The young miss of this family was fifteen or sixteen years old. Like her family members, she wore gold and silver. Her eyes were large and bright. She called over the shop assistant and ordered another pot of wine.

Who would have thought—these country folk could really drink. The shop assistant glanced at the table where almost everyone had a wine pot at hand, except for two children around ten years old, a boy and a girl. Even the white-haired, dim-eyed old woman had one.

The shop assistant brought the wine. The young miss didn’t keep it for herself, but picked it up and gave it to the eager boy.

“When out and about, besides eating and dressing well so people won’t look down on us, we must also be polite,” the young miss said solemnly in a low voice. “This is all what Aunt taught us. Go on, give the wine to those people, then ask them about things.”

The boy happily took the wine, pulled along the girl, and ran to a nearby table.

“Uncles,” he called out, offering the wine. “Please have some wine.”

A group of dusty merchants sat here, casually chatting about this and that from all over. Suddenly interrupted, they looked at the two children and the wine with some surprise.

“Why are you treating us to wine?” one merchant asked, glancing at that table over there.

They had noticed this family when they came in—how could they not? The whole family glittered with gold.

“My name is Little Rabbit,” the boy said openly. “You came from the capital. Just now I heard you talking about capital matters—it’s very interesting. I didn’t hear enough. Can you tell us more?”

So that was it. The merchants all laughed. Children loved hearing about fresh things from outside, especially from the capital.

One merchant said: “There hasn’t been much new lately, just the Third Prince’s literary gathering, or rather, a group of young women who forced their way through the Third Prince’s literary gathering gates.”

Little Rabbit immediately nodded: “Let’s hear about that.” He patted his sister’s head. “This is my sister Dragonfly. Let her hear more about what the girls in the capital are doing.”

Sister Dragonfly, who wasn’t even as tall as the table, looked at the merchants with bright, flashing eyes and nodded forcefully.

Children from wealthy families, and so polite too—who could refuse? The merchants smiled and began talking, continuing until they finished their wine and food and had to leave to continue their journey.

Little Rabbit listened with complete satisfaction, thanked the merchants, and came back pulling his sister along.

“Sister Xiao Man, everything you said was wrong,” he said animatedly.

Xiao Man snorted and concentrated on gnawing her pig’s trotter, mumbling: “What did I get wrong?”

“You said Chu Zhao was only fierce at home,” Little Rabbit said. “That once she left the border commandery and came to the capital, she’d be nothing and would definitely shrink at home not daring to go out. But now everyone is talking about Chu Zhao.”

“Chu Zhao dares to fight,” Dragonfly added from the side.

Little Rabbit continued: “As soon as she arrived in the capital, she beat up a young lady. After beating her, she still blocked her family’s door to scold them. Then she dared to fight the Third Prince, fought with scholars, and in the end actually won! The Third Prince is even afraid of her now and invited her to participate in the literary gathering to continue fighting.”

He spoke with great animation. He loved people who could fight. Sister Xiao Man always said that Chu Zhao only knew how to eat, drink, and play, pretending to be a proper young lady.

Know what pretending to be a proper young lady meant? It meant when others scolded you, you smiled apologetically at them. When others hit you, you only knew how to cry. No matter how urgent the journey, you never rode horses, only sat in carriages. Your hands only held needles and thread, not swords, spears, bows and arrows. You only had one thing in your heart—what kind of man to marry, then bear and raise children. Your whole life you’d just leave behind the name of “proper young lady,” with no one knowing what you were actually called.

That was too boring. He had no interest in this Chu Zhao at all.

But unexpectedly, before even reaching the capital, he’d already heard Chu Zhao’s name. And whenever someone mentioned Chu Zhao, others immediately chimed in, as if everyone knew Chu Zhao.

Not even this many people in the border commandery knew Chu Zhao.

Xiao Man furrowed her brows. She didn’t quite understand what was going on either. Logically speaking, it shouldn’t be like this. In the border commandery, Chu Zhao relying on her father was still acceptable, but after entering the capital, she still had this kind of courage and even dared to fight with imperial princes.

“Of course! Look who gave birth to her,” the old woman said cheerfully from the side. “Your aunt was just like this. From childhood she was quiet and gentle, but when she struck, she was fiercer than anyone.”

Xiao Man pursed her lips: “How can she compare to Aunt?” She tossed down the pig’s trotter. “All right, let’s hurry on our way and see with our own eyes what she’s really like.”

The group settled their bill, gathered their luggage, and hurried on. While traveling, Little Rabbit also rushed to the very front, eagerly wanting to see Chu Zhao fight.

“If we go too late, it’ll be over, right?” he said while urging, “Sister Xiao Man, ride faster.”

He sat behind Xiao Man.

Xiao Man reached out and pressed down on his head, turning forward: “I’m only letting you ride with me. If you keep giving orders, you can get in the carriage.”

Little Rabbit muttered: “Sister Chu Zhao definitely isn’t as fierce as you.”

Xiao Man scoffed: “Already calling her ‘sister’? In that case, you can just stay in the capital and don’t come back.”

Although he was very curious about Sister Chu Zhao, Little Rabbit still couldn’t bear to leave home and his relatives. He obediently smiled apologetically at Xiao Man: “Good sister, I was wrong. When we get back, I’ll help you beat up Third Brother together.”

The siblings bickered, but when they left the flat main road and entered a mountain valley gorge, both fell silent and looked ahead.

Below the steep cliff face stood a group of people, about seventeen or eighteen of them. Some squatted by the roadside, some stood on the cliff face, and others sat on horses blocking the middle of the road, holding up swords and carrying spears, each one looking fierce and menacing.

“Finally waited for you,” the lead bandit chief pointed his sword at the procession with carriages, horses, old and young, shouting viciously.

These country bumpkins even had silver bells adorning their carriages. The mountain valley glittered so brightly people couldn’t open their eyes. This was as if they feared others wouldn’t know that fat sheep had arrived.

They’d been watching this group of country bumpkins since they entered the city. The more they watched, the more they salivated. They hurriedly gathered their men to wait, still worried other bandits would get there first.

Such rare fat sheep were truly heaven-sent good fortune.

“Put down everything you have. Don’t keep what you’re wearing either, or your lives will be forfeit,” the leader shouted with a sinister laugh.

The surrounding bandits also let out strange cries. They weren’t afraid these people would turn and run—run? In this mountain valley, even with wings they couldn’t escape.

The country folk stirred restlessly, various voices rising—men’s, women’s, old people’s, children’s—but it didn’t seem like crying and shouting, but rather strange cries?

They began spurring their horses and cracking whips, but not to flee—they were charging forward—

Huh?

The bandits froze. Were they trying to charge through? Relying on what? Those seven or eight scrawny servants? The teenage girl? The ten-year-old children? Or the old men and women sitting in the carriages?

The carriages ran swiftly. The curtains flew up, revealing the old woman inside with her white hair flying wildly, looking bedraggled and pitiful. But suddenly the old woman raised her hand—

What was that? The bandit chief’s eyes widened. He thought his own eyes had grown dim, as he seemed to see an iron flute?

Amid the strange cries, he seemed to hear a “ding” as the old woman put the iron flute to her lips, and a dart flew out from it—

How could it be a dart? Must be fake, right?

Closer and closer, closer and closer—

“It’s real!”

This was the bandit chief’s last words in this world. With these words, he flew up, fell to the ground, and the next moment was trampled by horse hooves.

Following the dart, those old, young, and small ones charged into the bandits. From who knows where they drew out swords, spears, and halberds, like entering a melon patch—hands rose, melons fell—

“When traveling, eat and dress in the best—besides not letting people look down on us, it also attracts fat sheep—”

“These Central Plains bandits are no good. We’ve been so ostentatious all this way for so long, and only this few popped out.”

“Sister Xiao Man, these bandits look really poor.”

“Even if they’re poor, we rob them! Don’t forget our rule—bandits don’t leave empty-handed!”

“You bandits, put down everything you have! Don’t keep what you’re wearing either, and your lives—you can’t keep those either.”

In the dusk mountain valley, sounds of striking and screaming continued.

……

……

Night covered the blood and gore. It wasn’t discovered until daybreak.

When local officials arrived, they saw over ten corpses, not a stitch of clothing on them, naked bodies arranged neatly by the roadside.

On the ground, besides the corpses, bloodstains, severed limbs, and carriage and horse tracks, nothing else was left behind.

No, that wasn’t quite right.

An officer picked up a silk flower from one corpse’s hair.

“This is truly strange.”

The official looked at the dead bodies on the ground. Although he’d never seen naked bodies before, these faces weren’t unfamiliar—they were still posted on wanted notices at the city gates.

This was the bandit chief who had plagued the area for many years.

“Why does it look like this group of bandits was robbed?”

The official reached out to receive the silk flower. With his experience, he recognized at a glance it was a cotton rose flower.

“When did these bandits pick up the habit of wearing flowers?”

Strange things happened every year, but this year there were especially many.

First there were the young women in the capital competing with men, and now there were male bandits dying with flowers in their hair.