Jiang Pengji licked her dry lips.
“Besides, he’s a local from Hejian Commandery.
A few of the bandits outside are from here, too.
With a bit of luck, you’re bound to find someone from the same village.
Birds of a feather flock together…
In a broken world where travel is such a nightmare, even when people take to the hills to become bandits, they mostly gather with others from their own village or neighboring ones…
The odds are high, don’t you think?”
She was simply misleading him, guiding the Second-in-Command to focus his suspicions on the same-village thugs and making him believe her words implicitly.
When the Second-in-Command went to investigate, a conflict would surely erupt.
A bunch of short-tempered, brainless brutes—wouldn’t that inevitably turn into a free-for-all brawl?
From beginning to end, she had never said the killer was from within the bandit stronghold.
Even if they ended up killing each other, what did that have to do with her?
“Right, don’t go just yet…” Jiang Pengji rose to her feet, stopping the Second-in-Command as he prepared to leave and verify her claims.
“I’m not comfortable leaving those beautiful young ladies outside.
I won’t speak with the Fourth Boss privately, so you’ll have to pass this on to him for me.”
After saying this, Jiang Pengji listed a string of bandits.
Of course, she didn’t use their names.
Instead, she described their physical characteristics—vividly and memorably.
“…And lastly…
we’ll have to add you, Second-in-Command,” Jiang Pengji said with a smile.
The Second-in-Command visibly shuddered.
“As for whether you’ll relay this truthfully, I won’t interfere.”
With this attitude, she was making it clear that she wasn’t the one instigating their infighting—she was merely stating the facts.
If she hadn’t done this and had simply called the Fourth Boss inside to list every bandit who had slept with his woman, the entire stronghold would have descended into chaos.
Beyond that, she had another goal: to deepen the Second-in-Command’s trust in her words.
When he hadn’t heard Jiang Pengji mention his own affair with the Fourth Boss’s woman, he had been secretly relieved.
But when his name was finally brought up, his face darkened.
Could it be that this girl had been watching them when they were with the Fourth Boss’s woman?
All the pieces were in place; all she needed was the right moment to cast her net.
Jiang Pengji emerged from the back room.
Wei Jingxian and Shangguan Wan rushed forward to meet her, sighing in relief when they saw her expression was as calm as it had been before she entered.
“I’m fine.
Those guys are probably busy settling their scores now; they won’t be bothering us for a while.”
The bandits in the main hall had all left, likely to settle their accounts.
However, a few still remained at the entrance, keeping guard.
“That bandit said he’d keep his promise and let us go…” Shangguan Wan clung to Jiang Pengji, half-hugging her, her small face etched with disappointment.
“Now they’ve posted so many men at the door.
They’re clearly trying to break the agreement…
Brother Lanting, what should we do now?”
She knew Liu Lanting wasn’t actually her brother, but her older sister, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to be a little more affectionate.
She had always taken a liking to Liu Lanting, wishing she had such a gentle elder brother to always protect her—unlike her half-brothers at home, who maintained a facade of harmony while spewing acid-tongued insults behind her back.
People were judged by comparison, and Liu Lanting had always left a wonderful impression on Shangguan Wan.
However, back then, Liu Lanting was engaged to Wei Jingxian.
She had been utterly indifferent to other noble young ladies, which had left Shangguan Wan feeling depressed for a long time.
Though Shangguan Wan was young, she was sharp-witted and clever.
Liu Lanting and Wei Jingxian had been engaged.
If she had tried to get close to him then, regardless of whether she considered him a brother or not, people would have gossiped.
But now, things were perfect.
Her “brother” had become her “sister,” and she could act as spoiled and affectionate as she pleased.
Surely those gossipy maids and old women wouldn’t dare say a word when they saw two beautiful young ladies embracing like this?
Shangguan Wan was so favored at home not only because she was the only legitimate daughter, but also because she loved to act spoiled with her elders—unlike other noble young ladies who were all timid and identical in their every word and gesture.
She was like a little ray of sunshine, always able to coax her elders into glowing with happiness and constant smiles.
Wei Jingxian’s eyes widened in shock as she watched this.
She had just been about to say that men and women should not touch, let alone that Liu Lanting was already betrothed—what kind of behavior was this, with the two of them pulling and tugging at each other?
However, the moment she saw the doting smile on Jiang Pengji’s lips, all her words were swallowed back.
She choked on them until her chest ached.
Liu Lanting was a woman!
A woman!
A woman!
“I never expected them to keep their promise anyway.
Wan’er, why did you think these vicious bandits could have the demeanor of gentlemen?”
Jiang Pengji imitated Liu Lanting’s usual way of speaking, then slowly added her own style.
“They were just stalling for time.”
“But…” Shangguan Wan’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with both hands, terrified that the bandits outside would hear her.
She lowered her voice and said anxiously, “But, but…
these bandits are still determined, aren’t we still in danger…”
Jiang Pengji raised her hand and gently pinched the little girl’s elastic cheek.
“Who says?
Very soon, Brother Lanting will take you away.”
The little girl’s chubby cheeks were bursting with collagen.
The feel of them was simply indescribable.
Jiang Pengji reached out and deftly removed the jade hairpin from her hair.
“Lend this hairpin to your Big Brother for a moment.”
Shangguan Wan’s face flushed crimson.
She hid behind Wei Jingxian with a playful pout.
“Brother Lanting, now that you’ve dropped your act, you’ve finally shown your fox’s tail.”
Jiang Pengji crossed her arms and chuckled, her tongue sweeping over her back molar.
Her smile was unexpectedly wicked and full of charm.
“If you keep teasing me like that, little girl, I won’t take you with me.
But…
I’ll definitely take Jing’er.”
Wei Jingxian, who had been caught in the crossfire of this flirtatious jab, was both embarrassed and annoyed, but Jiang Pengji remained completely unfazed.
In the end, Wei Jingxian could only glare fiercely at her, warning her not to say such nonsense.
Yet to an outsider, the glare looked absolutely coy and blushing.
If the recipient of that glare had been a man, his bones would have melted into mush.
And wouldn’t you know it, someone’s bones actually did melt.
But it wasn’t the bandits—it was a viewer watching the live stream in silence, Unlucky Stoaway.
As a viewer with absolutely zero presence, Unlucky Stoaway silently donated 520 Lollipops to desperately assert their existence.
Unlucky Stoaway: (/ω╲) That little girl is so cute, I almost fell off my computer chair just now…
520 lollipops?
What the hell?
Jiang Pengji frowned inwardly, poking the System, which was currently playing dead.
“What is that?”
The System’s voice was clearly a synthetic electronic one, but its speech was incredibly fast…
Jiang Pengji could feel its excitement and joy.
It was so excited it was becoming incoherent.
“A donation!
This is your first-ever donation!
Remember to thank the generous viewer for their—”
A single viewer only provided one Popularity Point, and that point could only be accumulated once a day.
In other words, no matter how many times a viewer entered and left the channel, they only counted as one Popularity Point per day.
But donations were different.
One lollipop was worth 0.1 Live Coins, and it brought in 0.1 Popularity Points!
520 lollipops meant a whopping 52 Popularity Points!
Jiang Pengji would get half, and the other half would go to the System!
“Thank them?” Jiang Pengji raised an eyebrow coldly in her mind and asked without any courtesy, “Have you been infected by a virus?”
“Uh…
this is…
a matter of politeness…”
The System thought about Jiang Pengji’s previous ruthless behavior and secretly regretted it…
This Host was someone with a very strong will.
Unceremoniously exposing the System, she rolled her eyes.
“All I hear is your flattery.”
Her clash with the System took place entirely in secret, so the viewer Unlucky Stowaway remained completely unaware.