Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 45: Strength Akin to a Prowling Tiger

“Good morning sister-in-law!”

“Good morning sister-in-law.”

The new year for the bandits was worse than corporate drones in the real world. They only had half the day off on New Year’s Eve and the first day of the new year off. In total, their break only lasted one and a half days.

On the morning of the second day of the year, the stronghold resumed all its operations. Zhao Changhe headed to the training grounds, gathered the fighters in the stronghold, and personally taught them and trained with them. Those that did not practice martial arts had their own tasks assigned to them. The laying of traps also continued.

Zhao Changhe felt that if he had not been transported to this world, he would have been strung up to a lamppost as a capitalist.

But these traps are related to the safety of everyone here...

While Zhao Changhe was managing things, Yue Hongling walked all around the stronghold mainly to familiarize herself with the positions of the traps and avoid falling into one again... Even though her injury was not that much of an impairment, she did not want to have to leap out of a pit.

In reality, she wanted to take the damn things apart...

Whatever, forget it.

“Sister-in-law, are you taking a look around?”

“Sister-in-law, how did you and boss meet each other? The others say you two met in a mid-grade brothel, but I don’t believe them.”

“If you don’t know how to talk, then you can cut off your tongue by yourself.” Yue Hongling had a blank expression on her face.

A surprising number of bandits did not know how to speak to a normal person, and few were aware of it. There were even some idiots who asked their boss how he had overexerted himself the day before. For such a fierce man to pull a muscle—this sister-in-law is too brutal...

Those idiots were now hanging naked upside down by the side of the training grounds. Their boss did not dare say anything about it, which clearly showed who was really the one in charge of the stronghold.

“Don’t put spikes at the bottom of these traps.” Yue Hongling blocked a bandit that was trying to set up traps in one of the pits. “The stronghold is very big. Not everyone is clear about the position of the traps. It won’t be good if someone steps into one.”

The bandit scratched his head. “It’s useless if we don’t put spikes below. Are we trapping people or letting them inside to take a shit?”

Bang!

The bandit was kicked away.

She had felt that Zhao Changhe was crude, but it was only after interacting with these bandits that she found out what it really meant to shoot one’s mouth off and speak one’s mind. At most, Zhao Changhe would utter a few vulgarities when he scolded people, but his daily speech was still civilized.

Yue Hongling rubbed her head and pointed at the people shuttling around by the side. “You, you, you... You people, go and remove the spikes from the other pits. There’s no need to set lethal traps inside the stronghold. It’s enough to set up more dangerous traps outside, behind the mountain and on the mountain roads. Within the stronghold, it’s enough to just trap our enemies. We’ll avoid accidents this way.”

“Alright! We’ll do as you say, sister-in-law!”

“Even without spikes, there are other things we can put down there. For example, water. In this weather, anyone that falls into it is going to have a bad time. Or maybe a bunch of thorny vines and things like that! There are so many things people can do in this world. Work your imaginations! Whoever sets up a good trap will get a reward! Oh and it’s the beginning of spring. The mountain is so big, there are definitely places where we can grow things to eat. It’ll help a bit with the food, so you don’t end up erasing every animal on the fucking mountain.”

“Umm...can you please say that again? It doesn’t sound like a bandit thing to do...”

“You don’t have any problem with it, right? Then get to work.”

“Objections from the boss? Boss, what do you think?”

Zhao Changhe’s voice came from far away. “Listen to her...”

Who’s the real boss?

The people in the stronghold truly felt like they now had a housewife commanding them around, and unfortunately, this housewife spoke unreasonably. She did not know one bit about their internal affairs, and only knew how to fantasize. If they asked her to suggest what crops they could grow, she would glare at them. They did not know if she was angry or if her mind was simply devoid of anything.

She also did not look at the ledgers for the storehouse. In fact, she could not understand them. Even though she could read every word, when she strung them together, she had no idea what they meant. Her dumb appearance was rather adorable.

In the end, the boss had to take one final look while she fiercely guided the underlings’ training.

No one knew who was the real stronghold master and who was the stronghold mistress. It appeared like their roles had been flipped.

Lunchtime.

The stronghold master and stronghold specially had their meal in their hut. The two of them ate quietly, and no one said anything for a while. They felt like it would be weird if they opened their mouths.

“Umm...” After they were about done eating, Zhao Changhe hesitantly began speaking.

Yue Hongling’s looked at him while her cheeks moved along to her chewing.

Zhao Changhe did not mean to be so stricken by her cuteness and refrained from continuing to look at her. He coughed dryly and said, “I’ve asked them to build another hut by the side. You can live there starting today. There’s a tub inside. Every night, I’ll send people to heat up some water for you.”

Yue Hongling’s eyes blinked and blinked. These arrangements are pretty good. You can come and be the mistress next time.

In actuality, Yue Hongling was not the same as Luo Qi—she did not need to sleep at all. It was enough for her to meditate on a chair. Whatever embarrassing things that happened before were not going to occur again. Yue Hongling herself also had no intention of living separately from Zhao Changhe. After all, it would arouse suspicion if the stronghold mistress did not live with her stronghold master. At the very least, some would think that the stronghold master’s mistress was not obedient.

However, Yue Hongling knew that when a man and woman lived together, there would indeed be some inevitable problems. Zhao Changhe’s actions meant that he was willing to endure ridicule for not having an obedient wife if it meant that she could avoid such embarrassing situations.

“Does the head of the house not fear the ridicule of others?” She asked on purpose.

“Compared to that, I’d much rather hope that you don’t feel any discomfort and you can stay here a little longer.” Zhao Changhe murmured. “Even though you are pretty fucking clueless as a housewife.”

Yue Hongling glared at him in anger and Zhao Changhe raised his hands in surrender,

After glaring at him for a while, Yue Hongling’s mouth finally twitched. “Fine. No matter how long I stay, I have to leave eventually. Eat up and rest. Today we’ll continue sparring.”

*

“Second brother, the atmosphere of the city has been strange recently.” At an inn in the city, a young lady was a little bewildered and asked her brother, “I’ve realized that few people from faraway gangs have come here, like Lin Feihu from the Black Tiger Gang. He’s a master at the fourth layer of the Profound Gate... Could it be that he heard about both you and Yue Hongling being injured after you challenged her on the street and came to pick a low-hanging fruit?”

This pair of brother and sister no longer wore the peasant clothes they put on when they first arrived in Beimang. The young lady was covered from head to toe in clothes made from sable fur. Her head was wrapped in a furry hat which revealed her rosy cheeks. It was very cute. No one would be able to tell that she was just a regular traveler with her current appearance.

Knowing how to dress and travel low-key was an essential skill to pick up to wander the jianghu.

Cui Yuanyong wore satin robes and sat leisurely by the window reading a book. He was truly a delicate and refined young master, as polished as jade.

After listening to his little sister’s question, he smiled warmly. “That’s probably not the case. When I fought with Yue Hongling, we acted with propriety and battled until we sustained wounds that would’ve taken at most three to five days to heal. The spectators also saw that we weren’t heavily injured. Even if someone came after hearing the news, they would take weeks to get here... Everyone would know that we’ve fully recovered by now, so why would they come for this reason?”

Indeed, it had been half a month since they fought. Yue Hongling had now been at the mountain stronghold for a month pretending to be the stronghold mistress. No matter how he thought, Cui Yuanyong could not understand why she would do something like that. However, he had seen it with his very eyes. She chose to continue this affair of her own accord.

It’s already been half a month and she’s still there. Zhao Changhe must be strong and vigorous enough to make her so satisfied, right?

A village girl really is a village girl. She might be able to fight, but she’s still crude.

It was good that Cui Yuanyong was not one to gossip. He did not even tell his little sister what he had seen. It would not be good to tell her, a maiden, about this sort of thing. He only told her that Yue Hongling was hiding in the Beimang Mountain Stronghold to recuperate, and in doing so gave her a reason not to go rushing in to eagerly capture a wanted criminal.

Cui Yuanyong thought for a moment and smiled. “Anyway, Lin Feihu’s coming should have nothing to do with us. He’s probably here to give Zhao Changhe some trouble. Zhao Changhe has already crushed everyone in Beimang with his saber. It was about time he attracted some tigers from outside. This person is still chasing after the bottom of the Ranking of Hidden Dragons at the fourth layer of the Profound Gate. How truly shameful.”

After listening to her brother, the young lady harrumphed. “How smart can a crude country bumpkin be? Once this person at the fourth layer of the Profound Gate shows up, will Zhao Changhe get cut down? If that happens, what will I do about my mission?”

Cui Yuanyong was a little speechless. “Yue Hongling is staying at the stronghold and she’s fully recovered. I can’t even defeat her myself, so how do you think he’ll fare? Other than masters from the Rankings of Heaven, Earth, and Man, anyone else can only beg for some miracle to happen...”

The young lady also realized this and laughed. She then immediately knit her brows, feeling perplexed. “It’s already been half a month. Yue Hongling should have long since fully recovered, why is she staying at the mountain stronghold rather than going off on her way?”

Cui Yuanyong continued reading his book and did not raise his head. “Others are free to go where they want. Why do you care so much about where she stays?”

“What about my mission then? How am I supposed to complete it?”

“I told you to break through to the third heavenly layer. What have you been doing recently?”

“...aren’t you injured? I’m supposed to protect you.”

“Yes, yes, yes. I am so in need of your protection. Cui Yuan Yong sighed. “This mission from First Seat Tang—I’ve always thought it was her entertaining your childish...”

“Hmm?”

“...desire to catch wanted criminals. That’s why she chose a random fugitive for you to have fun with. Zhao Changhe’s strength today is akin to a prowling tiger. Normal bandits cannot compare to him. I feel that she’s either underestimated how difficult this mission would be, or she’s trying to probe what our Cui family thinks about certain matters... Anyway, give up this mission. This is not a suggestion. This is an order.”

The young lady’s eyes rolled round and round. She giggled and said, “Strength akin to a prowling tiger, eh? Like how it’s said he was picked up by the stronghold mistress like a cat? Really? A tiger sitting on a balcony?”

“...don’t interrupt me. If I tell you to give it up, you give it up.”

“How boring.” The young lady was seething as she stamped out. Cui Yuanyong had no idea if she took his words seriously.