Chapter 51: The Righteous Captain
Liu Xunyi and Feng Tianba hid in a dark alley, closely watching the Lu family guards who hurried past, and waited with bated breath for about an incense stick of time. Only then did the Lu family guards turn to search elsewhere, and the street fell into deathly silence again.

"Huh!" Feng Tianba let out a long breath as he watched the Lu family guards walking away. His expression suddenly changed, and he turned around and pointed his knife at Liu Xunyi behind him, asking cautiously, "Why are you following me?"

Liu Xunyi didn't expect Feng Tianba to ignore his life-saving grace just now and change his expression so quickly. He couldn't help but laugh and asked back: "Is this how you treat the person who just saved you?"

"I saw you at Lu's residence today. You were in the same group with them!" Feng Tianba asked in a deep voice, "Why are you following me?"

"Then why did Captain Feng come to the Lu Mansion in the middle of the night?" Liu Xunyi asked instead of answering. He looked up and down at Feng Tianba's outfit with interest and said with a half-smile, "And he is dressed like this. It seems like he wants to do something shady."

Feng Tianba snorted coldly and said indignantly, "You are the ones who are really shameless. Lu Tingxiang and Li Ji are colluding with the bandits. Today, I clearly saw someone die in the Lu Mansion, but he disappeared in the blink of an eye. It is obvious that you have teamed up to hide it and deliberately hide it from me! Who is the dead person? Who killed him? Why are there so many people gathered in the Lu Mansion today? What are you plotting?"

Feng Tianba spoke in rapid succession, but Liu Xunyi smiled faintly and said, "Captain Feng, since ancient times, the court and the martial arts world have kept their distance from each other. Although you have just arrived in Jiangnan, you should have some understanding of the Lu family's background. Those who appeared in the Lu Mansion today are all martial arts heroes, and what they did was also aboveboard. It was definitely not what you called a 'conspiracy'. As for the corpse you saw... it's just a martial arts matter, and it has nothing to do with you."

"fart!"

Feng Tianba was a straightforward person. He cursed Liu Xunyi's evasive words without any hesitation: "All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people are his subjects. I don't care what sect you belong to, but don't forget that this is still the world of the Song Dynasty. Since you are in the land of the Song Dynasty, you must abide by the criminal laws of the Song Dynasty. Murder and arson are not only against the criminal law, but also intolerable by heaven. Lu Tingxiang formed a clique for personal gain, murdered and set fire, and conspired to rebel. Just based on these three charges, let alone his cousin is the governor, even if his cousin is the privy councilor, he should still be executed according to the law. The prefect Li Ji and Lu Tingxiang colluded with officials and bandits, and sooner or later they will die!"

At this point, Liu Xunyi finally understood the purpose of Feng Tianba's risky trip here, which was to investigate everything that happened in Lu Mansion today. Feng Tianba was a selfless captain, and his tenacity alone was enough to make Liu Xunyi feel a little favorable towards him.

Liu Xunyi was born in Tianji Pavilion, and he was a colleague of Feng Tianba, who was born in the army. Over the years, most of the officials he met were corrupt, from the officials of the East and West Prefectures to the officials of the prefectures and counties, and even the petty officials and constables in the yamen knew how to abuse their power for personal gain. How could he have ever met someone like Feng Tianba who was not afraid of power and still insisted on upholding the criminal law of the Song Dynasty?

Regarding Feng Tianba's righteous words, Liu Xunyi secretly sighed: "If the court of the Song Dynasty was full of upright officials like Feng Tianba, how could it have been corrupted in the first place? How could someone take advantage of the situation and seize half of the country? Alas!"

Liu Xunyi looked at Feng Tianba with a hint of admiration in his eyes, and asked meaningfully, "The Lu family has a strong background, and all officials in Jiangnan have received benefits from the Lu family. You are a small captain with no power or influence. It seems that you will not benefit from overstepping your authority to investigate him. Why do you have to give up your peaceful life and look for trouble?"

Feng Tianba stared at Liu Xunyi with disdain and said, "I eat the salary of the emperor and share his worries. Our Song Dynasty is now in internal and external troubles, and the war in the north is constant. How can we let the Jiangnan area become a country within a country again? Lu Tingxiang is just a warrior, but he can dominate the Jiangnan area. Isn't this the sadness of our Song Dynasty? Li Ji is in collusion with him. If I turn a blind eye, when Lu Tingxiang really raises his army to rebel, won't it be too late for the court to make up for the loss?"

"Rebellion?" Liu Xunyi looked at Feng Tianba in surprise and asked, "Where did you hear this rumor? Everything that happened in the Lu Mansion today was just a feud, how could it be a rebellion?" At this point, Liu Xunyi seemed to suddenly remember something, and hurriedly changed the subject, asking, "Today you said that someone tipped you off, reporting that someone in the Lu Mansion was plotting a rebellion, so you mobilized your troops to surround the Lu family, but who was the informer?"

Feng Tianba was stunned when he heard this, and asked suspiciously: "Don't you know?"

Liu Xunyi's eyes suddenly showed confusion, and he shook his head and said, "You never told me, so how can I know?"

"Don't play dumb in front of me." Feng Tianba snorted coldly, "At first I also thought that this might be a false alarm. After all, there is no solid evidence to prove that Lu Tingxiang was plotting a rebellion. But this afternoon, the people from the Lu Mansion suddenly took the informer away, and they haven't let him go until now. If Lu Tingxiang didn't have something to hide, why would he do this?"

Liu Xunyi frowned, thinking quickly about Feng Tianba's words, and asked hurriedly: "What do you mean? What do you mean the people from the Lu Mansion took the informer away? Do they know who informed you?"

"Of course the people in the Lu Mansion don't know, but the prefect Li Ji knows everything!" Feng Tianba said angrily, "Now I only regret telling Li Ji everything, but I didn't expect that Li Ji was also Lu Tingxiang's running dog."

"what happened?"

Feng Tianba saw that Liu Xunyi didn't look like he was faking it, so he pondered for a moment before slowly explaining, "Late last night, a waiter from the Fuman Inn came to the camp to find me and told me that someone asked him to pass on a message that Lu Tingxiang had secretly gathered a large number of people with the intention of rebelling, and that the Lu family had abused private punishment to kill people and silenced them, and they also privately made gunpowder. That person asked me to lead the troops to the Lu Mansion this morning, and break in after hearing the explosion, so that we could catch the people and the evidence. At that time, I also had doubts about this, but that person asked me to go to the Spring and Autumn Mansion and I would know the truth at a glance. So last night I sent people to spy on the Spring and Autumn Mansion, and indeed I saw many strangers carrying swords and knives gathered there. I knew that the Spring and Autumn Mansion was the foundation of the Lu family, so I guessed that this matter must be related to the Lu family. Because it is a serious matter, I would rather believe it than not. So I led the troops to the Lu Mansion this morning to find out the truth."

"So that's how it is!" Liu Xunyi nodded thoughtfully, thinking to himself, "It seems that Feng Tianba and the man in black are not in the same group. He is just being used by others."

"This afternoon, the Lu family sent people to the Fuman Inn to take away the messenger, and also searched the room where the informer lived from top to bottom." Feng Tianba said angrily, "The Lu family is not a government agency, what right does Lu Tingxiang have to do this? There is only one answer, that is, he has something to hide, so he wants to take revenge on the informer."

Liu Xunyi smiled bitterly and said, "So you want to sneak into Lu's mansion at night to find out what's going on?"

"As long as I find that servant and the dead body in the Lu residence, it will be irrefutable evidence, and Lu Tingxiang will no longer be able to deny it." Feng Tianba said, "Even if he didn't plot a rebellion, he must have done something else. When the time comes, we will capture him first and then we will know the truth."

Looking at Feng Tianba who was determined, Liu Xunyi shook his head and said, "Captain Feng, you really wronged Master Lu this time. He did not seek revenge on that fellow, but to find out the culprit who caused today's chaos. There are some things I cannot tell you, but I can be sure that the body you saw today was not killed by Master Lu, but by someone else. And that person is most likely the one who informed you behind the scenes."

Feng Tianba was slightly stunned, staring at Liu Xunyi with his deep tiger eyes, and asked faintly: "You seem to know something?"

"You and I are destined to meet. You might as well listen to me and stop investigating this matter." Liu Xunyi said seriously, "This matter is far from as simple as you think. If you investigate blindly, you will be the one who suffers in the end." Feng Tianba looked at Liu Xunyi and said, "From the tone of your speech, it seems that you are different from Lu Tingxiang and the others. You are not a treacherous and cunning person. Why don't you tell me everything you know? As for whether I will continue to investigate, you don't have to worry about it."

Liu Xunyi smiled softly and shook his head, "You know very well that there are some things I can't tell you."

"Why?" Feng Tianba stared at Liu Xunyi unwillingly and asked anxiously, "Do you want to watch Lu Tingxiang disregard the laws of the Song Dynasty, abuse lynching, and wantonly kill people?"

Liu Xunyi admires Feng Tianba's integrity, but at the same time feels helpless about his naivety.

Liu Xunyi knew that Feng Tianba would never listen to her advice. Feeling helpless, she did not want to explain too much, so she just said casually, "You'd better leave quickly. If the people from the Lu Mansion search elsewhere and find nothing, they will come back here sooner or later."

After saying that, Liu Xunyi was about to turn around and leave, but Feng Tianba suddenly held the blade horizontally, blocking his way and said coldly: "If you refuse to talk now, then I will have to take you back and torture you slowly!"

"Who do you think you are?" Liu Xunyi snorted impatiently, "As a captain, you should just train your soldiers. When will it be your turn to take care of other things? You said Lu Tingxiang ignored the criminal law of the Song Dynasty, and now you are abusing private punishment, aren't you?"

"I have investigated this matter. You must come with me tonight!" Feng Tianba pressed the cold blade tightly against Liu Xunyi's neck and said in a deep voice, "It seems that you are also a reasonable person. Don't refuse a toast and force me to take action!"

"Put your knife away!"

Just as Feng Tianba threatened Liu Xunyi, a sharp blade suddenly emerged from the darkness and silently placed itself on Feng Tianba's neck. Then, Lin Fangda, who looked pale, slowly emerged from the fierce moonlight.

"Brother?" Liu Xunyi was surprised to see Lin Fang suddenly appear at the meeting.

“Don’t let me say it again.” Lin Fangda stared at Feng Tianba with a gloomy look and said viciously, “I’ll count to three. If you don’t let my brother go, I’ll chop off your head with a knife. I don’t care if you are Captain Feng or Captain Ma!”

Feng Tianba obviously didn't buy it, and shouted angrily: "How dare you threaten the imperial official? You people are really lawless! If you have the guts, do it. If I die, he won't be able to live either!" As he spoke, Feng Tianba put the blade closer to Liu Xunyi's throat again, as if he was ready to die together with her.

"Okay! Then let's do it together and see which one is faster, my knife or yours?" Lin Fangda winked at Liu Xunyi, then said with a cold grin, "I'll start counting now, don't shake your hands, one, two..."

Before Lin Fang could count to three, Liu Xunyi suddenly moved to the side. Before Feng Tianba could hurriedly draw his knife, Liu Xunyi stretched out his left hand first and instantly grabbed Feng Tianba's right wrist. Then he stretched out two fingers of his right hand and quickly tapped Feng Tianba's arm. Feng Tianba only felt his five fingers go numb and the dagger fell.

Liu Xunyi caught the dagger with his right hand, and then the blade drew a beautiful arc in the air. With a light "clang" sound, the dagger landed steadily on Feng Tianba's shoulder, but did not hurt him at all.

In an instant, Feng Tianba was caught in the dilemma of being attacked from both sides, with a knife on each side of his neck, feeling very uncomfortable.

"Now that I'm in your hands, you can kill me or chop me up as you please!" Feng Tianba calmed himself, closed his eyes, and just gave it his all.

"Brother, how should we deal with him? It's up to you whether to kill him or not?" Lin Fangda asked in a deep voice.

Liu Xunyi looked at Feng Tianba who was breathing rapidly, and was silent for a moment. Suddenly, he turned his wrist and handed the dagger back to Feng Tianba. Feng Tianba looked at the handle of the knife in front of him, his face full of confusion. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.

"Go now!" Liu Xunyi stuffed the dagger into Feng Tianba's hand and said calmly, "People in the martial arts world are not all evil as you say. We are talking about morality and justice. We can even distinguish right from wrong and understand things better than you government officials. I know better than you who should be killed and who should not be killed!"

"You..." Feng Tianba, who escaped death, felt his throat tighten and he was speechless.

"You provoked me today, and I'm willing to let you go. But that doesn't mean that if you provoke Lu Tingxiang, he will let you go." Liu Xunyi personally pushed Lin Fangda's knife away from Feng Tianba's neck and said lightly, "You can't defeat the Jiangnan Lu family, and your suspicion was wrong from the beginning. I have said everything I should say, and whether you listen or not is your own business. Captain Feng, take care of yourself!"

After saying that, under Feng Tianba's thoughtful gaze, Liu Xunyi and Lin Fangda were the first to leave the dark alley, turned around and disappeared into the end of the night.

Feng Tianba stared blankly at the direction where Liu Xunyi was going. After a long while, he said unwillingly, "I will investigate the matter of the Lu Mansion thoroughly and will never give up! Never!"

……

(End of this chapter)