Chapter 88: Creating Something Out of Nothing

Since Li Shubi was kidnapped, Bai Yichun received new information.

He suddenly sprang up from his seat. “What did you say? The green curtain carriage was found near the bandit hideout?”

“Yes, my subordinates and a girl named Pear Blossom discovered it. The girl has turned nearly all of Jinyang County upside down these past few days. She somehow found out that the carriage the princess used to escape was taken by bandits, and recently, she’s been circling the hideout. She even managed to find the carriage, hidden in some grass in a mountain hollow.”

Bai Yichun furrowed his brows, feeling that the situation was not as simple as it seemed. “The princess has been on the run for years, and each time we almost have her, she miraculously escapes. Her abilities go far beyond this. She wouldn’t just recklessly stumble into a bandit’s den; that explanation doesn’t hold up.”

At this moment, a lieutenant cautiously offered his opinion, “My lord, could it be that the princess, knowing she cannot compete with the emperor, sought survival by colluding with the bandits and seeking their protection?”

Bai Yichun immediately shook his head, rejecting the suggestion. “The master of Baihu Villa, Bai Choushen, is a notorious pervert. A proud woman like the princess would never submit to him to oppose the emperor. This is absolutely impossible!”

Both of the lieutenant’s guesses were shot down by Bai Yichun, and he could only helplessly fall silent.

Bai Yichun murmured to himself, “But if the carriage was found near the bandit hideout, where could the princess have gone?”

The lieutenant carefully asked, “My lord, what about the matter with the Assistant Lu… will it just be left like this?”

At these words, Bai Yichun’s expression changed immediately. “Left like this? How could we just let it go? A member of the Beizhen Fusi was wiped out by a small band of bandits. If this gets out, what face will we have? What about the emperor’s authority?”

“Then…”

“Well, matters have priorities. The world is in chaos, disasters everywhere, rebels rising, and the northern barbarians repeatedly invade. The emperor believes all of this is because of the prophecy of that demon monk. If the princess isn’t removed, the emperor’s mind won’t be at peace, and the world will be even more unstable. Finding the princess is the top priority, more so than dealing with these bandits!” Bai Yichun took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. “If the princess really has allied with these bandits, things will get tricky.”

A shadow passed over his face, and his voice turned cold. “Keep following that girl. If necessary, infiltrate the bandit group through her and see if the princess is really there.”

“Yes, my lord!”

…

Sitong Town.

This was the place where Dalang, who used to be fond of gambling, frequently came, and it was also where Pear Blossom had once set him up.

However, this time, she did not disguise herself but entered the town in her original appearance.

Her looks had become more striking, drawing the attention of a few groups of bandits who followed her at a distance.

You might wonder why a town so close to the bandit hideout hadn’t been eradicated. In truth, the government and the bandits were one and the same, and so were the people and the bandits. Some bandits were just common villagers driven to the mountains for survival. There was no sense in robbing one’s own people, after all.

Moreover, bandits also needed to buy goods and entertain themselves. If they wiped out the town, where would they go for fun?

However, in Pear Blossom’s eyes, anyone associated with the word “bandit” was no longer innocent. Those who went up the mountain to rob and kill could no longer claim to be innocent.

Dealing with such people didn’t weigh heavily on her conscience.

Entering a noodle shop, she ordered a bowl of noodles. Before she even picked up her chopsticks, three unruly men arrived.

“Hey, little beauty, eating noodles alone? How lonely. Let me keep you company.”

Pear Blossom rolled her eyes and ignored them, picking up her chopsticks to stir the noodles, taking a bite.

The bandits, seeing her cold attitude, became more excited. One of them even reached for her bowl, grinning. “Pretty lady, you shouldn’t be doing it yourself. Let me feed you.”

Pear Blossom’s patience was finally worn thin. She slapped him across the face, sending him sprawling to the side, and then continued eating her noodles.

The man never expected that the beautiful girl in front of him would actually slap him and even twisted his nose. Hearing the laughter of the surrounding crowd, he felt humiliated. Spitting, he lunged at her.

Pear Blossom muttered under her breath, avoiding his attack with agility, and poured the scalding noodles onto his head. “Buzzing around like a fly, can’t a person just eat their noodles in peace!”

The other two men saw that this woman knew how to fight and exchanged glances before both rushed at her.

Pear Blossom stood up, dodged, then grabbed a nearby stool and swung it hard at their heads. “Bang, bang” — two dull sounds, and the two men fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

Pear Blossom ruthlessly placed a foot on the chest of the first man. “Answer my question honestly, or I’ll poke your eyes out with these chopsticks.”

The man, not willing to listen, initially tried to put up a fight, struggling to get up. But the foot on his chest was as heavy as a thousand pounds, preventing him from moving. He could only curse and spit at the girl in front of him.

Pear Blossom’s eyes flashed coldly, and she could no longer hold back. She suddenly jabbed a chopstick into the man’s right eye. With a scream, his eyeball instantly shattered, and blood splattered out.

The surrounding crowd was horrified by the scene and quickly backed away.

“You still have one eye left. Can you speak properly now?”

The man begged repeatedly, saying, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk. What does the heroine want to know? I’ll say everything I know—”

“A while ago, did your village steal a green-curtained carriage? Was there a woman on that carriage?”

The man, whose chest was being stepped on, was in so much pain that he was on the verge of passing out. However, upon hearing Pear Blossom’s question, he quickly shook his head to deny it. “No… I don’t think so. I don’t know about this. There are several villages close together—each village is so big, I’ve never heard of it—”

“You may not have heard, but that doesn’t mean others didn’t take action!”

The man was stunned for a moment, then quickly said, “Heroine, spare me! I’ve been away from the village these past two days, I really didn’t know—”

Pear Blossom raised her chopsticks at the two people under the bench. The two men quickly shook their heads, both indicating they knew nothing about the matter.

Watching this scene, the people around started discussing among themselves. “I heard that someone at the top is looking for the princess. This girl must suspect the mountain took her.”

“If the princess was taken to the mountain, then she’s entered a wolf’s den. It’s tragic for a princess to fall into such a situation.”

“By the way, isn’t the one at the top the princess’s uncle? If he finds out that the bandits captured the princess, won’t he send troops to wipe them out? Won’t that spell trouble for us?”

“Tch! You think the one at the top is that powerful? I heard that on Gu Yu Day, one village gathered 200 people to rob Baoxi Village, only to run into the local law enforcement! Guess what happened? The twenty commanders and a fourth-rank officer were all wiped out! The people at the top already sent a second wave to investigate, but there’s still no movement! They can’t do anything to these bandits!” someone sneered.

“Hahaha! That’s true! Everyone always talks about how powerful the Beizhen Fusi is, but it doesn’t seem like much! We’re better off than them, even as a country village!” someone else laughed proudly.

In the corner, Bai Yichun, who was facing away from Pear Blossom, overheard the noisy discussion and his face darkened. The cup in his hand had already been crushed, but if it weren’t for his sleeve covering it, someone would have noticed.

At that moment, someone in the crowd shouted, “Hey! I wonder which brother from the village took the princess! He’s really lucky! I heard the princess is as beautiful as a celestial being! If I could sleep with her for one night, I’d die content!”

“Hahaha! Die under the peony and you’re a romantic ghost! I’d be willing to be that ghost!” someone else chimed in with laughter.

Pear Blossom listened to the vulgar words around her, stood up with a chair in hand, and shouted, “A dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory! You scoundrels! Go back and tell the one surnamed Bai, he’d better hand the person over obediently, or I’ll destroy your Baihu Mountain!”

“Oh! The little girl has quite a big mouth!” someone taunted, “So what if the princess is here in our mountain village? Even if the emperor comes, we won’t hand her over! What’s it to you? Come bite us!”

Pear Blossom, enraged, threw the chair, and the row of people in front was immediately knocked down. The bandits, furious, scrambled to grab her.

Pear Blossom knew she couldn’t fight them off, so she quickly slipped out of the shop and mounted her horse, fleeing into the distance as the group of people continued to curse.

Bai Yichun, his face darkened, finished a bowl of noodles and was about to leave with his underling commanders when he overheard two people from the neighboring table whispering.

“I heard the princess has already been settled in the village by the clan leader.”

“I have to admit, this princess has some guts. She’d rather team up with us bandits than go back to the palace and enjoy wealth and power.”

“You don’t understand. If she went back, she’d surely be killed. Here, although being with bandits isn’t great for her reputation, at least she gets protection, and she can keep her life. What else matters?”

“Exactly. Our place is far from the emperor. What can those soldiers do to us? If they can’t beat us, they’ll just run! The mountains are so big, they can’t guard them forever. A month or two, maybe, but can they hold out for ten or twenty years?”

At that moment, an unfamiliar bandit approached and interrupted, “You guys are too shortsighted. A mere woman is worth the clan leader going against the higher-ups and ruining years of work?”

“What do you mean by that?” the first person glared at him unhappily.

“Do you know who controls the sixteen prefectures and the various tribal areas of the West Side now?” the unfamiliar bandit asked mysteriously.

“Are you talking about the Eldest Princess?” the second person asked cautiously.

“Yes, the Eldest Princess and the late emperor were siblings, born of the same mother. She’s never married and has no children. For this niece, do you think she’d just watch her continue to flee?”

“So, you’re saying the clan leader is protecting Princess Mingyue because he wants to ally with the Eldest Princess of the West Side?”

“Yes and no. The world is in chaos, and anyone with some ability wants to take advantage of it. Besides, if the prophecy from the monk is true, saving the princess now could mean great things for our clan leader in the future…”

“Who told you this?”

“Li Shubi, the magistrate of Jinyang County. He’s already joined our band. He knows more about these things than we do.”

Hearing this, the others immediately became interested.

Meanwhile, Pear Blossom, after riding several miles from the town, confirmed that no one was following her through the system. She then quickly changed clothes, smeared some mud on her face, and transformed into a shabby-looking mountain bandit.

After walking a bit, she met several other people out on patrol, greeted them with a smile, and exchanged a secret signal with them.

With the system in hand, Pear Blossom knew the signal. She quickly made up a new identity and mixed in with the others, calling them brothers.

“Brothers, I just came from the Beishan (North Mountain). I think I saw someone hiding and watching us from the shadows.” She had grown up in the countryside and had seen enough scoundrels like Xiang Dalang to mimic their demeanor perfectly.

“Living people? Damn it, they dare to monitor us on our turf—are they tired of living? Let’s go, lead the way, brothers, let’s see who’s so blind.”

Pear Blossom quickly pointed the direction and led the group to the hiding place of the two scouts sent by Bai Yichun.

The two scouts were originally from the cavalry and were experts in covert tracking. They had been lurking here for several days, but never expected to be discovered. They didn’t want to engage in a direct confrontation with the bandits and quickly fled.

However, the lead guy ran so fast that he soon caught up with them and blocked their path.

The two scouts exchanged a glance and had no choice but to draw their knives, preparing for a fight.

Pear Blossom sneered, “You’re from the Zhenfu Division, aren’t you? How dare you come to our mountain stronghold and cause trouble. What’s wrong? Your boss is too scared to provoke our leader, so you send a few small fry to scout instead?”

The other bandits, upon hearing that these were people from the imperial government, took a step back in fear. But being bandits, they had no regard for their lives. When they heard Pear Blossom’s words, their courage grew. “Exactly, it’s still the Fourth Brother who’s got guts—just go at them with knives! What if they’re from the emperor’s side? Didn’t they still die?”

“Brothers, catch these two brats and take them back to the boss for a reward.”

The group charged forward, pouncing on the two scouts.

Handling a few bandits wasn’t difficult for the scouts, but to their surprise, one of the small-faced guys seemed unusually strong. One of the scouts was grabbed by the legs and couldn’t move, and before he could react, he was pinned down and bound by several of the bandits.

Seeing this, the other scout had no choice but to abandon his comrade and flee in panic.

Pear Blossom stood up, dusted herself off, and chased after him. The man was running fast, but she wasn’t slow either. She maintained a reasonable distance, chasing him closely. Just when it seemed like she was losing ground, she pretended to be out of breath and stopped, spitting at the scout’s retreating back, cursing, “People from the Zhenfu Division, this is all you’re worth? You think you can take the princess back? Let me tell you the truth! The princess is living just fine in our stronghold! She’d rather stay here than go back with you!”

The scout’s heart raced!

When he returned to the inn and reported this to Bai Yichun, Bai Yichun was so enraged that his features twisted in fury. “Well, well, even a few petty thieves dare to insult the Zhenfu Division and show no respect for the emperor! This is absolutely outrageous!”

But the most important issue was the whereabouts of the princess!

After reflecting on what he’d heard in Sitong Town earlier today, his brows furrowed deeply.

“My lord, what should we do now?”

Bai Yichun paced back and forth, anxious. He was a naturally suspicious person, and without solid evidence, he would never dare to report or make a decision too hastily.

“My lord, all the evidence now points to the princess being up in the mountains. If we don’t take action and she’s moved, how will we explain this to the emperor?”

Hearing his subordinate’s urgency, Bai Yichun gritted his teeth and said, “Send an urgent report to the palace within eight hundred miles about the princess being hidden in the mountain stronghold, requesting the emperor to send troops to wipe out the bandits and bring the princess back to the palace!”