The older one said, “Young man, carrying out an order is worth much more than being respectful.”
Zhao Bin then saw the younger man take the silver and place it inside the front of the upper part of his jacket. The man then reached out and took down the saber hanging on the wall, saying, “Venerable sir, whatever you hear moving outside, I say one thousand times ten thousand times, pay no attention. In a little while a man’s head will come to see you.” With this he went out of the building.
Zhao Bin quickly concealed himself and watched where the young man went. Zhao followed him, thinking to himself: “He must be going somewhere to kill a man. I will go along and watch!” He observed the man walk west through two courtyards, until on the west side there was a screen decorated with wooden placards covered with characters. Following the man through the gate beyond the screen, Zhao Bin saw a flickering light in a building of three parts to the north. There was a sound, as if someone were reading aloud to himself from a book. After he saw the man holding the saber go into the building, Zhao Bin made a hole in the paper window and saw a square table and two chairs. Seated in one of the chairs was a refined and studious-looking young man, while nearby was an old manservant.
The man who had just come in struck the table with the saber and said, “Whoever is the master, quickly speak for yourself. I have come here to put an end to your life.”
The young gentleman, who had been intimidated by the sight of the armed intruder, prostrated himself on the floor together with the servant, and spoke: “Spare our lives, good man! Since you ask, let me tell you why I am here.”
As he heard this, Zhao Bin began to burn with anger at the would-be assassin. He grasped his vegetable chopper and was about to burst into the room and intervene.
CHAPTER 7
Reunited heroes rescue a studious young man; Han Dianyuan reforms his ways with Ji Gong’s help
Life in a thatched hut beside a mountain stream,
Watching the years pass,
Counting the reds and whites of blossoming peach and pear trees,
Seeing the green shoots in the fields,
Lying at night on a bamboo bed listening to the rain,
Seeing streaks of light on paper windows
As sun breaks through the clouds,
Such are the simple joys of those
Free from the lust for wealth and power.
ZHAO Bin, in the darkness, saw the man with the sword enter the building where he was about to kill the two men, master and servant. The horrified young gentleman, trembling with fear, knelt on the floor and begged: “Great sir, forgive me. Hold your peals of thunder and tolerate my slow report to you.” The old servant was also kneeling.
Then Zhao Bin heard the man with the sword say to them, “Who are you two, master and servant, and what have you been doing? Speak quickly!”
The old servant replied: “Since you ask, sir, the young master of our house is named Xiu Zhibing. His original home was in Chienan province. His father’s name was Xiu Changuei. The father was on good terms with Han Dianyuan, the then-chief military officer. He is here now in the prime minister’s flower garden, acting as superintendent of the estate. Han Dianyuan has a daughter of the same age as our young master. Her father suggested that he should give her to be the wife of our young master. The arrangement was made when they were very young. Later, our old master died. Shortly after that the buildings of our estate burned, leaving hardly a tile intact. Then I came here with our young master.
“When we came here to live as poor relations, Han Dianyuan saw that the clothing we wore was in tatters, and he regretted the marriage agreement. Han Dianyuan hates poverty and loves only wealth. It is now clear why he kept the two of us here, telling the young master to go on with his studies in this flower garden. Who would have thought that he would have sent you here to kill us?”
When the man with the saber heard this, he said, “So that is how it all came about. I truly did not know.” At the same time he took out the hundred ounces of silver, saying to the young master, “I will give this to you. Take it quickly and escape with your lives! Find a safe place where you can study diligently. When you are older, you may become famous. You cannot wait here, for fear that he will try again to harm you.”
Outside, when Zhao Bin heard this, he said, “This business was well taken care of. He is a man of character.” He was so pleased that he forgot he was eavesdropping and spoke the words aloud.
When the man with the sword heard someone speak outside, he leapt out through the doorway, sword in hand. Seeing Zhao Bin, he struck at him, but Zhao Bin parried the blow with his vegetable chopper. The two faced one another, each probing and searching for an opening in the other’s defense. Zhao Bin had a strange feeling, as he said to himself, “How is it that his manner of handling a sword is the same as mine?”
The other had similar feelings, for he quickly moved out of reach and, with his sword still at the ready, called out: “Slowly! Do not move until you tell me your name, where you live, with whom you have practiced sword fighting, and for what reason you have come here.”
Zhao Bin said, “I am named Zhao Bin. People have nicknamed me the Helping Hand. You ought to know that I am dangerous. You need not try to find out whether I will kill you.”
When the other man heard this, he quickly threw down his sword, saying, “All this time it was one who was the same as a dear brother. This is like taking water to the Dragon King temple, people of the same household not recognizing each other!”
“Who are you?” Zhao Bin asked.
The other man replied, “I am surnamed Yin—my personal name is Shixiong. Dear brother, you have forgotten your elder brother.”
Zhao Bin thought to himself, “When I was eight or nine years old, Yin Shixiong came to work for my father. That was several years more than ten years ago.” He put down his vegetable chopper and greeted him in a more polite manner, and the two exchanged news of what had happened since they had parted.
Yin Shixiong said, “After I stopped acting as an armed escort on the east road, I worked for your father until his death. Then I heard that my teacher’s wife and my dear brother had moved to the capital. I thought I would seek you out, but until now I was unsuccessful. While staying at the Thrice Lucky Inn, I fell sick with an ulcer on my leg. At the inn, I met the former chief military officer, Han Dianyuan, who is living in the flower garden and is the superintendent of this estate. He is also the owner of the Thrice Lucky Inn. He looked after me during my illness and brought me here, where I stayed until I recovered. Today he gave me a hundred ounces of silver and asked me to kill a person whom he hates. I came here and asked—and only then did I understand what it was all about. Dear brother, you came at just the right time.”
Zhao Bin then explained about the other affair, ending, “Tonight I am carrying out the orders of Ji Gong. I came here to get the five-thunders, eight-trigram prince’s tally scroll.”
Yin Shixiong said, “It was lucky that you met me tonight. If you had not, you would not have been able to get the scroll. First, help me to get Xiu Zhibing and the old servant safely away—then I will help you.”
The two then went into the room and told Xiu Zhibing to leave quickly, taking the hundred ounces of silver for traveling expenses. Xiu Zhibing asked Yin Shixiong’s name. The old servant kowtowed to Yin, thanking him for his kindness.
The servant then rapidly prepared the young master’s lute and a small chest of books to take with them. “Yin, kind sir,” he asked, “where shall we go on such a dark night as this? Here in the capital the watchmen are very numerous and investigate everyone they find out at night. If you simply tell us to go, how will we manage?”
Yin Shixiong thought