Beauty from Lanling

The two maids spoke softly for a long time, Li Jing gradually was aware that: the older lady called "Mei Niang" was the young one's master. The younger "Qing Ni" had grown up with Mei Niang together. They were more sisters than master and servant. The silent man was Mei Niang's uncle. Their travel to Luzhou now seemed to be for a great monk to cure the disease.

Qingni was young and eloquent, she kept on talking. She said: "The divine monk was not in Luzhou, it is said that he had gone to Sikong mountain. We have to remove the root of the disease, it is really worrying."

Mei Niang said, "Qing Ni, Buddhists talk about destiny. 'Maybe it's my destiny that I didn't meet him even though my uncle took us on a thousand-mile search."

The middle-aged literati tried to relieve her, "Mei Niang, you don't have to worry too much. After we return to Jiangling, we will find opportunity to go into Sichuan to look for a sage in medicine, maybe he could eradicate the stubborn disease."

Qing Ni said, "Is it Mr. Sun Simiao that you mean?"

The middle-aged man laughed, "Qing Ni is really knowledgeable."

Mei Niang laughed, "Qing Ni is good at inquiring about the wonders of the world. However, the way to Sichuan is treacherous, and Mr. Sun is as erratic as a divine monk, so I'm afraid it's difficult to find him."

When Li Jing heard them talk about the word "Sun Simiao", he sat up again. He wanted to tell them that he was on his way to Sichuan to look for Mr. Sun, but on second thought, little Alone Star was still sick, it was better to do less. than more 

Qingni said: "In our Xiao clan from Lanling, maidservants like me can also accompany masters for reading, naturally we had learn some things. The master is the uncle of the state, although you are willing to live in poverty, but you are actually a hidden wise man like famous Zhugeliang before he was noticed. Princess grew up beside the master, her talent and virtue are far better than those princes and princesses in the palace!"

The middle-aged man hurriedly stopped her, ''Don't talk nonsense! I am deeply favoured by the king and was regarded as a member of Xiao's family. Although the queen did not accompany Mei Niang, she often sends letters for comfort. If your nonsense words spread out, it is not good to Mei Niang. Beware of punishment if you talk like this again!"

Qingni was had to stop talking.

Li Jing in the inner cabin was even more shocked when he heard this. He was born in a well known family, but he could never compare with this Lanling Xiao clan. The Lanling Xiao family, according to legend, originated from Xiao He, one of the three greatest heroes of the early Han Dynasty, with a succession of descendants. Since the time of Emperor Xuan Di of the Western Han Dynasty, the name of the Xiao Wangzhi, master of Crown Prince, moved the world, and they had became a prestigious family in Lanling at the East China Sea. After more than two hundred years, the Western Jin Dynasty moved south to the east of the Yangtze River, and Xiao family relocated to South Lanling County (present-day Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province). Family migration was common, but it was quite rare to migrate county name with family together in history. What was even rarer, after Xiao's southern migration more talents sprang out. In South Qi, Yongzhou governor Xiao Yan overtook the throne and renamed the country as Liang, with the capital in Jiankang (present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu Province), known as Liang Wudi, taking control of half of the country. After the Hou Jing Rebellion in Southern Liang, Chen Baxian founded the Chen Dynasty and Liang state declined. Xiao Yan's grandson, Xiao Cha, succeeded to the throne and owned part of the western part of the former Southern Liang (known as Western Liang), and set his capital at Jiangling (present-day Jingzhou City, Hubei Province). After Xiao Cha died, his son, Xiao Kui, succeeded to the throne, and had now reigned for 18 years.

From their words outside the cabin, Li Jing had roughly guessed that the woman called "Mei Niang" was the daughter of the Western Liang King Xiao Kui, who had somehow grown up in her uncle's house. Thinking about himself, Li Jing could not help but be silent. However, this "uncle" in the outer cabin was much gentler than Han Qinhu, and even the servant girls could speak freely, so he naturally doted on Meiniang even more.

After such a tiring night, Li Jing was so sleepy that he could barely open his eyes, so he moved close to Alone Star, and closed his eyes to rest. After a long while, a loud bang came, he was shaken off the bed, obviously boat was bumped. In outer cabin a lady screamed, and the old boatman said in a loud voice: "Mr. Jiang, I have never offended you, why do you have to force me?"

The boat stabilised a little. A hoarse male voice said, "You idiot old man, in this place of Nan Chao, how dare you get across the lake without paying us!"

The old boatman force a smile and said, "I surely know the rule of the lake. Today, I am fortunate to meet Mr. Jiang, this is my filial piety money, please accept it."

Li Jing understood that: they seemed to encounter water bandits at Nan Chao lake in Luzhou. Han Qinhu taught him not only the history and politics, but also the stories of ganghood across the country. The water network was very complicated in the south, and there were often water bandits. When Han Qinhu arrived in Luzhou, the governor had asked him to send troops to eliminate the bandits, but Han Qinhu refused in excuse of preparing for combating with Chen State.

With tinkling sounds, coins were nailed into the ship's board. Li Jing couldn't help but be shocked. Just by the force of this throw, it was clear that this bandit had a great deal of strength.

"Mr. Jiang, you ..." The old boatman's words had not yet fallen, with a "thud" at the bow of the boat, that Jiang had jumped onto the deck, laughing coldly: "Dead old man. You want to get rid of me with this penny money? there must be some valuable guest in the cabin, right? Piss off..."

Li Jing was about to press his face against the gabion wall to see what was going on when a sudden fragrant breeze hit him. The lady in the outer cabin opened the hatch door and barged in, almost bumping into him who was sitting on the floor. The lady had to cover her mouth. Li Jing hurriedly moved down. The lady had no choice but to sit on the bed, but her expression was not frightened.

At this moment, that Jiang had broken into the outer cabin, "eek", he said loudly: "My gangs, are you two blind? You said you saw a beauty, where is she?"

With a few rattles of the ship's boards, a sharp voice from outside said, "Brother, I was following all the way, and saw a sour literati man took two little ladies, one of them is so beautiful that it makes my heart itch, isn't she in the cabin?"

Jiang laughed loudly, "She seems to be hiding inside!" He kicked over the middle-aged man, took a few steps forward, pushed open the door of the inner cabin, and probed in.

But before his laughter disappeared, a "gurgling" sound came from his throat. Immediately, his tall body convulsed and fell on the threshold of the inner cabin. It turned out that in the heat of the moment, Li Jing drew his short sword and charged forward, hitting him right in the throat!

Outside the two water bandits heard something strange in the cabin, and shouted a few times "Brother", but there were no response, so they were a little scared. One of the bandits grabbed the old boatman and put his knife across his neck: "Damn old man, what have you done to our boss?"

In the inner cabin, Li Jing was trembling with fear. This was the first time in his life to kill someone, although by accident, but still it was out of his kung fu training. He had to suppress his popping heart, pulled the short knife out of Jiang's throat, wiped it with the rags in the cabin, and then inserted it into the sheath tied to his calf. That stunning beauty sitting on the edge of the bed watched the blood from the dead man's throat flow all over the inner cabin, but actually her face did not change a bit.

Li Jing was slightly surprised and couldn't help but looked at her. She had a plump physique, a face like the full moon, and a cloudy and inky hairstyle pulled high. A beauty tip was combed out on her broad forehead, two slender willow-leaf eyebrows were dashing to her brow tips, and there was a vermilion mole in the centre of her eyebrows. The pair of slender phoenix eyes, with clear calm sights, seemed to have a quiet water depth. The nose that went straight through the heavenly chamber showed a lonely and proud personality, and her philtrum was in a regular outline like a broken bamboo. The tightly closed mouth was a little pale, if it were as red as peach blossom, a man would not hold his desire to kiss it. Li Jing only saw half of her side face through the gabion wall, now she was so close at him that he could notice her breathing, he found her paler than before. If that was redder, it was indeed an alluringly face.

When the woman saw Li Jing watching her lost in thought, she couldn't help but furrow her brows in annoy.

At this time, the outside cabin was already in an uproar. Two bandits howling endlessly, the middle-aged man was quite calm, but the little servant girl made a scene. This caused another bandit rushed in and caught her in hands like a chick: "Our boss is dead, no one of you will survive!" The two bandits had followed Jiang across Nan Chao Lake, thinking that he had outstanding martial arts skills. However, in such a flash he was already dead, they thought that there must be some master in the cabin, so they each held a hostage, but daring not to take a step into the cabin.

As Li Jing killed the man, he knew that if he didn't show up, the innocent old boatman and the maidservant named Qing Ni would only suffer more. At that moment, he settled his mind, held the door frame to move the corpse of Jiang who had full beard and was covered with blood, he stood in the front cabin and shouted, "Your boss is dead, whoever dares to rush, will not survive!"

Although Li Jing was taller than his peers, but after all he was a twelve year old boy, even his curses were still in a child's voice. The two bandits on the deck were first shocked, and when they saw the person coming, they were all relieved. One of the skinny man with a face full of flesh said: "So it's a little child! It seems that our boss has suffered from your assassination ... quickly come out to die!"

Li Jing's martial arts was naturally not worth mentioning in front of Dugu Hun, Han Qinhu and other top masters of the world, but to deal with this kind of water bandits, it was more than enough. However, Qing Ni and the old boatman were in the hands of the robbers, it was not appropriate to move obtrusively. He helped the middle-aged man up and said, "Your boss is dead, if you two care about brotherhood, you should bury him properly, I can spare you two from death!"

The pockmarked-faced man who had hijacked Qing Ni laughed maniacally, ''What a big mouth! How can I listen to a little brat like you? Immediately tie your hands by yourself! Otherwise ..." With a scream from Qing Ni, her tender lotus-root-like neck was cut out by the sharp long knife, and blood flowed straight out.

The thin man with horizontal meat also pressed his blade towards the old boatman's neck with wrinkled skin. Thinking of the old boatman saving Alone Star, Li Jing's heart raced and he immediately waved his hand and said, "Fine! I'll tie myself up!" He then picked up a small rope from the cabin and prepared to tie himself.

The thin man said, "Don't play tricks, you little brat! Hey, that literati, you tie him up, tightly! Otherwise, I'll chop you up and feed you to the fish!"

The middle-aged man had to take the rope. Li Jing stretched out his hands, and he wrapped them a few times. The thin man let go of the old boatman, stepped into the cabin, put his knife on Li Jing's neck, and said to the pockmarked face, " go inside and see if there are any more men?"

The pockmarked face let go of Qingni and rushed into the cabin, probing with his knife and entering the inner room. After looking around, he said to the thin man, " There really is a beauty and a little kid!"

The thin man breathed a light sigh of relief and elbowed Li Jing in the left side of his chest. Li Jing fell down. Still not daring to be careless, the thin man leaned down and tied Li Jing up tightly, and said to the other bandit, "Go and tie them all up!"

In a short while, Pockmarked Face tied up the old boatman, the middle-aged man, Mei Niang, and Qing Ni, and placed them in the front cabin. Although Alone Star's breath was weak, he was also carried to the front cabin and thrown in the corner, but as he was too young, he was not tied up. Only then did the two bandits feel relieved and put away their knives and sat down at the hatch.

Li Jing was bound in anxious, the usual art of war taught by his uncle was useless, he could only wait and see what would happen. It was strange that amongst the bound people, except for Qing Ni who was trembling, the rest of them looked as normal. Even the little Alone Star in the corner, only opened his eyelids, it seemed that he had nothing to do with what just happened.

The thin man said to the old boatman, "Old man, today you are so lucky! The boss was unfortunate enough to be assassinated by this hairy kid, and ultimately the debt is still on your head."

Only then did the old boatman open his mouth, "Two heroes, people can't come back from death. Even if you kill us all, it won't help."

The middle-aged man said, "The two of you makes a hard living, we have brought some money, you can take as much as you can to bury this hero."

The thin man sneered: ''That's easy to say! Your money is naturally to be taken, but none of you will survive! However, this little beauty, I am a little reluctant to kill her , hehehe ..." said the man, reaching out to touch Mei Niang's face.

Meiniang did not dodge, and said to him softly: "This master, have you ever get married?"

The thin man froze, "This ... I haven't..."

Mei Niang charmingly smiled and said, "That's it. We came south with my uncle, just to find a good husband ... hero, if you don t mind, I would like to marry you as a wife."

The thin man's mouse eyes shone and glanced at the pockmarked face, "Bro, it looks like you're going to have a sister in law ..."

The pockmarks shook slightly, and his big mouth turned up. Mei Niang looked at him and said, "Does this hero not have a wife either?" Pockmarked face looked at her, then at the thin man, and did not speak.

Mei Niang said, "If you have not yet taken a wife, what do you think of this sister of mine?" Raising her eyes, she looked at Qing Ni. Qing Ni's eyes showed fear, but she was forced by her mistress's stern gaze to say anything more.

The pockmarked face got up and said, "Little lady, are you amusing me with a servantmaid? Am I ugly?"

Mei Niang laughed, "In terms of looks, apart from a few pockmarks on your face, you are really much stronger than this thin hero. However, listening to you call this thin hero as second brother, there should always be a courtesy to fulfil your elder brother first, right?"

Pockmarked face grunted, "Just because you're older than me, you should take precedence?"

The thin man got up in a huff and said angrily, "Third, are you determined to steal my wife from me?"

Seeing his anger, with spittle out of the corners of his mouth, pockmarked face sat back down, holding his words. The thin man's anger subsided a bit and said, "Third, the boss is dead! Don't scramble with me, Although this little girl is younger, after two years she must be a big beauty, why are you in a hurry? I am your second brother, if the boss is not dead, I wouldn't dare to snatch it from him."

Pockmarked face stretched out his tongue to roll the spittle at the corner of his mouth back into his mouth to swallow it all, the knot in his throat rolled up and down, and he said in an astringent voice: "That's good! The beauty belongs to you, the money and the little girl belong to me!"

The thin man then grinned, "That's a good brother! However, the money for burying the boss, you pay for it!"

Li Jing saw that the two of them were about to make a deal, and his heart was in a great hurry. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Meiniang laugh coldly, "If a man has no ambition, he will lives in vain even for a hundred years! Do you two know what I have in my bag?"

When the thin man heard this, he hurriedly swooped down to the corner of the cabin to rummage through the luggage. Mei Niang moved down and stretched her head to whisper in Pockmarked face's ear.

In the corner of the cabin, the skinny man did turn over a pouch from Meiniang's leather bag. When he opened it, through the daylight coming through the cabin, a pearl shone brightly. The thin man excitedly shouted "ow", but a long knife pierced through his back. He turned around in shock, and saw the flaming eyes of the pockmark-faced brothers.

"Third,... you," his left hand lifted the pearl up and handed it to the pockmarked face. Since his birth, how had he ever seen such a treasure? Immediately he loosened the hilt of his sword to receive it. However, just as his fingertips touched the pearl, he only felt cold at belly and the thin man's long knife had already drilled in like a poisonous snake ...