“The money is already borrowed, and together with our previous savings, I’ve converted it all into gold—this is everything we have. You must keep it safe. I’ll arrange for the courier to look after you on the road. Once you arrive, give Old Woman Huang two hundred coins—the amounts for the aide’s wife and the birthday gift are each different, so don’t mix them up…”

Old Lin Shi gave repeated assurances, saying she handled affairs with care—Madam could rest easy.

Her own wet nurse might appear rough and simple, but she was quite shrewd. Zhang Shi truly was at ease. After a moment’s thought, she added another warning: “Don’t let him find out! If he finds out he’ll quarrel with me! He’s careless—I’ll just say you have business to attend to and have stepped out. He won’t think anything of it…”

Inside the room, Zhang Shi and her maidservant continued discussing quietly the details of how to carry the gold. Old Lin Shi said she’d wrap it in a traveling bag and bind it tightly around her own waist, then put a thick coat on over it—no one would be able to tell.

Pu Zhu had heard enough. She dragged the broom slowly back, continued sweeping the courtyard, then walked into the kitchen to help A’Ju tend the fire, watching through the open door with a cool eye as Old Lin Shi, her face grave after finishing her planning, bustled in and out, busy packing things for her departure tomorrow.

This bribe absolutely could not be allowed to go through smoothly.

Even if she went to Yang Hong now to inform on them and put a stop to it, she could probably only stop it this one time.

Given Zhang Shi’s personality—someone who didn’t hesitate to borrow high-interest money and stake everything on a gamble—she would certainly arrange things again behind the scenes.

Rather than being unable to guard against it at every turn, it was better to strike at the root.

Pu Zhu quickly came up with an idea. After careful consideration, she felt it was workable, but had to be arranged quickly. She told A’Ju that she wanted to go visit the daughter of a neighbor to play.

Now that Yang Hong was home, the little young mistress’s days had improved, and it was naturally fine for her to go out and play—no need to worry about Zhang Shi or that Old Lin Shi anymore.

This was also the first time A’Ju had ever heard the little young mistress voluntarily say she wanted to go out to play. She was delighted, and nodded vigorously.

Pu Zhu went out the door.

The weather was good today, and it was also market day. Though it was only a small border town far to the west, there were still quite a few things to see at the market: pots and pans, cloth and pelts, rough tea leaves, blue and white salt, all manner of daily necessities. The women of the surrounding garrison farming families had all come to the market, picking and choosing things—it was quite lively.

She headed toward the edge of town. There was a gambling stall there, with cockfighting and dog racing going on year-round.

The authorities banned gambling but couldn’t eliminate it completely, especially not in a border prefecture that was practically a lawless land. One could say that the majority of residents here, apart from the garrison soldiers and the border-filling population forcibly transferred from other prefectures, were either convicts or descendants of convicts. As long as no murders or major cases arose, the authorities turned a blind eye to everything else and never interfered.

This gambling stall was open every day, its patrons mostly “wandering knights”—the young idlers that Zhang Ao had spoken of, young men who lounged about not wanting to farm, hoping to make a name for themselves with a bit of brute force, the kind of small troublemakers that townspeople tried to avoid at all costs. Today being market day, even more people had gathered, and before she even got close, she could hear the deafening shouts coming from that direction.

A thin, weak-looking young man standing idly by the roadside, gazing around with boredom, suddenly spotted Pu Zhu approaching. His eyes lit up and he ran over eagerly. “Little Young Mistress, why have you come here today? Is there something you need? If there’s anything you want done, just say the word—if I, Fei Wan, so much as wrinkle a brow, I’m not a man of honor!”

This young man named Fei Wan was one of the town’s wandering knights, and had been one of those who nearly came to blows with the Yang family over carrying a crate when they first moved here.

Pu Zhu smiled and nodded. “I’m looking for Cui Xuan. Is he here?”

“He is, he is! Just a moment!”

Fei Wan immediately turned around, used all his strength to shove his way through the crowd, and pulled at another young man inside.

This young man was only sixteen or seventeen, but was very tall, his skin dark, his features bold and martial, though his expression was fierce and savage. A sword of iron hung at his waist, and he was shouting loudly at two roosters fighting in the ring. Turning to see it was Fei Wan pulling at him, he shoved him away impatiently: “Get lost! Don’t disturb me!”

Fei Wan was a little afraid of him, and quickly said: “It’s that Pu family girl! She came looking for you!”

The young man paused, came to his senses, and quickly turned to look behind him. Forgetting the cockfight, he let out a great shout for people to make way.

The people crowded nearby hurriedly stepped back, and with a whoosh, what had been an impenetrable crowd instantly opened up a path.

Cui Xuan rushed toward the young girl standing by the roadside with a smile, waiting for him. A few strides and he was in front of her. He stopped, the fierce look in his eyes now gone, and with a tone that was trying to be restrained but carried a hint of caution—as if worried about frightening her—he asked: “What did you want with me?”

He didn’t know when it had started, but he had found that he couldn’t stop thinking about this young girl living as a guest in the Yang household. He’d heard her background was similar to his own, except that her grandfather had held a higher office than his. He had an instinctive desire to protect this girl. After the Yang family moved here, Yang Hong was often away, and the reason the idle young men in town all dared not bully her was because he had quietly put the word out.

In the past, when she encountered him on the road, she had seemed afraid of him, just like the others, and had always avoided him from a distance. He hadn’t expected that today she would actually seek him out specifically. After asking his question, he saw her look over at him with a smile, and up close her beauty was even more striking—he could even see the fine, soft down on her fair earlobes, like an infant’s skin. An unconscionable thought suddenly arose in his heart: if he were to take one of those earlobes into his mouth, what would it feel like? His heart instantly began to pound uncontrollably, and his face flushed slightly.

Fortunately his skin was dark, making it hard to notice. Out of the corner of his eye he saw all the people behind him staring this way, and immediately snapped his head around, barking harshly: “What are you looking at? Keep looking and I’ll gouge your eyes out!”

Everyone gave a start and immediately turned their heads back, not daring to look again.

This seventeen-year-old young man named Cui Xuan was the undefeated leader of the wandering knights within a hundred li of this area—his martial arts and archery were exceptional. Like Pu Zhu, he was the descendant of a convicted official, except that his family had been sent here during his grandfather’s generation, making him practically a native. Before his grandfather’s offense, he had been a Cavalry Commander of the Taizong era, a high official with a salary class of nearly a thousand shi. Now three generations later, all the family had died and only he remained, still living in the place where he was born. He was superlative in combat, unmatched by anyone, refused to do proper work—neither farming willingly nor joining the regular army to accept those constraints—and spent his days wandering east and west with a sword his family had passed down, loitering about. They said that in the autumn of that year, when he was only fourteen, he had responded to the authorities’ temporary call for soldiers to resist the Di raiders on their autumn raid. He had come back with five or six heads hanging from his waist, and the townspeople had feared him like a tiger ever since. Fortunately, apart from forcibly collecting protection fees at every market—smashing things if you didn’t pay—he hadn’t done much else.

Pu Zhu walked toward the open ground outside the town, and when she reached a place with no one around, she stopped, turned around, and saw that the young man was still standing in his original spot watching her. She beckoned to him.

Cui Xuan gradually calmed down from his initial excitement and quickened his pace toward her.

Pu Zhu looked around, then said quietly: “I want to make a deal with you—I need you to help me with something. Are you willing?”

Cui Xuan immediately said: “Did Yang Hong’s wife and that old woman mistreat you again? Just say the word—I can kill them for you.” He said this in a flat tone, without even blinking.

Pu Zhu had seen all manner of ruthless people in her previous life later on, but hearing this young man speak such brutal words in such a calm tone—as if killing were as ordinary as eating—she was still startled, and quickly said: “No, no, you misunderstand. It’s something else entirely. I want you to help me rob someone.”

She herself hadn’t noticed—she said the words “rob someone” with the same ease and calm, without any change in expression.

Cui Xuan’s brow relaxed into a smile: “I thought it was something serious—this is trivial! Just give me the order!”

Pu Zhu then told him about Old Lin Shi’s plan to take a relay carriage to the prefectural city tomorrow morning.

“She’s carrying gold on her. I want you to take it. I’ll give you twelve of it as payment—what do you say?”

Cui Xuan agreed at once: “No problem. I’ll make the arrangements, bring trustworthy people, and make sure that old woman can’t recognize any faces. Don’t worry—it’ll be done clean.”

“I don’t need payment. I’ll bring the whole amount to you!” he added.

Pu Zhu was taken aback. “How can I have you do the work for nothing? I said it was a deal. If you won’t take payment, I won’t use you. Besides, if you don’t take anything, you can’t expect your men to take on the risk for nothing either.” Her tone was firm.

Cui Xuan hesitated briefly. “All right then—take one tenth. I’ll share it among my men.”

Pu Zhu then smiled and nodded, and in a low voice detailed what needed to be done. When finished, still not fully at ease, she repeated her warning several times: “Take the money and be done with it. I only want her money—absolutely do not hurt anyone!”

Cui Xuan agreed and turned to leave.

Pu Zhu couldn’t help herself, and called after the young man’s retreating figure: “Aren’t you going to ask me why I want to rob her?”

The young man stopped and turned back: “Whatever the reason, if you need something done in the future, just say so—I won’t ask.”

Pu Zhu watched the young man stride quickly away, a faint sense of melancholy in her heart.

The Pu Zhu of before had indeed feared this young man named Cui Xuan.

If she were still the person she used to be, she would never have dared provoke him.

But now things were different.

For doing something that couldn’t be spoken of openly, he was the first suitable person she had thought of.

She had been prepared for him to demand more payment, which was why she had started with a low offer, expecting him to counter and then they would bargain. She hadn’t expected him not only to agree but to do so this readily—that was truly unexpected.

Before long, Liu Chong would lure these wandering knights with bounty money. A young man like this would probably think it was another border battle against the Di people—how could he imagine that Liu Chong was planning a rebellion?

If she remembered correctly, this Cui Xuan and his companions had ended up with the same fate as Yang Hong in her previous life.

Pu Zhu shook her head, looked around, slipped back into town, visited the neighbor’s daughter for a few idle words, and when it was about the right time, returned to the Yang family home without a care in the world—just in time to walk in on Old Lin Shi clutching a traveling bag and heading toward the main room. Seeing her come back, she hastily turned away and darted inside with surprising agility.

Pu Zhu was inwardly amused, and went straight to her own room.

The next day, Yang Hong left early again.

The moment he left, Old Lin Shi bundled herself up in full gear—a thick padded coat over everything—and went out the door.

Zhang Shi handed the little boy over to A’Ju and personally saw Old Lin Shi off. When she came back, whether from a good mood or because her husband had given her a talking-to, for the next several days she didn’t put Pu Zhu to work or give her cold looks.

From here to the prefectural city, by relay carriage it took three days.

On the fourth day, she calculated roughly that Old Lin Shi would now be on her way back. Thinking about the outcome, her mind grew gradually unsettled, and she kept going in and out of the courtyard the entire day, even standing at the gate and peering down the road for quite a while.

Pu Zhu’s mood had also shifted from its initial lightness, slowly becoming tense.

By her original estimate, Old Lin Shi should have turned back midway yesterday—but for some unknown reason she still hadn’t returned. She deliberately went into town to have a look around, and didn’t see Cui Xuan either.

Could he have had second thoughts and decided not to help her after all?

Pu Zhu quickly dismissed that idea.

Something about that young man gave her the feeling that he was a man of his word.

Then had the robbery failed, and he had botched it?

What on earth was going on…

The sky gradually darkened, and it was nearly the Hour of Hai—nighttime. Apart from the large red lantern above the relay station, the surroundings were pitch black.

A’Ju had been tired from the day’s work and had already fallen asleep. Pu Zhu was still turning things over in her mind, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling swallowed by the night. Suddenly she heard dogs barking, the household dog started up, and outside there was a frantic pounding on the gate.

“Open up, open up—”

Old Lin Shi’s voice came through, sounding frantic and exhausted.

Pu Zhu rolled over and sat up, then leaped out of bed. She quietly opened a crack in the door and peeked out with half her face, only to see Zhang Shi come rushing out from the main room with an oil lamp, hastily lifting the door bar and opening the gate, scolding her in a low voice: “Have you lost your mind? The little one’s father is home and asleep—making this much noise…”

“Heaven strikes me down—”

Before Zhang Shi could finish speaking, Old Lin Shi let out a heartrending wail, stumbling in, both hands clutching Zhang Shi’s arms, weeping as if at a funeral, her face a mess of tears and snot.

Zhang Shi’s heart lurched, and for the moment she no longer cared about her husband.

“What in the world happened?” Her own voice began to tremble.

“We were robbed! The money was taken halfway by those heaven-cursed bandits—not a copper left for me! I walked back—my legs are about to fall off…”

Old Lin Shi blew her nose and wailed.