Chapter 120
With some difficulty, Xie Chengze suppressed his laughter. He gave a few light coughs to cover it up, tugged the Second Chief’s sleeve, and asked, “What’s this about a capital official’s daughter?”
“The fresh new woman we abducted a few days ago. She was dressed as a man, climbing Mount Qiantai, when my elder brother spotted her.” The Second Chief finally remembered. “Oh, she said she was the daughter of some vice minister. I don’t believe it. Why would an official’s daughter leave her comfortable life in the capital for Liaozhou? Even if she wanted to do business, she ought to do it in the capital.”
A glint passed through Xie Chengze’s eyes.
A woman dressed as a man, a vice minister’s daughter, doing business. Every detail pointed to one person.
“She wouldn’t happen to be called Sheng Yiren, would she?” Xie Chengze asked quietly.
“Yes, yes, yes! How did you know? It sounds like the word for a merchant. That name has to be made up!” the Second Chief complained.
Xie Chengze: … “Have you considered that the Vice Minister of Rites’ daughter might actually be named Sheng Yiren?”
The Second Chief: Huh?
“How do you know that?” He promptly gave Xie Chengze a suspicious look.
“I’ve traveled far and wide with my husband. Naturally, I’ve seen a great deal.” With a haughty air, Xie Chengze smoothed the hair by his ear and coughed lightly. “I’ve long heard that the Vice Minister of Rites’ daughter is the capital’s foremost beauty. I once caught a glimpse of her. Nothing special, really. She isn’t half as beautiful as I am.”
“I think so too,” the Second Chief whispered in his ear. Then he raised his voice to the Chief. “Since Madam has seen her, Elder Brother, why not call that woman over to see if she recognizes her?”
“An excellent idea.” The Chief immediately waved a hand. His voice roared like a tiger, almost loud enough to shake the roof beams apart. “Men, go fetch that woman!”
“Yes, sir!”
While they waited, Xie Chengze glanced around at the hall’s furnishings, then tugged the Second Chief’s sleeve again. “Second Chief, my feet hurt.”
“Oh, oh, oh!” The Second Chief hurried off to find a bench. But when he brought it over, the delicate little lady knitted his beautiful brows again and said disdainfully, “Too cold. Too hard. Filthy.”
The Second Chief scratched his forehead. “Are there soft cushions among your goods? I’ll find you one.”
Watching from the side, the Chief could barely stand such an indulgent display. “Second Brother, who knew you were so easily led by a woman? No wonder you’ve never found one all these years. Were you afraid I’d laugh at you?”
“No, no! Absolutely not!” the Second Chief promptly denied it. “She’s ill! That Hu fellow says she’ll die without wild ginseng to keep her alive! Elder Brother, don’t you have a root of wild ginseng…”
The Chief was speechless. “…So you’ve brought home a money-devouring beast? Who’s this Hu fellow?”
“Just some old man,” the Second Chief answered dismissively. “The craftsman we captured.”
“Go find some in the mountains yourself.” The Chief folded his thick arms across his chest and shouted, “I’m saving that old wild ginseng root, passed down through my family, for my own woman!”
“All right.” The Second Chief took off his fur coat and spread it over the bench. “Make do for now. I’ll go look among the goods.”
Xie Chengze looked at the fur coat with mild disdain. But his beauty was so exquisite that even his disdain inspired tenderness. It seemed less like fussiness than an indignity he shouldn’t have to suffer.
He crossed his arms and said unhappily, “Today you dare ask me to make do once, tomorrow you’ll dare ask me to make do twice, and eventually you’ll make me settle for less my whole life! If I’m to spend a lifetime making do in this stronghold, I might as well dash my head against the Chief’s tiger-headed axe right now!”
“Hey! You woman!” Unfortunately, the Chief was no tender admirer of beauty. He drew that terrifying tiger-headed axe, intending to teach the picky little lady a lesson on his younger brother’s behalf. “I don’t believe you! If you really dare do it, I’ll never make you settle for less in this stronghold again!”
The blood-black tiger-headed axe was larger than half of Xie Chengze’s body. Its blade was polished to a brilliant shine, making it all too easy to imagine how many heads had been severed on it. Even the stronghold’s underlings trembled at the sight. A delicate beauty would surely go weak in the knees and faint with a single glance.
“Then I’ll do it!” Yet Xie Chengze didn’t hesitate at all. He lowered his head and charged at the axe!
“Madam!” Terrified, the Second Chief hurried to catch him. “Elder Brother! What are you doing?! She really will do it!”
But his hand was a moment too slow. Just as he thought his newly abducted wife was about to splatter blood everywhere, a blue-green sword suddenly intercepted the axe blade and deflected the charging figure back!
The Chief had instinctively drawn his hand back too. A veteran of countless battles, he could tell that Xie Chengze had truly meant to hit it, without a trace of hesitation.
“You woman…” He stared at Xie Chengze in astonishment. He had never imagined such ruthlessness. “What a fierce spirit!”
Other people would already have been shaking in their boots at the sight of his axe, yet “she,” a delicate little lady, had such courage… Come to think of it, anyone who dared follow his younger brother into the stronghold to become the Second Chief’s wife was clearly no ordinary woman. He had misjudged her.
“Hmph!” Xie Chengze tilted his head up haughtily, his face full of pride. “How could you bandits, hiding away in the mountains, understand my aspirations? I vow never to settle in this life, nor drift through my days as a mediocrity. Better to die a valiant death and leave an honored name in the world!”
“Well said!” Shen Yuan put away his blue-green sword and applauded, smiling. “‘Better to die a valiant death and leave an honored name in the world’! What spirit Madam possesses! A backbone of steel, stronger even than a man’s!”
Then he removed his white fur cloak. His long fingers brushed over its soft, fine hairs as he said, “This cloak of mine is reasonably valuable. Might it be worthy of serving as Madam’s cushion?”
Xie Chengze glanced at it and nodded with some satisfaction. “A fine thing.”
Shen Yuan’s smile deepened. He slowly approached, spread the white fur cloak over the bench, then bent in a bow, his eyes narrowing with his smile. “Please sit, Sister-in-Law.”
Xie Chengze: …
You were really getting into character.
Xie Chengze sat down. Before long, an underling brought a woman in.
She was tall and slender, dressed in plain, simple men’s clothing. Her smooth black hair was gathered in a neat bun, giving her beauty more of a wandering heroine’s spirit and less of a sheltered young lady’s gentle warmth.
The moment she entered and saw Xie Chengze, shock flashed in Sheng Yiren’s eyes. She almost blurted something out, but managed to stop herself.
What was the Second Prince doing here?!
Had he come to save her?
Waaah, she had no idea how His Highness had learned she was here, but he was such a good person! He had actually braved a bandit stronghold for her!
“Have a look. Is she really that vice minister’s daughter?” The broad, hulking Chief lifted Sheng Yiren up like a rabbit as well, bringing her directly in front of Xie Chengze.
“Oh, she really is.” Xie Chengze examined her carefully, then feigned surprise. “The capital’s foremost beauty this lady once saw!”
“This lady”? What kind of self-address was that?
Sheng Yiren looked at Xie Chengze in bewilderment. Only then did she notice that beneath his fur coat, His Highness was actually wearing a woman’s skirt.
To save her, the Second Prince had even disguised himself as a woman to infiltrate the stronghold?!
Waaah, Your Highness! This humble girl was so moved! How could she ever repay him?!