Chapter 53 Smoke Emerging from the Mountain Top

  The eighteen vassals were all in a state of panic, at their wit's end. Yuan Shao said, "It's a pity that my great generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou are not here; otherwise, we would not be afraid of Hua Xiong." As soon as he finished speaking, Guan Yu shouted loudly, "I am willing to go and cut off Hua Xiong's head!" Yuan Shao thought that Guan Yu was just a gatekeeper and had no real ability. He became angry and said, "We have several hundred generals from the eighteen vassals, but we want to send a mere horse archer into battle; wouldn't that be laughed at by Hua Xiong?" Guan Yu shouted loudly, "If I cannot kill Hua Xiong, then please cut off my head!" Cao Cao heard this and was very impressed. He poured a cup of hot wine and handed it to Guan Yu, saying: "General, drink this cup of wine before you go and kill the enemy." Guan Yu took the cup, put it back on the table, and said: "I'll come back and drink it after I've killed Hua Xiong!" After finishing speaking, he took his big knife and mounted his horse to leave.

  Guan Yu's martial arts were exceptionally powerful, and he exchanged only a few rounds with Hua Xiong before knocking him off his horse. He then beheaded Hua Xiong. Returning to the military camp, Cao Cao hastily picked up a cup of wine from the table and handed it to Guan Yu, and at that time, the wine in the cup was still warm.

  Qin Dai Xin sat on a rock in the mountain cave, vividly telling the story of the Three Kingdoms to these dozen or so bandits. These men were all rough and uneducated, except for one called Military Advisor who had attended private school as a child, but even he had never heard such a wonderful story before, each one listening with rapt attention, wishing Qin Dai Xin could continue telling it for three days and nights without stopping.

  At first, Qin Dai Xin was a bit hesitant, fearing that the story of the three countries would also be a well-known classic here. But after trying out a few times, she found that the culture here was still different from her own understanding, so she spoke up boldly.

  "This Guan Yu is truly a great hero!" A small servant couldn't help but admire and sigh.

  "They truly understand brotherhood." These people hadn't read many books and didn't know how to use flowery language, they could only express their most genuine and simple thoughts.

  These dozen or so people started discussing and arguing, completely ignoring the black face of their big brother. Qin Dai'er couldn't help but laugh at this, as it was clear that the big guy himself was also listening with great interest, but as soon as he stopped talking, he would put on a "I don't want to listen" expression again, yet he couldn't stop the other bandit brothers from enthusiastically listening to the story.

  "Miss Three, you go on, what happened next?" a young servant boy with a childish face asked eagerly.

  "Really! Really!" Everyone was enchanted and wanted to know what happened next in the story.

  Qin Dai smiled contentedly, this was exactly what she wanted.

  Their attitude towards her has obviously improved a lot, from the initial coldness and distance, even vigilance, to the current closeness, she knows that telling stories has helped her a lot.

  "Quiet." Hei Da's voice was very loud, and as soon as he spoke, the people around him fell silent.

  "I say Third Miss, the deadline for our bet is almost here." Hei Da Ge's face was originally dark, and now it's even darker.

  Qin Dai Xin knew what he was referring to and replied, "Let's take three days as the standard. The sun hasn't set yet, has it? What's the hurry? Although I'm not a man of great courage, I am a person who keeps my promises. If what I said doesn't come true, then I'll obediently follow you back to our original place and never tell stories again."

  Hei Da Ge glanced at the sky outside and indeed it was not yet time, so he stopped talking and sat back down on a nearby rock.

  He didn't believe it, she was a woman who rarely left her house, how could she be good at fortune-telling?

  The bandits surrounding Qin Dai'er, who were listening to the story, saw that their boss didn't have any reaction, so they tentatively said: "Third Miss, please continue telling the story. This tale is going to make our souls disappear."

  "Is it!" A bandit with a mustache like an eight-character script said: "What happened later, did that Yuan Shao still have anything to say?"

  Qin Dai'er took a glance at the big black guy and said, "Later on! Hmm... forget it, let's not talk about it. The story gets more and more exciting later on, I'm afraid if I tell you now, you won't have a chance to hear it later, that would be even more unbearable. Forget it, forget it."

  Everyone heard her say this, and they all lost their enthusiasm. However, no one dared to raise any more objections. They were not blind, and they saw the leader's face turn even darker than before. Therefore, although they wanted to hear the story, they also had to consider the big brother's feelings. So they dispersed and returned to other corners of the cave, gathering in small groups of three or five, discussing in hushed tones.

  On that day, Qin Dai Xin was forced to follow the bandits up the mountain and returned to their lair. Although she knew in her heart that these bandits wouldn't do anything to her, she still remained cautious.

  Qin Dai Xin knew that all of this was Qin Feng Ge and her son's doing.

  As soon as Qin Fengge came to her courtyard with Ding's mother, she knew that Qin Fengge must have bought her over. When she heard Ding's mother and another woman fabricating rumors, she became suspicious. After returning from Fang Shi's courtyard, Qin Dai felt that something was not quite right. Fang Shi's words were strange, both explicitly and implicitly, and it just so happened that the mother and son were both there, so she had the idea of going to investigate at night.

  This inquiry naturally made their mother and son's purpose clear as day.

  They not only want to use the bandits' hands to ruin their own reputation, but also want to capture all the bandits when they are redeemed. In this way, not only will Qin Dai marry Gong Sunjin, but the bandits will also become a stepping stone for the Gong family's political achievements. At that time, it is not only Qin Zongwen who will thank them, but also oppose himself marrying Gong Sunjin. It is likely that even the Gong family will benefit unexpectedly from capturing the bandits.

  This was a sinister plan, truly venomous. However, although she knew their plan, Qin Dai Xin did not change her travel plans. Firstly, she didn't want to disappoint Su Shi, more importantly, she wanted to let them know that Qin Dai Xin was no longer the same person as before, and she wasn't someone to be trifled with.

  She had thought that after coming to this world, she would put aside the hatred of her past life and be a good lady. She didn't want to provoke anyone or plot against anyone, but instead was provoked and plotted against by others. A tiger won't show its might, you think I'm Hello Kitty! So when Qin Dai Xin found out about their conspiracy, not only did she not avoid them, but she prepared to fight back. You can hide once, but you may not be able to hide a second or third time. Even if Qin Feng Ge didn't plot against her, there were many others who would. This time, she wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

  After going up the mountain, she found that these bandits were not as bad as they seemed. They were just a group of people without any support or livelihood, and although they had committed many illegal acts, they had never killed anyone, set fires, or harmed ordinary civilians. In comparison, they were actually more kind-hearted than herself. Originally, she had planned to let the two groups clash and kill each other off, so that she could reap the benefits. However, after seeing that they were not such evil people, she began to feel a pang of sympathy and told Hei Da Ge everything truthfully, saying that she was not Wei Lao Ye's concubine, but rather the daughter of an ordinary merchant, surnamed Qin. She suggested that he could send someone down the mountain to investigate. However, she did not expect that he would not believe her and instead wanted to have her tied up. Qin Dai was helpless and had no choice but to use a desperate tactic, which led to the wager with Hei Da Ge.

  "Big brother, big brother." Two people ran back from outside the cave, covered in sweat, speaking breathlessly.

  "What's wrong?" Hei Da Ge hastily stood up and rushed over to ask: "What's the matter?"

  These two men were scouts sent by Hei Da Ge to the mountain below. The two of them have returned now, obviously having discovered something unusual and are back to report.

  "Big brother, as expected, there are thirty or forty yamen runners gathered at the foot of the mountain, and some of them have extremely high martial arts skills." The man was panting heavily, but he was afraid that if he took a breath, something would happen to his family, so he quickly told everything he had found out.

  Hei Da Ge was shocked, did that little girl really get it right?

  "What the...! Thirty or forty people, are they going to empty the county yamen?! Among these people, except for Hei Da Ge's slightly better martial arts skills, the others were just mere accompaniments. As soon as they heard that the county yamen had dispatched thirty or forty people, they all panicked."

  "Big brother, we were almost caught by Third Miss, those people are really not good stuff. Luckily we changed places, otherwise, we would have been finished off in no time." The military advisor couldn't help but admire Qin Dai's cleverness at this moment. This young lady was meticulous and thorough in her thinking. If it weren't for her, everyone would have been done for.

  Hei Da Ge was furious at this time, but he also knew it wasn't the time to argue. He felt his face burning with anger, and if not for his dark complexion, he would have had a bright red face.

  "Big brother, look quickly." A small servant stood at the entrance of the cave, pointing in a direction and saying: "Our mountain is emitting smoke."

  P.S: Collecting and it seems like slowly, covering face and begging~~~~~~~