He took a step forward and picked up another cup. With another 'chug', he gulped down another cup.
Step by step, one cup at a time. After seven cups, he was slightly tipsy, and his face was flushed. He walked to a table and picked up a pair of chopsticks. He then picked up a bowl and started to beat the beat.
"When will the moon be bright? With a cup of wine in my hand, I ask the clear sky. I don't know what year it is in the heavens. I wish to ride the wind and return home, yet I fear the jade mansions are too high and cold. Dancing with my shadow, how does it feel like I'm in this world?
Turning to the vermilion pavilion, I look down at the beautiful house, I can't sleep. There should be no hatred, how can things be perfect after parting? Humans have their share of joys and sorrows, the moon waxes and wanes. This is a difficult thing to understand. But I wish for a long time, a thousand miles apart. "
The dancers on the stage started to dance to Pei Zi Yun's words. They were like butterflies, like immortals.
As soon as Pei Zi Yun stopped, the entire hall fell silent. The Governor was still holding onto his cup of wine. He was in a daze. The Governor had long heard of Pei Zi Yun's talent, but had only met him once at the Academic Hall. This time, he was slightly unhappy. Pei Zi Yun had passed the examinations and become the Top Scorer of the prefecture, but had no intentions of serving the Imperial Court.
He was disappointed to see Pei Zi Yun drink seven cups of wine in a row and recite his words in seven steps. Although this poem was different from the last time, it was more Daoist. His confident and confident demeanor caused the Governor to feel pity for him. He paused for sometime before sighing.
This sigh seemed to break the silence of the hall, as the entire hall was in an uproar.
The Governor sighed, "I originally thought that the Top Scorer was a genius, and did not wish to serve the country. Instead, he became a Daoist. I didn't think that I would find out today that the Top Scorer's ambition is to become an immortal. He is unrestrained and carefree. I'm so envious of him."
"That's right. Now that this poem has been recited, the Moon Chant Poem has been performed once again." An official spoke as he stood up. At this point, a loud boom could be heard, as the entire boat shook.
Everyone looked over in shock, only to hear shouts from outside the boat, "Kill!"
In the language of the pirates, someone was attacking the boat.
"Protect the Viceroy! Send the signal! Quick, send the signal!" Shouts rang out. It was chaos.
The officials, scholars, and scholars were all startled. The pirates had actually attacked here, and they all felt a chill run down their spines. Leaning against the window, they saw someone fighting. With a "peng" sound, a large amount of blood splattered onto the window, shattering the paper covering it. The people who were nearby all cried out in alarm.
The sounds of battle were getting closer and closer. An armored soldier then rushed over and reported, "Governor your excellency, this is bad. There are pirates attacking us from outside. They're already climbing up our ship. Governor, please take cover."
One of the generals stood up and cursed, "Damn these pirates. How dare they attack the Governor. I shall go and kill them all."
After saying that, he went forward to take out his sword and kill the thief.
The official standing beside the Governor shouted, "General Han, bring the men out. There are no bandits here. Don't worry. Go and take command."
"Follow me to kill the pirates." The general spoke as he led a group of soldiers out.
Pei Zi Yun looked around and realized that it was empty. Apart from the four soldiers by the Governor's side, the rest had all been lured out. He felt that something was amiss. In his previous life, it was the pirates who were trying to assassinate the Governor, and not the ship being attacked. Something was amiss.
A "peng" sound rang out, as smoke billowed out of the hall. A black robed man rushed in through the window, wielding a long blade.
"There are bandits." The few people at the window shouted out. In the next moment, a blade flashed, and two High Scholars screamed out in pain. Fresh blood splattered everywhere as they died.
The entire hall was silent, before everyone started to panic. There were people everywhere, and smoke billowed out.
Pei Zi Yun gripped his chopsticks tightly and hid under the table, "Everyone, don't panic. Get down on the ground. Inform General Han to bring his men in."
"Kill them. End this quickly. Don't waste time." A black robed man shouted out. His voice was strange, and one could tell that it was the voice of a pirate.
"Pu pu!" The sound of a blade cutting into a human body could be heard. Several of the panicking scholars were killed on the spot, as they charged towards the Governor.
Pei Zi Yun couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine. The Governor's soldiers saw that the assassins were getting closer and pulled out their blades. They then shouted out, "Kill!"
It was obvious that only one of them was protecting the Governor, while the other three were attacking the pirates. Their blades flashed like lightning, and two pirates who were charging towards them fell to the ground.
"Kill!" The three soldiers took another step forward, and the frightening glint of their blades flashed again. Another three pirates fell to the ground, and remained motionless. Only one of the soldiers had been struck by a blade, but the cut on his leather armor was only a small hole. Seeing this, the entire hall was deathly silent. The stench of blood made people nauseous, and in the blink of an eye, five or six corpses were lying on the ground.
"That's right. Japan has its own warriors. Don't tell me the army doesn't have them?"
"To be able to protect the Governor, they must be the best soldiers in the army."
Just as he was thinking this, one of the soldiers screamed out, "There's poison!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the blood flowing out of his body turned black as he fell to the ground.
"Kill!" The rest of the men in black robes shouted out as more than ten of them charged forward without a care for their own safety. The remaining two soldiers slashed out with their blades. One of the men in black robes flew through the air, and held onto his blade tightly. The other man in black robes slashed out with his blade, and the soldier was unable to dodge in time.
Seeing that the Governor was in danger, one of the men in black robes used the smoke to attack him. Pei Zi Yun charged forward and used his chopsticks to stab him. The assassin didn't expect a guest to know martial arts as well. Just as he was about to swing his blade, Pei Zi Yun stabbed him in the eye. The assassin screamed out in pain as his blade fell to the ground.
Pei Zi Yun rolled to the side and picked up his blade. He then sliced the assassin's neck, causing blood to spurt out from the wound.
"Don't hurt the Governor!" A loud shout was heard as a shadow dashed towards him. Someone then shouted, "General Han, be careful. Don't get hurt, there's poison."
In his previous life, he had heard that this man was the Governor's most trusted subordinate. At this point, a blade came slashing down, and the two soldiers could no longer defend themselves. They screamed in pain as they fell to the ground. However, they managed to buy some time. There was only one official left beside the Governor. He was trembling as he stood in front of Han Wu, "Your excellency, run!"
This delay gave Han Wu enough time to charge forward. His eyes were bloodshot as he shouted, "All of you, die."
"Pu pu!" A long blade pierced through the official's abdomen, and he died instantly.
"Pu pu!" Han Wu continued his killing spree as several men in black robes fell to the ground. A gust of wind blew in through the window, causing the smoke to dissipate.
At this point, the soldiers who had followed Pei Zi Yun had rushed over and blocked the men in black robes, "Kill, kill all the assassins. Leave none alive."
Gradually, the sounds of killing stopped. Han Wu continued to deal the finishing blow to the assassins. The ground was covered in blood. Han Wu threw his long blade away and bowed to the Governor, "Your excellency, you've been frightened."
Pei Zi Yun threw his blade away and bowed, "Your excellency, you've been frightened."
The Governor was about to speak when Pei Zi Yun saw a lady dancing in the corner of his eye. She pulled out a blade and stabbed towards the Governor from behind.
Pei Zi Yun didn't hesitate as he rushed forward and pulled out the Plum Blossom from the vase and stabbed it.
The Governor saw Pei Zi Yun stabbing towards him and was taken aback. The Plum Blossom flew past the Governor and pierced the lady's ear from the side. It pierced through her fragile ear hole and entered halfway.
There wasn't much blood left. With a "pu" sound, the lady fell to the ground and died.
Outside the ship, the sound of drums beating could be heard. The bandits outside the ship seemed to be retreating.
The Governor then regained his breath and looked down at the dead soldiers and officials. His face was ashen. After some time, he regained his composure and said, "Today, it's all thanks to General Han and Top Scorer Pei. I didn't expect these bandits to be so daring."
A gust of wind rose up on the ship, and the wind blew into the hall through the windows. The entire hall was filled with the stench of blood. Some of the officials and High Scholars felt their limbs go limp, and shouted, "Men, men, the smoke is poisonous. Our limbs are numb, and our limbs are numb."
Some of the officials looked at the corpses lying on the ground, their intestines and blood splattered all over the floor. They started vomiting, their faces were pale and filled with fear.
Pei Zi Yun felt his limbs go limp as well. He had smelled the smoke earlier, and it made him dizzy. Indeed, it was poisonous. Pei Zi Yun thought to himself as he hurriedly circulated his inner Qi. The dizziness he felt dissipated. It seemed like the smoke contained some sort of drug.
At this point, Han Wu and Pei Zi Yun were guarding the Governor, and nobody else was allowed to approach. The female dancer saw her familiar sister trying to assassinate the Governor. She was initially huddled together like a bunch of chickens, but now she was even more afraid. She squeezed even tighter into a corner.
At this point, the sound of armor clanging against each other could be heard. A deputy general was clad in armor and wielded a long blade. There was still blood on the blade as he ran in. Behind him was a group of spearmen. When they saw the blood on the floor and the corpses of the bandits and guests, they broke out in cold sweat.
"Your excellency, Governor, I came late. I deserve to die a thousand times. I hope your excellency will punish me accordingly." The deputy general came in to plead guilty, and didn't dare to argue.
This general was a soldier from nearby, and had decent martial arts skills. The moment he heard the signal, he rushed over. The Governor looked at him and said, "General Hu saw the signal and rushed over within a quarter of an hour. That's very fast, and isn't considered a crime. You may rise."
The deputy general stood up and raised his blade as he shouted, "Protect the Governor."
"Protect the Governor!" The soldiers followed the order and shouted out. They then raised their spears and stood outside to protect the Governor, not allowing anyone to approach.
After some time, a soldier clad in armor walked in and reported, "Your excellency, the pirates attacked. A total of twenty-five people were beheaded. Fifteen of our men were killed, including Captain Li."
Another officer then walked in and paid his respects, "Your excellency, the pirates have retreated. It's just that these pirates took fast boats and sailed down the river. We weren't able to catch them in time. I've already informed the navy to chase after them."
"Send someone to inform the magistrate to come and investigate. Go buy some good coffins and collect the corpses of his excellency Chen and the other High Scholars. Investigate this matter thoroughly. I want to exterminate all these pirates." The Governor clenched his fists as he spoke loudly. Everyone present could feel the Governor's rage.
"Also, get General Chen of the navy to come here. I want to ask why there wasn't any news of the pirates coming here tonight. Could it be that our navy is just sitting around doing nothing? Such a huge matter, how could there be no news at all? "The Governor's face was ashen as he shouted out.
"Yes, your excellency." The officer replied as he turned around and left to relay the order.
Pei Zi Yun remained silent as he watched the Governor give his orders. Actually, his actions weren't beneficial to the government. However, since he couldn't advance in the government, it didn't matter to him. At this point, he thought to himself, "Since the pirates attacked, I'm afraid there must have been a spy in the vicinity."
"Could it be Ji Bei Hou?"
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