Chapter 90: The Perverse Delight of the Ultimate Libertine, Bullying Men and Tyrannizing Women

At dawn, the morning light broke across the sky, and the clouds of sunrise blazed in response.

The gate tower stood tall, with upturned eaves and curved corners. Before the city gates, traffic surged like a river, flowing on for who knew how many li.

On both sides of the gate passage, merchants and traders gathered in crowds, while all kinds of hawkers set up stalls and shouted their wares for passing travelers to buy provisions and rest.

Every sort of ornate carriage hung with wind chimes and jade ornaments, flaunting the power of their masters.

Soldiers stood ready with spears and shields. The minor officials at the gate were adept at shifting between two faces, flattering those above and bullying those below with practiced ease.

Then, from afar, a man appeared.

He rode a tall warhorse and did not dismount. A broad mountain-splitting axe lay on his shoulder, utterly unhidden, and he made his way through the crowd at an unhurried pace, as though strolling in his own courtyard.

Brazen was one thing.

He even cut the line, and the line he cut was the carriage of the Grand Commandant's residence.

A servant from the Grand Commandant's household was just about to curse him, but after a closer look, the words died on his lips.

The younger gate official stared until his eyes nearly popped out. The more he looked, the more familiar the man seemed...

Then he glanced back at the wanted notice posted on the city wall by the gate.

Chen Cong...

Dead or alive, a reward of one thousand taels of gold, and a grant of the title Marquis within the Passes!

Had he stumbled onto a fortune today?

The corners of his mouth slowly lifted, and his smile grew ever more unrestrained.

"Boss, look at that man..."

The older one rubbed his eyes, sucked in a sharp breath, and without the slightest hesitation, quickly stepped aside.

"Boss? That man is..." the younger gate official tried to explain.

Crack!

"Aaah!"

The whip split the air and cracked across his face, tearing the flesh open. Warm blood streamed down as a searing pain followed.

The gate official was just about to draw his blade when he saw that all the other gate officials standing watch with him had already retreated.

He turned his head again.

Beside the wanted man now rode a detachment of cavalry on tall horses, with a string of beast teeth hanging from each horse's neck.

The leader barked, "What are you gawking at? Move aside at once!"

"Military lord, this man..." The gate official raised a hand to point at Chen Cong, but the man lashed him again with his whip, knocking him flat to the ground.

"What kind of filthy wretch are you, daring to point that dog hand at the invincible general? Get out of the way!"

Then he extended a hand and said, "General, please."

Chen Cong nodded, reached out his mountain-splitting axe, and hooked the protruding spike at the head of the blade into the fallen gate official's lapel.

With a light tug, he hauled the man upright.

Afterward, he urged his horse forward and smiled back as he instructed the cavalry behind him, "A Zhuo, we're all just trying to make a living. No need to be so hot-tempered."

"The General is benevolent."

"Hahaha, well said, well said."

The A Zhuo Chen Cong was speaking of was none other than his good brother, with whom he often drank chicken soup together: Cheng Zhuo, the military staff officer of the Right Camp of the Flying Bear. Niu Fu could not come in person, but he had spared no effort in giving face. Since Chen Cong was headed to Luoyang, Niu Fu had assigned a detachment of Flying Bear cavalry to serve as his escort, and Cheng Zhuo was one of them. The remaining forty-nine were all the elite of the Flying Bear.

As Chen Cong rode into Luoyang with great pomp and swagger,

Cheng Zhuo shot the gate official a fierce glare. With a wave of his hand, the Flying Bear cavalry stepped forward and tore down Chen Cong's wanted notice.

Then they formed ranks and followed behind him into the city.

The young gate official clutched both cheeks.

It hurt!

But no matter how hard he thought, he could not make sense of it: since when did fugitives dare to strut through the streets so openly?

What he understood even less was why the seniors, who usually held their noses in the air, all seemed to have changed overnight...

"Xiao Chen," the older man said kindly, "does it hurt?"

"Boss? That man..."

The older official said solemnly, "If it hurts, remember it. In our line of work, you have to keep your eyes sharp. You must know whom you can provoke and whom you cannot. Some people, once offended, leave you no room to regret it. Do you know who that was?"

Mounted on a fine horse, with beast-teeth ornaments hanging from his tack...

The young gate official blurted out, "Flying Bear!"

"You fool! However arrogant the Flying Bear may be, it does not kill without orders. Why would they truly bother with us? The man leading the horse was your own ancestor, the very Chen Invincible that those beaten-up remnants who fled back from the east fear like tigers!"

The young gate official stood there, mouth agape, unable at once to digest the flood of information.

Chen Cong? A fugitive? Chen Invincible? Escorted by the Flying Bear?

This man...

Wasn't this man an enemy general?

The older gate official had already left him behind and strode up with a stern face to block the carriage of the Grand Commandant's household.

"What are you looking at? Everyone out. Submit to inspection!"

"You blind cur! How dare you stop the Grand Commandant's carriage?"

Without another word, the older gate official swung his scabbard and slammed it hard into the servant's face, then sneered, "I am inspecting you people in particular!"

How does one keep one's eyes sharp?

Naturally, by reading the wind and following the current, by flattering the powerful and yielding to the tide.

They might look lowly, but in truth they were deeply connected across every walk of life and the most well informed of all.

The Grand Tutor wanted to move the capital, and the court ministers opposed it. As for kicking the weak and currying favor with the strong, did that need to be said?

If he offended Grand Commandant Huang Wan today, who was to say he would not be appointed city gate commandant tomorrow?

The great capital remained the same.

Yet compared with the city as he remembered it, it had lost some of its peace and gained a little more restlessness.

The streets were in turmoil, and it was not uncommon for bandit soldiers to rob civilians in broad daylight.

The place before the Jade and Crimson Pavilion was still crowded as ever. The madam called out to customers from the street, and the long red ribbon she waved still writhed with the same sultry grace.

When she saw Chen Cong ride past, her face showed a hint of distaste. Then, when she saw the imposing Flying Bear cavalry following behind him, her expression turned pale.

Chen Cong pulled his horse to a stop and smiled. "Sister Hong, what is it? We haven't seen each other in half a year, and you don't recognize me?"

"Young Master Chen, ahem, Young Master Chen has returned to Luoyang? My, you have risen to high office." Sister Hong forced a smile, though she was not especially worried.

They had once had grudges, but in her mind, officials all cared about face. How could they possibly lower themselves to quarrel with her and her humble trade in the pleasure quarters?

Sure enough, Chen Cong did not grow angry.

He adjusted his collar and smiled. "Back then, I must thank Sister Hong and the pleasure houses of Luoyang for refusing to play with me. Because of my self-restraint, I have now undergone a complete transformation and become the Grand Tutor's grandson-in-law. Surprised? Delighted?"

Sister Hong was stunned. Her pupils slowly widened, and a strong unease began to churn within them.

Wasn't this man the son-in-law of the fugitive Cao Cao? How had he become the grandson-in-law of the devil king?

And that old disgrace from years ago, he had just brought it up so casually in the middle of the street?

This matter was likely no longer something that could be settled lightly.

She was already thinking about how to apologize...

She forced a smile and said, "Young Master Chen, what are you saying? A misunderstanding, all of it a misunderstanding. Miss Yingying still thinks of you often. Please come visit whenever you have time."

Chen Cong no longer smiled.

"Pah! Yingying is so precious she only sees princes and nobles, is that not so? I have never even laid eyes on her. What would she be thinking of me for? Enough. I am too lazy to waste words with you. Before noon, prepare a jade core as large as a bushel to make amends, and I will let the matter rest. Otherwise, you can wait for your doors to be shut."

Sister Hong froze for a moment, then was overjoyed.

She hurriedly said, "Yes, yes, certainly, I will have it prepared."

Though a jade core as large as a bushel was valuable, it was nothing compared with the daily profits of the Jade and Crimson Pavilion.

Chen Cong was also thoroughly satisfied as he rode away.

Truly, the same people could create a hundred different scenes.

When he had been the prospective son-in-law of the Cavalry Commandant, a descendant of Marquis Chen Ping of Qu Ni, he still had to keep his tail between his legs in Luoyang.

Under the emperor's very feet, there were simply too many nobles and high officials.

Take the Jade and Crimson Pavilion, for instance. Backed by the Wei clan of Hedong, even the way they received customers was with their nostrils turned high. Let alone extorting valuables from them, even asking to run up a tab after a night of pleasure was impossible.

And now? He had demanded a jade core to her face, and she still felt she had come out ahead...

All because he was now the grandson-in-law of the devil king.

Chen Cong had never intended to behave modestly in the first place.

Hadn't that traitorous Cao said it himself?

Family should never be treated like outsiders. The less formal you are, the less you treat them as outsiders, the closer you prove yourself to be.

Now that he had come to Luoyang territory...

Perfect.

Chen Cong also wanted a taste of the supreme pleasure of being a dissolute young lord who bullied men and women alike.