Chapter 2: The Dandy Rogue

At this moment, it struck a nerve with Tang Feng. Ever since spending these few days with Wan'er, he had gradually developed feelings for this intelligent, tactful, and kind girl. Now, seeing Wan'er being bullied, how could he swallow his anger, especially since the perpetrator was the despised pirates.

"No, why not write it this way? Two coins for one piece, sir, how many pieces would you like?" The old man said as he placed the stinky tofu into the pot. "Please give me two pieces, here is one tael of silver." Tang Feng said as he handed over the silver he had been holding tightly for quite some time.

Tang Feng shot a fierce glare at the owner of the jewelry store before turning to leave with Wan'er. However, neither he nor Wan'er noticed that not far from the jewelry store, a group of over ten tall horses stood. Among them, one was clearly a girl disguised as a boy, coldly observing everything that was happening before her. She then turned around quickly and whispered a few words to a person beside her. That person urged the horse beneath him and quietly fell behind Tang Feng and Wan'er.

Tang Feng never expected that this old man would be so generous. Although two pieces of stinky tofu are worth only a few coins, the man's broad-mindedness is truly admirable. Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he was just about to say something when he saw the old man pick up his stick and leave without looking back.

Tang Feng and Wan Er had not walked far when they noticed that someone was following them from behind. Tang Feng glanced back and, seeing that it was not the pirates, felt somewhat relieved. However, he had no desire to uncover the identity of this follower.

Fu Mei, look, there is a shop selling jewelry over there, and those pieces are so beautiful. All girls love beauty, and Wan'er, being such a stunning person, is no exception.

At that moment, an old man squeezed through the crowd and kindly said to Tang Feng and Wan Er, "Young man, you have struck a government official; do you think he will let this go easily? You should hurry and escape with your wife. I have bought this wolf skin; here is one tael of silver for you." After speaking, the old man stuffed a silver ingot into Tang Feng's hand, rolled up the wolf skin from the ground, and squeezed back into the crowd.

"May I ask, shopkeeper, how much is this gold hairpin?" Tang Feng, unfamiliar with the conversion between silver and copper coins, asked directly. "How much? You poor boy, this gold hairpin is enough for you to eat for a year. This hairpin is priced at two taels and eight coins of silver. Go on, go on, you can't even afford to look at it. Don't bring me bad luck; go beg somewhere else." The shopkeeper of the jewelry store said this while impatiently waving his hand at Tang Feng, urging him to leave the entrance of his shop.

Tang Feng and Wan'er left the market and headed towards the bustling street. The street was lined with restaurants and various shops, standing tall like clouds, all filled with people. Among the various shops, there were crowds everywhere, but there were also many individuals dressed in foreign attire, resembling the later Manchu style. Among them, there were surprisingly some short individuals with their heads shaved, shining like mirrors. They wore striped Han clothing, stepped in wooden clogs, and had two waist knives of varying lengths tucked at their sides. Groups of three or five wandered the streets, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings, glancing around curiously, though it was unclear what they were looking at.

It was only that Tang Feng did not see, after the old man squeezed through the crowd, he approached a middle-aged man, presenting the wolf skin in his hand and saying, "My lord, why did you spend a whole tael of silver to buy such an utterly impractical wolf skin? This thing is very smelly and serves no purpose at all?" After finishing, he casually rolled up the wolf skin.

"Who are you to meddle in the affairs of us Eastern warriors?" Among them, the one who was about to reach out to touch Wan'er’s face, upon seeing this, became furious. While shouting, he was ready to draw his katana and fight Tang Feng to the death

My goodness. Before the drunkard could react, his body had already soared into the air, and with a loud thud, he fell heavily to the ground, unable to get up for quite some time

Tang Feng recognized them at a glance; they were pirates. This group of people was actually strolling around the streets so brazenly. This place, not far from Ningyuan and Xingcheng, could be considered a large town, with Ming Dynasty officials and the Jinyiwei stationed here. Did they not fear at all?

At last, as the talkative young woman left the stall holding a steaming hot stinky tofu, Tang Feng stepped forward and asked the old man, "Sir, how much is this stinky tofu per piece?" While speaking, he touched the one tael of silver he had just earned in his pocket.

By the way, Wan'er, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble outside, from now on, you can call me Tang Feng when we are out. This way, it can also help to conceal our identities. Just like earlier, when I beat up that Imperial Guard, if he were to find out my name, wouldn't he come looking for me with his men to settle the score? Tang Feng did not want to bear the name Fu Mei every day, so he thought of a reason to have Wan'er change how she addressed him.

In the end, the pirates seemed to realize that they would never be a match for the person from the Ming Dynasty before them solely on their own. One by one, they stood their ground, panting heavily, staring at this person with peculiar martial skills.

Tang Feng, quick of hand and keen of eye, seized the Japanese sword from the ground. As he brushed past a pirate, the sword in his hand deftly glided along the pirate's waistband. Just as the pirate was about to turn and charge again with his knife, his trousers unexpectedly slipped down to his ankles, causing him to trip and fall to the ground

Tang Feng extended his hand to block the drunken man's arm. Although his strength was not as great as in his previous life, his skills in grappling and combat were far superior to those of the people from the Ming Dynasty. Upon seeing Tang Feng standing in front of him, the drunken man raised the scabbard and swung it down towards Tang Feng's head.

However, just as the wolf skin was rolled halfway, it was stepped on by someone. Tang Feng released his grip and straightened up to look over. It was the drunken man, who, while stepping on the wolf skin with his right foot, was leering with a pair of lustful eyes, carefully sizing up Wan'er, who was standing beside Tang Feng.

"You damned bastard, go to hell." Tang Feng had no fondness for these people to begin with. Upon seeing the other party draw a Japanese sword halfway, he saw no reason to discuss principles or theories. Grabbing the opponent by the collar, he threw him over the heads of the crowd. With a loud thud, the invader fell heavily onto the street and lay there for a long time without getting up.

Tang Feng was somewhat astonished as he took the silver. If he were alone, he would naturally not care, but at the moment, there was a burden behind him, and he had to consider her more. He hurriedly grabbed Wan'er’s hand, who seemed to be in a dream, and quickly dove into the crowd, sprinting away.

Today is merely a lesson for you. This is the Ming Dynasty, not your small island nation. Be wise; when you are here, you must abide by the rules of this place. Our Ming Dynasty is filled with capable and ambitious individuals. At that time, even a single spit from each of us could drown you little devils. Get lost. After scolding, Tang Feng threw the Japanese sword in front of the enemy with the broken wrist. With a thud, the sword plunged deep into the ground, with half of the blade still exposed, trembling incessantly. One of the pirates approached, attempting to pull the sword out, but despite exerting great effort, he could not succeed. In the end, he had no choice but to leave in embarrassment, accompanied by a dozen others. The onlookers from the Ming Dynasty, witnessing the scene, erupted into applause for Tang Feng.

Before the scabbard could fall, Tang Feng had already seized his wrist, twisting it downwards, thereby forcing his arm behind his back. He then raised his foot and delivered a fierce kick to his backside.

Old Li, you do not understand this. If I, Yuan Chonghuan, am not mistaken, that young man possesses considerable skill. In the future, he will surely become a general. How can I bear to let him get into trouble over a wolf skin and jeopardize his future? Let us return to the residence. You should take the wolf skin to a tanner and have it properly processed. I will use it to make a mattress. " As this middle-aged man spoke, he turned into a side street, with the old man carrying the wolf skin following closely behind.

Wan'er, without any suspicion, nodded happily and said, "Alright then, from now on, I will call you Brother Feng. Brother Feng, do you see over there where they are selling stinky tofu? I remember when I was little, my mother would always buy it for me to eat, but now, my mother..." As Wan'er spoke, her eyes involuntarily turned red, and her head drooped down.

Ah. This pirate immediately threw his knife to the ground, clutching his broken wrist, and cried out in pain. Before he could finish his wailing, Tang Feng kicked him in the groin, and his cries abruptly ceased

Oh, such a large sum of silver? How am I supposed to make change for that? I can't even sell enough in a day to cover it all, and if I were to give you all the money I have, it would probably still be insufficient. How about this, young man, since I will have to come back here for the next market, you can just give me the change then." After finishing his words, the old man, with great enthusiasm, wrapped up the freshly fried stinky tofu and handed it to Tang Feng

"Ah, such a beautiful young lady, how could she end up with a poor fellow like you? Young lady, come with me, I promise you will never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of your life. Do you see this?" The drunken man said as he pulled out a wooden plaque from his waist, on which were inscribed the four large characters 'Jinyiwei Seal'.

Tang Feng approached the small vendor and first lowered his head to take a glance at the simple stall. On one side was an iron pot, with a charcoal-fired clay stove underneath, and on the other side were various odds and ends. The seller of stinky tofu was an elderly man, who was currently frying tofu in the oil pot while chatting with a young woman who had come to buy stinky tofu. Tang Feng had no choice but to stand behind the young woman, while Wan'er was not far away, waiting and examining the dazzling array of jewelry in the nearby shops one by one.

Tang Feng took a few steps to reach the back of the opponent, raised his leg, and kicked the person out from behind. The nearby Japanese pirates, seeing that no one from the Ming Dynasty was intervening in this matter, grew bolder and acted even more recklessly. They originally planned to drag Wan'er back, but unexpectedly, Tang Feng suddenly appeared halfway.

The surrounding pirates suddenly exploded, drawing their Japanese swords and charging forward. Tang Feng swiftly dodged one of the swords and let out a cold smile. He seized the wrist of a Japanese pirate and forcefully twisted it.

Tang Feng squeezed through the crowd, reached Wan'er, placed the intact stinky tofu into her hand, and pulled her along as they headed straight for the jewelry store

Tang Feng did not wish to attract such attention, especially since the Ming Dynasty was currently in a state of turmoil. He did not want to be singled out by anyone, only to end up serving them and sharing their fate.

Tang Feng was holding stinky tofu in his hand and was walking back when he suddenly saw ahead a group of more than ten people dressed as Japanese pirates surrounding Wan'er. One of them, while laughing, reached out to touch Wan'er's face.

As this is a marketplace, Tang Feng did not wish to kill in public, as it would bring him unnecessary trouble. Therefore, he used the back of his knife to strike each of the pirates on their shiny foreheads. Each pirate yelped in pain, baring their teeth and hopping about, wanting to rush forward to challenge Tang Feng's knife skills. However, Tang Feng's movements were simply too swift; before they could get close, he had already sidestepped and then swiftly struck back with his knife, landing a heavy blow on the opponent's head. Now, each of these more than ten pirates had numerous large purple lumps on their heads, resembling the Buddha himself.

According to Tang Feng's temperament, one truly wished to drag him out and give him a good beating. However, before taking a step forward, Wan'er was already behind him, grabbing his arm and pleading softly, "Brother Feng, let's go. I don't like this gold hairpin." After saying this, without giving him a chance to respond, she pulled Tang Feng away.

"Hehe, Wan'er, what's the matter? Come on, I'll buy you something to eat," Tang Feng said as he headed straight for the vendor at the stall, while Wan'er lagged behind.

He held it in his hand, waving it in front of Tang Feng and Wan Er, and then spoke, "Do you see this? This is something the Emperor has granted us. With this, we can dispose of you lowly commoners as we please. Kid, I am in a good mood today. As long as you leave this girl with me, I will let you go and you can return home. Otherwise? Hmph." After the drunken man finished speaking, he reached out to grab Wan Er's arm.