“However, I’m not threatening all of you—just those of you who aren’t Jing’er and Wan’er!
They’ve shown me genuine kindness, unlike the rest of you…
I just fought tooth and nail to save you, and now you’re plotting against me in your hearts…
Repaying kindness with enmity!”
These noble ladies were, frankly, just teenage girls, each one as fresh and tender as a peach.
Did they really think they could hide their schemes from her?
If these wet-behind-the-ears girls could keep a secret, the brutes in the Seventh Legion might as well jump into the river en masse.
Since there was no real bond between them, they weren’t cute when they schemed.
And when she threatened them, she didn’t hesitate in the slightest.
Hearing this, the noble ladies’ faces turned as pale as paper, their delicate bodies swaying as if they might collapse.
“How dare you…
Aren’t you afraid of retaliation later?”
One noble lady gritted her teeth.
In her view, Liu Lanting was nothing like a bandit.
Things a bandit would do, Liu Lanting absolutely could not.
That noble lady spoke to Jiang Pengji with the authority of her clan status.
If this were the original Liu Lanting, she would have been intimidated.
The gentry, after all, Jiang Pengji thought.
No matter how filthy their dealings are, they still have to maintain a facade of mutual respect and harmony.
Tearing each other’s masks off so publicly would be far too unsightly.
But Jiang Pengji had never been one to fall for such tricks.
“Retaliation?
Hmph, you’ve reminded me of something.” She tapped her finger against her lips, thinking for a moment before saying, “You think you can retaliate, yet you assume I’ll just stand here like a wooden doll, letting you knead and crush me at will?
Let me make one thing clear: in the eyes of the world, you are a noble lady, and I am a young master.
You were raised in the inner chambers to serve your husband and raise children, while I studied the Confucian path of a gentleman in the outside world.”
“The schemes and intrigues of the inner chambers are nothing more than the petty tricks of demons and ghosts, unfit to see the light of day.
You dare to use such narrow-minded methods against me?”
As the words fell, the color drained from the faces of the noble ladies.
Jiang Pengji had just slapped every noblewoman from every great clan in the same breath.
“How dare you…
humiliate us so…” The woman’s rage was so great she nearly snapped her beautifully manicured nails.
“You’re wrong,” Jiang Pengji retorted with a smile, twirling a dagger in her hand.
“From beginning to end, haven’t you been the one bringing this humiliation upon yourself?”
Below them, Shangguan Wan’s face flushed crimson.
She quietly tugged at Wei Jingxian’s sleeve and whispered, “Brother Lanting looks so tall and imposing…”
Wei Jingxian shot her a sharp, annoyed look.
“Her words just now slapped every noble lady in the room, including a little love-struck fool like you.”
Shangguan Wan stuck out her tongue and twisted her body coquettishly.
“Wan’er is also as shrewd and calculating as Brother Lanting…”
Wei Jingxian: “…”
“All you need to do is keep your mouths shut and keep this a secret.
Otherwise, if my identity is exposed…”
Jiang Pengji blew a breath over her dagger, her tone languid.
“A bunch of noble ladies falling into a bandit’s den and staying the whole night, sigh…”
Shameless!
The inner voices of the women roared in unison.
Jiang Pengji’s words dealt a double critical hit to the noble ladies.
One of them even rolled her eyes and fainted.
Even when facing bandits, these noble ladies had never experienced such blood-boiling fury.
“Liu!
Xi!”
The System simply couldn’t bear to watch any longer: So brutal even when facing beautiful women.
Can’t you show some tenderness and cherish the fair?
Jiang Pengji snorted coldly.
Though I am a pathetic beauty-obsessed dog, that is merely my hobby.
When facing serious matters, even with a thousand beauties before me, I will remain unmoved.
My reason is always online, so I won’t act on a momentary impulse.
System: …
Oh right, your reason is online, but do you know your morals and integrity are constantly offline?
“I’m giving you a choice.
Either you keep your mouths shut and I’ll prove it to you—after all, every bandit in this room and outside was killed by my hand.
What could be more convincing than that?
Your reputations will remain intact, and your names will stay untarnished.”
For these noblewomen, their reputation and family honor were the most important things in the world, far more precious than their own lives.
“The other option is…” She paused, then made a throat-slitting gesture.
“I’m capable of doing it.”
“We’re in the middle of the wilderness, surrounded by bandits.
I only had time to rescue Jing’er and Wan’er.
I’m sure no one would blame me.”
At this time, men loved to apply powder to their faces and wear incense—it was a common trend, especially in Hejian Commandery.
Jiang Pengji’s current body was clearly a weakling.
Being able to protect herself and rescue two others was already a great feat.
The room fell into a dead silence.
No one dared to breathe loudly, let alone weep.
The great clans and aristocratic families did not raise these noblewomen to be brainless puppets who only knew how to obey and had their edges smoothed away.
The courage and knowledge of some of these women were no less than that of the Confucian scholars of the day.
Jiang Pengji’s words weren’t meant to humiliate; they were designed to provoke.
After a long silence, one of the noblewomen finally broke.
“As long as…
we keep your secret, you’ll agree to help us?”
Jiang Pengji’s words and actions, along with the severed limbs and broken bones scattered around the room, were relentlessly chipping away at the noblewomen’s defenses.
They all had an internal scale—a sense of balance—and knew exactly how to weigh their options to maximize their own interests.
The choice Jiang Pengji offered was stark and clear.
Even a blind person could see the obvious answer.
Very soon, they had all made their decision.
However…
One noblewoman covered her lips with a handkerchief, her voice dripping with reluctant sarcasm.
“Your proposal is excellent, and we have no intention of refusing.
But if your identity remains a secret, are you really going to go through with marrying Wei Jingxian when the wedding date arrives?”
Oh?
So we’re starting to stir the pot now?
The tactic was a bit amateur, but it was effective nonetheless.
Jiang Pengji raised an eyebrow, taking a newfound interest in the noblewoman who had straightened her back.
Given the overwhelming trend of the situation, her counterattack had been a brilliant move.
Yet none of them knew that Jiang Pengji, beyond her martial prowess and sharp tongue, was a first-rate flirt.
Why did so many heroic women in the Seventh Legion constantly swear they would marry no one but her?
Why was the density of single women always so high wherever she went?
Bah!
Their flirting skills weren’t even as good as hers—a woman—no wonder they were single.
Wei Jingxian shot her a complicated look.
Jiang Pengji met it with a smile, her words enunciated with the solemnity of a sacred vow.
“If she is willing to lower herself to marry me and be my wife in this life, I will fight with all my might to win her the glory of performing the Feng Sacrifice at Langjuxu [Note: To win supreme military glory] and the titles and decrees of nobility.
But if her heart belongs to another, I will offer ten miles of red dowry with my own two hands, shoulder the disgrace of the broken engagement alone, and wish only for her to grow old with her true love.”
Hearing this, Wei Jingxian’s cheeks flushed a deep crimson.
She glared at Jiang Pengji, her voice laced with shy anger.
“You…
you used to seem so proper.
How is it that…
now you’re always saying such improper things?
Could it be that Wan’er was right—that once you let your fox’s tail show, you’ll say any shameless thing…
If you want to marry me, I’m not marrying you!”
The noble young ladies: “…”
Cold, hard dog food was being slapped all over their faces.
Could you two take your public display of affection somewhere else?
System: “…Host, let me tell you, if you keep flirting with her like this, she’ll never get married…
You scumbag!”
If you aren’t going to marry her, why are you flirting?
Jiang Pengji asked Wei Jingxian back with an innocent look, “I’ve already wronged you by keeping this a secret for so long.
Aren’t these the things I ought to do?”
At the same time, she answered the System in her mind, Fine, I’ll take responsibility.
System: “…”
Wait, if you don’t reveal your true gender, how the hell are you supposed to fight in the inner court and the harem?!