Wu Caiwei stood there calmly, stretching her muscles. She wanted to teach them a good lesson in front of so many people. Otherwise, as a woman with a golden treasure in her arms, everyone would want to take advantage of her.
They were about to fight, why wasn't she begging for mercy? Li Erniu's brothers felt a bit uneasy. However, the words had already been spoken and they couldn't go back on their promise. They forced themselves forward, suppressing their discomfort.
Halfway through their charge, a man emerged from somewhere and, with a few swift moves, kicked them all to the ground. The man then nonchalantly waved his fan and turned to look at Wu Caiwei with a fawning expression, "Miss Gao, I've long admired you. I finally have a chance to help you. If you encounter such trouble in the future, just send someone to call me, and I'll handle it for you."
Wu Caiwei was amused. She hadn't expected him to get involved. This was a notorious local scoundrel in town. Relying on his mediocre martial arts skills, he had bullied the common folk, and people, fearing trouble, dared not speak out.
She hadn't expected her charm to be so great, attracting all sorts of riffraff. It was good that she could teach them all a lesson today and see who would dare to have ideas about her in the future.
Wu Caiwei walked forward with a smile. Seeing that there was a chance, the other party immediately put on his most handsome smile. Suddenly, pain struck him, and his body flew outwards uncontrollably, landing on the ground with a thud.
The surrounding crowd hadn't expected Wu Caiwei to do something like this. Seeing him writhing in pain on the ground, unable to get up for a long time, they couldn't help but feel a chill down their spines. They hadn't expected this woman, Gao Feixue, to be so fierce.
Li Erniu's brothers, who had initially thought they were unlucky to encounter this scourge, now felt their own pains lessen as they looked at him. They were fortunate that he had blocked the attack. Otherwise, they would be the ones lying on the ground. Without Wu Caiwei saying anything, they instinctively retreated to the edge of the crowd.
Li Erniu stared at the sudden turn of events, stunned. It took him a moment to realize that he was now facing Wu Caiwei's wrath alone. He quickly tried to appease her, "I have eyes but cannot see Mount Tai. Miss Gao, just pretend I never came. I'll never dare to do it again."
As he spoke, he retreated, finally slipping out of the crowd and bolting away as if pursued by a flood or ferocious beasts. He was determined to stay far away from Miss Gao in the future. Even if she had a mountain of gold, it had nothing to do with him, as nothing was worth more than life.
Zhang Tieshan, hiding in the crowd, watched the scene unfold and swallowed hard, his hands beginning to tremble. If it weren't for the shadow behind Wu Caiwei, he would have thought he had encountered a ghost, as he knew her best after ten years of living together.
Soon, the area in front of the Gao family's gate finally quieted down. Her impressive feat quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys, and many restless hearts settled down.
Upon returning, Zhang Tieshan described his day's events to Zhang Tiehua.
Zhang Tiehua was shocked when she heard it, and incredulously asked, "Is this still the weak and gentle Gao Feixue we knew? Has she been possessed?"
Zhang Tieshan replied with a pained expression, "Regardless, she is someone we cannot afford to offend. What should we do now? We can't live by relying on others' charity."
Zhang Tiehua also began to worry. As Tieshan said, if they had misjudged her, and this was the real Gao Feixue, they wouldn't be able to defeat her. If she had something evil about her, it would be even worse. Given their past grievances, she would definitely try to kill them.
She hesitated for a while before finally voicing the solution she had come up with in the past few days. "When we first arrived in this town, we managed to settle down here by relying on your engagement to Gao Feixue. Why don't we rely on marriage again to overcome the current difficulties?"
Zhang Tieshan immediately rejected the idea. "Sister, you know that I was just kicked out of the Gao family. I haven't been close to any ladies lately. Even if I wanted to marry someone, I would need a betrothal gift..."
He trailed off, then suddenly realized what she meant and looked at her with disbelief. "You don't mean you want to get married, do you?"
Hearing this, Zhang Tiehua felt wronged. "What do you mean I want to get married? If you could think of a solution, I'd also like to live quietly at home as a young lady."
Zhang Tieshan's face immediately showed self-reproach, and his entire spirit seemed to drain away. He choked out, "It's my fault for not letting you live a stable life. But I can't just watch you marry someone else. Can we run away together after we receive the betrothal gifts?"
Zhang Tiehua nodded tearfully, then threw herself into his arms. They embraced tightly, lamenting the unfairness of fate.
They came from a small county town in the north. Their families ranked first and second in the city. When Zhang Tieshan was born, a marriage was arranged between them to strengthen the ties between the two families.
As they grew older, they spent almost every day playing together. One day, Zhang Tieshan invited Zhang Tiehua to the mountains outside the city to see the peach blossoms. They happily set out, and on their way back, they saw flames and smoke rising from the direction of the city gates from a distance.
Zhang Tieshan had heard his father say that the nomadic tribes in the north were suffering from drought, rivers had dried up, and grasslands had disappeared, causing animals to starve to death. It was likely they would move south to raid and pillage.
They had initially thought that with several other county towns to the north, it would take time for the enemy to reach them. However, looking at the direction of the county town, they suddenly had a bad premonition.
The steward who accompanied them immediately made a decisive move to send them to the countryside. They hid there for a few days, and only when they heard that the attackers had been driven out of the pass did they sneak back.
Entering the county town, they almost suspected they had gone to the wrong place. The once prosperous streets had become ruins. Zhang Tieshan frantically ran to his own doorstep. The majestic mansion of yesteryear had not been spared. Entering the courtyard, they could still see scorched corpses.
Zhang Tiehua's home was no better. They eventually discovered that they were the only ones left in the vast sea of people. The few servants who had accompanied them on their outing had long since left, as they too needed to make a living. Some were not indentured servants, and the deeds of those who were had long since been buried in the flames.
They stayed in the city for a few days, and after confirming that no one else had escaped, they traveled south together. To facilitate their journey, they changed their names and posed as siblings. Fortunately, they had brought some food and silver with them when they left, otherwise, even their travel expenses would have been a problem.
"Tiehua, Tiehua, are you there?" A call from outside pulled Zhang Tiehua back from her thoughts. The two quickly separated and wiped away their tears.
Soon, a sunny young man entered, and upon seeing her, he broke into a joyful smile.