Chapter 130

Reading on, Li Miao thought carefully about the beauties of Lujiang and muttered to himself inwardly.

"Could it be the two Qiaos?"

"Truly possessing a devastating beauty and peerless appearance." Li Miao raised a cup of wine and chanted, "If the eastern wind did not grant Zhou Lang its convenience, the Bronze Sparrow Terrace would deep lock the two Qiaos."

Chen Dao watched from the side as Li Miao practically drooled, remaining silent until Li Miao spilled an entire cup of wine down his collar. Unable to hold it in any longer, Chen Dao spoke up awkwardly.

"Your Majesty, you... you were drunk, have you truly sobered up now?"

Li Miao turned to look at Chen Dao with some embarrassment, rolled his eyes at him, and turned back to watch the street.

...

"Elder sister, look at how exquisite this mask is, and the embroidered cord is so pretty too." A younger-looking woman smiled brilliantly, though her etiquette in every gesture was entirely flawless.

The woman beside her smiled gently, appearing more poised and mature, and patted her younger sister's head.

"You, oh you, have you forgotten what Father said?"

"We are just buying a few trifles, and it doesn't cost much anyway. Besides, as long as you don't tell Father, it will be fine." The younger beauty shook her sister's arm.

"As you wish, as you wish. I won't tell Father. But if you dare to scare me with that mask again, I will bite you!" The mature woman smiled charmingly, as if her gentle little mouth might actually bite.

"I knew it, Elder Sister is the best." The little beauty skipped over to select a few cords and pinned them in her beautiful hair, looking absolutely stunning.

"You really... oh dear, have all the lessons Father taught you been thrown to the wind?" The older beauty teased, shaking her head, truly at a loss for words when it came to her lively and mischievous younger sister.

"Father makes us do nothing but embroider and compose poems at home; it's suffocatingly boring. Now that we've finally managed to come out, we might as well enjoy ourselves properly," the little beauty retorted.

"Very well, very well. We will do as you say!"

The two of them chattered like a pair of little sparrows, talking endlessly. In particular, the little beauty's footsteps never stopped for a moment, skipping to look at this and gaze at that, brimming with excitement.

"Who is that?" Their stunning appearances naturally drew a very high number of lingering gazes. "So beautiful," someone pointed and murmured, but without exception, they were intimidated into silence and forced to back away by the guards walking alongside them.

"You don't even know?" A few young gentlemen nearby sneered.

"Those are the daughters of Master Qiao. Even if you stared until your eyes popped out, you aren't worthy of a single hair on their heads." These young men could not reach the grapes and thus declared them sour, knowing full well that Master Qiao's daughters were entirely out of their league, yet unable to tear their eyes away.

They continued to stare intently at the two women.

"Impudent!" A guard glared fiercely at the crowd, terrified that anyone might disturb the young mistresses' leisure, and bellowed, "If any of you dare to speak nonsense again, I will—"

As a sabre was half-drawn from its scabbard, the taunting crowd fled in panic, not daring to provoke them.

Da Qiao seemed accustomed to such scenes and merely offered a faint smile, while Xiao Qiao bit her lower lip tightly, her fierce eyes and delicate nose attempting a fierce expression that instead appeared intensely adorable.

The two were indeed Master Qiao's two beloved daughters, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao. The elder was named Qiao Zhaorong, and the younger sister's given name was Qiao Xiyan. Master Qiao was a quite renowned literatus in these parts, though not the same Qiao Xuan known in history. Master Qiao usually disciplined his two daughters very strictly, which was why the sisters were in such extraordinarily high spirits now that they finally had the chance to stroll outside.

Their beauty was completely unadorned, yet possessed a pureness that made one afraid to profane them. Seeing the pair below, Li Miao could not help but smile.

In later generations, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu captured the city of Wan and claimed the two women, which bore witness to their extraordinary beauty. Even now, their lovely reputations had long since spread far and wide.

The poems of Cao Cao from former days served as yet another corroboration.

"Don't run! Keep running and I'll beat you to death!" Li Miao suddenly heard a loud shout from behind, and amidst a commotion, a beggar-like figure came hurtling past, pursued by a dozen people.

"Catch the thief! Catch the thief!" people nearby shouted, and instantly many joined in the pursuit.

"Elder Sister, Elder Sister, look! Is that beggar stealing someone's things?" Being still a young maiden in the bloom of youth, Xiao Qiao felt rather excited upon seeing such a grand spectacle.

"Do you think they'll actually beat him to death?"

Hearing her sister's words, Da Qiao's brows instantly furrowed. If a human life were truly taken, that would be a grave matter; after all, a beggar's life was still a life. She hurriedly instructed her guards.

"You two, go capture that petty thief. Make sure he isn't beaten to death by the others."

"Understood!" The two men hurried forward, but they were already too late to hold back the crowd. The little beggar was instantly kicked to the ground and suffered several heavy blows right away.

"Let's see you steal things! Beat him to death! Beat him to death!"

The shouts from the surrounding crowd grew louder and louder, until the two Qiaos could no longer bear to watch.

"Oh dear," Xiao Qiao cried out delicately, shaking her sister's sleeve and saying anxiously, "Elder Sister, Elder Sister, they really are going to beat this man to death."

The two guards quickly made their way to the front of the crowd, frowned, and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Everyone cease at once! It will not end well if someone loses their life."

"A life? He stole money from my family, so what if we beat him to death!" It was evident that the crowd held the guard's warning in utter contempt and couldn't be bothered to reply.

"And who are you supposed to be? Do we need your permission to beat him?" the crowd clamored.

"So reckless, hmph!" Xiao Qiao said with a pout, looking rather indignant.

Da Qiao grew somewhat angry as well, thinking that after all, a human life was at stake, how could they beat someone with the intent to kill? She could not help but reprimand, "How can you people be like this?"

Yet Da Qiao's voice was far too soft and completely drowned out by the clamor of the crowd.

Seeing their young mistress display her displeasure, the guards also drew their sabers halfway and bellowed with voices like booming bells, "We are people from Master Qiao's household! All of you stop right now and do not kill a man!"

"Hiss."

The crowd drew in a sharp breath. Master Qiao's status in Wan City was exceptionally high, and generally whenever the Administrator of Lujiang held a banquet, the Qiao family was always invited to attend.

As soon as the Qiao family guards spoke, the crowd instantly dared not strike any further. Instead, they gazed at the two fairy-like maidens, thinking to themselves: Could these truly be Master Qiao's two daughters? Truly, hearing their reputation is not as impressive as seeing them in person.

"Two young mistresses, I wonder what your thoughts on this matter might be?" someone edged closer to ask, though in truth, they merely wanted to catch a clear glimpse of the two beauties' faces.

"Clang!" The four guards behind them instantly drew their sabers, signaling the people to keep their distance. If their young mistresses were to lose even a single hair, these guards would be executed by family law and beaten to death.

Though they had no desire to meddle in the life or death of a beggar, since their young mistress had given the order, they could not simply stand by and do nothing.

The few individuals who had attempted to crowd closer instantly took a step back.

Li Miao remained still, watching with keen interest to see what these two beauties would do next.

Looking somewhat displeased, Da Qiao pulled Xiao Qiao's hand and walked up to the beggar, asking, "Did you steal their things?"

The little beggar nodded, blinking eyes surrounded by dark bruises, his face bearing the marks of a severe beating.

Before the blink of an eye, the beggar gave a sudden, fierce leap, flashed past Xiao Qiao's side, and bolted away at full speed.

"Ah, he's running! After him!"

Once the people snapped back to their senses, they resumed their chase after the beggar.

"Stop chasing him. Whose money did he steal? We will help pay it back," Da Qiao said, patting her chest as she recovered from her shock. The beggar's sudden dash right past her eyes had truly startled her.

However, thinking that the beggar had only stolen out of a desperate need to survive, and unable to bear watching a man beaten to death before her eyes, she decided to pay out of her own pocket. Although the Qiao family's wealth could not compare to the great aristocratic clans, they were still very well-off.

"Mistress, he just stole money from my house."

Xiao Qiao instructed a guard to go over and hand over the money, and only then did the crowd slowly disperse.

...

A trace of a cold smile curled the corners of Li Miao's lips.

Because just now, as the beggar fled, he had also quietly stolen the jade pendant hanging at Xiao Qiao's waist, and up to this moment, no one had noticed.

Even the guards had failed to realize that the beggar's escape route had intentionally brushed close to Xiao Qiao. From the vantage point of the second-story wine house, however, both Li Miao and Chen Dao had seen it crystal clear.

"Shuzhi!" Li Miao called out.

"Your Majesty, what are your orders?" Chen Dao asked.

"Let's go. We are going to catch that thief." Li Miao stood up and walked toward the exit of the wine house.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Chen Dao followed closely behind until they reached the ground floor.

Upon seeing them off, the innkeeper wailed with a bitter expression.

"General, do come often!" The innkeeper's smile was uglier than crying.

Without a wasted word, Chen Dao stepped forward to settle the bill and then strode outside. The innkeeper quickly rushed upstairs, and upon discovering that the wine table had not been overturned at all, he was utterly bewildered.

"Has this general changed his nature?"

At that moment, Xiao Qiao, who had been skipping along with Da Qiao, suddenly let out a delicate cry of dismay.

"Oh! Where is my jade pendant?!"

Cold sweat instantly poured down the backs of the six guards.

"Mistress, are you saying... your jade pendant is missing?" the captain of the guards asked with a frown, looking extremely awkward.

"Yes! Elder Sister, look, my jade pendant is gone!" Xiao Qiao instantly felt a wave of panic. That jade pendant was a keepsake left to the sisters by their late mother! The two sisters had been raised by Master Qiao, as their birth mother had passed away long ago. Seeing that the token left by their mother was gone, how could Xiao Qiao not be frantic?

The six guards exchanged bewildered glances. At that moment, one of them suddenly asked,

"Mistress, could you have left it at home?"

"Impossible! Elder Sister and I both carry ours with us at all times. I would never have left it behind." Xiao Qiao, who had been skipping happily just moments before, saw her mood instantly plunge from clear skies to a torrential thunderstorm.

"You brought it out, and it was here just a moment ago. This..." The guard captain thought to himself, instantly recalling the moment when a large crowd had pressed in close around them. It must have been lost during that exact scramble.

He abruptly raised his head and spoke in unison with another guard opposite him,

"The beggar!"

Realizing the gravity of the situation, the guard immediately split his men into four groups: one headed off to pursue the beggar in the direction he had fled, prepared to continue searching south if he was not found there; while the other three groups rushed off in the remaining three directions, determined to track down both the aforementioned beggar and the crowd of onlookers.

"Elder Sister, if my jade pendant can't be found, will Mother blame me?" Xiao Qiao's eyes turned red, and having entirely lost the mood to stroll through the markets, she asked Da Qiao with a choked voice.

A pang of ache struck Da Qiao's heart, but she still tried to calmly comfort her sister. "Don't worry, we are going straight to the magistrate's office to report this to the authorities. Wan City is currently under martial law; as long as the thief cannot escape the city, we will surely find him and retrieve the pendant."

"Mn," Xiao Qiao nodded like a pecking bird.

"Come, follow Elder Sister to report the theft." Da Qiao skillfully concealed the anxiety etched between her brows, silently praying in her heart.

"You must be found back without a single flaw..."

Accompanied by two guards, the group of four hurried toward the government office.

...

"Hey! Don't run!" Chen Dao sprinted forward, the distance between him and the beggar shrinking rapidly.

Ever since the last time he witnessed Tai Shi Ci's supreme martial prowess, the martial arts of his sovereign Li Miao had not only become peerless, but Li Miao's eyesight had also grown unimaginably sharp, improving from 3.8 all the way to 5.0.

Thus, the moment Li Miao caught sight of the beggar's fleeing figure and pointed him out, Chen Dao leaped forward and intercepted the petty thief.

Chen Dao leveled a long spear directly at the beggar's throat.

"Move another step and I will kill you!" Chen Dao's voice echoed like a booming bell.

"No, no, Big Brother, Big Brother, Great Sir..." The petty thief had at most suffered beatings before; where had he ever seen someone wielding a battle spear with the intent to take a life? He was instantly frightened nearly to the point of wetting his pants.

"Murder!" The bustling crowd nearby naturally caught sight of Chen Dao's menacing stance and scattered like startled birds and beasts.

In a place like Wan City, although the chaos of war occurred elsewhere, it had never once reached inside the city walls—let alone encountering a general-figure pointing a spear directly at a throat.

In an instant, the petty thief who had run with such agility after taking a beating found his heart willing but his strength entirely gone. Meanwhile, Chen Dao remained unfulfilled, his long spear seemingly poised as if waiting for Li Miao to snap a close-up photograph.

"Hand it over," Li Miao said as he slowly paced up from behind with a sneer.

Had Li Miao not happened to spot the two sisters, this petty thief might truly have gotten away with it this time. The beggar was far too familiar with the alleys of Wan City; if not for the blinding speed of Chen Dao and Li Miao, this repeat offender would genuinely have slipped away.

His criminal technique had been as smooth as flowing clouds and water, leaving even Li Miao with a sense of admiration.

"Alright, alright." The beggar hurriedly fished several coin purses out of his sleeve—presumably items he had stolen while getting beaten up by the crowd.

"Great Sir, this is all the money I have. Please spare my life." The petty thief still assumed that Li Miao and Chen Dao were highway robbers. Both men were dressed in casual attire, looking fierce yet not quite like wandering knight-errants—especially the one holding a spear against his throat, whose eyes seemed to blaze with fire. The terrified little thief scarcely dared to meet his gaze.

"Heh." Li Miao took the coin purses and kept up a cold sneer, his sharp gaze locking straight onto the beggar, making the fellow break out in a cold sweat.

Li Miao stepped forward and twisted the petty thief's arm.

"Hmm?" Li Miao frowned, preparing to apply force.

"Ah!" The petty thief let out a shrill, miserable scream as his arm was wrenched into an unnatural angle. His gaze toward Li Miao shifted entirely.

This wasn't someone robbing him for wealth, nor was it someone trying to take advantage of him—this was someone coming for his life!

Originally, Chen Dao had looked like nothing more than a bodyguard, but he hadn't expected the boss to be even more ruthless. The petty thief truly accepted his defeat this time.

"Great Sir... Just tell me... what do you want? I'll give it, I'll give it, alright?!... Let go... Ouch, ouch, ouch, let go..." The petty thief was on the verge of tears. If only he knew that Li Miao's current thought process was simply how to use the jade pendant to win the favor of the young neighbor girl, one could only wonder what his reaction would be.