Like a stone causing a thousand ripples, Chu Qiao wished she could punch this man’s head to pieces, but still had to cover for him: “He didn’t say anything, he’s just talking nonsense.”

All kinds of gazes came from every direction. Liang Shaoqing wasn’t a fool and knew he had said something he shouldn’t have. He quickly covered up: “Yes, I misspoke. Please forgive me, young master.”

“How dare you! You mere slaves, babbling nonsense before your masters, speaking wildly without restraint. Have you no fear of consequences? Do you no longer want to live?” Before the Zhan family could speak, Chen Shuang, the soon-to-be-appointed steward of the Zhan household, eagerly shouted, his face red, eyes bloodshot, angry in an unusual way.

“When we are speaking, what right does a slave have to interrupt? There’s less and less discipline. Chen Shuang, drag these two away and give them twenty strokes with the punishment rod to teach them a lesson.”

The eldest daughter, Zhan Zifang, said in a deep voice, never looking directly at the two, but her brows gradually furrowed. Servants immediately stepped forward. At this moment, Zhan Ziyu suddenly coughed lightly. His voice was soft with little strength, yet it made every one pause. The man calmly turned his head, his gaze passing lightly over Chu Qiao, then said, “Let it go. They’ve just entered the household and have much to learn. This matter ends here. You may leave.”

The servants stood in place, looking somewhat awkwardly toward the eldest daughter. Zhan Zifang frowned deeply, breathing rapidly, clearly angry at Zhan Ziyu’s words.

“Ziyu, you’re always too lenient. If these servants aren’t strictly disciplined, they’ll become uncontrollable. In my opinion, they should be taught a lesson to prevent them from becoming lawless.”

Zhan Zikui said softly, then raised her head, looking at Chu Qiao and Liang Shaoqing with cold eyes, saying sternly, “You two, kneel before me now!”

Chu Qiao’s brows gradually furrowed, her anger rising within. Here within Bian Tang’s borders, she no longer feared being hunted. Rather than suffering in the chaotic Zhan household, it would be better to cause a scene, be expelled from the Zhan family, and take the opportunity to slip away from the ship. Thinking of this, the girl dressed as a servant snorted coldly, raised her head, and slowly said, “A man’s knees hold gold; to have me kneel and kowtow to a woman like you, you might as well take my head!”

Once these words were spoken, everyone was shocked. Zhan Zikui was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward angrily, shouting, “How dare you! Someone, seize them!”

Four large men immediately rushed forward. Chu Qiao laughed coldly, suddenly stepping forward, turning defense into offense. She swung her elbows left and right, leaped up, and slammed hard into the ribs of two servants. The two seven-foot men immediately cried out in pain and flew to the sides. At this moment, fists were whistling past her ears. The girl listened to locate them, nimbly sidestepped to the right, avoiding the attack, turned to grab the shoulder, locked it, twisted it, and immediately dislocated the man’s arm.

Before the screams had subsided, another man came forward. Chu Qiao grabbed the large man with the broken arm, used him as a pivot, took two running steps, leaped up, and kicked hard at the man’s chin. The man groaned, spun in the air, and landed flat on the ground.

In the blink of an eye, all four large men were taken down, each with a single move, with no chance to retaliate.

Chu Qiao combined combat experience from two lifetimes; how could her fighting skills be matched by these household guards? The onlookers were dazzled, unable to see clearly before all the men were down. How could they not be shocked? Gu Gong’en’s face turned green, no longer able to maintain his good breeding. He stepped forward and said fiercely, “This is completely lawless. Someone, seize this disrespectful little beast for me, dead or alive!”

With a rush, more than twenty guards surrounded them. Chu Qiao turned sharply, a cold smile of indifference on her lips. Her small back stood straight as a brush. Pointing at those around her, she scornfully said, “If any of you can withstand thirty of my moves, I’ll immediately kneel and give you a hundred resounding kowtows!”

“Such arrogance! All of you—”

“Enough!”

A low rebuke suddenly sounded. Zhan Ziyu frowned deeply and slowly said, “How long do you intend to continue this commotion? Do you not respect me at all?”

Gu Gong’en was stunned, somewhat embarrassed as he explained, “Ziyu, I—”

“No need to say more,” Zhan Ziyu turned to look at Chu Qiao and said in a deep voice, “You two may leave. The Zhan household is too small to accommodate your greatness. I, Zhan, have been blind and have offended you.”

Chu Qiao was surprised and said, “Young master’s words are too heavy. Our family has fallen on hard times. Thanks to the young master’s rescue, we brothers will keep this kindness and virtue in our hearts.”

Zhan Ziyu did not respond and slowly turned his head, clearly not believing her.

If they didn’t leave now, when would they? Chu Qiao grabbed the still-dazed Liang Shaoqing and turned to leave the ship.

The Meicheng dock was quite far from the market. By noon, the two had entered the city. They had not eaten breakfast and now found themselves without money. Liang Shaoqing sighed repeatedly, repeatedly saying that they would have been better off staying on the ship. After being hit on the head twice by Chu Qiao, he finally became meekly silent.

Finding Liang Shaoqing too much of an eyesore, she settled him in a dilapidated temple to wait, while she wandered the streets. She casually picked the pockets of two well-groomed men, bought some food, and returned to the temple.

This time, Liang Shaoqing surprisingly didn’t ask many questions, seemingly aware that even the sages might have abandoned him. He honestly ate his fill and burped happily.

By this time, it had grown dark outside. They couldn’t stay here long, so Chu Qiao took the bookworm and left the temple, heading south.

Exiting the southern city gate, the two had no horses and could only travel on foot. They hadn’t gone far when Liang Shaoqing complained loudly of leg pain and insisted on sitting down to rest. Chu Qiao had no choice but to sit down with a frown. The moon was full, the stars sparse, and the air fresh. A tributary of the Chi River flowed through here, called the Peony River. Tree shadows were sparse on both banks, flowers drifted, the night breeze carried subtle fragrance, and an ancient path stretched long and far. In the middle of the waterside, occasionally stood villas of wealthy families, with colorful lanterns glowing, appearing uniquely serene and quiet.

“Bookworm, we’re taking the land route now. When we reach Bolan City ahead, we should part ways.”

“What? What did you say?” Liang Shaoqing was suddenly startled, almost jumping up, asking loudly, “Xiao Qiao? Why?”

“No particular reason,” Chu Qiao said sternly. “We’re not related in any way. You can’t follow me forever. Aren’t you still going to Tang Capital?”

Liang Shaoqing was tongue-tied, mumbling for a long time before saying, “I’m traveling to broaden my horizons. I can go anywhere.”

“But I have important matters to attend to. Don’t worry, before we part, I’ll prepare travel funds and documents for you to enter the capital. Nothing will go wrong.”

Liang Shaoqing suddenly fell silent, his breathing becoming increasingly heavy. Chu Qiao looked at him questioningly, only to see the man suddenly stand up and say loudly, “Who needs your travel funds? Let’s part ways right here.”

With that, he turned and strode away.

Chu Qiao was startled, not expecting this bookworm to have such a volatile temper. She stood up and shouted, “Dead bookworm, stop right there!”

Liang Shaoqing continued forward as if he hadn’t heard, not looking back.

“I’ll say it once more, stop right there!”

“Liang Shaoqing, don’t be ungrateful. If you dare take one more step forward, we’re done, and I’ll never look after you again!”

“Bookworm, did you hear me?”

This time, the bookworm was determined and just walked away. Chu Qiao sat on a large rock, her eyes turning blue with anger, thinking to herself that men truly couldn’t be shown kindness. With his character, and without a penny to his name, he’d probably be captured as a slave again before dawn.

Chu Qiao caught her breath for a moment, then stood up intending to chase after him. However, before she could take a step, Liang Shaoqing’s voice rang out in the distance like a slaughtered pig: “Xiao Qiao! Run quickly!”

“Stop! Surrender quietly! Otherwise, I’ll kill him!”

Suddenly, Chu Qiao felt that life truly held no hope.

Some people in this world are born to be annoying. If they don’t annoy someone for a day, they feel restless.

Like Tian Boguang, Ximen Qing, and Liang Shaoqing.

Dispersing a group of bandit-like slave traders was quite simple. The difficulty was how to rescue the wretched bookworm without a scratch. Just as Chu Qiao had finally scattered the five shifty-eyed slave traders, the newly rescued Liang Shaoqing had already run back from the distance, followed by a group of men with long swords. The young bookworm ran and shouted, “Quick! The bandits are just ahead!”

“Xiao Qiao! Are you all right?”

Chu Qiao helplessly watched as Liang Shaoqing rushed forward like a mother hen, anxiously grabbing her and looking her up and down.

“They didn’t hurt you, did they? Vile bandits. Don’t worry, I’ve brought these brothers. If they dare come again, we’ll tie them up and send them to the officials!”

Many times, Chu Qiao truly didn’t know how to communicate with this man who had never left home or seen the world. The ones afraid of officials should be you; the ones without documents or identity proof should be you. Why can you always speak so righteously?

“Brothers, sorry for the trouble. Thank you for your willingness to help. That group has already fled.”

Chu Qiao stepped forward and thanked the leading man. Although they hadn’t been of much help, at least they had met on the road and been led here by the bookworm; they could be considered kind-hearted good people.

“No need for thanks,” the large man strangely looked Chu Qiao up and down, then asked, “Where are you from, young brother?”

Alarm rose in Chu Qiao’s heart. Just as she was about to reply, a sudden scream came from behind. She turned sharply to see Liang Shaoqing with a black bag over his head, struggling desperately.

“Hey! Stop—”

Before she could finish, her head suddenly buzzed, and everything went black. The moment before completely losing consciousness, Chu Qiao saw the large man kick her to the ground. Her mouth was filled with bitterness like gentian, and she wanted to curse loudly. In the final moment of consciousness, she frantically admonished herself that when she woke up, she must escape that idiot of a plague god and never again endure such freakish misfortune.

When she awoke, Chu Qiao truly experienced what it meant to be beyond tears.

Zhan Ziyu wore a plain blue robe with a cyan gauze satin outer garment. His appearance was unassuming, his expression detached. He sat in a sandalwood-scented room, lowering his head to drink tea.

A young woman sat beside him, wearing a light white gown with pale yellow plain patterns, elegant in demeanor, dignified in appearance. Her oval face held autumn-water-like eyes, clear and cold. Though simply dressed, she couldn’t hide her peerless grace. At this moment, she was speaking softly, “I encountered them both on the road. Seeing them wearing our household’s servant clothes, I brought them back. Fourth Brother, are they runaway slaves from our household?”

Zhan Ziyu’s expression was somewhat cold. He glanced at the now-awake Chu Qiao and nodded slightly, “Fifth Sister has gone to trouble.”

The woman’s face darkened as she called softly, “Fourth Brother…”

“You may go. You must be tired after a day’s journey.”

The woman bit her lower lip lightly, took a deep breath, and her expression returned to calmness.

“Then Fourth Brother should rest early. Minger will leave now. The river wind is cold; Fourth Brother, remember to add clothes.”

Zhan Ziyu moved his wheelchair, slowly turning away. His hand brushed across the strings of the zither on the table, immediately producing a string of clear, melodious sounds. “The Bian Tang wind, however cold, is not as cold as the deep winter of Great Xia.”

Zhan Ziming pressed her lips tightly and left without a word. The room suddenly grew quiet. Chu Qiao and Liang Shaoqing were thrown on the ground like ignored garbage. Watching the servants withdraw one by one, Chu Qiao became somewhat anxious and hurriedly called out, “Hey! You’re all leaving, but who’s going to untie us?”

With a “swoosh,” a flying knife immediately flew over, cutting through the ropes on Chu Qiao’s body. The precision of force and aim was so perfect that even Chu Qiao herself could hardly achieve it.

“The ship has already set sail. You can either jump off or wait until we dock in three days.”

After untying the ropes on Liang Shaoqing, the stupid scholar was still deep in sweet dreams. Two slaps from Chu Qiao made him jump up with a loud cry, shouting, “Thieves! Thieves!”

“In that case, we’ll trouble the young master.”

Zhan Ziyu didn’t speak, just lowered his head silently, lost in thought.

Grabbing the confused and disoriented Liang Shaoqing, she walked out of the cabin door.

“Xiao Qiao, how did we come back again? Did the Zhan family send people to rescue us?”

Chu Qiao no longer wanted to hit him. She turned to look at him, her eyes very sad. This entire day, she had exhausted all her strength; now she didn’t want to say another word.

“Xiao Qiao, what’s that expression? What’s wrong? Did someone bully you? Just tell me!”

“Hey? Why are you walking so fast? Huh? Are you going to sleep? But I still have questions to ask you!”

“Xiao Qiao, are you going to cry? Why are you looking at me like that?”

…

Early the next morning, Chu Qiao was shaken awake by Liang Shaoqing. Opening her eyes, she saw him happily holding two empty bowls, excited as if celebrating a festival: “What time is it already, and you’re still sleeping? Time for breakfast.”

Then, he turned and walked out of the cabin, calling loudly, “Wait here, I’ll go get you food.”

Human thinking is difficult to understand. For instance, right now, Chu Qiao found it hard to understand why Liang Shaoqing could so casually run out to get food, and in what capacity he was joining the line of Zhan family slaves queuing for food. This question was truly perplexing, more inscrutable than the Goldbach Conjecture.

At this moment, suddenly someone knocked on the door. Before Chu Qiao could respond, a pretty maid walked in, looked at Chu Qiao with disgust, and said coldly, “The young master wants to see you. Follow me.”

Chu Qiao was surprised, not knowing what Zhan Ziyu would want with her again. Being under someone’s roof, she had to comply. She got out of bed, tidied herself, and followed behind the maid.

However, the maid turned around but didn’t walk toward Zhan Ziyu’s room. Chu Qiao frowned in confusion and asked, “Where is sister taking me?”

“Who’s your sister? Don’t try to get familiar here. Of course, to see the young master!”

“Isn’t the young master’s room in that direction?”

The pretty maid’s face turned cold as she snapped, “What’s your status that you expect the young master to receive you in his room? Keep asking questions, and you might be thrown into the Chi River to feed the fish!”

Following along the ship’s cabin downward, they reached the lowest level, the third-class cabins. Even Liang Shaoqing would surely have realized something was wrong by now. Chu Qiao maintained her composure, slightly raising her eyebrows: “The young master is seeing me in the third-class cabin?”

The pretty maid angrily said, “Why do you have so much useless talk!”

With a “bang,” the doors on both sides of the third-class cabin suddenly opened. More than thirty large men rushed out from the rooms on both sides, standing in the narrow passageway. Leading them, Chen Shuang laughed wickedly, “Clueless little brat! Today you’ll taste my power!”

Chu Qiao looked around and suddenly smiled coldly. First, this place was narrow, making it impossible to form a complete encirclement; the advantage of numbers couldn’t be fully utilized. Second, being in the lower cabin, they feared weapons might damage the ship’s hull, so weapons couldn’t be used. Third, fearing that sounds would be heard by those above, they had closed the cabin doors, cutting off air circulation, and making the already narrow ship cabin even more confined.

Looking at this group of strong but utterly unskilled fighters, Chu Qiao relaxed, twisted her neck, stretched her limbs, then leaned against a pillar, crossed her arms, curled one finger to beckon them, and said, “Come all at once.”

“Kill him for me!”

Chen Shuang roared and lunged forward!

Chu Qiao snorted coldly, her eyes flashing with a merciless light. A household guard only felt a blur before his eyes before his chest made a crisp bone-breaking sound. Before he could feel the pain, his entire body was thrown backward!

After kicking one person away, Chu Qiao continued without pause. Her body slid, her wrist moving forward like an eel, five fingers forming a claw, gripping the opponent’s chin firmly, twisting and pulling. With a crisp cracking sound, the man’s jaw was dislocated.

After efficiently dealing with two guards, Chu Qiao grabbed the man with the dislocated jaw, leaped into the air with one foot, executed a climbing capture step, and consecutively stomped on the necks of seven men rushing toward her. The men collectively groaned, fell to the ground, and struggled to get up again. At this point, it was a matter of who was faster, and who had better reflexes. Chu Qiao was not inferior to anyone. As soon as a large man approached, she nimbly grabbed his belt, executed a standard judo throw, and the man fell with a thud. Chu Qiao followed with a kick, and the man curled up like a shrimp, sliding backward and colliding with a group of guards trying to rush forward.

By now, Chen Shuang’s shouting still echoed, but everyone was dumbfounded. They hadn’t yet understood what was happening before being taken down one by one. Standard killing techniques combined with perfect combat experience, plus advantageous terrain and solid skills—in no time, more than half of those present had fallen!

Everyone was terrified; some even wanted to turn and flee. Unfortunately, the doors were locked from the outside and couldn’t be opened.

Chu Qiao laughed delicately: “We haven’t even started yet, and you’re already thinking of leaving?”

In an instant, screams filled the entire lower deck.

The sound of locks opening rang out. Liang Shaoqing led the way, bringing Zhan Ziyu, whom he had somehow persuaded to come, along with several other Zhan family ladies and sons-in-law. Servants of the Zhan family crowded at the door to watch the excitement. When they saw the horrifying scene inside, they all opened their mouths in shock.

The Zhan family’s fierce guards lay scattered on the ground. By now, few could stand up unharmed. Chen Shuang was pinned under Chu Qiao’s foot. Hearing the sound from above, he tried to raise his head, but before he could get up, he fell back down with a thud, breaking two front teeth.

Chu Qiao stood among the injured men, unharmed, with a friendly smile. In a relaxed tone, she looked up and said, “Young master, I’ve caused trouble for you again. You should dock the ship and send me away.”

The cold wind blew in through the cabin door, lifting the girl’s hair from her forehead. Zhan Ziyu’s eyes narrowed slightly. Suddenly he smiled, his smile as warm as a March breeze, extending his hand toward the lower cabin.

“Come up.”

“Huh?” Chu Qiao was stunned, her eyes widening.

Zhan Ziyu shook his head and sighed helplessly, “Come up and we’ll talk.”

Chu Qiao was puzzled and stunned. She wanted to leave but found there was nowhere to step. She boldly stepped on the men’s backs, eliciting a chorus of painful cries, and quickly walked up the stairs to the deck.

“Follow me,” Zhan Ziyu led the way. Behind him, the Zhan family ladies and servants all looked at her with shocked faces. Liang Shaoqing tried to squeeze forward but was pushed to the outside, repeatedly calling her name with a worried expression.

“Hey!” A sweet voice suddenly sounded in her ear. Chu Qiao was startled and turned around, almost bumping into a young girl.

The sixth young lady of the Zhan family, Zhan Zijun, smiled at her, her pretty face flushed red. Shyly biting her lower lip, she suddenly leaned forward and quickly said, “That was awesome!”

Chu Qiao’s eyes immediately darkened. What, what situation was this?