Chapter 15: A Tiger May Be Easy to Face, but the Jackals Are More Troublesome

In the harsh and bitter northwest, the villagers struggled to stave off hunger, barely able to fill their bellies—where would they find such a sum of silver? When news spread that the yamen runners were extorting five taels, the villagers ground their teeth in rage. A few hot-blooded men hurled curses, wanting to risk their lives, but were hastily held back.

To slay an official’s agent was tantamount to rebellion—a capital crime.

There was no choice. The villagers could only scrape together the money, going household to household.

When Li Yi heard of this, he drew five taels of silver from his breast and handed them to the great-grandfather.

“This disaster was brought about by me. I should be the one to pay this silver.”

The great-grandfather’s withered hands took the money; tears streamed down his aged face as he choked, “Good lad, you are the pride of our Li Family Hamlet.”

The villagers around them were filled with grief and indignation. Yi, so generous and chivalrous—why did the Ai family insist on persecuting him, determined to see him dead?

Their grief mirrored the fate of the fallen, and a smoldering anger hung heavy over the whole hamlet.

But the yamen runners didn’t care in the least. With their hands on their sword hilts, they swept their gazes over the villagers with open menace.

One runner even stepped forward and, with a snatch, wrested the silver from the great-grandfather’s grasp.

“Heh, since this five taels comes from Li Yi, it must be stolen goods. I’m confiscating it for the state.”

The great-grandfather clung desperately to the silver, begging, “Please, sir, have mercy. Leave us be, I beg you.”

When the runner could not wrest it free at once, he flew into a rage and kicked the old man over, cursing, “You wretch, you dare assault an officer? Tired of living, are you?”

The great-grandfather was near sixty, gaunt and white-haired; he fell to the ground, coughing violently.

The villagers rushed to help him up.

Gasping for air, the old man gazed with clouded eyes at the ashen sky, his expression unspeakably bleak.

Li Yi could restrain himself no longer. He flung off the retainers holding him and was about to charge forward.

“The criminal is trying to escape—seize him!”

Another runner drew his sword and shouted.

Two retainers, wielding heavy cudgels, swung viciously at Li Yi’s legs. They’d been waiting for this, aiming to cripple him in one blow.

Li Yi’s feet were shackled; he could not dodge, nor did he intend to. Planting his stance, he let the blows fall.

One retainer’s cudgel struck as though hitting stone, jolting his arm numb. Li Yi reached out, seized his throat, and with a twist flung him into the fence—bones snapping, who knew how many.

The second retainer, startled, brought his cudgel down, only to have it seized in Li Yi’s iron grip. Though trained in martial arts, he barely had time to kick at Li Yi’s chest before Li Yi abandoned the cudgel, balled his fists, and landed a sweeping blow to the man’s face.

The burly retainer howled, staggered back several paces, and crashed to the ground, clutching his caved-in cheek as blood streamed through his fingers.

By the time the runner who had kicked the great-grandfather realized what was happening, Li Yi had already seized his collar, murder in his eyes, fist poised to strike.

“Yi, don’t be rash, don’t be rash!”

The great-grandfather, still lying on the ground, shouted to stop Li Yi and called for Li Zijin to restrain him.

“Great-grandfather?” Li Yi was bewildered.

“Yi, if you strike that blow, all five hundred souls of Li Family Hamlet will perish.”

The old man shook his head at Li Yi, sighed deeply, and bowed his head. “We poor folk are born to swallow our anger and endure. Let it be.”

Li Zijin added softly, “Yi, you may feel better venting your rage, and the young men of the hamlet might follow you, but what of the women? The children? How far could they run? How long could they survive? Listen to your second brother. Don’t be reckless.”

Li Yi looked, dazed, at the villagers around him. He knew Li Zijin spoke the truth.

No matter how the authorities exploited and extorted, no matter how the gentry and nobles bullied and humiliated them—as long as life was still possible, none wished to rebel. Rebellion meant abandoning home, becoming fugitives, hunted by the state.

Not everyone possessed his skills or his faith in surviving chaos.

He let go. Picking up the fallen five taels, he pressed them into the trembling runner’s hand.

“Here is your silver. No one else is involved in what happened today—do you understand?”

“You…” The runner looked at Li Yi’s calm expression, feeling a chill at his neck and an uncontrollable dread in his heart.

He was certain that if he dared utter a word of refusal, Li Yi would snap his neck in an instant.

“U-understood,” he stammered, shrinking from Li Yi’s icy gaze and retreating in panic.

Li Yi went to Yun Niang, whose face was streaked with tears. He wiped them away with a smile. “Don’t worry. The Ai family won’t find it so easy to destroy me.”

Yun Niang gazed up at Li Yi, as if imprinting his image on her soul. With resolve, she said, “Yi, though you and I are not yet wed, I have already regarded you as my husband. If we cannot share life, we will share death. If you die, I will not live on alone.”

Her words pierced Li Yi’s heart; he looked at her with profound tenderness.

With a soft sigh, he beckoned Li Guo, who was sniffling and sobbing uncontrollably.

“Master, don’t go. The Ai family will kill you.”

Li Yi gave a cold laugh, whispered a few instructions in Li Guo’s ear, and then, bowing deeply to the villagers behind him, departed the courtyard in silence.

The runners and retainers dared not approach him too closely, following at a cautious distance.

They left the hamlet, heading east, and walked for over an hour before arriving at Ai Family Manor.

The manor sat on a hillside. Below were scattered earthen huts; a hundred paces up stood the main entrance, a gatehouse over five meters tall.

Earthen and stone walls stretched from either side of the gatehouse, enclosing the entire compound. Several burly retainers, armed with spears, patrolled the walls, keeping watch over the nearby woods.

Within the woods, a cluster of rough thatched huts had been thrown up. Ragged, disheveled refugees peered at Li Yi and his party, but, seeing the official runners and retainers, quickly ducked back into their shelters.

These refugees were bankrupt peasants, driven from their homes. War and famine had left their land unable to sustain them, and crushing taxes forced them to sell their fields and homes at a pittance, fleeing to survive.

Some wealthy families, wishing to show charity, would provide porridge and relief, but secretly coerced the refugees into bondage and traded in human lives. These refugees had been lured by the Ai family’s reputation for charitable porridge.

Inside the gatehouse, a street lined with brick and tile houses stretched before them. To the west stood a stage for operas, to the east the ancestral hall of the Ai family. At the very center, its four gates wide, stood the grand Ai residence.

The house faced south, its threshold high; one had to ascend several steps to enter through the main doors, above which hung a plaque inscribed by a high official, exuding authority.

“Hurry up,” urged a runner, gesturing for Li Yi to enter through the side door. But Li Yi ignored him, instead ascending the main steps and sitting down squarely before the front door.

“Who said you could sit there? Get inside, now!” the runner barked.

Li Yi glanced at him. “Since the Ai family has brought charges against me, I should be questioned at the yamen. Why have you brought me here?”

Hand on his sword hilt, the runner glared menacingly, but, recalling Li Yi’s prowess, answered honestly, “The county magistrate is still at the Ai residence, waiting to question you inside.”

Li Yi shook his head. “Since the Ai family is the accuser, who knows if they intend to do me harm? I’ll wait here. If the magistrate wishes to question me, let him come here.”

“You…” The runner glared in frustration, but could do nothing. He turned to his companion. “You watch him. I’ll go report.”

And with that, he entered through the side door.