A girl who lives in someone else’s home is supposed to behave well and accept everything.
But Xu Miaoxue was different. Her temper was harder than a rock. Beating could not tame her, and scolding could not win against her. She often disappeared for days. A girl like this would never marry into a good family.
But as Mrs. Jia watched her grow up, her body became slim like a willow branch, and her careless face became more and more beautiful. Mrs. Jia noticed the way Cheng Kaishou looked at her. Even though he tried to hide it, a mother could tell. This was dangerous.
Some people had asked to marry Xu Miaoxue, but they were either old men or widowers. It was ironic. Men care about a woman’s reputation, but they do not care if a beautiful woman has a bad reputation. They praise “pure flowers rising from mud,” yet they want to ruin the flowers that grow from mud. The worse the reputation, the easier they think the woman is to get. Mrs. Jia was waiting for someone who would pay a high price, so the Cheng family could get back the money they spent raising this ungrateful girl.
And now, that rich and dirty old man had appeared. That was why Mrs. Jia suddenly went to check Xu Miaoxue’s room last night. When she thought about selling Xu Miaoxue for a good price, most of her anger disappeared.
Xu Miaoxue knew nothing about these plans. She was busy with her own small world.
Avoiding others, she slowly and painfully walked to her secret place—a small abandoned stone house by the sea.
Xiucai and Scissors had been waiting there nervously for half the day. ALi had been locked up by the Cheng family, but finally escaped and arrived almost at the same time as Xu Miaoxue.
When they saw Xu Miaoxue covered in wounds and looking miserable, they were shocked.
Scissors angrily grabbed his knife. “I’ll go kill that tiger woman from the Cheng family!”
Xiucai followed. “I’ll take care of the body. The officials won’t find out who did it!”
“Sit down,” Xu Miaoxue said coldly.
“Boss—”
“Did you forget what we are here to do? We already lost some time. We must act now.”
“Miss, you are hurt like this…” Ali said worriedly.
“I won’t die,” Xu Miaoxue waved her hand. “The pawnshop items can’t be used for long. We must finish this act today.”
She could no longer live a normal life. This was a road with no way back.
She had already seen a small part of something huge and powerful, and she wanted to test it. An ant shaking a tree is always dangerous.
A few hours later, near evening, the biggest salt merchant in Ningbo, Zheng Tong, heard news: in the afternoon, the secondary wife of the salt inspector had suddenly visited his salt shops. Because it was so sudden, the shop managers, feeling guilty, gave her different amounts of bribes. The woman took the money and did not investigate further.
The Zheng family controlled illegal salt routes across Ningbo, Shaoxing, Taizhou, and several coastal guards. Zheng Tong also controlled half of the transport ships in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Because they were so powerful, the Zheng family often sold bad salt mixed with sand to the people. After many years of bribing officials, Zheng Tong was never afraid of complaints.
But he did not dare to be careless with an official sent from the capital. Salt could not survive inspection. After thinking, he told his wife to prepare expensive gifts and invite the inspector’s wife to dinner. He thought that if he pleased the woman close to the inspector, she might speak well of him and keep him safe.
But the inspector’s wife refused politely and acted very proud. Zheng’s wife became nervous and sent more gifts. This time, the woman returned everything, but sent a message instead:
“I have long heard of the famous tide banquet at Ruyi Harbor. Sadly, my husband has not taken office yet, and I should not go alone. If Boss Zheng can arrange for me to attend, I will repay you greatly in the future.”
From start to end, no one in the Zheng family had ever seen her face. Even the shop managers only spoke to her through a carriage. But no one doubted her identity.
Powerful people grow careless after long comforts. They only look upward and bully the weak. They never think small people would dare to trick them.
Xu Miaoxue used exactly this weakness.
She risked her life pretending to be an official’s family member and planned such a big scam because she wanted to go to Ruyi Harbor.
That place was where nobles held their banquets. Ordinary people would never dare to dream of going there. But to Xu Miaoxue, except for reaching the sky or the moon, nothing in this world was impossible. Those nobles had two eyes and one mouth just like her. Why could they go if she could not?
More importantly, she had to go.
Now the plan had reached this point. All she needed was Zheng Tong’s answer.
Waiting was the hardest part. Even though Xu Miaoxue looked calm, she was also nervous inside.
Ali, who always worried, said, “Miss, can this really work? Even if we reach Ruyi Harbor, so many people will watch you. What if they find out?”
Xu Miaoxue shook the stack of banknotes in her hand loudly. “That’s why we tricked them for this money. We’ll buy good clothes and dress like noble ladies. What’s the difference between us and them? Just clothes and jewelry.”
Ali wanted to say more, but Xu Miaoxue cut her off. “My good Ali, you must trust me. When we tricked Zhao Jin, our plan was full of holes, and you also said it wouldn’t work. But Zhao Jin didn’t even dare to look at me, and we still succeeded, right?”
Xu Miaoxue planned to trade a fake invitation for Zhao Jin for a real invitation for herself. She believed that when the cart reached the mountain, a road would appear. First get to Ruyi Harbor. The rest could be handled later.
Ali closed her mouth, full of bad thoughts in her head, but she did not dare to speak again.
Just then, Xiucai returned and quietly closed the door.
“Boss, you asked me to check on Sixth Master. I found out,” he said mysteriously. “Do you know who he is?”
Xu Miaoxue’s heart jumped. From Xiucai’s tone, this person must be very powerful.
“Who is he?” she asked calmly.
“He is a big figure in Lingnan,” Xiucai said proudly. “A few years ago, pirates attacked Guangdong waters. The Sixth Master used only more than ten fishing boats and drove them away. They say he improved the foreign cannons, and their power was terrifying. At sea, whoever is strong is in charge. After that, all the sea merchants in Guangdong went to work under him. But not everyone is allowed to do business with him.”
“Then why is he in Ningbo?” Xu Miaoxue’s voice slightly shook.
“You know Lu Zongliang, the head of the Ningbo Merchant Guild? Sixth Master does business with him and is his honored guest. But boss, how did you even hear about Sixth Master?”
Xu Miaoxue forced a dry laugh. “I heard his name in Nongchao Alley… and I heard someone might have offended him…”
“That’s very bad,” Xiucai said seriously. “I also heard that once a pirate killed one of his men, and the Sixth Master used cannons to blow them up. He is someone you must never offend. If you do, you should go and beg for forgiveness before he comes for you.”
Xiucai spoke excitedly, like he was telling stories about his own heroes. This was his talent—he always made gossip sound real and grand.
But for Xu Miaoxue, this felt very real in a bad way. Her smile felt stiff. She dared not tell them what she had done to the Sixth Master. She was afraid Ali would faint on the spot.
Should she return the money and cry and beg for mercy?
But then she thought—she earned that money with her own skills. He used money to harm innocent girls. She only stopped him from hurting someone. Why should she return it?
Even if the Sixth Master was powerful, she was slippery like a loach. What was there to fear?
This was Xu Miaoxue’s special talent—she always believed the worst would not happen until it really did.
Without this bold nature, this helpless cousin would never have become the famous scammer “Bei Luocha” who frightened all of Ningbo.
But the young Xu Miaoxue did not yet understand one truth:
Once you walk this road, things will not always go smoothly.
If you walk by the river often, your shoes will get wet one day.