The Black Horse

Wen Tao, You Bastard! (4)

Translated by Wook
Edited by sienz

Wen Tao had been rolling around in a pile of women for a long time. He had taken in a lot of concubines, but there was a secret hidden in his heart for a long time now.

So he waved his hand passionately towards Bai Shiqi on the bow of the ship.

Bai Shiqi immediately responded more enthusiastically.

The people who followed Wen Tao were stunned. They had never seen the two being so harmonious and intimate like this. It was more disturbing than seeing them fighting. They all took a step back and whispered: “Could it be that Bai Shiqi has prepared some dirty tricks this time around?”

“Look at him smiling! It’s a smile filled with bad intentions!”

“Don’t tell me he wants to scheme against our young leader again, so as to let the leader beat up the young leader again?”

“Looking at him smiling so happily, like a weasel greeting the chicken for the New Year, it must be true!”

[T/N: Imagine how happy a weasel would be to find food in the chicken. Basically it means the smile harbors bad intention]

Everyone nodded as they agreed with the man’s opinion and they responded spiritedly.

Wen Tao and Bai Shiqi were always fighting each other. Now that they suddenly got along like brothers, the subordinates on both sides only felt like their hearts were being hanged. They were not convinced that there was true affection between the two.

The ship was docked. Bai Shiqi was the first to slip down from the bow, and landed in front of Wen Tao, then like a close friend who had reunited after a long absence: “Brother Wen, I really missed you after such a long time. This little brother almost couldn’t see you anymore!”

Wen Tao also heard that she was almost killed by the pirates last winter. She looked thinner than before and her eyes were bigger. No matter how angry he was, after hearing her sincerity, he no longer felt scheming like usual, and half-jokingly said: “I heard Uncle said to my father that even the King of Hell disliked you because you’re too naughty, so he kicked you out of the gates of hell so the two old parents could take you back.”

Bai Shiqi showed an expression of having lingering fear just right, not too exaggerated: “That couldn’t be more true! When I was soaking in the icy river water, thinking that my life would be over and no one would be able to take care of my parents back home, I immediately thought of you, Brother Wen. With the friendship between our two families, Brother Wen is the only one who can be trusted. I was rude in the past, I hope Big Brother Wen will be gracious like an adult, enough to disregard our former hatred, and forgive my ignorance!” She also bowed to him appropriately.

When these words fell into Wen Tao’s ears, his heart felt very much at peace, and he held her arms: “You and I are brothers, no need to act so unfamiliar!”

Wen Tao was originally outspoken and unruly. He argued the most with Bai Shiqi since childhood. But the fight between the two became one of the joys of his life. No entanglement without hatred. Since Bai Shiqi had come to the salt group domain and personally raised a white flag, he had no reason to raise one as well. He then hugged her shoulders: “Let’s go, let’s go. Since you’re in Yancheng, this big brother will take you to play around!”

Bai Shiqi was hugged by him and walked a few steps before she stopped, and said as if she had just remembered, “Wait a minute, Brother Wen!”

Wen Tao said in his heart: Sure enough, it is not easy to get Bai Shiqi to surrender once.

He pretended not to know, and said with a smile: “What’s the matter? Didn’t you come there to play with this brother?”

Bai Shiqi said solemnly, “I’m here this time, besides asking reminiscing about the past, there is something else I need to trouble Brother Wen for help with.”

Wen Tao secretly thought: It’s coming! The main dish is about to be served!

Someone as prideful as Bai Shiqi, who was as tough as stone before him… If she were a little softer and pleaded to him a little, he would’ve dug two less pits and maybe beat her twice less.

However, Bai Shiqi showed all kinds of emotion without restraint in front of others, but in front of him, she had to forcefully maintain her self-esteem, which made him feel extremely uncomfortable, and this led him to dig more pits for her to fall in.

Wen Tao always thought that in his lifetime he would never see Bai Shiqi be soft with him and beg him for help, but he didn’t expect that times had truly changed!

In an instant, Wen Tao almost burst into tears with excitement, but he stopped this dangerous emotion in time, let go of her shoulders calmly, and blocked her with other words: “Aiyah, why do we brothers have to be so estranged? As long as it is something this brother can do, I will surely do my best.” He never asked Bai Shiqi what was the matter, and was only eager to take her to eat, drink, and have fun.

Bai Shiqi didn’t dare to count on Wen Tao. All this time she was just maintaining courtesy to pave a way for this trip. She spat inwardly: …He’s going all out to make me fall into a pit, right!?

“Brother, don’t be in a hurry. I have friends here, let me introduce you.” Bai Shiqi smiled and stopped Wen Tao, who had already arranged for drinks and music.

While talking, Zhao Wujiu also got off the ship in a wheelchair, followed by two guards, whom he had arranged personally, and Luo Dajue, who led a team into the city to explore the truth.

“This is His Highness Prince Zhou.” They had discussed it on the way here. Luo Dajue’s identity alone could not win the trust of the salt group, so Zhao Wujiu preferred to use his prince identity from the beginning, which would be more convenient for them to do things.

The collusion between officials and businessmen in Jiangnan salt road was rotten to the core. If the imperial court was determined to rectify the Lianghuai salt road, whoever that had anything to do with the word ‘salt’, whether it was the salt group or the officials who were directly involved in the Lianghuai salt road, would be rectified. This might cause misgivings in the hearts of the people. Therefore, at this moment, Prince Zhou needed to step up and state his position.

Although Wen Tao didn’t know the intentions of Prince Zhou, he didn’t like the current official (imperial) family. There were so many men who suffered to make ends meet in Lianghuai, only to be exploited by officials.

He laughed with a devilish expression and said: “I didn’t expect you to have such a wide range of friends. You even know the imperial prince.”

If Bai Shiqi came to him for herself, he would try his best to fulfill it for her no matter what. But to beg him so humbly for the sake of other men inevitably made Wen Tao spit out piercing words.

However, Bai Shiqi’s attitude was surprisingly good today. She didn’t pierce him back and said politely: “As a family of a shipping group, it is inevitable to come into contact with many kinds of people. By coincidence, I met Prince Zhou on my return trip from the capital last time. However, this time, Prince Zhou came to Yancheng because he needs to find someone, that’s why we need Brother Wen’s help.”

Wen Tao didn’t pat his chest and give his promises immediately. He merely smiled with a profound meaning: “No need to worry with this big brother here. Let’s fill our stomach first.”

Seeing that he made it clear that he didn’t want to continue, Bai Shiqi didn’t force him: “If that’s the case, then let’s talk about it after a meal.”

Wen Tao was usually a lively host. He often invited friends to drink and listen to music. Today, Bai Shiqi brought someone to him so meekly, making him very happy. The guests were only Bai Shiqi and Zhao Wujiu, but he called in ten or more people to accompany them.

When she got to the wine table, Bai Shiqi knew that it was a Hongmen banquet today.

[Hongmen banquet: banquet set up with the aim of murdering the guest. Sometimes literal ‘murder’, sometimes just ‘to do something that will put the guest into a disadvantage’]

She showed her weaknesses very thoroughly today, and took the lead to raise her glass to apologize to Wen Tao: “I have offended you many times before. Today, I will punish myself with three cups. May Brother Wen be magnanimous and won’t bother with the past mistakes anymore!”

She drank three cups in a row. Some of the youths who were called by Wen Tao to accompany them were those who usually could only gritted their teeth behind her back and cursed Bai Shiqi for how loathsome and irritating she was. Surprised by her sudden change, they immediately started jeering, ignoring the crippled Zhao Wujiu, and started offering her drinks for many kinds of reasons.

Wen Tao who was sitting opposite of Bai Shiqi didn’t stop them nor did he make fun of her. He just smiled and watched with a face that expressed “you come to Laozi’s place, you have to bear the consequences yourself”.

If it was in the past, Bai Shiqi would’ve quit trying to talk to Wen Tao earlier. However, this matter was very important. Not only she had to plaster a sincere expression that spoke “Aiyah, it is a blessing for three lifetimes to be able to drink with you” on her face to welcome these foolishly cute youths who asked her to drink, she didn’t even have time to fill her stomach with the dishes prepared on the table as alcohol kept coming like drinking water.

The people invited by Wen Tao were all high-ranking guests at the wine table, they kept grabbing Bai Shiqi and bringing her back to the table to drink. Once she was done with someone, another person would come to offer her a drink. At last, Bai Shiqi waved her hand, and her speech was somewhat slurred: “Wait, wait! If you keep pouring drinks it will be a loss of hospitality ah!”

Among them was a youth whose facial features were rather prominent, with a thin body and dark skin. He smiled: “My cousin often praises the young leader as a young hero with unparalleled courage. All the brothers here admire you. Therefore, since us brothers had the opportunity to meet you, we have to kiss and smell more!”

[the ‘kiss and smell ‘ here is because they compare ‘admiring her’ with ‘admiring flowers’]

This person was Yan Fei, Wen Tao’s cousin from his uncle’s family. The whole family relied on the salt group to make ends meet, so he had been Wen Tao’s loyal lackey since he was a child. When they were young, whenever Bai Shiqi came to Yancheng with Bai Zhenting as guests, he also followed Wen Tao to “entertain” them. That’s why he was deeply impressed by the young leader of the shipping group.

For the rest of the guests present, it was their first time getting to eat at the same table with Bai Shiqi, and they made it clear that they wanted to give Bai Shiqi a slap in the face.

Bai Shiqi hugged Yan Fei’s neck and said sloppily: “A brother of Brother Wen is naturally a brother of Bai Shiqi, so it’s not a problem if you want to kiss and smell. However, surely kissing and smelling me isn’t all we’re going to do, right? I’ve come from afar, and yet Brother Wen didn’t even call for a single singer to entertain us. How cold and cheerless this place is! Why don’t we borrow some dice and play ‘big or small’?”

[As the name implies, big or small is a game of dice where you guess whether the exposed dice shows bigger or smaller number than the one hidden]

Except for Zhao Wujiu, who lived a rigid and self-disciplined life, everyone in the field was little ancestors who loved to play. Her proposal was unanimously approved, but it would be unfair for the two, Zhao and Bai, to play against so many people, so they scattered and took turns to gamble. In the end, it was not as simple as drinking. There were also people who were gambling with money.

Two hours later, everyone present was 60-70% drunk, except for Wen Tao and Zhao Wujiu, who were always sober.

The former had something in his heart, while the latter was guarding Bai Shiqi’s side.

When Bai Shiqi lost again and had to drink, she raised a foot on the stool, tilted her neck and poured a cup of wine in. As the liquor dripped down her chin, she casually wiped it with her sleeve and grabbed Yan Fei: “It’s impossible for Laozi to keep losing, right?” She wanted to look at the dice cup in Yan Fei’s hand: “Brother Yan, could it be that you’re playing tricks? How could I lose 9 out of 10 games?”

Yan Fei’s face blushed when she grabbed his neckline: “What do you  mean? You lost because you were unlucky, don’t blame it on me!” He didn’t let the cup in his hand go.

As the alcohol went to Bai Shiqi’s head, she only felt that this person harbored some evil designs: “You take the cup out and show it to me, else I won’t believe you!”

Yan Fei ran with the dice cup in his hand, while Bai Shiqi stumbled along to chase him. She was tipsy from the alcohol she had been offered by those people earlier. The usual graceful body was filled with water, even walking forward took some effort.

The two ran around the big round table for five or six laps. Some applauded from the table, some stumbled under the feet of Yan Fei or Bai Shiqi, and some cheered. The scene was chaotic.

When Bai Shiqi was on the seventh lap, she passed by Wen Tao. She had already overcome many obstacles before, but she didn’t expect that when she was about to jump over an extended table leg this time, she stumbled. Her reaction had become slower because of the drunkenness, and she fell to the side…

Zhao Wujiu’s expression changed suddenly, and he stood abruptly: “Shiqi—” But he was on the other side of the round table, even if he wanted to rush over, it was too late.