The Young Swordsman of Dalu

The shop owner went upstairs and woke up the guests in their rooms. Many guests complained, "Why did you wake us up when we were all asleep?"

The shop owner could only appease them, saying, "There's nothing I can do about the housekeeper's affairs. Please forgive me."

The shop owner knocked on Li Wei's door again. Li Wei pretended to be lazy and had just gotten up, yawning: "Boss, is something wrong?"

"Please forgive me, madam, but the steward has ordered everyone to go to the lobby," the shop owner said apologetically.

Liang Feiyan recognized the voice as Li Wei's while in the room. She quickly opened the door and looked in the direction of the voice, and sure enough, it was Li Wei.

Liang Feiyan rushed to Li Weishi's side: "Weishi, we've been looking for you for so long."

Shangguan Xingyun followed her out and ran towards Li Wei.

"Sister Feiyan, Sister Shangguan, you've both come!" Li Wei said happily.

“Miss Li, you are indeed here. It seems the soldiers below are coming for us,” Wenjie said.

“They’re after me. As long as I go with them, you’ll be safe. Young Master Wen, don’t worry about me. When the fighting starts, try your best to escape,” Li Wei said.

“If we’re going to leave, we’ll leave together! If we’re going to stay, we’ll stay together!” Wenjie said.

“Yes!” the other three said in unison.

"Let's get ready to fight!" Sang Ziqi said.

"Sirs, please don't talk nonsense. As long as you haven't done anything against our country's laws, the officials won't arrest you unreasonably. Please come with me downstairs," the shop owner said.

"Hmph! Your steward arrested us!" Wenjie said.

"Boss! Have all the people come down?" the head guard shouted in the lobby.

"They'll all be down there right away!" the shop owner replied.

“We can’t put the shop owner in a difficult position. It’s not easy for him to do business either. Let’s go downstairs,” Wenjie said.

"Thank you for your understanding, sir!" The shop owner expressed his deepest gratitude.

The head guard watched as Wenjie and the others came down from upstairs, and they all got into position.

"Sir, can we let these people go upstairs? It wouldn't be good if they started fighting and hurt innocent people," Wenjie said, pointing to the guests coming down from upstairs.

"All of you, go up!" the head guard said, pointing to the people in the hall.

The shop owner led the guests back upstairs and told them to stay in their rooms and not to come out, lest their lives be in danger.

"I've had the worst luck imaginable!" the shop owner said sadly from a corner.

"Sir, let's go outside. The inn is too small; we can't move around freely here!" Wenjie said.

"You have quite a lot of demands! None of you will escape once you leave! Get out!" the head guard said.

Wenjie winked at Sang Ziqi and the others, and they all followed Wenjie out of the inn.

"Why are you arresting us, sir? What law of the Northern Dynasty have we violated?" Wenjie asked.

"You're from the State of Lu, aren't you?"

"Yes!"

"I told you you were spies sent by the Great Lu Kingdom to my Northern Dynasty to gather intelligence on our country, and that's enough," the head guard said smugly.

"There's nothing more to say. If you want to find fault, you can always find a reason! It seems you've come here today to arrest us. Fine! Since you disregard the friendly agreement we just signed and insist on going your own way, then we, the people of Lu, are not to be trifled with. We will not tolerate this humiliation. Come on!" Wenjie drew his sword and took a fighting stance.

"Capture him alive!" The imperial guards rushed forward.

Inside the Northern Dynasty's imperial palace, Murong Bo was still reviewing memorials when a young eunuch hurriedly entered from outside.

"Your Majesty! Something terrible has happened! Eunuch Wang has ordered the imperial guards to arrest someone at Shengfeng Inn!"

"What's the panic? Go and keep an eye on things, and report to me immediately." Murong Bo continued reviewing the memorials without stopping.

The spies from the Great Lu Kingdom in Yancheng quickly relayed the news that the Northern Dynasty wanted to arrest Li Wei back to Beijiang City. Upon receiving the news, Shangguan Chenxing flew into a rage: "Well done, Murong Bo! I was too lenient with you. You dare to touch the people of my Great Lu Kingdom? I will raze your Yancheng to the ground!"

Wang Xiao had transferred all the imperial guards from the Northern Dynasty, and it was indeed difficult for Wenjie and his five men to fight against hundreds of people. After several hours, almost everyone was injured.

Wenjie and his four companions were surrounded by the imperial guards of the Northern Dynasty, and they huddled together back to back.

"Listen to me, everyone. I'll fight my way out in a moment. You all need to seize the opportunity and escape as quickly as possible. Every one of you who manages to escape is a lifeline," Wenjie said tragically.

"Young Master Wen, I want to go with you!" Liang Feiyan said firmly.

“Let’s all do it together!” Shangguan Xingyun said.

"I'm so sorry everyone, I've dragged you all into this. If I go with them, maybe you'll be safe," Li Wei said sadly.

“Only my sister, none of us will escape today. They want to capture us all and use us as bargaining chips,” Liang Feiyan said.

Wenjie looked at Liang Feiyan. He didn't expect that Liang Feiyan had the same idea as him. Liang Feiyan met Wenjie's gaze and looked at him firmly. Wenjie's face immediately felt hot.

“Since they’ve already caught us, let’s just let them catch us and see what they’re up to,” Wenjie said.

“I think it’s a good idea!” Sang Ziqi said.

Wenjie and his companions threw their swords and knives on the ground. The head guard and his men, seeing Wenjie's actions, could hardly believe that they would do such a thing.

"You're not fighting anymore? Have you surrendered?" the head guard asked.

“Let me correct you. We just don’t want to make unnecessary sacrifices. Isn’t your goal to capture us? Grant your wish and take us away. We’ve been fighting for several hours. We’re tired and need to rest,” Wenjie said.

"You can do that? Take them all away!" the head guard said in disbelief.

"Eunuch Wang and his men have all been brought along."

"Bring it up!" Wang Xiao ordered.

Wenjie and the others were brought before Wang Xiao. Wang Xiao carefully examined the five people in front of him, and Wenjie and the others looked at Wang Xiao with curiosity.

“I see that you are all extraordinary! Tell me who you are?” Wang Xiao sat down in the armchair, picked up his tea and took a sip.

Wenjie stood in front, staring directly at Wang Xiao, who was frightened by his sharp gaze.

"I told you to speak! Hurry up!" Wang Xiao said impatiently.

"When did eunuchs come to power in your Northern Dynasty? Didn't you have any ministers in charge of this matter? Your new emperor is just a puppet emperor after all!" Wenjie said disdainfully.

"Nonsense! Slap yourself!" Wang Xiao said angrily.

A guard stepped forward and was about to slap Wenjie when Wenjie grabbed his hand, saying, "Kid, if you slap me like that, I'll pay you back tenfold, a hundredfold, you believe me?"

"Beat him!" Wang Xiao shouted, losing his composure.

"Slap!" A slap landed on Wenjie's face.

"You've got guts! Grandpa's gotta remember this!" Wenjie said through gritted teeth.

"Throw them all into jail and await further instructions!" Wang Xiao shouted frantically.