The man before her wore a light gray robe, its color appearing clean and simple despite the expensive fabric. With just a faint smile, he gave off a refreshing, gentle aura.
Wen Lisheng recognized this man—his name was Qiao Ling, a trusted and highly skilled martial artist often by Xie Xiaonan’s side.
Her expression changed, and she flashed him a smile, deftly pulling a stack of banknotes from her sleeve. “Brother, I’m in a hurry to get down the mountain. Could you do me a favor and just tell your young master you didn’t see me?”
As the daughter of Yiguan County’s most corrupt official, Wen Lisheng never lacked money. Guided by the principle that money makes things easier, she could whip out a handful of banknotes anytime, anywhere.
Qiao Ling glanced at the banknotes in her hand, momentarily stunned, then stepped forward and naturally tucked them into his own sleeve.
Seeing an opening, Wen Lisheng beamed with joy. She thanked him and was about to leave when Qiao Ling stopped her. “Where are you going, miss? The young master is still waiting for you.”
She looked utterly confused. “Didn’t you take the banknotes?”
Wasn’t that a done deal?
Yet the handsome young man before her continued to smile. “What banknotes?”
Wen Lisheng clutched her chest, nearly suffocating.
As expected, the people around Xie Xiaonan were no pushovers—he was playing her at her own game!
She tried to bargain. “Can you give the banknotes back to me…?”
Qiao Ling looked at her without a word.
In the end, she couldn’t get them back and was escorted back to the front of the bamboo hut. As they approached, she saw Shen Jiaqing and Xie Xiaonan still standing there.
Xie Xiaonan, dressed in snow-white robes that couldn’t hide his noble aura, stood in stark contrast to Shen Jiaqing’s sloppy, carefree posture.
With his chin slightly raised and his dark eyes half-lidded, Xie Xiaonan had an air of natural arrogance. “The person tied up inside the bamboo hut—is he the young master you pulled from Jing’an Marquis’s carriage?”
Wen Lisheng inwardly panicked. Xie Xiaonan had indeed overheard their earlier conversation.
But Shen Jiaqing, unaware and convinced that the person they’d dragged from Jing’an Marquis’s carriage was the young master of the Xie family, never imagined that the real Xie Xiaonan was standing right before him. He chuckled, “Brother, we’ve just met by chance. Some things are better left unasked.”
A faint smile touched the corners of Xie Xiaonan’s eyes. “What if I insist on asking?”
Shen Jiaqing, completely oblivious to the danger, paused before replying, “Then I suppose I’ll have to tell you. The person inside is indeed the young master of the Xie family.”
“Why tie him up?” Xie Xiaonan’s expression remained unchanged.
Shen Jiaqing answered, “To be honest, this young master Xie is a wicked…”
Before he could finish, Wen Lisheng sprinted from behind and delivered a flying kick to Shen Jiaqing’s backside, sending the unprepared man stumbling forward before he fell face-first to the ground with a groan.
Wen Lisheng seethed inwardly.
You blabbermouth—someone asks and you just spill everything!
Shen Jiaqing immediately scrambled up. Seeing it was her, he fumed, “Why did you kick me? You’ve been acting crazy since you woke up!”
Wen Lisheng snapped, “Shut your mouth!”
Xie Xiaonan glanced at Shen Jiaqing before shifting his gaze to Wen Lisheng. Unfazed by their squabble, he asked leisurely, “What did this young master Xie do?”Wen Lisheng dared not meet his eyes, her gaze darting away as she quickly spun a lie, “We… we’ve been sitting in the carriage for too long, our limbs were getting stiff, so we kindly wanted to help him loosen up a bit.”
Such absurd words were naturally not believed by Xie Xiaonan. The corners of his lips curved slightly, his smile filled with coldness. “Your brain probably can’t even come up with a decent lie. Perhaps I should kindly help you loosen up as well.”
As he spoke, he called out, “Qiao Ling.”
“Wait!” Wen Lisheng immediately stopped him. “This is actually a misunderstanding, I can explain!”
Xie Xiaonan’s patience was extremely limited. “Three sentences.”
Wen Lisheng strung her thoughts together. “This is what happened: My friend and I heard that bandits have been active in this area, often robbing passing travelers or merchant caravans, and their methods are cruel—taking money and leaving no survivors. Thinking of Young Master Xie’s esteemed arrival in Yiguan County, to protect you from being robbed by bandits, my friend and I decided to escort you for part of the journey.”
After speaking without pause, she took a deep breath and continued with the second sentence. “But we never expected our subordinates to be so foolish and misunderstand our intentions, mistakenly thinking we were to kidnap you. So, there was a deviation in carrying out the task, and you were mistakenly taken as a hostage. This is truly a huge misunderstanding; we bear no ill will toward you.”
Then she paused briefly before delivering the third sentence. “But when I saw the person tied up in this room whimpering incessantly, acting cowardly and afraid of death, I guessed this person couldn’t possibly be you, Young Master Xie. The heir of Jing’an Marquis is clearly a dragon among men, with a jade-like face and celestial grace, broad-minded and kind to others, like a deity descended from the heavens. How could he possibly display such petty behavior…”
“Three sentences,” Qiao Ling interrupted from the side, probably unable to bear listening any longer.
Xie Xiaonan hadn’t expected her words to become increasingly outrageous. The earlier part was somewhat plausible, but the latter part devolved into flattery and praise, which he found somewhat amusing. “Have you met him?”
Wen Lisheng coughed lightly. “I’ve only heard of him.”
Qiao Ling said gently, “It could also be made up.”
Wen Lisheng glared at him fiercely, like a little beast baring its teeth. “You took my silver notes.”
Upon hearing this, Xie Xiaonan glanced sideways at him, and Qiao Ling immediately presented the silver notes respectfully.
Xie Xiaonan flipped through them casually and asked, “What is your relationship with Wen Puchang, the magistrate of Yiguan County?”
Wen Lisheng hadn’t expected him to directly name her father. She quickly weighed the pros and cons in her mind.
If she said there was no relationship, Xie Xiaonan would definitely not let her and Shen Jiaqing off easily. He might even have Qiao Ling execute them as bandits. If she told the truth, perhaps Xie Xiaonan would be wary of her father’s status. Although he was indeed a corrupt official, he was also the highest-ranking official in Yiguan County.
After a brief moment of thought, Wen Lisheng said, “He is my father.”
Sure enough, Xie Xiaonan looked her over and then revealed a mocking smile. “You have some luck, it seems.”
Perhaps the silver notes she had given earlier had some effect after all. Qiao Ling whispered from the side, “Young Master, we’ve been delayed for quite some time.”
A trace of impatience flickered in Xie Xiaonan’s eyes. The thought of being held up here for so long because of this matter put him in a terrible mood, and his tone was far from pleasant as he spoke. “Still not coming out, is that it?”While Wen Lisheng was still puzzling over the meaning of his words, the bamboo door behind her suddenly swung open. The person in the indigo robe who had been tightly bound earlier emerged with a grin. “Has the young master finished questioning them? Should we kill these two?”
He uttered the word “kill” with extreme ease, as if disposing of Wen Lisheng and Shen Jiaqing was as simple as blinking.
Wen Lisheng was filled with anxiety, wondering how she could escape if they truly intended to act. She had just been reborn and hadn’t lived long enough.
Shen Jiaqing, still somewhat confused, looked at the person before him with sudden realization. “So you really aren’t the prince.”
Xie Xiaonan seemed momentarily taken aback by his foolishness, glancing at him sideways before raising a finger in a gesture.
It was unclear what command he had given, but he then turned and walked away.
The wind howled relentlessly at the mountaintop, whipping at his gold-embroidered snow robe. Occasionally, green leaves drifted down, only to be crushed under his brocade boots.
Wen Lisheng glanced at his retreating figure, then turned to Qiao Ling. “What did your young master mean by that last gesture?”
Qiao Ling simply smiled.
Wen Lisheng wasn’t sure whether this was a stroke of luck or misfortune.
After all, not everyone gets the chance to be reborn.
But she never expected that, upon her rebirth, she would immediately face a thorny predicament—she was tied to a tree trunk.
The rope wrapped tightly around her slender waist three times, pressing her spine firmly against the tree and leaving her no room to struggle.
The summer tree was lush, casting a cool shade on the ground. Sunlight filtered through the leaves in dappled patterns, and when the wind blew, it looked as though stars were scattering, shimmering in tiny fragments.
The shade happened to cover Wen Lisheng’s head and neck, so even though her body was scorched by the sun, her head remained cool.
Shen Jiaqing wasn’t as fortunate. He was tied to a rather bare tree with sparse leaves, leaving him directly exposed to the fierce sun. In no time, his handsome profile was flushed red from the heat.
Unable to bear it any longer, he muttered softly, “Wind, come, wind, come.”
As if answering his call, a breeze swept in, immediately dispelling some of the heat from his face and making him sigh in relief.
However, this brought discomfort to Wen Lisheng. The leaves swayed and lifted with the wind, causing the shade that had covered her face to vanish and allowing the blazing sun to beat down directly on her delicate skin.
Wen Lisheng quickly imitated him, chanting, “Wind, stop, wind, stop.”
After a moment, the wind ceased, and the shade returned to cover her face, the gentle breeze helping to drive away the heat.
Shen Jiaqing, not one to back down, began competing with her, persistently calling for the wind to return.
Wen Lisheng refused to be outdone, and the two of them took turns shouting, turning the once-silent mountaintop into a noisy clamor. Qiao Ling, sitting under the shade of a tree, shook his head in resignation.
Eventually, Wen Lisheng’s throat grew parched from shouting, and she felt both hot and thirsty. Remembering that their current predicament was entirely Shen Jiaqing’s doing, she angrily stretched out her leg, trying to kick him. “It’s all your fault! You have the brains of a pig, yet you insist on playing strategist like a military advisor. What kind of terrible plan was that?!”
Shen Jiaqing twisted and dodged to the side. “How can you blame me? Who knew the prince would be so cunning, having his subordinate ride in the carriage while he disguised himself as a lost young master following miles behind? If not for that, I would’ve succeeded!”
Wen Lisheng was furious at his reckless attitude. “You still think you could’ve succeeded? I think you’re just asking to have your hands chopped off!”Shen Jiaqing was bound and unable to move. After being nudged a few times by Wen Lisheng’s toes, he shouted helplessly, “Brother! That brother sitting over there, tie me to another tree, far away from this person!”
Qiao Ling saw that the time was about right, so he stood up and untied both of them. He said to Wen Lisheng, “Miss, although the young master only gave you a light punishment today, you still have many days ahead in Yiguan County. It’s best to avoid him. If one day the young master is in a bad mood and decides to settle today’s matter, it won’t be as simple as this.”
After hearing this, Wen Lisheng concluded: Xie Xiaonan holds grudges and seeks revenge for the smallest offenses. In the future, she should steer clear of him.
She nodded repeatedly, then tentatively asked, “What about my five hundred taels…”
“The young master took them,” he replied.
Wen Lisheng’s heart ached.
She had just been reborn, and now she had already made an enemy of this future usurper and self-proclaimed emperor. This was truly a disaster.