Money for the Hostage

Su Li drove the carriage out of Qingmiao City and arrived at the agreed location, a small teahouse fifty li from Black Tiger Village.

Su Li stopped the carriage by the roadside, sat inside, and glanced around. The surroundings were silent, but Su Li knew that elite covert guards from the Xiao family were lying in ambush in the nearby woods.

After a while, the sound of horse hooves came from ahead, and several rough-looking men rode up.

The leader was Jiang Shi, and beside him was Bai Piwu, the child kidnapper.

Jiang Shi dismounted, saw Su Li sitting in the carriage, and a flash of admiration crossed his eyes. He thought to himself, what a delicate and pretty young lady. He just happened to be lacking a wife for his bandit gang. Should he kidnap her as his bride?

Jiang Shi stroked his beard and chuckled, leading his horse over while shamelessly eyeing Su Li. "So, you’re the baby's mother? Hmph, didn’t expect a woman who's had a child to still be so fresh and tender. Wearing men’s clothes suits you—very alluring! Haha!"

Su Li gave Jiang Shi a cold glance and said, "I’m the child’s godmother. Enough nonsense. We brought the 100,000 taels of silver. Money for the child, hand for hand."

Jiang Shi was impressed that such a young woman faced so many bandits so calmly, showing no fear. He thought, a woman this brave is perfect to be the bandit leader’s wife!

Jiang Shi chuckled, "No rush, no rush. The brothers need to inspect the goods first!"

He grabbed the carriage shaft with one hand, preparing to get on to inspect the goods, while reaching out to grab Su Li’s hand with the other, thinking to himself how white and tender her hand was—worth dying to touch!

Smack!

A crisp slap sounded. Su Li dodged Jiang Shi’s hand and slapped him back fiercely and clearly.

Jiang Shi was stunned by the slap, holding his face, stunned for a moment before reacting.

Su Li’s voice was cold, firm, and fearless: "Want to inspect the goods? Hmph, show us the child safe and sound first, then you can touch the silver."

Bai Piwu, seeing this young woman dare to slap their leader, was furious and cursed, "You stinky woman, how dare you slap our leader! Believe it or not, I’ll drag you back to the mountain stronghold and have the brothers torment you to death!"

"Stop, stop!" Jiang Shi held his face, eyes shining, hurriedly stopping Bai Piwu, saying, "This is your sister-in-law, what are you yelling about!"

"B-But she hit you!" Bai Piwu widened his eyes, thinking, did the leader eat something wrong? Got slapped by a woman and didn’t chop her down?

Jiang Shi chuckled and stopped the brothers who wanted to attack, then smiled at Su Li, "Young lady, I heard your husband is a fool. What’s good about being with a fool? Better to be my bandit queen, with so many brothers at your command—how powerful!"

Su Li frowned and said, "Enough nonsense, where’s the child?"

"The child..." Jiang Shi’s eyes rolled as he made a gesture. Bai Piwu immediately called a younger brother to bring a basket down from the horse and handed it to Jiang Shi. Jiang Shi said, "The child is fine, sleeping inside the basket. How about this: I give the child to the people in the carriage, and you leave both the money and yourself here."

As Jiang Shi spoke, he leaned closer, looking at Su Li with a gaze that practically drooled.

Su Li suppressed her disgust and took the basket. Lifting the cloth, she saw that it wasn’t a child at all—it was a rock!