Flower Stealing Master

Chapter 203: A love triangle

The voices of the fifteen bandits were full of ridicule as they sneered at their opponents, "What Flying Steeds Security Service? It may have been true to that name in the past, but it definitely doesn’t live up to the word ‘Flying Steeds' after falling into the hands of this man surnamed Xu. You should really change its name to ‘Running Dog Security Service’!"

"This guy only has two hands and three legs in name. He should’ve just opted to raise a baby at home, but he decided to go outside to embarrass himself."

"Hey, surnamed Xu, kneel down and kowtow three times, and our eldest brother might spare your pitiful life."

"You’re so stupid and useless. Why don't you buy a piece of tofu and kill yourself!"

"His master was a famous martial artist in the wulin in the past, but even with the nine darts, this weakling tarnished the name of his master."

"I think his wife is ten times stronger than him. It really is a flower in the cow dung! What a waste! It's enough to make people feel angry."

*****

Song Qingshu calmly listened to everything from the sideline. He inferred that this couple was probably Xu Zheng and Ma Chunhua from the novel "The Young Flying Fox".

Xu Zheng was just a minor character, he was nothing important, but Ma Chunhua was very famous. In the story, she was dissatisfied with her marriage, so when she saw Fukang'an, who was handsome and suave, she actually lost her chastity to him by accident, which made a lot of readers very unhappy. In the end, she still had to marry her senior brother Xu Zheng.

"Fukang'an's son?" Song Qingshu sneered as he looked down at the two sleeping babies in front of him.

"Lord, do you want to save them? From the way it looks, they won’t last for long." Zhang Kangnian came over and quietly asked.

"Let's observe the situation first." Song Qingshu shook his head. From their words just now, he understood that these bandits clearly knew about Xu Zheng's identity. Not only did they know the origins of his master, but they also knew how many darts he had in his sleeve.

The bandits were extremely ruthless when it came to insulting Xu Zheng, but they didn’t offend Ma Chunhua or her deceased father, and even seemed quite respectful. These bandits were quite ruthless and well informed, and their martial arts were far superior to this couple as well. So he couldn't help but secretly wonder, ‘Although these people can't be considered as first-rate masters in the wulin, but with their level of martial arts, they must be quite famous figures. It’s quite evident from their actions, that they are definitely not after mere 9,000 taels of silver. What is their purpose?’

In fact, Song Qingshu was not as familiar with the plot of "The Young Flying Fox" as he was with Jin Yong’s other famous novels, and he was feeling quite suspicious.

Suddenly there was a loud scream, and blood started to flow from Xu Zheng's thighs. The bandit leader raised his leg, kicked Xu Zheng to the ground, stepped on his chest, and sneered, "I don't want your life, as long as I destroy your martial arts, I will forgive you for not having eyes, and fooling such a beauty."

Xu Zheng was feeling frightened and angry, his chest felt heavy, and he couldn’t even give a reply.

Ma Chunhua shouted, “Friends, if you want the darts, then take them. We had no grievances with you in the past, and we have no recent grudges. Is there any need for bloodshed?"

A sword-wielding bandit smiled and said, "Miss Ma, you are a good person, so you should mind your own business."

Ma Chunhua said, "What does it mean to mind my own business? He's my husband!"

Xu Zheng felt moved in his heart when he heard her declaration, but when he thought of his current embarrassed state, he felt even more ashamed.

An old man among the bandits said, "We just despise his uselessness. How can a person such as him be allowed to have such a talented and beautiful woman as Miss Ma as his wife! This is a great injustice!"

‘It looks like their aim is Ma Chunhua…’ Song Qingshu finally understood, ‘Ma Chunhua, this name really…has a certain unique feeling. She's also quite exceptional in both appearance and figure. It's just that, although she is beautiful, she’s not at the level of a country toppling beauty… Ah, could it be Fukang'an?’ Song Qingshu's mind raced, and he had already guessed the origin of this incident.

"My Junior Sister and I are in love with each other, why does it need to be justified to a bunch of evil bandits." Xu Zheng spat out a mouthful of blood and immediately cursed out loud.

The bandit leader's eyes turned cold, and he sneered: "You are such a useless waste, and you will only humiliate yourself by living in this world." As soon as his voice fell, he put strength on his foot, which resulted in an unpleasant ‘crunch’ sound. Xu Zheng let out a mournful scream, and suddenly stopped breathing.

"Senior Brother!" Ma Chunhua, who was already fuming with anger, became so excited that she lost consciousness.

"Let's go!" The bandit leader just motioned for his subordinates to take Ma Chunhua away, but noticed that Song Qingshu had stood up at that exact moment.

Song Qingshu had sensed that the situation was going out of hand, and by the time he realized, it was already too late for him to make a move. So, he could only watch as Xu Zheng died tragically. But Xu Zheng was just a passerby to him, if he died, then so be it. They were barely considered acquaintances. However, Song Qingshu couldn't just watch Ma Chunhua being taken away like that in front of him.

The bandit group had been on guard against Song Qingshu and the others from the start. Seeing that he was about to take action, the bandits decided to make a pre-emptive strike. Song Qingshus's every step was incessant like a flowing river as his body passed throught his opponents like smoke, and several of the bandits fell down, unable to even make a sound.

The bandit leader felt a chill in his heart, and he understood that the opponent's martial arts were too much higher than his own, so he took out some poison needles from his sleeves and shot them at the corner of the wall.

Seeing that the twin babies were now covered with poisonous needles, Song Qingshu became stunned. He never thought that these people would even attack the babies! According to his speculation, this group of bandits should be Fukang'an's subordinates, how dare they hurt Fukang'an's own flesh and blood! But how could Song Qingshu know that Fukang'an himself didn't know that he had two sons in the wild, so how would these subordinates know?

The bandit leader thought that the twins were Xu Zheng's sons, so he shot the poison needles at them with the intention of cutting the grass and pulling out the roots, and while Song Qingshu was stunned, he led his men to hold Ma Chunhua hostage and escaped.

At this moment, Song Qingshu felt extremely hesitant, if he went after Ma Chunhua, the two babies in front of him would definitely lose their lives. However, Song Qingshu felt that he would be in too much of a loss, if he saved them. They were obviously fruits of Fukang'an's sin, and if the heavens wanted them to die, why should he even bother with saving them? Maybe he still had a chance to practice Joyful Meditation with Ma Chunhua after rescuing her. Was there any benefit to saving these two children?

Although he thought so in his heart, Song Qingshu finally sighed and chose to save the two children. He and Fukang'an were indeed enemies and not friends. Between the two, they could be upright, or they could use conspiracy to fight to the death. Who would be the final winner depended on their own ability. On the contrary, if these two little innocent lives were allowed to die before his eyes, it would leave a lifetime of psychological shadows in Song Qingshu’s heart, and the gains would outweigh the losses.

He pulled the poison needles out of the children with the use of his True Qi, and then took out the poison-relieving pill given to him by the Poison King. He divided it into two halves, melted it with water, and quickly fed it to the two children. Fortunately, they were just ordinary poison needles. Seeing that the skin color of the two children gradually turned to normal, Song Qingshu breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhang Kangnian and Zhao Qixian, who were on the side, whispered to each other, "Didn't you just say that Lord Song's methods were clever and he would use a borrowed knife to kill people. You said that he would sit and watch as the bandits killed the woman's husband, and then rush to help the woman who is lonely and helpless, so it would be easier to do… uh, you understand right?."

"Silence, don't let Lord Song hear you. I never imagined that Lord Song would give up on a beauty for two useless babies…"

"What are you two muttering over there?" Song Qingshu listened to their nonsense, and became speechless.

"Ah, Lord…we're just talking about your high morals, and your righteous heart!"

"Yeah, not only do you have a high status, but you also have a kind heart, which is admirable!"

Zhang Kangnian and Zhao Qixian cooperated smoothly, and they didn't look like they were gossiping just now.

"Okay, okay!" Even Song Qingshu, who had a skin thicker than the city wall, couldn’t bear all the praise. He coughed, looked at the guards and asked, "Have you recognized the origin of this group of people?"

"Lord, I know one of the bandits who seems to be working in Shengjing." A guard respectfully replied.

“As expected, it seems that Ma Chunhua is not in any danger for the time being.” Song Qingshu looked back at the two children, and thought in his heart, ‘These two little babies might be able to play an unexpected role in Shengjing…’

Song Qingshu and his party were all men, and the two babies kept crying and causing trouble, making the group of rough men feel helpless. Song Qingshu could feel the resentment of his guards increasing day by day, after looking for milk and changing diapers. After arriving in Shengjing, he immediately sent someone to find a wet-nurse, so that they could finally relax.

"I'm going out for a walk. You've been working hard during this period of time. I want you to rest and relax. Maybe you’ll have something to do in the next few days." Song Qingshu changed into a set of clean clothes and told everyone before going out.

Zhang Kangnian and Zhao Qixian ran over, "Lord Song, let us go with you. You may need someone to take care of you on the way."

"No need, this place is full of dangers, and it’ll be more efficient if I go by myself." Song Qingshu politely refused, and ran to the vicinity of Prince Bao's mansion alone. Finally, he sat down in a tea house near the gate, and thoughtfully stared at the various people who came in and out.

Suddenly Song Qingshu's eyes narrowed, and he saw a beautiful young woman come out of Prince Bao's mansion, wearing a green brocade dress. It was none other than—Nan Lan, who he had saved in the past.

Song Qingshu was deeply impressed by this fair-skinned and beautiful woman. Not only did she abandon her husband and daughter, and eloped with her lover Tian Guinong, but more importantly, she had a certain unique temperament. If he had to say it, he would use the words supple and sultry to describe her nature.

Song Qingshu suddenly thought of something, got up and quietly followed her.

Looking at her mature and plump backside, Song Qingshu sighed, ‘You are a woman who was born in the wrong era. If you were born in the modern age, you would be famous, and known by thousands of people. A woman like you would be treated like a goddess with just a little talent and flare.’

Then he thought of Lin Huiy*n, who spent her life between three men and married the mature and stable Liang Sich*ng in the end. In her lifetime, she was with the literary scholar Xu Zh*mo and the son of an aristocratic family Jin Yuel*n. One mistreated his wife for her, and the other never married because of her. It was a famous love triangle. However, a hundred years later, she was regarded as a model of a goddess. (G: She’s a real person. Google her if you want to know more.)

"I won't talk about that scumbag Xu Zh*mo. But…Old Jin, you were a handsome and rich man, but you sacrificed your life for Lin Huiy*n, was it really worth it?" Song Qingshu expressed his feelings and let out a long sigh.

"Who?" Nan Lan trembled, turned around vigilantly, and her expression became happy when she saw Song Qingshu, "Young Master Song, is that you?"

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