Wife Doting Addiction：My Abducted Tsundere Husband

Cao Datou ordered to have the injured men taken inside for treatment. He also had the two abducted girls taken home down the mountain, as Su Jiu instructed. He then walked up to Su Jiu and asked respectfully, “Ninth Master Su, shall we go back to Dragon Conquer Gang with you, or do we re-establish Dragon Conquer Gang here?”

“Have those smaller gangs settle down first, so they don’t go all over the place to make a mess. After that, I’ll tell you the plan,” said Su Jiu.

“Yes!” Cao Datou took the order and left.

“Chief, do we stay at Yuhu Mountain from now on?” asked Chang Huan. He wanted to stay there with all his heart. Even though life in the mountain was not as comfortable as in the city, things were simpler there. More importantly, if they stayed, Su Jiu didn’t need to return to the Ji Manor.

Ji Yuxian was dangerous. Chang Huan could not push the thought out of his mind.

Su Jiu slightly furrowed her brows and shook her head. She had already become Young Mistress Ji. There was no way back to Yuhu Mountain for her anymore. In her absence, however, chances were that these men would resume their not-so-decent robbery activities after a while.

Too bad Qiao An was not there to offer some good ideas.

Xiao Lie returned. “The military retreated down the mountain,” he simply said.

Su Jiu nodded. “Thanks a lot. Now that Prince Rui failed to eliminate all the bandits, how can he get away with it when he meets the emperor?”

Xiao Lie compressed his lips into a smile. “Don’t worry. The soldiers and officers have already captured dozens of bandits. That was enough to claim a triumph. What’s important now is the rest cannot harm us. As long as Yuhu Mountain can regain its peace, and civilians don’t complain again, the emperor won’t look too much into it.

“I am just trying to figure out a way to settle them down. I guarantee they won’t do anything bad again,” Su Jiu said.

“Need my help?” Su Lie revealed a gentle smile.

Su Jiu shook her head, smiling in return. “That’s okay. You’ve helped so much already!” She paused briefly, saying, “How about this? Hu Dapao stays here to keep an eye on the bandits, so they behave themselves. Ah Shu and Chang Huan come with me to return to the city. Tomorrow we’ll find some decent sized places in the city and take these men down the mountain in batches.”

These men became bandits because of poor living conditions or some bad experience with people in power. As long as they had a roof over their head and food on the table, Su Jiu believed that nobody in his right mind would volunteer to be a bandit.

At the moment, the priority was to help them settle down. She believed everything else could be left for future consideration.

“Yes!” Hu Dapao and Ah Shu responded in unison.

“Take care!” Su Jiu lightly punched Hu Dapao’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry about me, chief!” Hu Dapao chucked.

Su Jiu called Cao Datou over and talked to him for a while. Cao Cato nodded in agreement, again and again, declaring he would follow all Su Jiu’s orders.

After everything was taken care of, Chang Huan and Ah Shu took Su Jiu and Xiao Lie back to the city in the same carriage they used on their way to the mountain.

By the time they got off the mountain, the military men had already returned to the city. The carriage then took the official road, breaking into the thick night fog, and headed toward Shengjing City at full speed.

“Young master Xiao impressed me. You told the military to back up, so they did!”

Xiao Lie looked back at her with a smile. “Nothing too impressive. Prince Rui gave me a token to give orders to the soldiers and officers. They were simply following orders.”

“Are they gonna report to Prince Rui that you did not put in all your efforts in this mission?” Su Jiu asked.

Xiao Lie slightly raised his eyebrows with grace. “I am Prince Rui’s confidant. Whom do you think he trusts more? Me or them?”

Su Jiu agreed with a smile. Her worries vanished. “That makes sense!”

Knowing that the girl cared about him, Xiao Lie was a little touched. “No worries. I will be fine,” he said with the corners of his lips lifted.

After all, if they took hundreds of bandits back, it would become a tricky burden for the imperial court. Now that they not only had captured enough bandits but also had solved the problem in the long run, the emperor would probably be pleased.

Xiao Lie didn’t mention any of these to Su Jiu. He found a cloak in the carriage and draped it around her shoulders. As his long and agile fingers were tying the ribbons around her neck, he said, “If you want to fight, just fight. Why did you take off your outwear? Weren’t you cold?”

“All the women’s clothes. They are just too much. It’s not convenient when you fight,” Su Jiu said. She put on her fight-friendly outfit underneath today for fighting.

The girl’s warm breath touched Xiao Lie’s hands, tickling him to his marrow. Xiao Lie’s fingers paused and then hurried to finish with the ribbons. He then tidied up the shoulders of the over-sized cloak. “We still have quite a way to go. You can take a nap if you want.”

Having stayed up all night, Su Jiu finally felt a little fatigued as her frayed nerves calmed down. She nodded, leaned against the carriage wall, and closed her eyes.

She slept soundly. Nothing could hinder her determination to take a nap, neither the bumpy road nor the uncomfortable position. Her smooth and soothing breathing suggested that she had fallen asleep.

The speed at which she fell asleep impressed Xiao Lie.

He turned around to sit right next to her, pulling her cloak to cover her legs like a blanket. He hesitated, and then lightly put her head on his shoulder.

He had so many questions for her: How come a girl like her ended up joining a group of bandits and becoming a chief bandit? Why did she come to the city and get into the restaurant business? He also wanted to know if she had gone through a lot…

Based on the conversation he overheard, this so-called “bandit in chief” suffered quite a bit. She could not even get enough to eat in the winter and had to accept help from other bandits.

All questions, however, appeared meaningless to ask now.

He didn’t show up when she needed help the most. Now he could no longer go back to help that girl.

Fortunately, he was here now and could help whenever she needed it and protect her whenever she was in trouble.

Sleeping against his shoulder, the girl had the softest breathing and loveliest thick and long eyelashes. How could she be a bandit?

Xiao Lie couldn’t help chuckling.

It was nearly dawn. The night was cold and quiet. The only sounds heard were the sounds of wheels rolling on the road as if flying in the dust.

Xiao Lie took the sleeping girl in his arms and half-closed his beautiful eyes, enjoying this precious moment of peace.

When they arrived at the city gate, Xiao Lie showed a jade token to the guard. He looked up at the carriage and filled his face with respect before hurrying to open the gate for them.

It was the darkest moment before dawn with nary a soul on the main street. No lantern was lit in front of the shops. The air was cold and quiet.

Outside Qingyuan Tavern stood the carriage. Qiao An, who heard the noise, opened the door. Fully dressed, he’d probably been up all night too.

“How did it go? Have any of you been injured?” Qiao An asked as he examined every one. Then his face changed. “Where is Dapao?”

“Dapao’s good. We’re all good. I’ll explain in a bit,” Su Jiu said.

Qiao An nodded, relieved.

Su Jiu got out of Xiao Rui’s carriage. She remembered she was still wearing his cloak and hurried to take it off.

Xiao Lie stopped her hand with his own and said, “The night fog is still cold. Just keep it on. Today I thank you for helping me solve the big bandit problem in Yuhu Mountain. I’ll buy you some drinks next time!”

“You helped me too. No need for the formality stuff!” Su Jiu gave a hearty laugh.

“That’s right,” Xiao Lie said with a smile. “There’s no need for that between us. It’s almost daylight. Get some sleep. I’m heading home too.”

“Sure!” Su Jiu nodded.

Xiao Lie studied her, turned around, and got in his carriage.

Watching it disappear down the dark and long street, Su Jiu turned around and said, “We gotta go back to the Ji Manor.”

They were gone the whole night. The nanny must be worried.

“Certainly. Don’t let people at the Ji Manor find out,” Qiao An said.

“Ah Shu, you stay here and tell master An what happened. I’ll stop by tomorrow so we can talk about it more,” said Su Jiu. “Chang Huan, come with me back to the Ji’s!”

“Yes!”

The men followed her orders. Su Jiu and Chang Huan hopped in their carriage, said goodbye to Qiao An and Ah Shu, and headed back.

By the time they arrived at the Ji Manor, the horizon was turning bright. The long night was about to end.

Su Jiu and Chang Huan certainly would not knock at the door. They parked the carriage outside the manor, climbed over the wall, and sneaked back to Perched Phoenix Pavilion in the dark.

It went well. Even the night shift guards didn’t notice anything.

It was so close to the morning that the guards let their guard down quite a bit. They were pretty much on their way back to bed.

“Go back to your room to sleep. Don’t wake up the nanny. We’ll talk it through when it’s light,” Su Jiu said to Chang Huan.

“Yes!”

Chang Huan still had some blood splattered on his face from the fight. Yawning, he hopped over the wooden corridor and went back to his room next door to get some shut-eye.

Su Jiu also walked back to her room lethargically.

Pushing the door open, she noticed that the red candles in the corner had almost burned all the way down; the dying flame left the whole room dim.

Having been on the road and fighting all night, Su Jiu was exhausted. She let out a big yawn and smelled the stench of blood. Yet she was too tired to take a bath, so she decided to go straight to bed.

Without taking off her clothes, Su Jiu lifted the covers and climbed into bed.

She was about to close her eyes when she noticed a lump underneath the blanket. What could that be? With half-open eyes, Su Jiu reached out and felt a crease. Moving her hand along it, she came upon a chunk of something and squeezed it hard.

The chunk got bigger. Su Jiu was suddenly awake. It was a person! A man!

How did she know? She felt a body part she did not have.

Who was that?

Su Jiu jumped up and tried to stomp on the blanket.

All of a sudden, the person under the blanked rolled over and slightly kicked the leg she was attempting to stomp. As a result, Su Jiu sat on the man in the position of riding a horse.

Su Jiu was a little surprised. Just as she was about to jump up, the blanket jumped first as the man rolled again with her in his arms. Now he was on top of her.

Ji Yuxian’s breath was short. He buried his head on her shoulder and said in a low voice, “My wife is not coming back tonight the whole night. Now she is here, yet she started harassing her husband. What’s that about?”

A moment ago, when the man rolled with her in his arms, Su Jiu already figured out it was Ji Yuxian, which eased her nerves. “What are you doing in my bed?”

Ji Yuxian looked up. Under the dim light, she could still make out his smooth, handsome features. “My dear wife, please answer me first. Why were you out all night?”

“Why would I tell you?” Su Jiu looked away.

Ji Yuxian slightly smiled. His large phoenix eyes looked a little cold. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll ask your so-called maid who is so loyal to you that I might have to have someone slash her with a salt-soaked whip for hours to get an answer. Oh right, your nanny might know the answer too. If they’re tortured together, who do you think will betray you first?”

“Ji Yuxian!” Su Jiu raised her voice a bit, staring at him cooly. “We just work together. I’m not the real Su Yuejiu. You have no right to interfere in my business!”

“Whether you’re the real Su Yuejiu or not, you are my legal wife because we had the ceremony. If something happens to you or you go missing, the Su family will never let it go, and the officials will step in to investigate. So for the benefit of both of us, my dear wife, you might as well behave with due diligence. Tell me where you were?!”

Su Jiu stared at him, not saying a word.

Ji Yuxian glanced at the male style cloak on her shoulder. His eyes got even colder, but his smile appeared more attractive. “Still not talking? Well, somebody come take my order…”

“Wait!” Su Jiu hurried to stand up, yet her forehead bumped into Ji Yuxian’s chin, and both of them made a noise.

Ji Yuxian then surrounded Su Jiu with his arm, laughed, and said, “My dear wife wants to seduce me now?”

Now there was hardly any distance between them. She could feel his breath, which gave a weird tingling sensation. Su Jiu backed up without thinking.

She didn’t know why. When she got close to Xiao Rui or her guys, such as Chang Huan, she felt nothing. Ji Yuxian was the only man who made her feel uneasy with a vague sense of danger.

Ji Yuxian pulled her back in his arms again. He stroked her hair with his fingers and asked in a soft, tender voice that was pleasant and soothing, “Where have you been all night?”

Su Jiu took a deep breath. Fine. No big deal. He knew who she was anyway.

“I went to help suppress the bandits!”

Ji Yuxian looked shocked for a second. “Suppressing the bandits? Aren’t you one of those?” His voice was full of irony.

Su Jiu then told him the whole story, from when Xiao Rui came to her for help, how they planned it, too, how they got in Eight Dragons Gang, and everything that happened the night before.

“This was huge! How come you, my dear wife, did not tell me?” Ji Yuxian’s face did not change, and the corners of his mouth still maintained the smile. Yet the more he learned from her, the madder he appeared.

She pretended to be some rich man’s wife! She got abducted by Eight Dragons Gang! She almost became the mistress of a chief bandit!

Fantastic!

This wife of his was fantastic!

“It wasn’t as if you could help much. Why would I tell you?” Su Jiu lowered her voice.

Ji Yuxian narrowed his eyes, held Su Jiu’s chin, and said, “If my wife got killed by the bandits or became the wife of a chief bandit, and the Su family asked me for you, how could I face them? Or should I tell them, the daughter they sent me was a bandit in the first place?”

Su Jiu freed her chin out of his hand and said frostily, “I’m not that weak!”

Ji Yuxian’s dark and bright eyes were burning with fire in the dim light. His chest heaved up and down with perhaps more than anger. Something was undoubtedly eating him.

A moment later, his eyes resumed their calm. “This Xiao Rui, the one from Drunken Joy Pavilion last time?”

“Yes,” Su Jiu nodded.

“Do you know who he is?”

“Yes. Some advisor at Prince Rui’s Manor.”

“Advisor?” Ji Yuxian scorned. He once again laid his eyes on the cloak and found it annoying as hell. He dragged it off and tossed it off the bed.

“Hey! What’s that about?” Su Jiu stared at him.

“Weren’t you going to sleep? How did you plan to sleep with that on?” Ji Yuxian smiled and lowered his voice.

Su Jiu stretched out her legs, lay straight on the bed, and pulled up the blanket over herself. “Fine. I’m sleeping now.”

Ji Yuxian’s face grew long. He opened the drapes and headed out. “Three quarters after the Chen hour, I will see you at the study. Every quarter you are late, your nanny will have to stand in the snow for a full zodiac hour!”

Su Jiu’s eyes opened all of a sudden. Looking at the bright sky outside the window, she realized there was only half a zodiac hour left until the Chen hour. Ji Yuxian, the cold-hearted! He probably didn’t want her to sleep!

Su Jiu got mad and punched the bed, only to find out that with the sound of the door of the outer room that Ji Yuxian had already left.

The nanny entered the room almost as soon as Ji Yuxian left. “My young mistress, where were you all night? I was so worried! Did the young master give you a hard time?”

Su Jiu lay bottom down with her arms on the pillow. “Don’t worry. Everything’s fine.” She murmured with half-closed eyes.

Seeing that Su Jiu was so tired, the nanny did not ask more questions. She tucked in her blanket a little and said, “Okay. I’m not asking more questions. Please get some rest.”

Su Jiu nodded once and closed her eyes.

At three quarters after he Chen hour, Su Jiu appeared at the study on time. The only thing was that she looked so raggedy as if she could fall asleep standing up.

“What do we learn today?” She yawned and slowly dropped into the chair.

“Go over all the characters you learned yesterday before you move on to the next chapter,” Ji Yuxian said lightly. He was leaning against the back of the chair, relaxed. His eyes fixed on the account book in front of him. He didn’t even look at her.

Su Jiu glanced at him and saw that he was still angry but had no idea why.

There’s no point trying to figure that out. Su Jiu opened the notebook and neatly wrote all the characters from the day.

.

Each of them focused on their own business without interruption.

A moment later, the chief housekeeper, Mr. Yu, entered the room after knocking. “My young master, the chief of the bank has something to report to you. He’s waiting in the parlor.”

“Okay,” Ji Yuxian stood up and started heading out.

He looked back after several steps with a slight smile as if he did not entirely mean it. “Try to learn the next chapter by yourself. Mark out what you don’t understand. I’ll teach you when I get back.”

“Sure.” Su Jiu nodded.

Watching him leave, Su Jiu bent over and lay on the desk. She looked up and let out a sigh of relief.

Next to her was a cup of freshly made tea. She picked it up and took a sip, but spit it out right away.

Bah!

Bah!

What the hell? Tastes like cat pee!

Su Jiu pushed the cup as far away as she could. She then noticed that the tea she spat got the paper wet. She hurried to wipe it with her sleeve, which made the characters on the page smear even more. Her sleeve was smeared with ink too.

In dismay, Su Jiu covered her face with her hand, and the ink on her sleeve got half of her face smeared up.

Su Jiu herself certainly did not notice it. She sighed, quit practicing calligraphy for the moment, and turned the page to the next chapter and saw a poem:

“One, go, two, three, Li”

“Fire, wood, four, five, house?”

“Hmm, mouth, six, seven, broad”

“Eight, nine, ten, wood flower?”

What the hell was that? Su Jiu tossed the book.

One zodiac hour later, Ji Yuxian returned. The first thing he saw was Su Jiu sleeping face down on the desk with her notebook on her face. She was sound asleep.

The book was on the floor. Ji Yuxian picked it up, walked over to her, and picked up the notebook to reveal her face. He then almost burst into laughter.

Her alabaster face was smeared with ink. Even the tip of her nose had ink on it.

The sleeping girl was moving her mouth as if eating some gourmet food in her dreams. Her little tongue licked her dewy rosy lips. While watching her, Ji Yuxian’s breathing paused for a second.

Su Jiu’s girly and tender sleeping look dissolved the frustration smothering within Ji Yuxian. She was sleeping so soundly he did not want to wake her up. He grabbed a cloak and covered her body. As his fingers skimmed over her face, he could not help but pause to watch her sleep.

It seemed to him that the sleeping Su Jiu was cute and charming, nothing like the vigilant little leopard she was when awake. Ji Yuxian was suddenly confused: Was this girl in front of him a chief bandit who would kill without batting an eye and to whom all the other bandits at Yuhu Mountain bowed?

Suddenly something occurred to him. It was what Mr. Yu said a while ago, that this woman might be so powerful someday she might turn against him, even becoming a threat to the whole Ji Manor. The right thing to do was to kick her out and find a way to prevent her from thriving. Yet it was so much fun for him now that he got this little “beast” who was so exciting. What if he didn’t want to let her go?

He wanted her to be robust so that he could take her and turn her into his most potent weapon.

A capable leader would never give a sword up because it was sharp. Taking control of the weapon was always the best solution.

His long and bright phoenix eyes glowed with pride. The corners of his mouth formed a smile that brought out even more of his stunning beauty and manner of power.

By the time Su Jiu woke up, it was noon. The sun was in the middle of the sky. The sunshine beamed through the window and covered her with warmth.

She let out a big yawn, and the cloak fell off. Su Jiu then noticed a piece of paper on the desk with an ink-smeared handkerchief on it. She picked up the handkerchief and saw characters on it:

“What, It, Up”

What it up?

Wash it up?

Su Jiu thought it over and realized that Ji Yuxian probably knew that she did not know the character “wash” so he used the character of “what” which she had already learned.

Looking at the handkerchief, Su Jiu frowned. He got it dirty, why should she wash it?

Su Jiu looked around and hid the dirty handkerchief between the pages of an account book.

It was lunchtime. Su Jiu put away the brush, ink, paper, inkstone, and her notebook. She then went back to Perched Phoenix Pavilion.

After lunch, Su Jiu took Chang Huan with her and planned to discuss with Qiao An about the plan to settle down the bandits from Yuhu Mountain.

When they got the front door, the guard stopped Su Jiu. He had an honest look, and his face was filled with respect. “Are you going out, young mistress?”

“Yeah. What do you want?” Su Jiu asked.

“Where are you going, young mistress? When are you coming back?” The guard looked down and asked.

Chang Huan sneered. “We go wherever we want. Why should we tell you?”

The guard lowered his head even more. His tone became more humble. “I am so sorry that I disrespected the young mistress. But it was the young master’s order. If the young mistress goes out, I have to ask where she is going and when she is coming back before I let her out.”

Su Jiu laughed with a hint of anger. “What if I don’t tell you?”

The young guard appeared terrified. “I know that the young mistress can fight and fights as well as the gods do. It would be so easy for you to kick my ass and beat me unconscious. But I am just following orders. If the young mistress insists on going, just beat me to death. Otherwise, I can’t face the young master.”

Ever since Su Jiu jumped into the middle of the air and threw Xie Ying dozens of yards away, the rumors about jer fighting abilities got wilder and wilder.

Su Jiu stared at the guard; her eyebrows formed a sharp look. “Are you threatening me? You think I wouldn’t hit you?”

“How dare I! But if the young mistress wants to go out, it has to be over my dead body!”

“You!” Chang Huan looked so mad that he was going to punch the guard.

Su Jiu pulled him back. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Okay. I will tell you. I am going to Yong’ an Street for a walk and will be back before it gets dark.”

“Yes!” The guard got out of their way instantly. “The young mistress said she would be back before it gets dark, and I will wait right here. If the young mistress doesn’t make it back by the time it gets dark, the only choice I have will be hanging myself in front of Perched Phoenix Pavilion.”

“You piece of sh*it!” Su Jiu kicked the guard. “If you dare to hang yourself, I will rip off your clothes and feed you to the hounds!”

The young guard looked up at her in fear.

Su Jiu snorted and headed out.

The carriage they parked under a crooked tree outside the night before was still there. Su Jiu was still angry. Damn it! Ji Yuxian! You are good!

Let’s wait and see!

“Chief, why didn’t we just beat the crap out of that guy and run out? Why bother wasting time arguing with him?” Chang Huan groaned.

Su Jiu raised her hand and smacked his head. “What the hell do you know? I am the young mistress at the Ji Manor now. I’m not here to rob anybody. Hit and run? Why didn’t you say we should kill him and run?”

Chang Huan rubbed his head. His handsome face had a big smile on it. “Chief is right!”

The two of them got in the carriage and headed toward Qingyuan Tavern.

Qiao An and Ah Shu had been waiting for them the whole morning. Now they saw Su Jiu; the two stood up to welcome her at once.

Behind the counter was a wooden door. Inside the door stood a table and several chairs. This was where they took their breaks and talked business.

After they were seated, Qiao An poured tea for everyone. He set a cup in front of Su Jiu first and said, “Chief, Ah Shu told me the whole thing about last night. Since this morning you were not here, Ah Shu and I had already checked out the houses. In the eastern suburb, there’s a big place that can hold hundreds. We heard it was a farm before the government bought all the farmland for something else. Now only the houses and the huge yard are left.”

Su Jiu nodded. “As long as we have a place, everything else will fall into place. Notify Hu Dapao as soon as possible so that he can bring those men over.”

“It’s easy to get them over. But what we do with them is the issue.” Qiao An frowned.

“That’s why I came over today. We need to talk about this,” Su Jiu said.

The bandits from the mountain were mostly illiterate. All they knew was to fight. At most, they might be able to do some physical tasks. But what kind of place would hire so many laborers?

Especially guys like Cao Datou and Zhang Mazi, who were no doubt great fighters, yet they looked too fierce and were too disobedient for employers.

“If only there’s a job that requires fighting skills!” Chang Huan said.

Su Jiu’s face lit up with delight. She and Qiao An said almost simultaneously, “Armed escorts!”

That was right. The job that required fighting skills, and there were always high numbers of openings? Armed escorts. Of course!

“Hire them as armed escorts? Who dares to?” Ah Shu asked. His voice was coarse, as usual.

“No. They’re not gonna go looking for jobs elsewhere. It has to be our own armed escort company.” Su Jiu raised her eyebrows and laughed.

Qiao An nodded in agreement. “It’s a great idea. We can open our own company. Those men only need some simple training to start.”

“We open our own armed escort company?” Ah Shu and Chang Huan exchanged looks, laughing. “Are we closing the restaurant and switching to open an armed escort company?”

“No. We keep our restaurant and open an armed escort company, too,” Su Jiu’s eyes were glaring. “We have so many people. If we do business, we do big business!”

Qiao An looked at Su Jiu. His usually lovely and gentle eyes were also glaring with excitement. “So the decision has been made. That farm place I mentioned, I planned to rent it. Now I will talk them into selling it to us. After some cleaning up and remodeling, we can start!”

Chang Huan and Ah Shu got excited too. They acted as if they couldn’t wait.

After all, working at the restaurant simply meant waiting tables, where their true talents and experience were not of much use. Opening an armed escort company was another story. All their fighting skills finally had a stage to shine.

“But, “Qiao An said and paused. He looked a little worried. “It’s easy to open the business. The only thing is before we earn people’s trust, who would work with us?”

Su Jiu raised her legs and squatted on the chair. She looked down, biting her nails, and said as she was thinking. “These couple of days, we should run around and talk to those bigger businesses. At first, we can even offer to escort free of charge.”

“Yes. Chief’s idea is worth trying. I have an even better one, though, “Qiao An said with a smile.

“What?” All three of the rest looked up at him.

“Don’t forget, Ji Manor is the biggest business owner in Shengjing City. Half the businesses here belongs to them. They do business in every sector of Daliang Country. They must need armed escorts daily. If Ji Manor uses our service to transport their goods, we’ll never have to worry about not having enough business!”

Ah Shu slapped the chair and said, “Right! How did I not even think about it? Now our chief is the young mistress at Ji Manor. We can just work for them!”

“Plus, if the Ji Manor uses us to guard their goods, we’ll make a name for ourselves in Shengjing City quickly. By then, things will be a lot easier,” Qiao An drank some tea and said with a slight smile.

“But what if Ji Yuxian doesn’t want to use our escorts?” asked Su Jiu.

Qiao An laughed. “That’ll depend on your skills, chief!”

Su Jiu didn’t expect this. She realized Qiao An was hoping she would talk Ji Yuxian into doing business with them. But they just got into some issues. This morning as she walked out of the door, she was thinking about ways to get back at him. And now she had to find a way to beg him for help?

Fine. Begging was fine. Soft talking would probably work.

A great man knows when to yield and when not. For the sake of her men, she would not mind losing face.

“The negotiation depends on the chief then. Besides, we need a name for the company,” Qiao An said.

“You came up with the name of the restaurant. I figured you would have a good name for the armed escort company too!” Su Jiu said.

“Sure!” Qiao An picked up the tea and took a sip, smiling. “Since it belongs to our Dragon Conquer Gang, and our restaurant is called Qingyuan Tavern, how about we name the company Qing Dragon Security?”

“Good name! Sounds strong!” Ah Shu laughed in agreement.

“Good! That is it!” Su Jiu said.

After making the decision, everyone went their way. Su Jiu headed back to the Ji Manor with Chang Huan to discuss the business with Ji Yuxian. Qiao An went to find people to renovate the houses and yard on the farm. Ah Shu headed to Yuhu Mountain to talk to Hu Dapao.

The guard at the Ji Manor saw that Su Jiu came back after only a zodiac hour and looked quite relieved. He welcomed Su Jiu with full respect.

Su Jiu headed straight to the study for Ji Yuxian after entering the front gate.

Ji Yuxian was not in the study. Even the guard who was always with him was nowhere to be seen. Su Jiu then decided to wait for him.

Bored, she took out the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and continued with her calligraphy practice.

The afternoon sun was particularly bright. Su Jiu, sitting straight on the chair, concentrated entirely on her writing. She didn’t even notice that someone entered the study until a high-pitched scream broke the atmosphere.

“Who said you could come in here?”

Su Jiu looked up and saw Jin Mi, Ji Yuxian’s maid.

She glanced at the maid coldly, dipped her brush into the ink, and went back to writing.

“You!” Jin Mi, seeing that Su Jiu pretty much ignored her, darkened. She put the plate with a cup of tea on it on a small table on the side and said indifferently, “Those blind guards! Should all be punished! How could they let random people enter the young master’s study!? I assume they don’t care about their lives anymore!”

She saw that Su Jiu still ignored her, instantly raised her eyebrows and grinned, “Can’t the young mistress understand what I’m saying? This is the young master’s study. No one is allowed here! Please leave as soon as you can so he won’t be mad at you. I can do you a favor and pretend that nothing had ever happened.”

It seemed like since Ji Yuxian was not present, Jin Mi did not bother pretending to be respectful anymore. Her attitude was blatantly rude.

“I didn’t respond because I didn’t want to argue with a little girl. If you know any better, just go. Otherwise, don’t blame me for my actions.” Su Jiu did not even look up. Her voice was calm but authoritative.

“What? Does the young mistress want to hit me? Do you want to beat up everyone at the Ji Manor?” Jin Mi squinted her mean-looking eyes, staring at Su Jiu with arrogance.

She did not believe that if Su Yuejiu hit her, the young master would let it go.

When Xie Ying first came to the Ji Manor, she was once rude to Jin Mi, thinking she was nothing but a servant. The result? The young master ignored Xie Ying for a month.

She believed she was different in Ji Yuxian’s eyes than all the other servants.

“I don’t want to hit women. I am here because Ji Yuxian told me to come. You can ask him yourself.”

The young master said so?

Jin Mi slightly frowned. The confidence in her eyes fluttered away. No wonder the young master would not let her come into the study these days. It was because Su Yuejiu was here.

Jin Mi’s face twisted in jealousy. She gave the evil eye to Su Jiu. Seeing Su Jiu’s stunning yet powerful beauty made her even angrier. She stepped up to snatch Su Jiu’s brush and said, “I’ve never heard the young master say so, so I have the right to stop anyone from entering here. The young mistress should get out!”

She was talking and trying to grab the brush from Su Jiu’s hand.

Su Jiu, still looking down, half-closed her eyes, which gave a cold glare. She suddenly bent backward slightly as her wrist turned, and the ink from the brush tip splashed toward Jin Mi’s face.

It was just ink. Jin Mi blocked it with her arm without paying too much attention, yet when the drops of ink hit her, it felt like sharp raindrops from some crazy storm, hurting her as if something went through her flesh and bones.

Jin Mi screamed, backed up several steps, and fell to the floor. All she could feel was extreme pain. One of the ink drops that made it to her face left that spot burning.

“My face! My face!” Jin Mi raised her hand but didn’t dare touch her face. She ran off in fear.

Su Jiu watched her run out, shaking her head. Why were some women so stubborn? She had already told her she didn’t want to get physical, yet the girl still made a move.

At least when she was younger, she knew better. She would never look for trouble like this if she knew she was no match.

Why!

Su Jiu sighed and kept practicing her calligraphy exercises.

Jin Mi’s face was, of course, beautiful. It was smeared with ink, that’s all. After washing the ink off, she found her face a little swollen as if someone had slapped her.

She hated Su Jiu’s guts but did not dare to try her again. All she could think now was how to report this to Ji Yuxian when he comes back.

Su Yuejiu, who was from a smaller family, had not given birth since she got here, but she thought she had owned the place with the position of the young mistress!

Jin Mi thought hard and concluded that Su Yuejiu acted that way simply because Ji Yuxian liked her.

Since Su Yuejiu came, although Ji Yuxian did not go to her room all the time, he was quite generous. She hit Xie Ying but got no punishment. Not just that, he even let her enter the study at will.

It was all those women like Xie Ying and Ren Zi’er’s fault! Stupid and useless bitches! It had been almost a month since Su Yuejiu came to the Ji Manor, yet none of them got the young master to sleep with them.

They needed her help!

Before, getting Ji Yuxian to their bed was the last thing she wanted. But things were different now. She could not simply watch Su Yuejiu steal all the thunder.

Sitting alone in her room, Jin Mi was thinking hard.

Cao Datou ordered to have the injured men taken inside for treatment. He also had the two abducted girls taken home down the mountain, as Su Jiu instructed. He then walked up to Su Jiu and asked respectfully, “Ninth Master Su, shall we go back to Dragon Conquer Gang with you, or do we re-establish Dragon Conquer Gang here?”

“Have those smaller gangs settle down first, so they don’t go all over the place to make a mess. After that, I’ll tell you the plan,” said Su Jiu.

“Yes!” Cao Datou took the order and left.

“Chief, do we stay at Yuhu Mountain from now on?” asked Chang Huan. He wanted to stay there with all his heart. Even though life in the mountain was not as comfortable as in the city, things were simpler there. More importantly, if they stayed, Su Jiu didn’t need to return to the Ji Manor.

Ji Yuxian was dangerous. Chang Huan could not push the thought out of his mind.

Su Jiu slightly furrowed her brows and shook her head. She had already become Young Mistress Ji. There was no way back to Yuhu Mountain for her anymore. In her absence, however, chances were that these men would resume their not-so-decent robbery activities after a while.

Too bad Qiao An was not there to offer some good ideas.

Xiao Lie returned. “The military retreated down the mountain,” he simply said.

Su Jiu nodded. “Thanks a lot. Now that Prince Rui failed to eliminate all the bandits, how can he get away with it when he meets the emperor?”

Xiao Lie compressed his lips into a smile. “Don’t worry. The soldiers and officers have already captured dozens of bandits. That was enough to claim a triumph. What’s important now is the rest cannot harm us. As long as Yuhu Mountain can regain its peace, and civilians don’t complain again, the emperor won’t look too much into it.

“I am just trying to figure out a way to settle them down. I guarantee they won’t do anything bad again,” Su Jiu said.

“Need my help?” Su Lie revealed a gentle smile.

Su Jiu shook her head, smiling in return. “That’s okay. You’ve helped so much already!” She paused briefly, saying, “How about this? Hu Dapao stays here to keep an eye on the bandits, so they behave themselves. Ah Shu and Chang Huan come with me to return to the city. Tomorrow we’ll find some decent sized places in the city and take these men down the mountain in batches.”

These men became bandits because of poor living conditions or some bad experience with people in power. As long as they had a roof over their head and food on the table, Su Jiu believed that nobody in his right mind would volunteer to be a bandit.

At the moment, the priority was to help them settle down. She believed everything else could be left for future consideration.

“Yes!” Hu Dapao and Ah Shu responded in unison.

“Take care!” Su Jiu lightly punched Hu Dapao’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry about me, chief!” Hu Dapao chucked.

Su Jiu called Cao Datou over and talked to him for a while. Cao Cato nodded in agreement, again and again, declaring he would follow all Su Jiu’s orders.

After everything was taken care of, Chang Huan and Ah Shu took Su Jiu and Xiao Lie back to the city in the same carriage they used on their way to the mountain.

By the time they got off the mountain, the military men had already returned to the city. The carriage then took the official road, breaking into the thick night fog, and headed toward Shengjing City at full speed.

“Young master Xiao impressed me. You told the military to back up, so they did!”

Xiao Lie looked back at her with a smile. “Nothing too impressive. Prince Rui gave me a token to give orders to the soldiers and officers. They were simply following orders.”

“Are they gonna report to Prince Rui that you did not put in all your efforts in this mission?” Su Jiu asked.

Xiao Lie slightly raised his eyebrows with grace. “I am Prince Rui’s confidant. Whom do you think he trusts more? Me or them?”

Su Jiu agreed with a smile. Her worries vanished. “That makes sense!”

Knowing that the girl cared about him, Xiao Lie was a little touched. “No worries. I will be fine,” he said with the corners of his lips lifted.

After all, if they took hundreds of bandits back, it would become a tricky burden for the imperial court. Now that they not only had captured enough bandits but also had solved the problem in the long run, the emperor would probably be pleased.

Xiao Lie didn’t mention any of these to Su Jiu. He found a cloak in the carriage and draped it around her shoulders. As his long and agile fingers were tying the ribbons around her neck, he said, “If you want to fight, just fight. Why did you take off your outwear? Weren’t you cold?”

“All the women’s clothes. They are just too much. It’s not convenient when you fight,” Su Jiu said. She put on her fight-friendly outfit underneath today for fighting.

The girl’s warm breath touched Xiao Lie’s hands, tickling him to his marrow. Xiao Lie’s fingers paused and then hurried to finish with the ribbons. He then tidied up the shoulders of the over-sized cloak. “We still have quite a way to go. You can take a nap if you want.”

Having stayed up all night, Su Jiu finally felt a little fatigued as her frayed nerves calmed down. She nodded, leaned against the carriage wall, and closed her eyes.

She slept soundly. Nothing could hinder her determination to take a nap, neither the bumpy road nor the uncomfortable position. Her smooth and soothing breathing suggested that she had fallen asleep.

The speed at which she fell asleep impressed Xiao Lie.

He turned around to sit right next to her, pulling her cloak to cover her legs like a blanket. He hesitated, and then lightly put her head on his shoulder.

He had so many questions for her: How come a girl like her ended up joining a group of bandits and becoming a chief bandit? Why did she come to the city and get into the restaurant business? He also wanted to know if she had gone through a lot…

Based on the conversation he overheard, this so-called “bandit in chief” suffered quite a bit. She could not even get enough to eat in the winter and had to accept help from other bandits.

All questions, however, appeared meaningless to ask now.

He didn’t show up when she needed help the most. Now he could no longer go back to help that girl.

Fortunately, he was here now and could help whenever she needed it and protect her whenever she was in trouble.

Sleeping against his shoulder, the girl had the softest breathing and loveliest thick and long eyelashes. How could she be a bandit?

Xiao Lie couldn’t help chuckling.

It was nearly dawn. The night was cold and quiet. The only sounds heard were the sounds of wheels rolling on the road as if flying in the dust.

Xiao Lie took the sleeping girl in his arms and half-closed his beautiful eyes, enjoying this precious moment of peace.

When they arrived at the city gate, Xiao Lie showed a jade token to the guard. He looked up at the carriage and filled his face with respect before hurrying to open the gate for them.

It was the darkest moment before dawn with nary a soul on the main street. No lantern was lit in front of the shops. The air was cold and quiet.

Outside Qingyuan Tavern stood the carriage. Qiao An, who heard the noise, opened the door. Fully dressed, he’d probably been up all night too.

“How did it go? Have any of you been injured?” Qiao An asked as he examined every one. Then his face changed. “Where is Dapao?”

“Dapao’s good. We’re all good. I’ll explain in a bit,” Su Jiu said.

Qiao An nodded, relieved.

Su Jiu got out of Xiao Rui’s carriage. She remembered she was still wearing his cloak and hurried to take it off.

Xiao Lie stopped her hand with his own and said, “The night fog is still cold. Just keep it on. Today I thank you for helping me solve the big bandit problem in Yuhu Mountain. I’ll buy you some drinks next time!”

“You helped me too. No need for the formality stuff!” Su Jiu gave a hearty laugh.

“That’s right,” Xiao Lie said with a smile. “There’s no need for that between us. It’s almost daylight. Get some sleep. I’m heading home too.”

“Sure!” Su Jiu nodded.

Xiao Lie studied her, turned around, and got in his carriage.

Watching it disappear down the dark and long street, Su Jiu turned around and said, “We gotta go back to the Ji Manor.”

They were gone the whole night. The nanny must be worried.

“Certainly. Don’t let people at the Ji Manor find out,” Qiao An said.

“Ah Shu, you stay here and tell master An what happened. I’ll stop by tomorrow so we can talk about it more,” said Su Jiu. “Chang Huan, come with me back to the Ji’s!”

“Yes!”

The men followed her orders. Su Jiu and Chang Huan hopped in their carriage, said goodbye to Qiao An and Ah Shu, and headed back.

By the time they arrived at the Ji Manor, the horizon was turning bright. The long night was about to end.

Su Jiu and Chang Huan certainly would not knock at the door. They parked the carriage outside the manor, climbed over the wall, and sneaked back to Perched Phoenix Pavilion in the dark.

It went well. Even the night shift guards didn’t notice anything.

It was so close to the morning that the guards let their guard down quite a bit. They were pretty much on their way back to bed.

“Go back to your room to sleep. Don’t wake up the nanny. We’ll talk it through when it’s light,” Su Jiu said to Chang Huan.

“Yes!”

Chang Huan still had some blood splattered on his face from the fight. Yawning, he hopped over the wooden corridor and went back to his room next door to get some shut-eye.

Su Jiu also walked back to her room lethargically.

Pushing the door open, she noticed that the red candles in the corner had almost burned all the way down; the dying flame left the whole room dim.

Having been on the road and fighting all night, Su Jiu was exhausted. She let out a big yawn and smelled the stench of blood. Yet she was too tired to take a bath, so she decided to go straight to bed.

Without taking off her clothes, Su Jiu lifted the covers and climbed into bed.

She was about to close her eyes when she noticed a lump underneath the blanket. What could that be? With half-open eyes, Su Jiu reached out and felt a crease. Moving her hand along it, she came upon a chunk of something and squeezed it hard.

The chunk got bigger. Su Jiu was suddenly awake. It was a person! A man!

How did she know? She felt a body part she did not have.

Who was that?

Su Jiu jumped up and tried to stomp on the blanket.

All of a sudden, the person under the blanked rolled over and slightly kicked the leg she was attempting to stomp. As a result, Su Jiu sat on the man in the position of riding a horse.

Su Jiu was a little surprised. Just as she was about to jump up, the blanket jumped first as the man rolled again with her in his arms. Now he was on top of her.

Ji Yuxian’s breath was short. He buried his head on her shoulder and said in a low voice, “My wife is not coming back tonight the whole night. Now she is here, yet she started harassing her husband. What’s that about?”

A moment ago, when the man rolled with her in his arms, Su Jiu already figured out it was Ji Yuxian, which eased her nerves. “What are you doing in my bed?”

Ji Yuxian looked up. Under the dim light, she could still make out his smooth, handsome features. “My dear wife, please answer me first. Why were you out all night?”

“Why would I tell you?” Su Jiu looked away.

Ji Yuxian slightly smiled. His large phoenix eyes looked a little cold. “If you don’t tell me, I’ll ask your so-called maid who is so loyal to you that I might have to have someone slash her with a salt-soaked whip for hours to get an answer. Oh right, your nanny might know the answer too. If they’re tortured together, who do you think will betray you first?”

“Ji Yuxian!” Su Jiu raised her voice a bit, staring at him cooly. “We just work together. I’m not the real Su Yuejiu. You have no right to interfere in my business!”

“Whether you’re the real Su Yuejiu or not, you are my legal wife because we had the ceremony. If something happens to you or you go missing, the Su family will never let it go, and the officials will step in to investigate. So for the benefit of both of us, my dear wife, you might as well behave with due diligence. Tell me where you were?!”

Su Jiu stared at him, not saying a word.

Ji Yuxian glanced at the male style cloak on her shoulder. His eyes got even colder, but his smile appeared more attractive. “Still not talking? Well, somebody come take my order…”

“Wait!” Su Jiu hurried to stand up, yet her forehead bumped into Ji Yuxian’s chin, and both of them made a noise.

Ji Yuxian then surrounded Su Jiu with his arm, laughed, and said, “My dear wife wants to seduce me now?”

Now there was hardly any distance between them. She could feel his breath, which gave a weird tingling sensation. Su Jiu backed up without thinking.

She didn’t know why. When she got close to Xiao Rui or her guys, such as Chang Huan, she felt nothing. Ji Yuxian was the only man who made her feel uneasy with a vague sense of danger.

Ji Yuxian pulled her back in his arms again. He stroked her hair with his fingers and asked in a soft, tender voice that was pleasant and soothing, “Where have you been all night?”

Su Jiu took a deep breath. Fine. No big deal. He knew who she was anyway.

“I went to help suppress the bandits!”

Ji Yuxian looked shocked for a second. “Suppressing the bandits? Aren’t you one of those?” His voice was full of irony.

Su Jiu then told him the whole story, from when Xiao Rui came to her for help, how they planned it, too, how they got in Eight Dragons Gang, and everything that happened the night before.

“This was huge! How come you, my dear wife, did not tell me?” Ji Yuxian’s face did not change, and the corners of his mouth still maintained the smile. Yet the more he learned from her, the madder he appeared.

She pretended to be some rich man’s wife! She got abducted by Eight Dragons Gang! She almost became the mistress of a chief bandit!

Fantastic!

This wife of his was fantastic!

“It wasn’t as if you could help much. Why would I tell you?” Su Jiu lowered her voice.

Ji Yuxian narrowed his eyes, held Su Jiu’s chin, and said, “If my wife got killed by the bandits or became the wife of a chief bandit, and the Su family asked me for you, how could I face them? Or should I tell them, the daughter they sent me was a bandit in the first place?”

Su Jiu freed her chin out of his hand and said frostily, “I’m not that weak!”

Ji Yuxian’s dark and bright eyes were burning with fire in the dim light. His chest heaved up and down with perhaps more than anger. Something was undoubtedly eating him.

A moment later, his eyes resumed their calm. “This Xiao Rui, the one from Drunken Joy Pavilion last time?”

“Yes,” Su Jiu nodded.

“Do you know who he is?”

“Yes. Some advisor at Prince Rui’s Manor.”

“Advisor?” Ji Yuxian scorned. He once again laid his eyes on the cloak and found it annoying as hell. He dragged it off and tossed it off the bed.

“Hey! What’s that about?” Su Jiu stared at him.

“Weren’t you going to sleep? How did you plan to sleep with that on?” Ji Yuxian smiled and lowered his voice.

Su Jiu stretched out her legs, lay straight on the bed, and pulled up the blanket over herself. “Fine. I’m sleeping now.”

Ji Yuxian’s face grew long. He opened the drapes and headed out. “Three quarters after the Chen hour, I will see you at the study. Every quarter you are late, your nanny will have to stand in the snow for a full zodiac hour!”

Su Jiu’s eyes opened all of a sudden. Looking at the bright sky outside the window, she realized there was only half a zodiac hour left until the Chen hour. Ji Yuxian, the cold-hearted! He probably didn’t want her to sleep!

Su Jiu got mad and punched the bed, only to find out that with the sound of the door of the outer room that Ji Yuxian had already left.

The nanny entered the room almost as soon as Ji Yuxian left. “My young mistress, where were you all night? I was so worried! Did the young master give you a hard time?”

Su Jiu lay bottom down with her arms on the pillow. “Don’t worry. Everything’s fine.” She murmured with half-closed eyes.

Seeing that Su Jiu was so tired, the nanny did not ask more questions. She tucked in her blanket a little and said, “Okay. I’m not asking more questions. Please get some rest.”

Su Jiu nodded once and closed her eyes.

At three quarters after he Chen hour, Su Jiu appeared at the study on time. The only thing was that she looked so raggedy as if she could fall asleep standing up.

“What do we learn today?” She yawned and slowly dropped into the chair.

“Go over all the characters you learned yesterday before you move on to the next chapter,” Ji Yuxian said lightly. He was leaning against the back of the chair, relaxed. His eyes fixed on the account book in front of him. He didn’t even look at her.

Su Jiu glanced at him and saw that he was still angry but had no idea why.

There’s no point trying to figure that out. Su Jiu opened the notebook and neatly wrote all the characters from the day.

.

Each of them focused on their own business without interruption.

A moment later, the chief housekeeper, Mr. Yu, entered the room after knocking. “My young master, the chief of the bank has something to report to you. He’s waiting in the parlor.”

“Okay,” Ji Yuxian stood up and started heading out.

He looked back after several steps with a slight smile as if he did not entirely mean it. “Try to learn the next chapter by yourself. Mark out what you don’t understand. I’ll teach you when I get back.”

“Sure.” Su Jiu nodded.

Watching him leave, Su Jiu bent over and lay on the desk. She looked up and let out a sigh of relief.

Next to her was a cup of freshly made tea. She picked it up and took a sip, but spit it out right away.

Bah!

Bah!

What the hell? Tastes like cat pee!

Su Jiu pushed the cup as far away as she could. She then noticed that the tea she spat got the paper wet. She hurried to wipe it with her sleeve, which made the characters on the page smear even more. Her sleeve was smeared with ink too.

In dismay, Su Jiu covered her face with her hand, and the ink on her sleeve got half of her face smeared up.

Su Jiu herself certainly did not notice it. She sighed, quit practicing calligraphy for the moment, and turned the page to the next chapter and saw a poem:

“One, go, two, three, Li”

“Fire, wood, four, five, house?”

“Hmm, mouth, six, seven, broad”

“Eight, nine, ten, wood flower?”

What the hell was that? Su Jiu tossed the book.

One zodiac hour later, Ji Yuxian returned. The first thing he saw was Su Jiu sleeping face down on the desk with her notebook on her face. She was sound asleep.

The book was on the floor. Ji Yuxian picked it up, walked over to her, and picked up the notebook to reveal her face. He then almost burst into laughter.

Her alabaster face was smeared with ink. Even the tip of her nose had ink on it.

The sleeping girl was moving her mouth as if eating some gourmet food in her dreams. Her little tongue licked her dewy rosy lips. While watching her, Ji Yuxian’s breathing paused for a second.

Su Jiu’s girly and tender sleeping look dissolved the frustration smothering within Ji Yuxian. She was sleeping so soundly he did not want to wake her up. He grabbed a cloak and covered her body. As his fingers skimmed over her face, he could not help but pause to watch her sleep.

It seemed to him that the sleeping Su Jiu was cute and charming, nothing like the vigilant little leopard she was when awake. Ji Yuxian was suddenly confused: Was this girl in front of him a chief bandit who would kill without batting an eye and to whom all the other bandits at Yuhu Mountain bowed?

Suddenly something occurred to him. It was what Mr. Yu said a while ago, that this woman might be so powerful someday she might turn against him, even becoming a threat to the whole Ji Manor. The right thing to do was to kick her out and find a way to prevent her from thriving. Yet it was so much fun for him now that he got this little “beast” who was so exciting. What if he didn’t want to let her go?

He wanted her to be robust so that he could take her and turn her into his most potent weapon.

A capable leader would never give a sword up because it was sharp. Taking control of the weapon was always the best solution.

His long and bright phoenix eyes glowed with pride. The corners of his mouth formed a smile that brought out even more of his stunning beauty and manner of power.

By the time Su Jiu woke up, it was noon. The sun was in the middle of the sky. The sunshine beamed through the window and covered her with warmth.

She let out a big yawn, and the cloak fell off. Su Jiu then noticed a piece of paper on the desk with an ink-smeared handkerchief on it. She picked up the handkerchief and saw characters on it:

“What, It, Up”

What it up?

Wash it up?

Su Jiu thought it over and realized that Ji Yuxian probably knew that she did not know the character “wash” so he used the character of “what” which she had already learned.

Looking at the handkerchief, Su Jiu frowned. He got it dirty, why should she wash it?

Su Jiu looked around and hid the dirty handkerchief between the pages of an account book.

It was lunchtime. Su Jiu put away the brush, ink, paper, inkstone, and her notebook. She then went back to Perched Phoenix Pavilion.

After lunch, Su Jiu took Chang Huan with her and planned to discuss with Qiao An about the plan to settle down the bandits from Yuhu Mountain.

When they got the front door, the guard stopped Su Jiu. He had an honest look, and his face was filled with respect. “Are you going out, young mistress?”

“Yeah. What do you want?” Su Jiu asked.

“Where are you going, young mistress? When are you coming back?” The guard looked down and asked.

Chang Huan sneered. “We go wherever we want. Why should we tell you?”

The guard lowered his head even more. His tone became more humble. “I am so sorry that I disrespected the young mistress. But it was the young master’s order. If the young mistress goes out, I have to ask where she is going and when she is coming back before I let her out.”

Su Jiu laughed with a hint of anger. “What if I don’t tell you?”

The young guard appeared terrified. “I know that the young mistress can fight and fights as well as the gods do. It would be so easy for you to kick my ass and beat me unconscious. But I am just following orders. If the young mistress insists on going, just beat me to death. Otherwise, I can’t face the young master.”

Ever since Su Jiu jumped into the middle of the air and threw Xie Ying dozens of yards away, the rumors about jer fighting abilities got wilder and wilder.

Su Jiu stared at the guard; her eyebrows formed a sharp look. “Are you threatening me? You think I wouldn’t hit you?”

“How dare I! But if the young mistress wants to go out, it has to be over my dead body!”

“You!” Chang Huan looked so mad that he was going to punch the guard.

Su Jiu pulled him back. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Okay. I will tell you. I am going to Yong’ an Street for a walk and will be back before it gets dark.”

“Yes!” The guard got out of their way instantly. “The young mistress said she would be back before it gets dark, and I will wait right here. If the young mistress doesn’t make it back by the time it gets dark, the only choice I have will be hanging myself in front of Perched Phoenix Pavilion.”

“You piece of sh*it!” Su Jiu kicked the guard. “If you dare to hang yourself, I will rip off your clothes and feed you to the hounds!”

The young guard looked up at her in fear.

Su Jiu snorted and headed out.

The carriage they parked under a crooked tree outside the night before was still there. Su Jiu was still angry. Damn it! Ji Yuxian! You are good!

Let’s wait and see!

“Chief, why didn’t we just beat the crap out of that guy and run out? Why bother wasting time arguing with him?” Chang Huan groaned.

Su Jiu raised her hand and smacked his head. “What the hell do you know? I am the young mistress at the Ji Manor now. I’m not here to rob anybody. Hit and run? Why didn’t you say we should kill him and run?”

Chang Huan rubbed his head. His handsome face had a big smile on it. “Chief is right!”

The two of them got in the carriage and headed toward Qingyuan Tavern.

Qiao An and Ah Shu had been waiting for them the whole morning. Now they saw Su Jiu; the two stood up to welcome her at once.

Behind the counter was a wooden door. Inside the door stood a table and several chairs. This was where they took their breaks and talked business.

After they were seated, Qiao An poured tea for everyone. He set a cup in front of Su Jiu first and said, “Chief, Ah Shu told me the whole thing about last night. Since this morning you were not here, Ah Shu and I had already checked out the houses. In the eastern suburb, there’s a big place that can hold hundreds. We heard it was a farm before the government bought all the farmland for something else. Now only the houses and the huge yard are left.”

Su Jiu nodded. “As long as we have a place, everything else will fall into place. Notify Hu Dapao as soon as possible so that he can bring those men over.”

“It’s easy to get them over. But what we do with them is the issue.” Qiao An frowned.

“That’s why I came over today. We need to talk about this,” Su Jiu said.

The bandits from the mountain were mostly illiterate. All they knew was to fight. At most, they might be able to do some physical tasks. But what kind of place would hire so many laborers?

Especially guys like Cao Datou and Zhang Mazi, who were no doubt great fighters, yet they looked too fierce and were too disobedient for employers.

“If only there’s a job that requires fighting skills!” Chang Huan said.

Su Jiu’s face lit up with delight. She and Qiao An said almost simultaneously, “Armed escorts!”

That was right. The job that required fighting skills, and there were always high numbers of openings? Armed escorts. Of course!

“Hire them as armed escorts? Who dares to?” Ah Shu asked. His voice was coarse, as usual.

“No. They’re not gonna go looking for jobs elsewhere. It has to be our own armed escort company.” Su Jiu raised her eyebrows and laughed.

Qiao An nodded in agreement. “It’s a great idea. We can open our own company. Those men only need some simple training to start.”

“We open our own armed escort company?” Ah Shu and Chang Huan exchanged looks, laughing. “Are we closing the restaurant and switching to open an armed escort company?”

“No. We keep our restaurant and open an armed escort company, too,” Su Jiu’s eyes were glaring. “We have so many people. If we do business, we do big business!”

Qiao An looked at Su Jiu. His usually lovely and gentle eyes were also glaring with excitement. “So the decision has been made. That farm place I mentioned, I planned to rent it. Now I will talk them into selling it to us. After some cleaning up and remodeling, we can start!”

Chang Huan and Ah Shu got excited too. They acted as if they couldn’t wait.

After all, working at the restaurant simply meant waiting tables, where their true talents and experience were not of much use. Opening an armed escort company was another story. All their fighting skills finally had a stage to shine.

“But, “Qiao An said and paused. He looked a little worried. “It’s easy to open the business. The only thing is before we earn people’s trust, who would work with us?”

Su Jiu raised her legs and squatted on the chair. She looked down, biting her nails, and said as she was thinking. “These couple of days, we should run around and talk to those bigger businesses. At first, we can even offer to escort free of charge.”

“Yes. Chief’s idea is worth trying. I have an even better one, though, “Qiao An said with a smile.

“What?” All three of the rest looked up at him.

“Don’t forget, Ji Manor is the biggest business owner in Shengjing City. Half the businesses here belongs to them. They do business in every sector of Daliang Country. They must need armed escorts daily. If Ji Manor uses our service to transport their goods, we’ll never have to worry about not having enough business!”

Ah Shu slapped the chair and said, “Right! How did I not even think about it? Now our chief is the young mistress at Ji Manor. We can just work for them!”

“Plus, if the Ji Manor uses us to guard their goods, we’ll make a name for ourselves in Shengjing City quickly. By then, things will be a lot easier,” Qiao An drank some tea and said with a slight smile.

“But what if Ji Yuxian doesn’t want to use our escorts?” asked Su Jiu.

Qiao An laughed. “That’ll depend on your skills, chief!”

Su Jiu didn’t expect this. She realized Qiao An was hoping she would talk Ji Yuxian into doing business with them. But they just got into some issues. This morning as she walked out of the door, she was thinking about ways to get back at him. And now she had to find a way to beg him for help?

Fine. Begging was fine. Soft talking would probably work.

A great man knows when to yield and when not. For the sake of her men, she would not mind losing face.

“The negotiation depends on the chief then. Besides, we need a name for the company,” Qiao An said.

“You came up with the name of the restaurant. I figured you would have a good name for the armed escort company too!” Su Jiu said.

“Sure!” Qiao An picked up the tea and took a sip, smiling. “Since it belongs to our Dragon Conquer Gang, and our restaurant is called Qingyuan Tavern, how about we name the company Qing Dragon Security?”

“Good name! Sounds strong!” Ah Shu laughed in agreement.

“Good! That is it!” Su Jiu said.

After making the decision, everyone went their way. Su Jiu headed back to the Ji Manor with Chang Huan to discuss the business with Ji Yuxian. Qiao An went to find people to renovate the houses and yard on the farm. Ah Shu headed to Yuhu Mountain to talk to Hu Dapao.

The guard at the Ji Manor saw that Su Jiu came back after only a zodiac hour and looked quite relieved. He welcomed Su Jiu with full respect.

Su Jiu headed straight to the study for Ji Yuxian after entering the front gate.

Ji Yuxian was not in the study. Even the guard who was always with him was nowhere to be seen. Su Jiu then decided to wait for him.

Bored, she took out the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and continued with her calligraphy practice.

The afternoon sun was particularly bright. Su Jiu, sitting straight on the chair, concentrated entirely on her writing. She didn’t even notice that someone entered the study until a high-pitched scream broke the atmosphere.

“Who said you could come in here?”

Su Jiu looked up and saw Jin Mi, Ji Yuxian’s maid.

She glanced at the maid coldly, dipped her brush into the ink, and went back to writing.

“You!” Jin Mi, seeing that Su Jiu pretty much ignored her, darkened. She put the plate with a cup of tea on it on a small table on the side and said indifferently, “Those blind guards! Should all be punished! How could they let random people enter the young master’s study!? I assume they don’t care about their lives anymore!”

She saw that Su Jiu still ignored her, instantly raised her eyebrows and grinned, “Can’t the young mistress understand what I’m saying? This is the young master’s study. No one is allowed here! Please leave as soon as you can so he won’t be mad at you. I can do you a favor and pretend that nothing had ever happened.”

It seemed like since Ji Yuxian was not present, Jin Mi did not bother pretending to be respectful anymore. Her attitude was blatantly rude.

“I didn’t respond because I didn’t want to argue with a little girl. If you know any better, just go. Otherwise, don’t blame me for my actions.” Su Jiu did not even look up. Her voice was calm but authoritative.

“What? Does the young mistress want to hit me? Do you want to beat up everyone at the Ji Manor?” Jin Mi squinted her mean-looking eyes, staring at Su Jiu with arrogance.

She did not believe that if Su Yuejiu hit her, the young master would let it go.

When Xie Ying first came to the Ji Manor, she was once rude to Jin Mi, thinking she was nothing but a servant. The result? The young master ignored Xie Ying for a month.

She believed she was different in Ji Yuxian’s eyes than all the other servants.

“I don’t want to hit women. I am here because Ji Yuxian told me to come. You can ask him yourself.”

The young master said so?

Jin Mi slightly frowned. The confidence in her eyes fluttered away. No wonder the young master would not let her come into the study these days. It was because Su Yuejiu was here.

Jin Mi’s face twisted in jealousy. She gave the evil eye to Su Jiu. Seeing Su Jiu’s stunning yet powerful beauty made her even angrier. She stepped up to snatch Su Jiu’s brush and said, “I’ve never heard the young master say so, so I have the right to stop anyone from entering here. The young mistress should get out!”

She was talking and trying to grab the brush from Su Jiu’s hand.

Su Jiu, still looking down, half-closed her eyes, which gave a cold glare. She suddenly bent backward slightly as her wrist turned, and the ink from the brush tip splashed toward Jin Mi’s face.

It was just ink. Jin Mi blocked it with her arm without paying too much attention, yet when the drops of ink hit her, it felt like sharp raindrops from some crazy storm, hurting her as if something went through her flesh and bones.

Jin Mi screamed, backed up several steps, and fell to the floor. All she could feel was extreme pain. One of the ink drops that made it to her face left that spot burning.

“My face! My face!” Jin Mi raised her hand but didn’t dare touch her face. She ran off in fear.

Su Jiu watched her run out, shaking her head. Why were some women so stubborn? She had already told her she didn’t want to get physical, yet the girl still made a move.

At least when she was younger, she knew better. She would never look for trouble like this if she knew she was no match.

Why!

Su Jiu sighed and kept practicing her calligraphy exercises.

Jin Mi’s face was, of course, beautiful. It was smeared with ink, that’s all. After washing the ink off, she found her face a little swollen as if someone had slapped her.

She hated Su Jiu’s guts but did not dare to try her again. All she could think now was how to report this to Ji Yuxian when he comes back.

Su Yuejiu, who was from a smaller family, had not given birth since she got here, but she thought she had owned the place with the position of the young mistress!

Jin Mi thought hard and concluded that Su Yuejiu acted that way simply because Ji Yuxian liked her.

Since Su Yuejiu came, although Ji Yuxian did not go to her room all the time, he was quite generous. She hit Xie Ying but got no punishment. Not just that, he even let her enter the study at will.

It was all those women like Xie Ying and Ren Zi’er’s fault! Stupid and useless bitches! It had been almost a month since Su Yuejiu came to the Ji Manor, yet none of them got the young master to sleep with them.

They needed her help!

Before, getting Ji Yuxian to their bed was the last thing she wanted. But things were different now. She could not simply watch Su Yuejiu steal all the thunder.

Sitting alone in her room, Jin Mi was thinking hard.