“Ah!”
The moment Mei Qian was pressed against the tree trunk, the pain made her unable to hold back a cry of agony.
But the next second, realizing what was happening, Mei Qian hurriedly whispered, “Spare me, warrior! Spare me! I have money and grain—whatever you want! I just stole them!”
Even at this moment, Mei Qian didn’t forget to dig a pit for the Han family.
“Hah! Stolen?”
Her words were met with a disdainful laugh from the person behind her, though the voice was so ambiguous that Mei Qian couldn’t tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.
“A Xirong spy?”
Feeling the other person lean closer against her back, their warm breath brushing against her neck, Mei Qian couldn’t help but tremble.
A sense of panic, as if her life could end at any moment, made Mei Qian immediately explain after hearing the accusation: “No! I’m not a Xirong spy.”
“If not, why do you speak Xirong language and carry a Xirong curved blade?”
“Knowing one phrase counts as speaking it? Isn’t it normal to have a curved blade? After killing Xirong soldiers, wouldn’t you strip their bodies clean instead of leaving things for the New Year?”
Mei Qian answered each question one by one, finally understanding why she had been caught so suddenly.
Could this person also be from the Junzhu’s camp?
In that instant, Mei Qian’s mind flashed through images of shadow guards and bodyguards from political intrigue dramas—the kind who served powerful figures.
Was she caught by someone like that?
Just as Mei Qian tried to turn her head, the hand pressing against the back of her neck tightened its grip. The corner of her eye caught sight of the long sword in the other person’s hand, frightening her into giving up all resistance.
“I’m telling the truth, I’m just an ordinary citizen of Anguo.”
After Mei Qian finished speaking, the androgynous voice behind her continued, “Then your earlier act of luring the soldiers away still counts as spreading false information. Do you know the consequences of spreading false information?”
“From start to finish, did you hear me say anything? If you’re going to accuse me, you need evidence. When did I ever spread false information to them?”
Mei Qian emphasized the word “spread”—she truly hadn’t uttered a single false message earlier.
“Going out for a walk, and not even allowed to get lost?”
Mei Qian refused to reveal her true origins, but the guilt in her tone was unmistakable.
Soon enough, she heard the other person continue, “No matter how sharp-tongued you are, you can’t change the fact that you diverted the Junzhu’s patrolling soldiers from the camp. If anything happens to the Junzhu because of this, do you know what punishment you’ll face?”
“I…”
The other person had thought that a little scare would make this girl confess, but instead, she suddenly fell silent, her head tilting to the side as her breathing grew faint.
“Hey! Are you alright?”
The person seemed startled by Mei Qian’s sudden collapse and quickly released their grip, leaning forward to check on the girl who had lost consciousness.
Just as they bent down to examine her, a flash of gold caught the corner of their eye, rushing toward them.
With a thud, the next moment, the person felt a sharp pain in their temple, their vision went dark, and they lost consciousness.
Mei Qian watched as the person collapsed straight in front of her.
Only after knocking them out, under the moonlight, did Mei Qian finally get a clear look at their face.
“Oh my god!”
Mei Qian couldn’t help but let out a soft exclamation, “Oh no, this looks a bit like that Junzhu, doesn’t it?”
At this thought, the sounds of fighting from not far behind reached her ears. Without a moment’s hesitation, Mei Qian immediately turned and ran.
As she ran, she tossed the gold she had taken from the System Space back inside, her mind replaying the earlier confrontation with that person.
She hadn’t said anything that would reveal her identity, and the other person likely hadn’t gotten a clear look at her face before she knocked them out.
Thinking this, Mei Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She knew her own strength well—she definitely hadn’t killed them. If they woke up and tried to find the culprit, they probably wouldn’t trace it back to her.
Just as Mei Qian was thinking this, she also gave up on the idea of retrieving the curved blade.
On her way back, three figures soon appeared in front of her. Once she recognized them, Mei Qian immediately called out happily in a low voice, “Dad!”
“It’s Qian’er!”
Han Shi turned around and was overjoyed to see Mei Qian. The four of them gathered together, and without even discussing what had happened on their respective ends, they wordlessly took a detour in the dark and hurried back to the camp.
…
“Ouch—”
Mei Qian gasped sharply. The pain from the many scrapes and cuts on her back intensified as they were cleaned with warm water.
“I’ll try to be as gentle as possible.”
Madam Jiang’s voice trembled slightly as she looked at the wounds on Mei Qian’s back, her eyes eventually reddening.
Sensing Madam Jiang’s emotions, Mei Qian comforted her softly, “It’s alright. These are just superficial scrapes from stones and branches—much better than Dad and the others having to use knives.”
“But none of them got hurt, only you…”
Mei Qian: …
Ah, so she was the only weakling.
After changing into a linen shirt she had washed just two days earlier, Mei Qian finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Late at night, with the surrounding households fast asleep, the Lao Mei Family’s firewood had burned down to embers. By the faint glow of the remaining coals, the family huddled together and quietly recounted the events of the evening.
Grandma Mei and Madam Jiang had spent the entire night worrying. Later, the commotion in the distance had even alarmed the Chen family’s guards.
Seeing them leave one after another with swords and knives, Grandma Mei had already packed their belongings, prepared to be driven out if anything went wrong.
But in the end, nothing seemed to have happened, and the Chen family’s guards soon returned.
“I lured a patrol team over. Before that, I think I heard some movement from Dad and the others.”
Mei Qian didn’t mention what happened afterward, instead shifting the topic to her father’s side.
“Just as Qian’er suggested, I pretended to side with my second brother, snatched the curved blades from Second Uncle and Shi Tou, and handed them over.”
Han Shi also spoke softly about what she had done, but her eyes dimmed as she finished speaking.
After that, she had seen Han Lao Er’s true face, no longer hidden. He had called her stupid and foolish.
He hurled cruel, mocking insults, treating her “surrender” as a joke.
When they finally attacked Mei Erhu and Shi Tou, they even included Han Shi in their assault.
From start to finish, they had never truly considered her—just like all those years ago, when they sold her off without a second thought.
“Shitou and I kept heading towards the area where Junzhu’s troops were stationed, just as Qianqian had mentioned earlier, while bringing Sister-in-law along. Sure enough, before long, we heard Qianqian’s signal, and we immediately hid, letting them confront each other.
Qianqian was absolutely right—both sides were too dark to recognize each other, but those Xirong curved blades were truly eye-catching.
Han Laoer and his group were ruthless too. Regardless of who the newcomers were, they attacked directly, only to end up defeated.”
The spot where Mei Erhu and the others hid was one of the hiding places he and Shitou had specifically scouted during the day.
After hiding, they didn’t dare move for a while, staying put on the scene for a good while before finally leaving.
However, before they left, the situation was already settled. Since Han Laoer’s group had attacked first, and the soldiers on Junzhu’s side had also identified them as “Xirong spies,” even when Han Laoer and his men cried and begged for mercy, no one paid them any attention.
There were about a dozen people sent to deal with Mei Erhu and the others. In the end, a few scattered ones who managed to escape were relentlessly pursued by the soldiers, and it’s likely they didn’t end up well either.
“What if some of them survived and exposed us?”
At the scene, only Mei Erhu remained calm and observant of the situation. Mei Shitou and Han Shi were both on edge, their minds in a complete muddle.
Now, hearing Mei Erhu finish his account, they finally reacted and grew somewhat worried.
“What good would exposing us do? We’re the victims. We ran fast, and they failed to catch up, only to encounter Junzhu’s soldiers and attempt an attack. How could they pin it on us?
Besides, it’s uncertain whether those people will even be caught.”
Mei Qian wasn’t worried. No matter how you looked at it, the Mei family was in the right.
“Then, what if my mother comes looking for us tomorrow and asks about what happened to Laoer and the others?”
Tonight, Han Shi had seen Laoer and Laosan among the group but hadn’t spotted Laoda.
Han Shi was worried that those who hadn’t shown up might cause trouble.
“Would they dare? Tonight’s incident was too big for them not to have heard about it. If they expose themselves, they’ll be the first to suffer, not us.”
In Mei Qian’s view, anyone with a bit of sense wouldn’t dare show their face after Junzhu’s side had taken action. And if they truly had no sense and charged over, Mei Qian wouldn’t mind beating a drowning dog.
Compared to the Han family, Mei Qian was still somewhat uneasy about tonight’s Junzhu.
So, Mei Qian turned to the most skillful person in the family, Madam Jiang, and asked with a sheepish smile, “Mom, can you braid my hair into a little plait?”