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Conversations at night in Fengling.

The Song Emperor Li Zong celebrated the start of the year, the ninth year after Mengke (or Meng-ge) became the Mongolian Khan. In the early February spring on the tumultuous north bank of the Yellow River’s Fenglingdu area, the donkeys and the horses called out mixed with the sounds of people and carts. The weather was cold then warm, the Yellow River had just thawed, but the north wind blew on this day and it started snowing, freezing the river’s water. The water surface did not permit the movement of boats while the carts could not travel on the ice, forcing many visitors heading south to be stranded in the Fenglingdu area. They would be unable to continue their journeys. Although the Fenglingdu area has several inns, travelers arrived from the north continuously and in less than half a day, the inns were already fully occupied and the travelers who arrived later had no place to stay.

In the town the biggest inn was the “An Du Old Inn”, occupying a location supposedly bringing good luck. In this inn the guest-quarters were spacious, all travelers who could not find any accommodations came here, and therefore the inn was particularly crowded. The innkeeper tried his best to arrange matters and so each room was packed with three to four individuals. Around twenty people who were waiting to get a room had to sit in a circle in the great hall. The inn assistants moved the furniture and lighted a fire. Outside, the north wind howled, the cold wind together with the snow managed to enter through a crack in a door, causing the fire to flicker continuously. It looked like the many visitors still would not be able to continue their journey the next day and they were full of worries.

The sky became darker, the snow got heavier and heavier. Suddenly horses’ hoofs were heard. Three riders anxiously rushed up and stopped at the inn entrance. In the hall an old guest frowned, saying, “Yet another visitor has come.”

A female voice said, “Innkeeper, prepare two good spacious and clean rooms.”

The innkeeper greeted her with a smile and said, “Sorry, the inn is already fully occupied. I really cannot prepare rooms for you.”

That female said, “OK, then one room will do.”

The innkeeper said, “Really sorry, honored guest, but the inn must also please others and now visitors really have filled the inn’s rooms.”

That female swung her horse whip, making a “Pa!” sound and scolded, “Rubbish! You run the inn, but will not prepare rooms, what kind of inn is this? Can’t you ask someone to give way? I’ll pay you more.” After saying that, she then rushed into the hall.

The crowd saw this female figure become clearer and she looked around 30 years old, with a peach colored cheeks, elegant appearance and wearing an expensive blue colored fur-lined coat. The neckband revealed smooth skin; all the clothing looked quite expensive. Behind this young woman was a male and female of around fifteen or sixteen years old. The male had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and had a straightforward facial expression. The female was lively looking, elegant and beautiful. The two youths wore light green satin fur-lined coats. Around the young girl’s neck hung a string of pearls, with each one around the size of a small finger nail and showing a light halo. The many guests saw these three people’s imposing manner and although they had chatted all day they stopped talking and stared silently at the three people.

The inn assistant bowed with a smile, saying, “Madam, look, these guests cannot find any accommodations. If you three do not mind the discomfort, I will let everybody occupy this space and keep warm by the fire, comfortably passing the night. If the river melts tomorrow, you can cross the river.”

The young woman got impatient, but it looked like this was reality, so she frowned wordlessly. A middle-aged woman sitting near the fire said, “Madam, sit here, keep warm by the fire, get rid of the cold air then talk about this again.” The beautiful woman said: “Good, many thanks to you.” A male guest to the side of that middle-aged woman hurriedly moved away, giving up his place.

The three people sat down, and soon the inn assistant delivered their meals. The food was sumptuous, with chicken and pork, and a big pot of wine. That beautiful young woman’s alcohol capacity was very good, having drunk bowl after bowl. The youth and the refined young girl also accompanied her in drinking; the three of them addressed each other as brother and sister. The youth looked older than the refined girl, but called her “elder sister”.

The people sat in a circle around the fire, listening to the wind whistling outside, none feeling sleepy at the moment.

A man with a Shanxi accent said, “This weather really is unfavorable; it changes rapidly. God doesn’t allow man to have even one good day.”

A short person with a Hubei accent said, “You can’t blame Heaven and Earth; we have in here a fire to keep warm, food to eat, what else do you want? If you have lived in the besieged city of Xiangyang, even the world’s most bitter places will seem a cozy nest.”

That beautiful young woman upon hearing “besieged city of Xiangyang “, exchanged glances with her brother and sister.

A visitor with a Guangdong accent asked, “Excuse me, elderly friend, that besieged city of Xiangyang – how is life there?”

The Hubei visitor said, “The Mongolians’ cruelty, of which all of you know, need not be mentioned. The year the Mongolians’ 100,000-strong army attacked Xiangyang fiercely, the garrison was controlled by Governor Lu, a stupid and incompetent person. Fortunately the heroic couple Mr. and Mrs. Guo bravely repelled the enemy forces…” The young woman, upon hearing “heroic couple Mr. and Mrs. Guo”, started paying attention. Listening to that Hubei visitor continue, “Xiangyang City’s hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians also defended the city with their lives and none cowered from their duty. A small-time merchant like me, though only able to move earth and stones, also helped to defend the city. This old arrow scar on my face was caused by a Mongolian’s arrow.” The people looked at his face simultaneously, saw that under his left eye there really was a teacup-size arrow scar and could not help but respect him.

That Guangdong guest said, “Our great Song has much land and many people; if everybody acts like the old friend here, even if the Mongolians were ten times fiercer, they couldn’t conquer our lands.”

The Hubei man said, “Yes. Look, the Mongolian army has been attacking Xiangyang for more than ten years, but can’t take the city, while other cities fall easily. I heard dozens of countries in the western region got destroyed by the Mongolians, while our Xiangyang, throughout, stood erect like a mountain. The Mongolian prince Khubilai Khan personally directed the combat, but also could not overcome our Xiangyang people.” After saying that, he greatly felt satisfied.

The Guangdong guest said: “The common people will fight the Mongolians with their lives; if the Mongolians come to Guangdong, our Guangdong men will also fight them with all our might.”

The Hubei man said, “Even if we don’t go all out with the Mongolians, we will still die. The Mongolians cannot take Xiangyang, so they seized the Han people outside the city, tied them up next to each other and beheaded them near the city. Even some four or five year-old or six or seven year-old children were tied up, then pulled by horses in circles under the city wall, and usually in less than half a circle, the children would die. We could hear the children crying loudly from the top of the city wall, and it hurts the heart greatly. The Mongolians use such cruel methods, trying to frighten us into surrendering, but the more vicious they are, the harder we defend the city. That year all of Xiangyang’s grain was eaten, the water supply used up, we even had to drink the water condensed on tree bark, but the Mongolians could never force their way in. Afterwards the Mongolians gave up and withdrew the army.”

The Guangdong man said, “After more than ten years fighting, if Xiangyang didn’t persevere unyieldingly, I fear half of the great Song Empire would have already disappeared.”

Many people asked about Xiangyang’s defense situation, and the Hubei man talked dramatically, praising Guo Jing and Huang Rong like deities, so the people called out their approval unceasingly.

A visitor with a Sichuan accent suddenly sighed, “Actually good officials who can defend a city are numerous, but the Imperial Court is treacherous, often allowing disloyal subjects to enjoy riches and honor, while the loyal ministers die unjustly. The previous dynasty’s General Yue need not be mentioned. For instance, our Sichuan has several loyal ministers who were killed by the Imperial Court.”

The Hubei man said, “Who were they? I must ask.” The Sichuan man said, “The Mongolians attacked Sichuan for more than 10 years and we all depended on Marshal Yu to defend us. The entire Sichuan population treated him like a living Buddha. Who knew that the Emperor believed the words of his disloyal subject Ding Daquan who said Marshal Yu was too powerful and dangerous. The emperor bestowed poisoned wine upon him and compelled him to commit suicide; replacing him with an incompetent and deceitful jerk as Marshal. Then when the Mongolians attacked again, the northern Sichuan province could not defend itself. The soldiers were Marshal Yu’s former subordinates, so everyone fought to the death. But the new Marshal could only polish up his superiors so as soon as we went to war, he deployed the troops hopelessly and naturally we could not defend ourselves. Ding Daquan and Chen Dafang, the deceitful duo, both shielded that useless Marshal, and instead maligned the brave and unyielding General Wang Weizhong. They accused him of collaborating with the enemy, resulting in his entire family in Beijing being captured and General Wang beheaded.” Saying this, his voice had a sobbing note, and many people sighed simultaneously.

The Guangdong visitor said indignantly, “Our country’s affairs are all thrown into disarray by these disloyal subjects. I heard the Imperial Court has three dogs, so this disloyal subject Ding Daquan must be one of them.”

A fair youth was listening silently, but he said, “Correct, the Imperial Court’s disloyal subjects Ding Daquan, Chen Dafang and Hu Dachang are the top three dogs. The Linan people added a dot to their ‘Da’ character, changing them to Ding Qianquan, Chen Quanfang and Hu Quanchang.” (Playing with the Chinese characters) Hearing this, the group of people laughed heartily.

The Sichuan man said, “From your voice, you must be from the capital Linan.”

The youth said, “Exactly.”

The Sichuan man said, “Then have you heard of the matter concerning General Wang Weizhong’s punishment?”

The youth said, “I saw with my own eyes. Before dying General Wang’s manner did not change and he fiercely shouted that Ding Daquan and Chen Dafang will bring disaster on the nation and the people. But moreover there is also a different matter.” The numerous people asked, “What different matter?”

The youth said, “General Wang’s death was caused by Chen Dafang’s plotting. When General Wang was tied up and he was being moved to the execution ground, he shouted loudly in the street, saying that he will definitely voice his grievances to the Jade Emperor (the Emperor of Heaven). The third day after General Wang’s death, that Chen Dafang was killed in his own home; his severed head was actually displayed above the Linan east gate’s bell tower, suspended on a long bamboo pole. Neither apes nor monkeys could reach this place, let alone a person; if it wasn’t the Jade Emperor, then who could have done it?” Many people expressed admiration. The youth said, “This matter is known throughout Linan and was not made up by me. If you people go to Linan, you will know as soon as you ask.”

The Sichuan man said, “This brother’s story is indeed good. However the one who killed Chen Dafang, certainly wasn’t a deity or god, but actually was a great hero.”

The youth shook his head and said, “That Chen Dafang was a high official in the Imperial Court and had many soldiers. He was guarded closely; how could the average man kill him? Also, to hang this disloyal subject’s severed head above the bell tower, one must have wings; only then can one have that ability.”

The Sichuan man said, “A chivalrous hero with such extraordinary abilities must still exist in the world after all. But if I didn’t witness this myself, I might also find it unbelievable.”

The youth curiously asked, “You saw how he hung up Chen Dafang’s severed head on the high bamboo pole with your own eyes? How did you see that?”

The Sichuan man hesitated for a while and said, “General Wang Weizhong has a son; when General Wang was arrested the son escaped outside Linan. The Imperial Court’s disloyal subjects wanted to nip the problem in the bud, so they sent the army to pursue and capture him. General Wang’s son was also a military officer; although he has some martial arts, he actually was overwhelmed by sheer numbers and knew that he was about to be caught. But a savior came and empty-handedly thrashed dozens of soldiers soundly. Young General Wang then told his savior how his father fought bravely for the country but was framed by the disloyal subjects. That chivalrous hero rushed the same night to Linan, wanting to rescue General Wang, but was late by two days and General Wang was already dead. That chivalrous hero swelled with anger and that very evening he severed Chen Dafang’s head. Although that bell tower is out of reach of apes and monkeys, that chivalrous hero had only to jump gently and reached it in one attempt.”

The Guangdong man asked, “Who is this hero? What’s his appearance like?”

The Sichuan man said, “I did not know this hero’s name, I only saw that he was short a right arm, his facial expression…his facial expression was also very unusual. He rode a horse and led another horse with a huge strange-looking bird riding on it…” He had not finished talking when a man with a straightforward facial expression loudly said, “Correct! This must be the world-famous ‘ Eagle Hero ‘!”

The Sichuan person asked, “He is called the ‘Eagle Hero’?”

The other man said, “This chivalrous hero valiantly upholds justice, defends the good against evil, but is never willing to reveal his name. Our friends in Jianghu (the pugilistic world) always see him and a queer bird together, so they gave him the nickname the “Chivalrous Eagle Hero” (Shen Diao Da Xia). He said he was not fit to be called a “Chivalrous Hero” (da xia), so they only called him the “Eagle Hero”. But based on his actions, what’s wrong with calling him “Chivalrous Hero”? If he isn’t a hero, then who is?”

The beautiful young woman suddenly said, “You are a chivalrous hero, I am also a chivalrous hero, humph, there are rather too many chivalrous heroes.”

That Sichuan person imposingly said, “Madam said that? Although I don’t understand Jianghu matters, the Eagle Hero rushed Linan from Jiangxi for four consecutive days and nights, without sleeping or resting, in order to save the life of General Wang. He didn’t even know General Wang, but because of the General’s utter loyalty in serving the country and being framed by the disloyal traitor, he acted boldly without regard for his own safety. He braved much danger to seek justice for General Wang’s orphan, so should you call him a chivalrous hero?”

The young woman made a ‘humph’ sound and was about to argue, but the refined young girl beside her said, “Elder sister, judging from what this gentleman did, of course one should call him a “Chivalrous Hero”.” Her words were clear; upon hearing this, nobody else could say anything as pleasant to hear.

The young woman said, “What do you know?” Turning her head to that Sichuan man, she said, “How do you know it so well? Is this not hearsay? In Jianghu news, around 90% is not accurate.”

That Sichuan person hesitated for a while before saying, “My surname is Wang; General Wang Weizhong was my father. My life was saved by the Eagle Hero. I am a fugitive and the Imperial Court has issued a warrant for my arrest, and wants my head. But this involves my savior’s reputation, so I do not dare fear death and keep this matter from coming to light.”

The people were shocked to hear him say that. The Guangdong man curled his thumb upwards, saying “Young General Wang, you are a good man. Anyone who dares to inform the government authorities of your whereabouts may have a white knife entering him, a red knife coming out.” Many people loudly praised this. The beautiful woman heard him say this and could not argue.

The refined young girl looked at the flickering fire and was lost in thought, gently mumbling, “Eagle Hero, Eagle Hero… … “Turning her head to young General Wang, she said, “Uncle Wang, the Eagle Hero has such excellent martial arts, how could he lose an arm?” The beautiful woman’s face changed greatly, the lips moved slightly, wanting to speak, but she controlled the impulse.

Young General Wang shook his head saying, “I didn’t even get to ask his name, how could I ask about his life story?”

The beautiful young woman made a ‘humph’ sound, saying “Of course you don’t know.”

The Linan youth said, “The Eagle Hero killed the traitor which young General Wang witnessed with his own eyes, then naturally it was not the deities who did it. But that traitor Ding Daquan’s face turned green in one night, so it must be due to heaven’s punishment.”

The Guangdong man said, “How did his face turn green in one night? This is really strange.”

The Linan youth said, “Formerly the people of Linan called Ding Daquan as Ding Qianquan, but now he is called “Ding Qingpi” (Ding Green Skin). His originally fair skin suddenly turned green in a night, and it didn’t go away. All the wise doctors were not able to treat him. I heard the Emperor also once asked about it but that disloyal official said that he wholeheartedly served the Emperor and his anxiety over national affairs caused him to lose much sleep, so his complexion turned green. But in Linan everyone said this deceitful scoundrel brings disasters on the nation and the people, so the Jade Emperor turned his face green.”

The Guangdong man smiled shaking his head, saying, “Indeed this is very strange.”

The man with the straightforward face suddenly laughed loudly, patted his leg and called out, “This was also the work of the Eagle Hero, heh-heh, this makes me happy.” People quickly asked, “What, the Eagle Hero did this too?” That guy only laughed and said, “Ha-ha, this is funny.” The Guangdong guest desired to know the details and ordered the servant to bring two catties of wine and invited that guy to drink.

He drank a big bowl of wine and was satisfied and happy, loudly saying, “This matter is not a cock and bull story; I also have a bit of credit. That evening the Eagle Hero suddenly arrived in Linan; he called me to lead some followers and we tied up the Linan Qian Tang Xian Yamen (Something like a District Court) officers, removed their clothes and let us play the roles of the officers. Everybody was pleasantly surprised, as we did not know why the Eagle Hero gave such instructions, but we wanted to play along and so we acted accordingly. Soon the Eagle Hero arrived at the Qian Tang Xian Yamen, he put on the magistrate’s costume, sat the hall, banged the wooden block and shouted, ‘Bring that scum Ding Daquan here!’” Saying this, his saliva splattered and he drank a big mouthful of wine.

The Guangdong guest said, “Friend what did you work as in Linan at that time?”

The man returned his gaze and said, “What job? I drank a lot, ate a lot, had much money but I was a businessman without capital.” (Hinting he was involved in shady activities.) The Guangdong visitor was startled and did not dare ask again.

The man also said, “At that time when I heard ‘ Ding Daquan ‘, I got a shock, carefully thinking ‘The dog Ding Daquan is currently the Prime Minister, how did the Eagle Hero bring him here?’ The Eagle Hero hit the wooden block again, and then two burly men actually brought a man dressed in official court dress before him. A year earlier Ding Daquan went to a Taoist temple to burn incense and obtain blessings and I saw him outside the temple. Now when I looked again, it was really Ding Daquan. His whole body trembled, not knowing whether to kneel or not. Our brothers kicked his knees, he fell over and knelt down, ha-ha, the Eagle Hero asked, ‘Ding Daquan, are you aware of the charges against you?’ Ding Daquan said ‘I don’t know.’ The Eagle Hero shouted, ‘You engage in corrupt practices for your own personal gain, caused the deaths of loyal men, cruelly harm the common people, collaborate with the enemy who invade the country; all these are heinous crimes – quickly, confess now!’ Ding Daquan said, ‘Who are you? You insult the Prime Minister; do you not know the law?’ The Eagle Hero said, ‘Do YOU not know the law? Officers, hit him forty times then we shall talk again!’ Everybody already hated this scum, so this time we hit doubly hard, but we only hit this scoundrel several times before he begged for mercy again and again. The Eagle Hero asked several questions and he answered willingly, not daring to act stubbornly. The Eagle Hero brought a pen and paper and demanded he write a confession. He hesitated slightly so the Eagle Hero commanded us to hit his buttocks and slap his mouth.”

The refined young girl smiled and said quietly, “Interesting!”

The man drank another huge mouthful of wine, saying with a smile, “Yes. This is very interesting. That Ding Daquan had never been hit before so he had no choice but to write the confession, but he suffered from the beatings so he wrote extremely slowly. The Eagle Hero had to urge him on repeatedly but he was not willing to write any faster. Soon the Sun rose, outside the Yamen the sounds of people got louder, and a large troop of soldiers arrived, probably because the matter had leaked out. The Eagle Hero got angry and shouted, ‘Behead him!’ and cast a glance at me. I knew the Eagle Hero would not easily take someone’s life, so I drew out my broad sword and brushed Ding Daquan’s neck, then when I chopped the sword down, I turned it in midair, chopping his neck with the flat of the sword. But this scared the living daylights out of Ding Daquan, causing his complexion to turn green suddenly and he fainted. The Eagle Hero laughed heartily, calling us to put back the Yamen’s officer’s clothes and sneak off through the side door and return home. Afterwards he went out to the soldiers and so we never fought with them, and everybody withdrew safely. I heard the following day the Eagle Hero personally sneaked into the Imperial Palace, and handed Ding Daquan’s confession to the Emperor. But we do not know how, but that Ding Daquan managed to sweet talk the Emperor into believing him and allowing him to continue as Prime Minister.”

Young General Wang sighed, “If the Emperor was not stupid, then disloyal subjects could not do evil. When Qin Hui was gone, Han Tuozhou came; when Han Tuozhou has gone, Shi Miyuan came; now Shi Miyuan has gone, Ding Daquan comes. We saw Jia Sidao in power and saw how this brought disaster upon the nation and the people. Oh, since the disloyal subjects are numerous, our great Song Empire may not last long.”

The other man said, “Only if we ask the Eagle Hero to be Prime Minister can we repel the Mongolians and restore peace throughout the country.”

The beautiful woman said, “Humph is he qualified to be the Prime Minister?”

The man got angry, “If he’s not are you?”

The young woman became furious and shouted, “Who the hell are you; how dare you be impolite to me?”

The guy picked an iron rod from the fire; she grabbed a few sticks of firewood and struck his rod. The guy’s arm trembled and he felt half his body go numb so he let go of the hot rod, which fell onto the floor causing sparks from the fire to fly and scorch strands of his beard. People called out in alarm. Although the man is hot-tempered, he tasted her martial arts, suffered a loss and did not dare act rashly. He only stroked his burnt beard, not even wanting to drink the wine anymore.

The refined young girl said, “Others have been talking about the Eagle Hero and it was all going fine, why do you not like to hear it?” Turning her head to the man she gave a sweet smile, saying “Uncle, please do not be offended.” That man was originally filled with anger, but seeing her sweet smile, his anger dissipated immediately and his large mouth also smiled; he wanted to say something polite but did not know what to say.

The young girl said, “Uncle, how did you get to know the Eagle Hero?” The man looked at the young woman, hesitated and did not speak. The young girl said, “Just agree not to offend my elder sister and that will do. How old is the Eagle Hero? Are his looks good?” She did not wait for the man to reply and turned her head to the woman saying, “Elder sister, I wonder how his Divine Eagle compares with our pair of eagles?”

The young woman said, “Compare with our pair of eagles? In all this world, which eagle or eagles can hold a candle to our pair of eagles?”

The young girl said, “Not necessarily true. Father often said, ‘A person who studies military theories must know that superior parties always exist and so one cannot be complacent.’ If that applies to humans, then it applies to our eagles too, so more magnificent birds should exist.”

The young woman said “At your young age, what do you understand? When we went out, our parents told you to listen to me, have you not remembered?”

The young girl said with a smile, “That also depends on whether what you say is right. Younger brother am I right or is elder sister right?”

The youth next to her is big and sturdy, but actually looked very naive, so he hesitated for a while then said, “I don’t know. Father said we should listen to elder sister, and told you not to talk back to elder sister.”

The young woman looked very pleased and said, “Isn’t that so?”

The young girl saw that her younger brother was helping her elder sister, but she was not angry and said with a smile, “You don’t understand anything either.” Turning her head to the straightforward man she said, “Uncle, continue the Eagle Hero’s story, please.”

The man said, “OK, since the lady wants to hear, I shall speak; although I, whose surname is Song, have poor skills, I am an honest man. What I say is true and definitely doesn’t contain half a word of lies, if the lady does not believe me, then there’s no need to listen.”

The young girl took the wine pot and poured out a bowl of wine for him, then said with a smile, “Why would I not believe you? Come on, quickly start talking!” She also called out, “Waiter, bring ten catties of wine again and cut 20 catties of beef, my elder sister requests all of you to drink merrily and drive out the cold air.” The servant repeatedly agreed and relayed the order. The many travelers smiled from ear to ear, expressing their gratitude with one voice. Before long, three waiters brought the wine and meat.

The young woman calmly said “Even if I wanted to provide a treat, I would not invite people who utter rubbish. Waiter, the bill for the wine and meat money should not be charged to my account.”

The servant gawked, looked from the young woman to the young girl, not knowing what to do. The young girl took off a golden hairpin from her hair and gave it to the servant, saying, “This hairpin is made of real gold, it’s worth several taels (a unit of currency) of silver. Take it away and exchange it for money. And bring another ten catties of wine and 20 catties of mutton.”

The young woman got angry, “Younger sister, must you be spiteful with me? Even a pearl on this hairpin alone is worth more than 100 taels of silver; you bothered and begged Uncle Zhu for it, but now you casually use it to treat people to a drink. When you return to Xiangyang, if Mother asks about it how will you answer?”

The young girl stuck out her tongue and said with a smile, “I shall say it fell on the road, and I could not find it.”

The woman said “I will not lie for you.”

The young girl used her chopsticks to grasp a piece of beef and put it in her mouth. She then said, “After all, we have already eaten, how can I take it back now? Everybody, please eat, there is no need to be polite.”

The people saw the two arguing and all found it interesting, but they liked the young girl’s naïve character, so even those who did not drink carried the liquor bowls to those who drank the wine, helping the young girl secretly. The young woman spitefully closed her eyes and used her hands to cover her ears.

The young girl said with a smile, “Uncle Song, my elder sister is sleeping, it’s OK if you speak loudly; you won’t wake her.” The young woman opened her eyes widely, getting angry, “When did I sleep?” The young girl then said, “That’s even better, even if we talk loudly we won’t disturb you.”

The young woman said loudly, “Xiang’er, let me tell you, if you anger me, I will not allow you to follow us around tomorrow.” The young girl said, “It’s alright, I can travel together with Younger brother.” The woman said “Younger brother will come with me.” The young girl said, “Younger brother, say, who will you follow?”

The youth was caught in a fix, if he helped his big sister, his other sister would be upset, if he helped his other sister, his big sister would be angry, so he said, “Mother said, the three of us must always travel together and not be separated.”

The young woman stared at her younger sister and snapped, “If I had known that you would become so disobedient, I would not have been anxious to find you back when you got kidnapped by the thugs when you were small.”

The

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