Chapter 119

Hearing that the Second Chief’s wife had arrived, the brothers of Qianjin Stronghold all came running out.

At the sight of the “woman” on his shoulders, they stared, mesmerized. This young lady was more than a match for any celebrated beauty, even surpassing the wife their Chief had abducted a few days earlier.

Xie Chengze was perfectly at ease. He simply removed his veil, provoking a chorus of “Wow!”

The Second Chief liked a frank, forthright lady like this. He strutted back and forth before his brothers, showing off his new wife. “Well? Pretty, isn’t she? And she has fine handwriting too!”

“Ooh! Ooh!” The brothers of Qianjin Stronghold cried out enviously. “Second Chief, you’re a lucky man!”

Their stronghold had suddenly gained two new wives, both so beautiful! Surely next year Qianjin Stronghold would rise higher and higher, with children and grandchildren filling every house!

“Second Chief, the Chief wants to see you!” A bandit came running from a distance to deliver the message.

“Come, Madam. Let’s go meet the Chief!”

The Second Chief strode into the stronghold, remembering to order, “Take those two blindfolded ones away. The older one’s a craftsman. Put him with the laborers and have him learn to make heated brick beds. Take the younger one to give our brothers some practice. If he beats even one of them, he’ll be one of us!”

“Yes, sir!”

The bandits promptly led the blindfolded Hu Lai and Wuji away.

Watching Hu Lai being taken away, Xie Chengze raised an eyebrow. He reached out and tugged one of the Second Chief’s long eyebrows, feigning curiosity. “Second Chief, what’s a heated brick bed?”

“Heh, a very good thing!” Finding that he didn’t know, the Second Chief put on airs. “Give me a kiss, and I’ll tell you!”

Xie Chengze: …

He rapped the Second Chief on top of the head with his knuckles. “Tell me or don’t. If you won’t, I’ll ask someone else.”

“All right, all right.” The Second Chief immediately yielded, thinking that the tap, neither too hard nor too light, felt like flirtation. “It’s much like an earthen bed, except burning firewood warms it up. I hear the court invented it and sent craftsmen to make them in the county seat. Well, we don’t want to freeze either, so we abducted a few craftsmen to make beds for our brothers.”

“Then what did you mean earlier when you said my husband was valuable?” Xie Chengze arched his eyebrows. This time, he really was curious.

“Heh heh, there are plenty of bandit strongholds in these mountains. We’ve abducted all the craftsmen. If the others want heated brick beds in their strongholds, they either have to raid another county or buy craftsmen from us.” The Second Chief was immensely pleased with himself. “One craftsman can fetch a shi of rice or flour! Keeping them here means feeding them our grain anyway. Better to sell them!”

Xie Chengze: …

You certainly had a head for business. Even capitalists would weep to hear it.

The stronghold’s meeting hall stood on high ground. Only after climbing the steps did the Second Chief set Xie Chengze down from his shoulders. He said quietly, “Give me a little dignity in front of the Chief, will you? No tugging at me here and there.”

“Oh.” Xie Chengze agreed reluctantly, then stood behind him. With a faintly disdainful expression, he pinched a corner of the man’s fur coat, concealing most of himself. “Will this do?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The Second Chief nodded, then marched into the hall with his head high and chest out, every inch the fierce mountain bandit. “Elder Brother! I’m back!”

“Second Brother! How was the haul?”

An even rougher, louder voice rang out. Then the ground began to tremble slightly, as though a mountain bear were approaching, sending an alarming vibration through them.

Xie Chengze cautiously poked his head out. A massive, bearded man nearly two meters tall approached with a broad smile. At either side of his waist hung a tiger-headed axe larger than ten heads. With his huge shoulders and thick waist, he truly resembled a wild tiger or mountain bear. One look was enough to make the heart pound with fear.

He silently swallowed.

Good thing he hadn’t let Xie Zimiao come. That boy would have been scared out of his wits.

“Caught a craftsman, a servant with some martial arts, and two carriage-loads of goods,” the Second Chief reported truthfully. Then he gave a sheepish grin. “And a woman to be your younger sister-in-law!”

“Oh?” The Chief stepped up to him, reached out, and lifted Xie Chengze from behind his back as easily as picking up a rabbit.

Xie Chengze: …

Xie Chengze struggled. “Second Chief, save me!”

The Second Chief hurriedly reached out to support him, distressed. “Elder Brother! Be gentle! Madam is frail. She’s ill!”

“A pretty one! Who’d have thought both of us brothers would have such good fortune this year? Heaven really does watch over us!” The Chief burst out laughing and put Xie Chengze down. “Good height, but far too thin. Not even any breasts! We’ll have to hunt in the mountains and feed her up. Otherwise, how will she bear your cubs and nurse them?”

Xie Chengze: …

So sorry about that. I can’t make babies or milkies.

“No hurry, no hurry.” The Second Chief hastily straightened Xie Chengze’s clothes, which had been disarranged when he was lifted. “I’ll wait for you and Elder Sister-in-Law to have yours first.”

“Ugh, that woman! Don’t call her your elder sister-in-law!” The Chief sat down and waved a hand helplessly. “Too clever. I can’t get the better of her. Younger Brother Xie says she might really be the daughter of an official in the capital. We can’t touch someone like that.”

“Don’t listen to his nonsense!” the Second Chief said scornfully, plainly harboring considerable resentment toward the fellow named Xie. “Just a grain transport official whose career’s going nowhere. What does he know of the world? Why would an official’s daughter come to such a remote, freezing place to do business, and climb our Mount Qiantai at that?”

“You’re mistaken there, Second Chief.”

A clear, spirited voice suddenly sounded at the door. Xie Chengze whipped his head around and met the eyes of the man in white walking in.

A faint smile rested on that handsome, unrestrained face. His tall, straight figure and graceful, distinguished air were utterly out of place in this bandit stronghold. A familiar blue-green sword swayed at his waist with each step, revealing its owner’s true identity.

“Younger Brother Xie!” The Chief smiled at the sight of him. “You’re here!”

“I heard the Second Chief had seized a woman, so I came to have a look.” The man in white lowered his gaze to Xie Chengze in his white dress and red fur, a teasing smile on his face. “Indeed, an extraordinary beauty. No ordinary enchantress.”

Xie Chengze: …

Xie Chengze bared his teeth. Shen – Yuan!

It really was you!

“Second Chief, what should I call my sister-in-law?” Shen Yuan strolled over and addressed the Second Chief, but his eyes remained fixed on Xie Chengze.

The Second Chief eyed Shen Yuan warily, afraid the pretty boy would steal his new wife. He shielded Xie Chengze behind him, then remembered he hadn’t asked his name yet. “Madam, what was your name again?”

Xie Chengze laughed coldly to himself. He enunciated each word. “My name is Shen! Yuan! Yuan!”

“And what is this Younger Brother Xie’s name?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Shen Yuan brought his hands together in a salute and smiled gently. “My humble name is rather inelegant: Xie Daqiang.”

Xie Chengze: …

Xie Chengze: “Pfft.”