Chapter 468.2: Gallant Heroine Zhao Xiaowan

Chapter 468.2: Gallant Heroine Zhao Xiaowan

After returning to Greenwater City, Li Banfeng arranged a banquet at the Peace Hotel, and Ma Wu went to the newspaper office to invite Shan Zhumei.

She declined the first invitation, saying she had been busy lately and had no time to go out. The second time, Shen Rongqing spoke to her personally. Shan Zhumei reluctantly agreed to come, but only if Shen Rongqing went with her.

Worried that Ma Wu would feel awkward, Shen Rongqing tried to persuade her. "You are the one they invited. There's no need for me to go."

Shan Zhumei answered with Ma Wu standing right there. "A woman going to a banquet on her own? Think what that would do to my reputation."

Ma Wu frowned. "What's a meal with us going to do to your reputation?"

Shen Rongqing stepped in. "There's no need to make a fuss over this. I will go with you, and that settles it."

On the appointed day, all five took their seats. Shan Zhumei did not greet anyone and barely spared Li Banfeng or Ma Wu a glance. They were treating her to dinner, but the way she acted made it seem like they owed her money.

Shen Rongqing might have thought rather highly of herself, but she knew how to behave in company. Her words and manners were perfectly courteous.

She knew Li Banfeng, and she knew Ma Wu very well indeed. After greeting them and exchanging a few pleasantries, she waited to be introduced to the other woman at the table.

The woman was very beautiful. She was beautiful in a natural way that made it hard not to steal another look.

A closer look revealed that, lovely as her face was, her figure was even more striking. It was hard to look away.

"Who is this young lady?"

Li Banfeng introduced her. "This is You Xuetao. She's a talented writer. I invited her here to discuss literature with you both."

Shen Rongqing smiled and nodded. "Good. Then tonight we will talk only about literature."

At these words, Shan Zhumei glanced at Ma Wu with disgust.

Shen Rongqing kept looking at Nectarine. "Miss You, what kind of literature do you like best? Have you brought any of your writing?"

Nectarine lowered her head a little and blushed. She looked shy and slightly nervous, but also excited and happy.

Ma Wu's cultivation was higher than hers, but he couldn't have been able to make that kind of expression.

Nectarine looked first at Shen Rongqing. "I wouldn't dare talk about my work in front of two masters like you. I am a devoted reader of both your works. Teacher Shen, I especially love your essays and Teacher Shan's poems."

Shan Zhumei, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke. "I am hardly a teacher. You can't put me on the same level as Teacher Shen."

Nectarine lowered her head. "I'm sorry. That was presumptuous of me."

Shen Rongqing smiled. "Let's not call each other 'Teacher.' It makes us sound old. Miss You, which of Zhumei's poems do you like?"

She was testing You Xuetao to see whether her praise was just empty flattery.

Nectarine raised her head and gazed at Shan Zhumei. "Though I fall into the abyss, forever bound in the devil's prison, still I will gaze at you, my only salvation in this life."

Nectarine's eyes shone as she spoke. Tears caught the candlelight, showing just how much she admired and adored Shan Zhumei, and how she longed for her.

Shan Zhumei stared at Nectarine in a daze. She never thought a woman this sweet and innocent would exist in this world.

Li Banfeng took a sip of wine. Who would have thought this sweet, innocent woman had once kept shaking her peachy butt at him on Mount Bitterfog?

Different people needed different approaches. Ma Wu knew that, but Nectarine was far better at it. Yet even with her talent, she had only just made it to level two of Hedonism Cultivation, and that was with He Yuxiu's help.

Throughout the meal, the three women talked about literature, hardly giving Li Banfeng or Ma Wu a chance to speak.

After dinner, Ma Wu suggested they go dancing. Shen Rongqing said nothing, but Shan Zhumei scowled and refused.

Nectarine kept looking at her. Shan Zhumei composed herself and said she was tired and wanted to go home.

Once Shan Zhumei had left by car, Ma Wu sighed. "She's hard to win over. We will have to put in more work. I will invite her out again in a few days."

Nectarine shook her head. "There's no need to wait. Now that we have found out where she lives, I will go see her tonight."

Ma Wu looked surprised. "Miss You, there's no need to rush."

Nectarine rubbed her forehead. "There is for me. I spent three days reading poetry with Xiao Yeci just to get through one dinner with her. The crap she writes doesn't make a lick of sense. Reading it made me sick. Still, they forced me to memorize it all. If I have to sit through another dinner, there will be flaws for sure. I might as well go tonight and get it over with."

That was what Li Banfeng liked about Nectarine. When there was something important to do, she wouldn't leave it till tomorrow!

***

Shan Zhumei went home feeling a little empty.

Her job as a newspaper editor paid reasonably well, but she was hardly rich. She lived alone in a small courtyard home and couldn't afford a servant. There wasn't even anyone to talk to.

After lying on the bed for a while, she felt like writing. But once she picked up her pen, she couldn't think of anything to write.

She spent an hour struggling with it before making her bed and deciding to turn in. Just then, someone knocked at the door.

She opened it to find Nectarine standing outside.

Shan Zhumei's heart beat faster. Their eyes met, and she asked tentatively, "Who brought you to me?"

Nectarine smiled. "Fate."

"And who rules over fate?"

Nectarine smiled again.

Who was it again?

She had forgotten.

Shan Zhumei was still waiting for an answer. Nectarine slipped one arm around her waist, cradled the back of her head with her other hand, and silenced her with a kiss.

***

Three days later, Shan Zhumei came to Freewind Wharf, hoping to see Li Banfeng and Ma Wu. However, just because she wanted to see them didn't mean she could. Li Banfeng couldn't be bothered with her, and Ma Wu was away in Yellowclay Bridge on business.

Shan Zhumei went to Shen Rongqing and begged her to arrange a meeting with Li Banfeng.

Shen Rongqing refused. "Zhumei, you were so rude to them at dinner, and now you want me to ask them for a favor? I can't do that."

With no other choice, Shan Zhumei went to ask Zhang Xiuling for help. As it turned out, Zhang Xiuling thought quite highly of her and did her the favor.

Zhang Xiuling, Puluo Province's foremost literary talent and leader of the Hundred Flowers Sect, went to Freewind Wharf herself to see Li Banfeng.

Since it was Zhang Xiuling, Li Banfeng had to show some courtesy. "All right, I will meet her. But a man and a woman shouldn't meet alone. Why don't the three of us have a meal together?"

The three ate together at Freewind Wharf, but Shan Zhumei couldn't bring herself to ask what she had come for. After the meal, she kept begging for a moment alone with Li Banfeng.

Zhang Xiuling laughed. "Zhumei, even if you have fallen for Master Qi, there's no need to be so eager."

No matter how much Zhang Xiuling teased her, Shan Zhumei wouldn't give up. Li Banfeng reluctantly agreed and had someone arrange a private room where they could talk.

Shan Zhumei's request was simple. "I want to see Miss You again, but I can't find her."

"I can help you find her. Miss You admires you very much. You wrote this, didn't you?" Li Banfeng handed her the newspaper.

She didn't need to look. Of course she recognized her own novel. "Yes, I did."

"Have you been to Thousand Pearl Mountain?" Li Banfeng asked. "How did you manage to write about this?"

Shan Zhumei said, "I have never been to Thousand Pearl Mountain. I based it on the news."

"The news came out, and you wrote the story that same day?"

"I saw the news report before it went to print and stayed up all night writing it."

Li Banfeng nodded. "I see you have included everything in the report."

"I just copied it. That part was easy."

"You also included things that weren't in the report."

"I made those up."

Li Banfeng read through the details and smiled. "Sounds very real for something you made up."

Shan Zhumei pressed her lips together. "I took some artistic liberties."

Li Banfeng set down the newspaper. "These 'artistic liberties' of yours sound like things that actually happened."

Shan Zhumei began to sweat. "I put a lot of effort into it."

Li Banfeng looked at her. "A lot of effort to make it sound real?"

Li Banfeng was pushing her a bit too quickly down the slope and she began to lose her composure. "What exactly are you trying to ask?"

Li Banfeng spoke calmly. "I am asking whether it really happened."

"I never said it did!"

"Then why does your story sound so real?"

Shan Zhumei snapped, "How would you know? Were you there?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "I was. That's how I know your story sounds real. Were you there too? Did you see it happen yourself?"

"No, I did not..."

"Then how did you describe it so accurately?"

Shan Zhumei finally "dismounted" on the slope. "I... someone told me about it..."

"Who? Who told you a story that sounds so real?"

Shan Zhumei took a deep breath. She felt as though the strings in her head were snapping one by one. "Xie Mengjiao, a singer at the Paramount Club. She brought me the news. She told me what happened and asked me to write the story."

"And you just did as she asked? Why are you so willing to do what she says?"

"Because..." Shan Zhumei didn't know how to answer.

Li Banfeng answered for her. "Because you are both members of the Flying General's Battalion, right?"

Shan Zhumei was silent for a long time, then suddenly raised her head. "So what if we are? I will never regret following the Flying General to fight evil and protect the innocent. Since you have figured out who I am, kill or torture me as you please. I won't tell you a single thing about the Flying General's Battalion! I won't give out a single name!"

"What about Xie Mengjiao?"

Shan Zhumei lowered her head. "Apart from her."

Li Banfeng asked, "If I bring her in and she gives me more names, won't that be your fault too?"

Shan Zhumei's face began to twist. The stubborn mule was now sliding all the way down the slope. Whatever Li Banfeng asked, she answered.

The Flying General's Battalion had many members, though Shan Zhumei didn't know exactly how many. She had met a dozen or so. The singer Xie Mengjiao mainly passed on messages, while a merchant named Fang Guiquan gathered information. Her own job was to record the battalion's deeds.

"You put all that in the newspaper? Weren't you worried about giving away the secrets of the Flying General's Battalion?"

"The Flying General ordered me to. She wanted everyone to hear about those splendid deeds."

"You have met her?"

"Yes!" Shan Zhumei was quite excited now. "I didn't see her face, but I could make out her figure. That alone was enough to know she was the most beautiful woman in the world!"

"And you are sure she was Zhao Xiaowan?"

"Quite sure! She's beauty and wisdom itself. One little sweep of her spear, and everyone was in awe. No one dared look straight at her. The moment she wiped out the bandits on Thousand Pearl Mountain, she sent Xie Mengjiao to tell me of her victory. I had my pen going before the newspaper office even heard the news. I will be proud of that story for the rest of my life!"

"Is there another story coming?"

"Yes!" Shan Zhumei answered proudly. "The general has already taken her troops to Falling Jade Pass to wipe out the Jiangxiang Gang's scoundrels."

Li Banfeng froze in surprise. "Zhao Xiaowan is going after the Jiangxiang Gang?"

Shan Zhumei nodded. "There's no evil the Jiangxiang Gang won't commit. The Flying General's Battalion is their sworn enemy! Within three days, we will wipe out their sect hall at Falling Jade Pass, and I will write the tale of that splendid victory for everyone to read!"

Li Banfeng blinked. This "Zhao Xiaowan" really liked to make a show of things.

Was Shan Zhumei telling the truth? That was easy enough to check. In three days, he would have his answer.

Li Banfeng got up to leave, but Shan Zhumei stopped him. "Are you going to kill me to keep me quiet? I am not afraid to die. I just want to see Miss You one more time."

Li Banfeng said nothing. He stepped around her and left the private room.

Shan Zhumei sat there crying, feeling she had nothing left to live for. After she had cried for some time, the door opened, and Nectarine walked over to her.

Shan Zhumei clutched the front of Nectarine's clothes, as though she had found a little hope.

Nectarine stroked her hair. "Let's wait together for news of the general's victory. I still want to read the story you will write."

***

Only two days had passed when Luo Zhengnan got the news. He was the first among them to get the news and he immediately told Li Banfeng.

"The Jiangxiang Gang's sect hall at Falling Jade Pass has been wiped out. They had over three hundred members there, and hardly a soul escaped death or injury."

Nectarine also brought news. "The Flying General Battalion plans to keep attacking after this victory and wipe out two more of the Jiangxiang Gang's sect halls."

Li Banfeng went back to the Pocket Dwelling and hugged the Gramophone. "Darling wifey, someone's been doing big things in your name."

"Heyaaa~ Husband dear, what sort of big things?"

"Giving the Jiangxiang Gang a beating. A good deed. A very good deed indeed!"

***

In the director's office at the Dark Star Bureau, Xiao Zhenggong stared at Shen Jingye and said, "The Flying General's Battalion has wiped out three of my halls in a row. Are you going to do anything about it?"

"The higher-ups are looking into it as quickly as they can," Shen Jingye said. "There should be a plan ready soon."

"A plan? You just want to watch the Jiangxiang Gang fall apart!"

Shen Jingye did not explain any further. Instead, he asked, "Do you want to use the Balancer Seal again?"

Xiao Zhenggong looked at Shen Jingye. "If I use the Balancer Seal one more time, you will take everything the Jiangxiang Gang has left. Once the gang is gone, I suppose you won't need me as your Balancer either. You want to replace me, don't you?"

Author's Note:

PS: Who exactly is this "Zhao Xiaowan"?

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