Since she was a young lady of the Liu family, her wedding was bound to be grand.
The three letters and six etiquettes, along with an eight - carrier sedan chair, were all indispensable.
Li Wanming said like this, "You should know that what you want is not me as a person, but my identity as the third young lady of the Liu family.
"If you use force and disgrace my Liu family, my father will surely not recognize this marriage. At that time, I'll just dash my head against the wall and kill myself. Then you'll end up with nothing!
"Instead, you'd better go through the proper procedures of sending betrothal gifts and fetching the bride, so that I can enter your family in a glorious manner. By then, the rice will be cooked, and it will be hard for my father not to recognize you as his son - in - law."
The one - eyed bandit chief was so happy upon hearing this that he scratched his head and cheeks and readily agreed.
However, he soon found that the wedding customs of a wealthy family were extremely complicated.
Proposing marriage, asking for the bride's name and birth date, divining for good luck...
After two or three days of hassle, they couldn't even complete one of the etiquettes!
Moreover, this third young lady of the Liu family was extremely hard to serve.
She wouldn't wear coarse cloth clothes, nor drink inferior liquor. She demanded fresh vegetables and meat at every meal. Before the wedding even showed a sign of happening, she had exhausted the stockpile in the stockade!
The bandits in Tiger Head Stockade had no choice but to go hunting and chopping firewood every day, selling what they got to exchange for wine, trying their best to please this third young lady.
After all, perhaps she would be their future chief's wife, and they would rely on her for the rest of their lives.
So, Li Wanming lived quite a comfortable life. She ate and drank well every day, and became plump and smooth - skinned.
Later, somehow, the other stockades also learned the news that the third young lady of the Liu family was in Tiger Head Stockade.
This caused quite a stir!
As the saying goes, a rare commodity is worth hoarding.
The identity of the Liu family's son - in - law was enough to make all the bandits drool with envy.
Li Wanming became a much - sought - after treasure. The bandits from Dayi Mountain swarmed in, all eager to rob her back to their own stockades.
During that period, Li Wanming remembered that she was like a walking gold coin, constantly moving between different stockades.
Often, she would be captured by one stockade in the morning and promise to marry their chief, only to be robbed by another stockade in the afternoon...
The so - called "the ever - lasting chief's wife and the changing chiefs" was probably exactly like this.
...
"I counted. I was the chief's wife in about seven stockades in total..."
Li Wanming leaned against the window, her fingertips unconsciously tapping on the mottled wooden grain.
The candlelight flickered, intertwining with the pouring moonlight, casting a hazy halo around her. Her figure seemed a bit indistinct, just like the bustling and absurd event back then.
"At that time, they fought desperately for me, bleeding and bruising. They fought so fiercely that it was a real mess." Li Wanming said with a soft smile.
"Later, the commotion was so great that it finally alerted the garrison in Tangli Town... No, it should be said that it finally attracted the Tangli Army who wanted to rescue me.
"Actually, after I was captured by Black Wind Stockade that day, Yiyi immediately rushed back to Tangli to report the news. My father and mother were extremely anxious and led the troops into Dayi Mountain that very day.
"However, the western foot of Dayi Mountain was high and densely forested, and the bandits were rampant. The government had always been weak and turned a blind eye. They didn't even have a decent map in hand... So it took my father and mother two days just to find out the location of Black Wind Stockade."
A floating cloud covered the moonlight, and the room darkened. The dense mist rushed in from the window, making Li Wanming's voice sound even more ethereal.
"Two days later, they finally reached Black Wind Stockade, but I was no longer there.
"Later, they heard that I was in Tiger Head Stockade and quickly led the troops up the mountain. But by the time they found Tiger Head Stockade, I had been transferred again..."
She shook her head and smiled lightly. "Just like this, my father and mother followed my tracks, going in and out of the western foot of Dayi Mountain... Gradually, they got to know the distribution of the bandit stockades."
The mountain wind suddenly rose, dispersing the floating clouds in the sky and the mist in front of the window.
Li Wanming looked into the distance. Through the overlapping black mountains in the distance, she seemed to see the flames of that year again.
"Since they had figured it out..." Her fingers tapped on the window lattice, and she said lazily, "Then let's fight."
"The bandit stockades of all sizes in Fujian were uprooted. Except for the so - called Seventy - two Earthly Fiends, all the other small strongholds were also cleared.
"The banditry that had been entrenched in Fujian for a hundred years was completely eliminated. Dayi Mountain finally saw the light of day and a new era began.
"And I..." Li Wanming turned her face. Her pair of black eyes glowed brightly in the candlelight, shining like precious stones.
"I became the number one female devil in Fujian!
"The legend of 'a single woman destroying seven stockades... No, to be exact, destroying a hundred stockades' spread in Dayi Mountain. It was enough to make all the bandits and outlaws tremble with fear! From then on, just hearing my name, even the most ferocious hooligans couldn't help but shiver."
...
The story was over.
The room fell into a long silence.
After a long while, Xiao Jingnan came to his senses. He gently clapped his hands and sighed, "My wife is truly a remarkable person."
"Remarkable my foot..." Li Wanming murmured. She lowered her head and fiddled with the old window bolt under the bamboo window, saying, "Actually, when I think about it now, it's all thanks to that scholar. If he hadn't asked me that question at the beginning... There probably wouldn't have been what happened later."
Xiao Jingnan said softly, "What about later? Did you ever see him again?"
"No." Li Wanming shook her head. "When my parents raided Black Wind Stockade, he had already disappeared. Later, when we interrogated the bandits, none of them could tell clearly where he came from. He was like a mountain spirit, suddenly appearing and then suddenly disappearing..."
Xiao Jingnan was silent for a moment and said, "Maybe it was the mountain god who couldn't stand the evil deeds of these bandit stockades, so he specially sent a divine general to deal with them."
"Maybe..." Li Wanming lowered her head and suddenly smiled again. "Now you know why they say I have a strong horoscope, right?"
Wasn't her horoscope strong?
If her horoscope wasn't strong, could she have single - handedly wiped out nearly a hundred stockades?
Five years ago, several of Xiao Jingnan's fiancées had died for no reason. The Princess of Ning wanted to find a wife with a strong horoscope for him. Li Wanming happened to become famous in the "fortune - telling circle" because of this "feat", which was why she caught the Princess of Ning's eye.
After that, there was her refusal to marry into a noble family, her choosing a husband from among the successful candidates in the imperial examinations, and all the unexpected and muddled events...
Xiao Jingnan also walked to the window and looked into the distance at the mountains with her. "Then it seems that our fateful encounter started right here in the mountains."
"It's hard to say." Li Wanming nodded. "At that time, you were in the southern border, and I was in Fujian. There was just a Dayi Mountain between us... Maybe we really did meet."
Xiao Jingnan smiled. Then he remembered something else. "What about that Chen Mazi?"
"Oh, him." Li Wanming said. "At that time, my parents were attacking Black Wind Stockade. That cowardly military advisor Chen Mazi sneaked away through the tunnel behind the stockade.
"Coincidentally, I was fed up with being fought over by those stockades. Taking advantage of their internal strife, I wanted to take Xiaohuan and the others down the mountain... Just then, we met Chen Mazi who was fleeing in a hurry in the mountains.
"I cited classics and talked so eloquently that he had a sudden realization and immediately decided to turn over a new leaf! Later, he led us to find my parents. He also reported the tunnel behind Black Wind Stockade and the hiding places of the gold, silver and valuables in the stockade to the Tangli Army... It could be regarded as atoning for his crimes."
"Just like this, the Tangli Army successfully captured Black Wind Stockade."
There was a smile on Li Wanming's lips, and her tone was full of emotion.
"This was the first time in more than a decade that the army of the Great Sheng Dynasty had wiped out a fairly large - scale bandit stockade in Dayi Mountain.
"After that, there was no turning back.
"The seventy - two bandit stockades were uprooted. My father was also rewarded for this and promoted two ranks. Our whole family returned to the capital with him. Two years later, I met you..."
The moonlight in the mountains was quiet and as bright as silver.
The story was about to start again...