Twilight descended.

In the main house of an ordinary farm at the border of Lingshou and Zhending counties, a faint light flickered to life.

A youth dressed in a sapphire blue, gold-embroidered robe with a folding fan and sachet hanging from his waist and a riding crop in hand, rode a tall chestnut stallion. Six or seven sturdy attendants followed behind. They leisurely traversed the fields, reminiscent of a wealthy young master on a spring outing, seemingly unbothered by the summer heat. Finally, they halted before the farmhouse.

“Lu Laosi, go ask for directions,” the elegantly dressed youth called out, his voice tinged with excitement and pride. “We’ve traveled so far, I’m thirsty. While you’re at it, fetch me some tea.”

“Right away!” A middle-aged man with beady eyes responded loudly, knocking on the door.

“Who is it?” A gruff voice bellowed. A man in a coarse blue short jacket with a broken eyebrow opened the door, poking his head out. His face immediately changed, filled with fear. “Fo-Fourth Brother!”

Lu Laosi frowned, signaling with his eyes while speaking loudly, “Excuse me, where are we? Our young master has lost his way and would like some tea.” He then whispered urgently, “Pretend you don’t know us!”

The broken-browed man took a moment to collect himself before replying, “This is Wang Family Village.” His voice trembled, and his face paled. “You… you may come in!” He opened the gate with a creak and quickly stepped aside.

Lu Laosi gave him a strange look, muttering, “This Wang Xiaoliu has seen a ghost,” while scurrying back to report to the youth. “Young Master, this is Wang Family Village, just east of Lingshou, about forty li from the county seat.”

The young master arrogantly grunted in acknowledgment and dismounted.

Several attendants escorted him into the courtyard, just as Scar Face led a group out of the main hall.

The two groups faced each other. The young master halted, while Scar Face trembled, quickly glancing at the robust man behind him before hurriedly approaching.

Lu Laosi asked him in a low voice, “Where is she?” Noticing the unfamiliar, burly men with righteous expressions behind Scarface, he hesitated, asking suspiciously, “Are these your men?”

Scar Face nodded haphazardly, pointing to the inner room to the east. “Miss Dou is in there,” he said, his voice shaking.

Hearing this, Lu Laosi became excited, his earlier confusion forgotten. He whispered, “Proceed as planned,” then began shouting, “Do you know who we are? We’re from the Pang family of Lingshou County. Our young master is the Fifth Young Master Pang. How dare you have us drink tea in the courtyard? Are you mad?” He then loudly complained to Young Master Pang, “That Li Scholar is truly despicable.

You pitied him for selling calligraphy on the streets, unable to feed himself, and occasionally helped him. Who knew he’d be so presumptuous? This time, he openly invited you to his home for drinks under the guise of gratitude but intended to offer his wife’s younger sister as your concubine. If not for your virtue, you might have fallen for his scheme. But it upset you so much that you rode off aimlessly and got lost. If not for Old Ten’s quick thinking, how would we have found you? Why should we suffer this nonsense?”

Amidst the commotion, the young master stepped back, closely followed by a guard, and sat on a stone mill.

Suddenly, a sound of window tapping came from the inner room to the east.

The young master and his attendants perked up.

Lu Laosi, standing beside Scar Face, abruptly drew a dagger from his waist and plunged it into Scar Face’s chest.

Scarface stared at Lu Laosi in shock. All sound ceased.

“Why?” he gurgled, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth onto his clothes, leaving spots of stains.

“You’re a bandit, after all!” Lu Laosi grinned triumphantly, twisting the dagger in Scar Face’s chest before quickly retreating behind the other attendants.

The attendants pounced on Scar Face’s men like wolves.

Some of Scar Face’s followers shouted, “Pang Kunbai, you’re trying to silence us!” and charged forward.

Both sides engaged in fierce combat.

Young Master Pang Kunbai coldly observed the scene.

These attendants were desperate men he had brought from the Northwest. How could ordinary people be their match?

This thought flashed through his mind, but he quickly realized something was amiss.

Perhaps Scarface’s death had frightened his men, allowing Pang’s attendants to initially gain the upper hand. But as the fight progressed, Scar Face’s men seemed to regain their composure and began to resist forcefully. With superior numbers, fighting two against one, they soon matched Pang’s men blow for blow. One particularly muscular man even landed a punch on one of Pang’s attendants’ chests, resulting in a sickening crack of bones and an agonized scream…

How could Scarface’s men be so formidable?

Pang Kunbai instinctively sensed something was wrong.

He ordered the attendant beside him, “Quick, rescue Miss Dou!”

The attendant complied, skirting the brawl in the courtyard with Lu Laosi, rushing towards the main house.

Someone tried to intercept them.

The attendant, relying on his superior martial skills, broke through, but Lu Laosi was caught by two men and knocked to the ground.

“Miss Dou,” the attendant, seeing more people coming to stop him, ran to the east window of the main house and tore off half the window frame with a creak. “We’re Master Pang’s men, here to rescue you!”

The window frame fell on those rushing to stop the attendant, revealing Dou Zhao’s face, her expression cold to the point of cruelty.

The attendant was stunned.

A red-tasseled flying dagger embedded itself in the attendant’s throat.

The bright red tassel quivered with the impact.

The attendant stared at Dou Zhao in disbelief, his eyes wide. After a moment, his body crashed to the ground.

Everyone fighting in the courtyard turned to look.

Pang Kunbai’s attendants gazed at him in bewilderment.

Pang Kunbai let out a surprised “Eh?” and stood up straight, all previous nonchalance gone.

“Fourth Cousin Dou,” he called out loudly, his face grim, “I am Pang Kunbai of the Pang family. I’m here to rescue you!”

“Is that so?” Dou Zhao smiled, her smile filled with indescribable mockery and derision in the twilight. “A man of noble birth does not loiter in dangerous places. The Pang family is the wealthiest in Lingshou County. How could the Fifth Young Master Pang suddenly appear on this remote farm with a group of shady characters? You’re an impostor! Uncle Duan, help me capture all these people. I want to send them to the magistrate for questioning. If they dare resist, kill them immediately. I’ll take full responsibility on behalf of the Dou family!”

These men were highly skilled fighters. Earlier, out of concern that they were Pang family attendants, Uncle Duan, and the others hadn’t dared to fight back with full force, fearing injury. Now, with Dou Zhao’s words, Uncle Duan and his men felt a weight lift from their shoulders. They loudly responded “Yes!” and began beating the men without mercy.

The situation immediately changed.

Pang Kunbai’s men began to falter and retreat.

Pang Kunbai glanced at Dou Zhao, whose eyes flashed coldly. Recalling Scar Face and his men’s strange behavior when he entered, he immediately realized the plan had been exposed.

He turned and ran towards the gate.

But Uncle Duan caught him by the collar.

Uncle Duan hesitated, unsure what to do.

Pang Kunbai began screaming like a stuck pig, “My father is Pang Yinlou! My aunt is the daughter-in-law of Governor Wang of Shaanxi! If you dare touch a hair on my head, I’ll kill your entire family…” As he spoke, he threw a punch at Uncle Duan’s stomach.

Of course, Pang Kunbai’s weak punch was nothing more than a tickle to Uncle Duan, but it still made his scalp tingle.

A county magistrate can ruin a family, a prefect can exterminate a clan. A despicable person like Pang Kunbai might do such a thing.

“Uncle Duan, don’t listen to his ranting,” Dou Zhao’s cold voice carried from afar. “If he’s related to Governor Wang of Shaanxi, even better. After we capture him, we’ll send him to my Fifth Uncle in the capital and let Governor Wang explain this to our Dou family. We can’t let ourselves be deceived!”

Ah, how could he have forgotten this?

If Miss Dou knew who he was and still dared to have them beat him senseless, she must have her reasons. He was just a guard, paid to do a job. At worst, he could take the money and run. With his skills, he wouldn’t starve. Besides, he had long despised these rich young masters who looked down on people like him…

“Miss, we’ll do as you say,” Uncle Duan grinned and delivered a punch to Pang Kunbai’s stomach.

Pang Kunbai let out a miserable cry, clutching his stomach and curling up like a shrimp, vomiting bile.

Chen Xiaofeng, standing beside Dou Zhao and responsible for her protection, glanced at her uneasily. “Miss, you don’t intend to beat Young Master Pang to death, do you? He’s Pang Yinlou’s only son. I fear the Pang family won’t let this go easily…”

Dou Zhao replied calmly, “Is there a Fifth Young Master Pang here? I don’t know of any. All I know is that my carriage overturned, I took shelter at this farm and encountered some vicious bandits. My guards accidentally killed them in self-defense. If the Pang family wants to hold me accountable, they should first explain why Pang Kunbai tried to kidnap me, shouldn’t they?”

Chen Xiaofeng smiled bitterly, “I’m just worried this incident might damage your reputation…”

“Damage my reputation?” The mention of this ignited Dou Zhao’s anger. She interrupted Chen Xiaofeng with a cold laugh, “Pang Kunbai had me brought here, intending to wait until nightfall to pretend to rescue me. Why? Simply to use the excuse that it was too late to travel, forcing me to stay overnight at the farm, creating a situation where an unmarried man and woman shared a room. Then he would make a grand gesture of proposing marriage, forcing the Dou family to marry me to him. If not for Suxin and Sulan by my side, he might have succeeded! Reputation? What’s reputation compared to eliminating Pang Kunbai? This will serve as a warning to others who covet me!”

Chen Xiaofeng fell silent.

If Dou Zhao were truly a 13 or 14-year-old girl, shyly waiting to be married, she might have chosen to bide her time for the sake of her reputation, temporarily sparing Pang Kunbai and waiting for an opportunity to exact revenge. But having lived two lives and decided never to marry again, she would eventually be seen as eccentric and reclusive by society. Why should she swallow her anger and let Pang Kunbai go?

However, there was one thing Pang Kunbai said that she particularly liked.

My aunt is the daughter-in-law of Governor Wang Xingyi of Shaanxi…

Dou Zhao couldn’t help but smile.

In the distance, the sound of thundering hooves approached.

Chen Xiaofeng, with keener senses than Dou Zhao, had of course heard it too.

His face changed dramatically.

Horses were military-controlled items. While it was common for wealthy families to keep a few, for so many to suddenly appear…

Could Pang Kunbai have called for military assistance?