Cheng Ruyi effortlessly dragged the three large carcasses over to her guards. Then, for the sake of her public image—ahem—she decided to have them find some flatbed carts to haul the prey back.
Still shaken, the guards went off in a daze to find the carts.
Little Cheng Yu, possessing a rather sturdy set of nerves, didn’t find his sister’s world-shaking strength horrifying at all. Instead, he began to fret about her marriage prospects.
Meanwhile, several young noblemen nearby—who had previously considered inviting her to join their hunting party—were now trembling so hard their knees knocked together. They wished they could travel back in time and slap their stupid, past selves awake.
Heavens! They never imagined that the exquisite but notorious Cheng Ruyi was this brutal and violent. From now on, they’d have to take a detour whenever they saw her. What if she got annoyed? They didn’t even want to imagine if they’d survive the encounter.
Before long, Cheng Ruyi noticed that several hunting parties were fleeing as if for their lives.
She was baffled. “…” Am I really that scary?
Seeing this, Cheng Yu looked utterly hopeless. He muttered under his breath, “It’s over, it’s over… Sister, no one is ever going to dare take you now!”
In the past, even with a bad reputation, many men still admired her beauty. But now, once the news of her monstrous strength spread… they’d all be scared off.
Hearing her brother, Cheng Ruyi rolled her eyes and swatted his head, speaking with a mysterious level of confidence. “Nonsense! Your sister is so beautiful; there’s a line of admirers out the door. How could no one want me? Don’t worry!”
Her “Elder Sister” from the apocalypse always said: Beauty is justice. Men are visual creatures. Even though she was only fifteen and not yet an adult, her looks had caused powerful experts in the apocalypse to chase after her constantly.
The fierce young girl had clearly forgotten that this was ancient times, not a post-apocalyptic world where strength was everything and morals were non-existent.
The guards’ lips twitched. “…” They looked at the two large wild boars and the black bear. Aside from one boar that had a bleeding wound, the other boar and the bear had clearly been killed by the internal shock of being struck unconscious. That power, that accuracy… it was terrifying.
“Sister, honestly, you should have left the prey in the mountains and had the guards carry them out. That way, you wouldn’t have exposed your monstrous strength,” Cheng Yu said, rubbing his head and looking like he was about to cry.
Fine, he thought. Since it’s already exposed, if Sister can’t get married, I’ll just support her. Thinking this, Cheng Yu felt the weight of his responsibility grow; he’d have to work even harder to save up money.
The guards were stunned. “…” They felt like they had just overheard a major secret. According to the young master, the Eldest Miss had been hiding her great strength all along.
The other hunting parties nearby overheard Cheng Yu and realized that this “delicate” girl was actually born with divine strength. And she was the legitimate eldest daughter of the Changle Marquis Mansion…
After about fifteen minutes, the guards returned with four large flatbed carts, each pulled by two horses. The four drivers were shocked to see the prey. They hadn’t expected the guards of these young nobles to be so skilled as to kill a bear without a single injury. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
This time, Cheng Ruyi didn’t lift a finger. she ordered the guards to load the three large animals onto three carts, while the fourth was piled high with pheasants, hares, deer, and goats.
Once everything was ready, she stepped into her stirrup and swung onto her horse. However, she saw her brother abandon his horse and scramble onto the cart carrying the black bear. He sat right next to the beast, looking smug.
“Sister, I’m not riding. I want to sit on the cart!”
Cheng Ruyi glanced at him, speechless. “Suit yourself. As long as you’re happy.” The bear was dead anyway.
The guards felt exhausted. With such a willful young master, life is hard.
On the way back, their procession drew countless eyes. Cheng Yu was the most flamboyant, holding his head high like a victorious rooster. Once they entered the city gates, he upped his game, striking various poses next to the black bear and basking in the envious and shocked gazes of the crowd.
As for Cheng Ruyi, she noticed people looking at her strangely—mostly avoiding her gaze. She didn’t dwell on it. It was nearly 5 PM; she needed to get home and process the meat for the ice cellar before the summer heat spoiled it.
The servants at the Changle Marquis Mansion were floored by the siblings’ haul. Cheng Ruyi had the live (unconscious) small game put into the newly built pens.
Rong Susu was thrilled to hear her children had hunted wild boars and a bear. She listened to her son’s animated retelling while excitedly circling the bear. It was huge, and the fur was intact—perfect for a bear-skin coat.
“You’re saying your sister hunted and dragged all three of these back by herself?” Rong Susu’s beautiful face was full of shock. She knew her daughter had gained strength after her recent illness, but she hadn’t expected her to be this fierce—killing a bear without a scratch and dragging two thousand pounds of meat with ease.
This is wonderful! she thought. Let’s see who dares bully my daughter now.
Cheng Yu had also come to a conclusion: since Sister’s strength was exposed and she might not be able to marry out, why not recruit a matrilocal husband[1]? With the status of the Changle Marquis Mansion, there would be plenty of poor scholars willing to marry in. Either way, with her strength, Sister would never be bullied again.
Rong Susu nodded, then watched as her daughter began to expertly butcher the wild boar. What should have been a bloody scene was executed with a strange, artistic grace.
When Rong Mo arrived, he saw his cousin deftly skinning the boar. Not a single drop of blood touched her. His usually stoic eyes flickered. In about five minutes, Cheng Ruyi had categorized everything: hide, tusks, meat, organs, bones—all perfectly separated.
The servants were mesmerized. Where did she learn such butchery? They didn’t know she had processed countless mutated animals in the apocalypse. With her wood-element power aiding her precision, it was second nature.
“Ahem… Daughter, where did you learn this skill?” Rong Susu asked with great interest. Everyone looked at her.
Cheng Yu’s eyes sparkled. “Sister is amazing!”
Rong Susu and Rong Mo were speechless.
Cheng Ruyi ignored them and proceeded to butcher the other boar and the bear. Cheng Yu held up the bear skin, marveling that it wasn’t stained with blood. Then he muttered, “If only Sister could hunt a big tiger next time.”
“I’ll get you one next time,” Cheng Ruyi promised, patting his head.
Rong Susu felt a bit left out. “Xiao Yu’er gets one, but Mom and Dad don’t?”
“Everyone gets one! Not just Mom and Dad, but Cousin too,” Cheng Ruyi announced grandly, as if tigers were just stray cats waiting to be picked up. Rong Susu was satisfied, and Rong Mo felt a sudden, small surge of happiness.
That night, the Marquis Mansion feasted on wild boar.
Outside, the rumors about Cheng Ruyi’s monstrous strength were spreading like wildfire. The young noblemen from the mountains had returned and exaggerated everything they saw.
The Marchioness of Huaiyang, who had recently been scolded by the Old Marquis, felt vindicated. “Cheng Ruyi hid herself so deeply! Thank goodness we broke the engagement, or my son Zihao would have been crushed by her!”
The Marquis of Huaiyang actually agreed. A girl with that much strength and a spoiled temper? One disagreement could end in a fatality!
Meanwhile, at the Jian’an Marquis Mansion, Cheng Qingyao had just returned from burning incense.
“You’re saying Cheng Ruyi has monstrous strength and can drag two thousand pounds? Impossible!” Cheng Qingyao’s voice rose, her eyes full of disbelief.
“Miss, it’s true. Several hunting parties saw it,” the maid, Qiulan, replied.
Cheng Qingyao was stunned. This was completely different from her past life; Cheng Ruyi never had such a reputation then. But then, a wild realization struck her. In her past life, Cheng Ruyi and Yan Zihao had seemed so happy. Could that have been an illusion? Was Yan Zihao just acting because he was being violently threatened by Cheng Ruyi?
Thinking of her cousin who had been pampered since childhood and couldn’t stand the slightest grievance, it made sense! What man would stay faithful to a woman who had nothing going for her but her face?
Cheng Qingyao sneered, convinced she had found the truth. “Cheng Ruyi… she’s nothing special after all!”
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[1] the husband will marry into the wife’s family