“Who? Who attacked me?” The bandit who had just woken up leapt up from the ground at once.
The other bandit also scrambled to his feet quickly. Seeing Feng Jiu’er standing nearby, he immediately drew his broadsword with a swift motion, aiming the blade at her.
Yanu and Tuoba Keyan had been watching from inside the gate the whole time, and seeing this, both broke into a cold sweat.
But right now even standing up was difficult for them — if they weren’t holding onto the iron gate, they wouldn’t have been able to stay upright for long at all.
In a situation like this, if the two bandits really intended to hurt Jiu’er, they wouldn’t even have the ability to protect her.
Jiu’er, however, looked at the two bandits with a puzzled expression. “Weren’t you going to take me outside?”
“Take you outside? Take you where?” The two men exchanged a glance — how was it they had no memory of any such task?
“Didn’t you say that since I’m marrying the Young Patriarch tonight, you’d let me walk around outside for a bit to stretch my legs?”
Jiu’er’s expression darkened, looking quite displeased. “What’s going on here? Are you toying with me?”
“You—you’re marrying the Young Patriarch?”
“Of course — the whole stronghold already knows about it!”
Although Feng Jiu’er hadn’t yet become their Young Madam, the air about her now genuinely carried a touch of formidable authority.
Especially when her expression darkened, she seemed even more commanding than the Young Patriarch himself.
“If you weren’t actually going to take me out to look around the surroundings, then don’t try to mess with me for fun. Useless as you both are, watch out, or I’ll have the Young Patriarch deal with you later.”
Jiu’er turned and walked over to the iron gate, snorting coldly. “If we’re not going anywhere, then just let me back in — why did you even bring me out here?”
But the two bandits really were thoroughly confused — had they truly been the ones to bring her out? Why didn’t they remember a thing?
Jiu’er stood by the iron gate, looking back at them, narrowing her eyes.
“Don’t tell me you two are like Leopard — that you also wandered into the Stone Forest by mistake and damaged your minds?”
“How do you know about Leopard—”
Before he could finish, Feng Jiu’er cut him off. “The reason I went to see the Old Patriarch and Elder Feng today was to treat Leopard. He’s fine now, full of life — if you don’t believe me, go see for yourselves.”
The two men remained thoroughly confused, while Feng Jiu’er seemed particularly impatient, looking displeased as though she really had been made a fool of.
She kicked the stone gate. “Hurry and let me back in, or just watch — I’ll deal with you both later!”
The two bandits were still utterly baffled. What exactly had happened just now?
Why had this young woman been able to come out? Why had they passed out? Yet after coming out, she had no intention of leaving and wanted to go back into the cave instead?
What… had actually happened here?
The bandit carrying the key walked up to the iron gate and glanced at Feng Jiu’er.
“What are you staring at? Keep looking at me and if the Young Patriarch sees, watch out — he’ll gouge your eyes out!”
“The Young Patriarch wouldn’t be that cruel,” the bandit muttered, but in the end he still opened the cave’s iron gate for her.
But even after Feng Jiu’er walked back inside and the iron gate was closed once more, the two men still couldn’t make sense of the situation.
Could it really be that, in an effort to please this future Young Madam, they had planned to take her out for some fresh air, only to inexplicably pass out for no reason?
That didn’t add up though — hadn’t they only gone over to check because someone inside had been pounding loudly on the iron gate?
But after that, what on earth had happened?
“Is she… really going to marry the Young Patriarch tonight?”
“That… how would I know? We’ve been on guard here the whole time, and no one told us anything… hey, Brother Xiao Qi!”
Xiao Qi had arrived. The two men hurried over to meet him, and the one carrying the key asked, “Is the Young Patriarch really getting married tonight?”
“That’s right. Haven’t you two gotten word yet?”
Xiao Qi looked to be in rather good spirits. He walked up to the iron gate and called out, “Open the gate.”
The bandit with the key, still utterly confused, opened the iron gate.
Xiao Qi stood outside the cave and called to those within, “Miss, our lady requests your presence — she wants to help you pick out wedding garments.”
Feng Jiu’er walked out slowly, looking somewhat impatient.
So this girl really was going to marry their Young Patriarch!
Though the two bandits still couldn’t recall what had just happened, they no longer dared doubt anything Feng Jiu’er said.
In any case, as long as she was still here, that was fine.
As for the others, every one of them had been drugged, so naturally none of them could run anyway.
As long as nothing was wrong, that was all that mattered.
As Jiu’er was about to follow Xiao Qi, Yanu stood inside the iron gate, his face full of worry.
When Jiu’er turned back, her eyes met his anxious gaze directly. She smiled and said, “Tonight you’ll all come along to drink the wedding wine too. I’ll see you all later.”
She turned and walked away, leaving behind a group of worried people.
If Feng Jiu’er still possessed her exceptional skills now, the same martial arts she’d once had, no one would have worried too much.
But now, with her martial arts completely gone, if that Young Patriarch’s lustful intentions ever flared up…
“Don’t worry. Didn’t Jiu’er say herself that the Young Patriarch doesn’t even like her?”
Xue Gu looked at Yanu, who was holding onto the iron gate trying hard to steady himself, and said gently, “Don’t be afraid. Jiu’er is resourceful — she’s sure to have a way.”
Yanu was still deeply worried. Even if Jiu’er really was clever, she currently didn’t have the strength to truss a chicken.
Qiaomu, the only one who had taken the antidote, had already left with Jiuqing. If something really happened to Jiu’er, who else could save her?
…
As it turned out, Feng Jiu’er was not only perfectly fine — she was being treated remarkably well.
The moment she entered her room, someone brought in a whole pile of food.
Though it wasn’t as delicious as the pastries from the imperial capital, for someone like her who had spent over half a month traveling through wild mountains and forests, these steaming hot pastries were simply the finest delicacy on earth.
“Could you make me a bowl of noodles? Beef noodles, perhaps?”
After eating a few pieces of pastry, she suddenly found herself craving noodles.
The two young maidservants, watching her act so utterly at ease around strangers, were both quite astonished.
This future Young Madam seemed rather easy to get along with, without a trace of airs about her.
At the very least, serving her in the future probably wouldn’t be too difficult.
The young maid nodded and went off at once to the kitchen to prepare food for her.
The senior maid was meanwhile directing the servants to prepare hot water, getting ready to attend to her bath and change of clothes.
Jiu’er really hadn’t had a proper bath in a long while. After finishing an entire large bowl of beef noodles, she happily stepped into the bathtub.
The same two maids attended to her. Though it was a little embarrassing, she needed to conserve her energy right now and couldn’t be bothered wasting breath sending them away.
More importantly, she wanted to use the chance to ask the two of them about the situation here at the stronghold.
“You said this place is called Zhao Family Stronghold? Does everyone here share the surname Zhao?” she asked, playing with the water, as if the question had occurred to her quite by chance.
The young maid shook her head and said with a smile, “Most people are surnamed Zhao, but a small number are surnamed Yu.”
“Which Yu?”
“The Yu in Zhao Yu,” the young maid said. Then, seeming to suddenly realize she’d said something she shouldn’t have, she hastily added, “I mean, the Yu in Great Yu.”