Chapter Forty-Nine: The Encirclement

Holding her exuberant younger brother’s hand, Lu Ying jingled the thirty-one iron coins in her sleeve and smiled, “Come, today your sister will buy two catties of meat and make three dishes to reward you well, Ah Yun.” She had always felt that, because her brother had grown up in poverty, he was too cautious, sometimes even bordering on timidity. Now, he was doing so much better—becoming more confident, showing the natural boldness proper to boys his age. Because of this, Lu Ying had no intention of telling him the truth.

“Great! Today we’ll eat our fill of meat,” Lu Yun replied, his eyes squinting with delight as he strode ahead of his sister.

The market today bustled just as it always did, thronged with people and filled with energy. After a while, Lu Ying turned and made her way to the butcher’s stall. As she haggled over the price and weight of the meat, Lu Yun, not far off, ran eagerly to a stall displaying a variety of bamboo wares, rummaging through them with keen interest.

Lu Ying glanced at her brother, then turned her attention back. The butcher was an old acquaintance, and he stared unabashedly at Lu Ying, who had grown ever more lovely. Grinning, yellow teeth exposed, he said, “Ah Ying, I heard you broke off the engagement with that boy from the Zeng family? You’re not so young anymore, you know. My cousin has a son…”

Were it not for the fact that this was the only butcher’s stall in town, Lu Ying would never have come here. After years in this place, she knew all too well the character and circumstances of this man and his entire family.

So, before he could finish, Lu Ying cut him off coolly, “That won’t be necessary.” She didn’t bother with further words, simply reaching to take the cut of pork leg the butcher had just wrapped.

As her hand touched the wrapped meat, suddenly, she heard Lu Yun’s furious shout ring out, “You’re lying!”

What had happened?

Lu Ying spun around quickly.

She saw her brother charging at a man like a little tiger, his face red and contorted with anger.

“Ah Yun!” Lu Ying cried, rushing over.

By the time she reached them, Lu Yun had already leapt in front of the burly man, his small fists swinging as he yelled, “My sister is the best! It was that shameless Zeng boy who seduced someone else and wanted to demote my sister to a concubine. My sister was angry, of course she’d throw mud at that harlot!”

The man was fully grown, a head taller than Lu Yun, with shifty, triangular eyes and a sallow, menacing face—Lu Yun never stood a chance. Before he could even land a blow, the man seized him with one hand, then, with a loud smack, slapped Lu Yun across the face. Yellow teeth bared in a sneer, he jeered, “A girl who throws mud at others is a shrew! Your sister is too wild and unruly, that’s why the Zeng family rejected her!”

Seized and humiliated in front of the whole market, Lu Yun’s rage boiled over. Unable to break free, he lowered his head and bit down hard on the man’s wrist.

He bit so fiercely that blood streamed from the man’s arm. The man’s face darkened in an instant as he roared, “You little bastard, you dare bite me? Brothers, get him!” Without waiting, he pinned Lu Yun to the ground, and four or five burly men crowded in, raining down blows and kicks upon him.

At that moment, Lu Ying finally reached them. Seeing the brutal assault, her pupils contracted—this was bad! They were using all their strength; they meant to cripple her brother!

Thinking fast, she darted into a nearby shop, tossed a handful of iron coins onto the counter, grabbed a small bucket of lime, and called out, “Here’s your money.”

Rushing back to the mob of thugs, she found the crowd had grown even larger. These men were notorious local ruffians—no one liked them, but no one dared intervene, either. People simply circled at a distance, pointing and murmuring, occasionally offering timid words of advice.

Lu Ying reached the four thugs, set the bucket of lime on the ground, grabbed double handfuls, and flung it into their faces!

It was lime, which burns terribly when it gets in the eyes.

None of the thugs expected such a move, and caught off guard, they were hit squarely. Instantly, they staggered, clutching their eyes and howling in pain, some spinning in circles, others scrambling blindly, shrieking, “Who did this?”

Amid the chaos, Lu Ying darted in low, seized her brother from where he lay trampled on the ground, and dragged him out of the melee.

It had only been a matter of seconds since Lu Yun started getting beaten, so even though four men attacked him, he wasn’t too badly hurt. Pulled along by his sister, he stumbled away, and in no time at all, the pair had fled far from the market.

They ran all the way home, only closing the door behind them once they were safely inside. Lu Yun collapsed to the floor, bruised and swollen all over.

Sitting on the ground, he panted heavily. After a while, noticing the quiet around him, he raised a blackened eye and called, “Sister?”

Lu Ying didn’t answer. She hurried into her room and, when she emerged, was neatly dressed again.

Seeing her sister’s basket covered with a cloth and holding several wooden boxes, Lu Yun called again, “Sister?”

Lu Ying looked at him, took a handful of iron coins from her pocket, and said softly, “Ah Yun, go spend the night at a close classmate’s house tonight.”

“Sister!”

Seeing his distress, Lu Ying explained, “Those men are idle scoundrels, capable of anything. Today I threw lime in their faces; if they wash with water instead of oil, their eyes could be ruined forever. This is a deep grudge—they won’t let us off so easily. Ah Yun, you need to hide for a while. Don’t worry, just for tonight. At the latest, you can come home tomorrow.”

Lu Yun, seeing how calm and composed his sister was, nodded. He took the iron coins, his eyes suddenly filling with tears. “Sister, I’m useless. I’ve caused trouble again.”

“It’s not that simple,” Lu Ying replied, thinking of the thugs’ calculated provocation and their violence—it hadn’t seemed accidental at all.

Those men had clearly meant to ruin her brother. As an orphaned girl, her little brother was her only family, her lifelong support. Without him, no matter how well she married, she’d have no foundation, no one to stand up for her or plead her case. If she were beaten or killed, there’d be no one to seek justice for her. But with a brother—especially a capable one—she would always have a mountain at her back, wherever she went.

Her expression darkened as she stepped forward, embracing Lu Yun gently. “You only did it for me. If they hadn’t said such awful things, you wouldn’t have rushed in. All right, it’s getting late. Let’s go.”

“Mm.”

The siblings left the alley and parted ways. As he watched his sister carrying the jewelry and silver given by Ping Yin, Lu Yun asked hoarsely, “Sister, are you going to the magistrate?”

Lu Ying shook her head. “I have no standing at the magistrate’s office. Even if I gave them all this money, it wouldn’t achieve my aim.” If you cut weeds, you must pull out the roots; to be rid of evil, you must root it out completely. She had to strike before those men realized what was happening, and make it a fatal blow.