden noise startled her. She stood and swayed for a moment, and only after her mind had fully cleared did she make her way toward the gate.
The man outside the courtyard had clearly grown impatient. He began kicking the gate again with loud thuds, cursing crudely as he did so. “What are you doing in there, woman? I’ve come all this way and you still won’t open the door. Who do you think you are?”
Just as he raised his leg to kick it down, the gate opened, nearly wrenching his back.
The courtyard was silent and unlit. An Chunfeng stood with her back to the moonlight, her entire face hidden in shadow. The man could not see her features, but he could make out the outline of her figure.
Though it was late summer and the weather remained hot, all he could discern through her thin clothing was the delicate curve of her waist.
The man sucked in a sharp breath.
Good heavens! That woman had not deceived him after all. There really was a beauty hidden here.
Swaying, he lifted his foot and stumbled into the courtyard. “Little beauty, on such a fine festival, how can you be all alone? Let your big brother keep you company and liven things up a little…”
Before his foot crossed the threshold, and before he had finished speaking, a small bamboo rod flew through the air and struck squarely against the Tanzhong acupoint in the center of his half-open chest.
The rod had a blunt tip, and the force behind it was not great. It fell to the ground after a single strike, yet the blow felt like a heavy punch to the chest. The drunkard’s breath was knocked back into him, and he cried out in pain.
“Get out,” An Chunfeng said coldly.
Her finger strength was still insufficient. She had intended to strike the Tiantu acupoint at the center of the hollow above the breastbone, which would have made him lose his breath and rendered him powerless to fight. She had not expected to hit Tanzhong instead, though the blow was hardly pleasant.
The small bamboo rod had struck his Tanzhong acupoint, leaving him in too much pain to stand. Bracing himself against the gatepost, he rubbed his chest furiously. Most of the wine had already been shaken from him. He turned on An Chunfeng and cursed, “You filthy whore who makes a living selling your flesh! I came all the way here to give you a few coins, and you dare injure me? I’ll beat you to death today!”
It was the Qixi Festival, and every household was gathered together celebrating. Pear Blossom Lane was nearly deserted, but at that moment a man came running from the mouth of the lane. Behind him, a woman’s voice urged him on: “Qiu Rong, hurry! Be careful, and don’t get yourself hurt!”
The running man kept his head down without saying a word. In the blink of an eye, he had reached the courtyard gate. Seeing it standing wide open, he could not help stopping in surprise.
The threshold divided the scene: one man stood outside, another inside. Apart from the drunkard’s ceaseless stream of abuse, there was none of the struggle or brawling he had expected.
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Qiu Rong’s arrival seemed to rouse the enraged man. He stopped cursing and lunged toward An Chunfeng. “You filthy slut, you don’t know when you’re being given face? I’ll slap you!”
An Chunfeng had remained silent all along. If he wanted to fight, then let him fight. Arguing only wasted energy.
She did not spare Qiu Rong so much as a glance. Instead, she spun the two small bamboo rods in her hands, sending them blossoming into twin circles, then directed them toward the charging man.
The rods moved like the wind, striking with unerring precision against the acupoints in the man’s flailing arms and legs.
The resulting soreness, numbness, swelling, and pain coursing through his meridians left him furious and frantic, yet he no longer dared advance. All he could do was leap about and roar in helpless rage.
Qiu Rong stood nearby, staring in utter astonishment. His elder sister had sent him here, saying he was to help Madam An deal with a drunkard, but where was the need for anyone else? The man was no match for Madam An at all.
He even found himself wondering whether the two of them together might be beaten out of the courtyard by that little rod.
At that moment, a rush of hurried footsteps came from the mouth of the lane. Qiu’s voice rang out loudly behind them: “Qiu Rong, hold on! The constables are coming to save you! You must protect Madam An!”
By then, a quarter of an hour had passed since the man first arrived. The sudden shouting prompted the neighbors to open their gates and peer outside.
As the words were spoken, the group came rushing to the edge of An Chunfeng’s courtyard, swift as the wind, and quickly surrounded the scene. “Stop! The Wanning County constables are conducting official business. Bystanders keep away!”
A constable captain in black uniform, a steel saber hanging at his waist, stepped out from the group. The moment he spoke, he froze.
The man in the silk summer tunic was sitting on the ground, reeking of liquor. Apparently unable to bear the pain, he kept rubbing both ankles and elbows.
Beside him stood another man holding a club, utterly motionless and wearing an expression of complete bewilderment.
The captain coughed lightly. “What exactly is going on here?”
Before anyone could answer, Qiu came hurrying over, breathless. “Captain Xin, it’s like this: someone came here to cause trouble for Madam An. All the neighbors know that my younger brother, Qiu Rong, has been an honest and upright man since childhood. He could not stand by and watch a weak woman be bullied, so he came here to protect Madam An. Just look—the rogue was beaten down by my brother. You must commend him!”
With that, she rushed to Qiu Rong and anxiously asked, “Brother, are you hurt anywhere? You were so brave—I could hardly hold you back! I was worried sick!”
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She kept talking, and her hands never stopped moving. Grabbing Qiu Rong by the arm, she patted him vigorously from shoulder to wrist, tugging his clothes crooked until he looked as though he had just endured a fierce struggle.
An Chunfeng raised an eyebrow. Her gaze shifted from the suddenly appearing Qiu to the embarrassed and uncomfortable Qiu Rong.
Until then, she had assumed that the man was merely drunk, had come to the wrong door, and caused a little trouble, while the club-wielding man was simply a well-meaning passerby who had come to help. But now it seemed the matter was not nearly so simple.
With the constables present, An Chunfeng remained calm. She merely bowed to Captain Xin and said, “Officer, this man smashed at my gate without cause, harassed me, hurled vile abuse, and then attempted to assault me. I had no choice but to defend myself.”
The man on the ground groaned. “Officer, I want to press charges against her! That clandestine whore refused to serve me properly and even injured me!”
Captain Xin frowned. Matters involving transactions of the flesh were always difficult to disentangle.
Having already formed an opinion, he looked at An Chunfeng differently. “Even if the business failed, injuring someone is still wrong. Seize this prostitute and her customer first!”
Several constables took hold of the man, whose arms and legs had gone weak, and were about to arrest An Chunfeng as well when Qiu hurriedly stepped in front of them.
“Captain Xin, I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding. Madam An is a widow living here. She is not a courtesan. All of us neighbors can testify to that.”
As she spoke, she turned and called loudly to those gathered around, “Madam An is a respectable woman who follows the rules. Every evening she shuts and bars her door early, and she never goes out at night. Neighbors, isn’t that so?”
An Chunfeng had lived here for more than a month. She went out every morning and returned home early at noon. In the evenings, she never took so much as a step outside, nor had any man ever visited her.
Aside from carrying a food box each day and eating takeaway meals, which did not exactly make her seem like a capable homemaker, there was truly nothing else suspicious about her.
Moreover, Old Madam Zhuang had caused a scene here before precisely because she had mistaken An Chunfeng for a courtesan, and the two had even come to blows. Everyone in Pear Blossom Lane had witnessed it. One after another, the neighbors nodded.
An Chunfeng turned to them and bowed deeply. “Thank you, neighbors, for speaking on my behalf.”
A smile spread across Qiu’s face, as though the entire matter were her own accomplishment. “There’s no need to thank us, Madam An. We all live in the same lane. If anything happens in the future, just come to our home and say the word. Oh, and today my brother Qiu Rong came to your aid. If you wish to thank anyone, you should thank my brother.”