Chapter 2: Nobility in Trouble

“What’s wrong with a beautiful and delicate woman? Ha!” asked the other coachman as he whipped the horse before him.

“An uncultured man like you can’t appreciate how beautiful a pitiful woman is. A few sobs from a weak girl can be beautiful. But a man crying? I’d punch him!”

In a world where beauty was deemed an art form, a beautiful girl could bawl her eyes out and onlookers would still marvel at the sight.

But imagine a 170 centimeters tall, muscular man sobbing and whining. Anyone who witnessed that spectacle would be inclined to deliver a swift slap to him.

Who allowed you to cry?

“You’re right, boss. Didn’t someone once say that even a ghost would act lecherously if he could have a girl in each arm?”

The gruff man with a long sword sheathed at his waist guffawed. His loud laughter rang in Jiang Pengji’s ears. “We brothers won’t have to die and become ghosts to have a girl in each arm! We can live freely every day!” he added.

After that the sound of loud laughter, tinted with lust and evil, echoed along the mountain trail.

These seven burly men were bandits from the mountains near Hejian Country. They were outlaws who pillaged, plundered, and committed every crime imaginable.

When they heard the news about a group of gorgeous girls who were out with their maids and had few guards, they acted. It was as if the heavens had heard their woes of lonely nights and bestowed this gift to warm their beds.

The bandits had felt a chill run down their spines when they discovered the family crest on the carriages, however. It seemed as though the girls were from a noble family that one could not afford to offend. But the thought of those noble girls with their pale faces writhing in pleasure under them was enough incentive for the bandits. They had fought hard for their spoils.

“Boss. There’s a sickly one in there. I suggest we kill him and then dump his body. It’d be unlucky if he died on us while traveling,” said a bandit with a bad limp. He pointed into the carriage. “Look at that weakling. Uglier than those beauties.”

Three breathtaking young girls clad in silk and satin sat huddled in the carriage. Although they were still fairly young, their beauty exceeded that of average people.

A young boy clad in green lay in the carriage. The jade clasp holding his black hair was missing. A high fever had knocked him unconscious, and upon closer inspection, it was clear that the boy’s face was elegant. His collar was slightly loosened and revealed a yellow undergarment and two small bumps on his chest.

It was obvious that the boy was actually a girl.

The bearded boss of the bandits let loose a laugh. “So a female, eh? Keep her. We still have other brothers in the stockade. How do you expect these few girls to go around with all of us? In the past, even a female mosquito was rare… Except for Leader Four, who has a woman to warm his bed?”

Jiang Pengji’s heart almost stopped when she heard the commotion outside the carriage.

“Sister Jingxian… Brother Lanting won’t wake up… What should we do…?” a young voice sobbed near Jiang Pengji. It should have been an unfamiliar voice, yet information about the sobbing girl flashed through her mind.

“You’re like a clay buddha crossing a river, and you’re worrying about others?” Wei Jingxian pursed her pale lips and clutched her handkerchief until her fingers turned red. “Worry about yourself!” she exclaimed unkindly.

The exclamation caused the teary-eyed girl to bow her head in fear, never daring to make eye contact with Wei Jingxian again.

Everyone in the Hejian County knew about the betrothal between the Wei’s eldest daughter and the Liu’s second son that had been arranged ever since the children were babies. The pair grew up as playmates before they became sweethearts. Now that she found out that her fiancé was really a woman, the proud Wei Jingxian could hardly remain calm. If it weren’t for the bandits, would it have taken her until their wedding night to find out her husband-to-be’s real gender? The embarrassment her fake husband had caused was far worse than whatever fate the unscrupulous bandits brought.

Wei Jingxian’s voice was unfamiliar to Jiang Pengji, yet her name flashed through Jiang Pengji’s mind.

Wei Jingxian… Jiang Pengji thought dazedly. So she’s my fiancée…

Wait!

The sudden outburst in her own mind almost caused her to jump to her feet. What fiancée?

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With that thought in mind, Jiang Pengji tried sorting through her thoughts and discovered many strange and foreign memories.

The owner of the memories was a boy. Or rather, a girl masquerading as a boy by the name of Liu Lanting.

What’s going on? Her own mind was flooded by different memories from this stranger.

Before she could figure everything out, the rickety carriage came to a stop.

“Shhhh! Stop! You wenches! Get out! Don’t make me come in there!”

The family crest on the carriage stood out, and with the number of missing nobles, Hejian County would be on high alert.

All the servants and family needed to do was to follow the carriage tracks, and they would soon be discovered. The bandits could not afford even to leave their footprints behind if they wanted to live, so they were changing to a different mode of transportation.

“Boss. Eh… How about us enjoying two of them first?”

Some of the bandits stared shamelessly as the girls climbed out of the carriage. One of them even licked his dry lips with an expression of lustful hunger. Who could resist the thought of having a little romp in the wilderness with a noble beauty?

The girl being eyed by the bandit looked as though she was about to die of shame and anger. If she could, she would have hidden herself so that no one would ever be able to find her again.

The bandits’ boss stopped in his tracks before raising his huge palm to smack his underling. “What’s the hurry? We can enjoy them one by one once we’re back home. If you play now, you might get caught with your pants ’round your ankles,” he laughed.

The underling licked his split lip as he glared at the girls. The kidnapping had been easy, but it came at a price. They had attacked with over 20 men, and now they were returning with only seven.

The bandits could only persevere because their boss had spoken. However, as they jostled and shoved the girls, some of them groped the girls.

At that moment, the bandit with the bad limp carried the semi-conscious Jiang Pengji out of the carriage, all the while complaining.

Unbeknownst to all, the seemingly unconscious “Liu Lanting” opened her eyes a little before closing them.

System! Jiang Pengji called out in her mind.

A clean transparent panel appeared before her mind’s eye.

Name: Jiang Pengji (Liu Xi, Lanting, AKA Liu Lanting. Base Strength: 5. Strength Fusion +30).

Sex: Female (Masquerading as male. Replacing her late elder brother, Liu Lanting).

Age: 41 (12). Born on the third year of the Tianwu Flower Festival.

Born: Hejian County. Liu family’s second son (eldest daughter). Fiancée: Wei family’s second eldest daughter, Wei Jingxian.

Abilities: Six Arts of Rites (Elementary), Combat (Expert), Analysis (tentative), and Others (tentative).

Attributes: Charisma (hidden: 21), Appearance (75).

Channel: Stream (Sufficient Points. Yet to unlock.) Streamer Lv. 1.

Jiang Pengji was a woman from the future, an era where information and entertainment were readily available at one’s fingertips. She immediately understood the importance of this foreign being in her mind.

“How should I address you?” she thought.