Chapter 16

The Boss not only agreed to Liang Ji’s request but directly vacated this room, leaving Liang Ji and me here to “express our mutual affections.”

Once he left, the room emptied out. Neither Liang Ji nor I spoke, and the atmosphere became so quiet it was somewhat eerie.

Finally, Liang Ji broke the silence. “Apologies for the offense. If I didn’t do that, he would have…”

“I understand. Needs must when the devil drives.”

Silence fell again. I stretched my arms and legs, unable to stand the weird atmosphere, so I asked him, “How did you get kidnapped? Weren’t you going to Yannan to find the miracle doctor?”

The moment I said it, I regretted it. Yannan wasn’t far from Mount Yan. It wasn’t surprising that he ran into trouble and got dragged here.

“Did you find the miracle doctor?”

He nodded, then shook his head, showing a disappointed expression. “Just a swindler making a false name for himself.”

I looked at him sympathetically. Failing to find the person he wanted to see and getting kidnapped by bandits on top of it was truly bad luck.

“Liang Ji,” I called him. When he looked over, I lowered my head and touched the tiger skin beneath my hand. “Did you give the dagger I gave you to someone else?”

Because of that dagger, I had thought he was in danger and almost blew my cover.

But he wasn’t in danger. The dagger was in someone else’s hands, which made me even angrier.

“It’s here.”

He took it out from inside his robes. The dagger lay quietly in his hand. My eyes instantly brightened, and that bit of gloom vanished into thin air.

“Then how did I see an identical one on a bandit?”

“It was indeed taken away when I was first brought here. Later, when I gained their trust, I asked for it back. But he couldn’t bear to part with it, so he had a craftsman forge an identical one to use himself.”

I nodded, concealing my inward delight, and teased him, “How do you manage to blend in so perfectly in every bandit lair you end up in?”

“I am a doctor. They need doctors too.”

“It’s not like there are no other doctors on Mount Yan. Why does he trust you so much?”

He thought about it, then touched his face. “Perhaps I was born with a trustworthy face.”

He said it as a joke, but hearing it, I actually agreed. Looking at his incredibly approachable face, who would have thought he’d be ruthless enough to make me drink Coptis root soup for so long? Indeed, you can’t judge a book by its cover.

The past was too painful to look back on.

He went outside to check, closed the door, and told me about his observations over the past days. I memorized every detail. With Liang Ji there, they were much more relaxed about me and didn’t specifically assign anyone to tail me. I managed to scout out the terrain and defense posts thoroughly. As the wedding date approached, the stronghold was decorated with lanterns and festoons. The Boss even sent people to escort Liang Ji and me to the town to buy supplies.

I saw Ji Wenmu disguised as an old man and slipped the prepared intelligence into his stall. He asked in a low voice, “You’re getting married?”

Word had already spread that far?

Surprised, I nodded, keeping an eye on the bandits behind me. Liang Ji diverted their attention, and I flashed a ‘three’ with my fingers to Ji Wenmu.

Three days later, Liang Ji and I would be married in the mountain stronghold.

I thought I would never have this chance in my lifetime, but thanks to bandit suppression campaigns, I’ve worn a wedding dress twice.

Ji Wenmu suddenly grabbed me, a violent storm seemingly brewing in his eyes. He kept his voice extremely low, “Since we know their internal situation, you don’t need to go back. It’s too dangerous to stay there.”

I looked back. Liang Ji had drawn the bandits a bit further away. Confident they hadn’t noticed, I quickly said,

“We already agreed to coordinate from the inside and outside…”

“We didn’t agree you’d marry him.”

“It’s forced by circumstances, just a fake marriage. What’s there to be so petty about?”

I shook off his hand, worried he would act on impulse, casually picked an item from his stall, and paid for it.

“Have you fallen for him?”

My movements paused. Just then, a bandit called out from behind, “Sister-in-law, have you finished picking?”

“Done, done.”

I hurriedly walked over with the item, my heart suddenly a tangled mess.

Because I realized… I actually didn’t want to deny it.