The Fallen Medicine Woman: The Daily Life of Chun Nuan-Chapter 173 - 137: The Rules Cannot Be Broken

"You can’t kill me, I’m the eldest daughter of the Xiao family."

"You can have my father send money to ransom me back, I don’t want to die, I’m still young, I can’t die!"

"Please, let me go, I can be your servant."

Seeing Jin Biao leaving, Xiao Chunlan went all out, throwing herself onto him and clutching his leg.

"Please, let me go back home, I... I can give you my body, just please let me go."

"Is this the dignity of the eldest daughter of the Xiao family?"

Jin Biao bent down and lifted her chin for a look, "With your appearance, you want to seduce me? You’re ugly and delusional, but, I can let the brothers below have some fun."

"No, no, don’t."

Xiao Chunlan was risking everything for a slim chance of survival.

She thought she could trade her body with this bandit leader for her life, not expecting him to be so unreasonable and wanting to throw her to the bandits.

She couldn’t allow that, those men deprived for so long were beyond what she could handle.

Besides, no one would know if she were with him alone, but if she fell into the hands of those men, there’d be no path to survival.

"Heh heh, just like you..."

"Please, just ask my parents for ransom, my father has Silver, a lot of Silver, I’m his only legitimate daughter, you can ask for more Silver..."

What a filial daughter, selling out her own father like that.

"Okay, I’ll send someone to find your father, whether your life is worth saving or not will depend on him."

Jin Biao kidnapped her firstly because she displeased his mother, and secondly, to repay a favor; if he could extort some money from the Xiao family, it would be worthwhile—it’s rare to hit three birds with one stone.

What Jin Biao didn’t expect was when his men found Xiao Changfa and said his daughter was with him and to prepare ten thousand taels of silver to ransom her, the other party earnestly told them they were talking nonsense.

"My daughter, Xiao Chunlan, is at home sewing her wedding dress, you’re just greedily making up stories."

"Mr. Xiao is truly ruthless!"

After hearing this, Jin Biao turned to Xiao Chunlan, who sat limp on the ground, and said, "See that? Your father really cares about you."

"Impossible, how could my father say I’m at home sewing a wedding dress, I’m not home, am I? Could there be another me at home, am I under a curse?"

Jin Biao looked at Xiao Chunlan with utmost ridicule.

So foolish!

And with that brain, she thought she could plot against Chun Nuan?

You should know, Chun Nuan is someone’s darling, you’d suffer dearly for harming her.

Look, hasn’t the effect he wanted already appeared?

"You pride yourself as the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, but in fact, there’s already an eldest daughter in the Xiao family now." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Xiao Chunlan looked at him, puzzled: How can this be, aren’t I right here?

"Your brain is as dull as a pig’s," Jin Biao scolded, then thought it wrong: "I misspoke, pigs are smarter than you, and you still can’t figure out such a simple problem, I don’t want to bother teaching you, don’t have the tuition."

"Anyone can sit as the eldest daughter of the Xiao family, whoever’s in that position is the eldest daughter, regardless of her name." Jin Biao said, "You, Xiao Chunlan, have become a discarded pawn of the Xiao family. They won’t acknowledge you again because your return would taint the reputation of the Xiao family and embarrass the girls of the Xiao clan, affecting their marriage prospects. No one hopes for your return."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chunlan thought it made a lot of sense!

"Why are you harming me, I have no grievance or grudge against you, you’ve ruined me..."

"Why didn’t you ask that when you were harming others?" Jin Biao snorted coldly: "What you want to do to others, others will naturally do to you."

"Is it Chun Nuan?" Xiao Chunlan’s eyes widened: "Why would you listen to her, you..."

"We take people’s money and eliminate their problems for them, look, didn’t you want people to do the same to her? Only, she’s much more generous with money than you are, and look at you, unwilling to even spend money, yet want us to do your bidding..."

"No, I didn’t, I don’t even know you guys. I just had Nanny Chen..."

Upon hearing those three words, Jin Biao’s face changed, and the air seemed to freeze.

This woman must not be left alive!

Xiao Chunlan, still unaware of her impending fate, continued to claim it was Nanny Chen’s doing.

"Someone, come."

Immediately, two men entered.

"Cut her tongue out."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chunlan fainted from fright.

When she woke, she hurriedly touched her tongue. Fortunately, it was still there.

It almost scared her to death.

However, when she felt thirsty and wanted to call out for water, the sound that came from her throat frightened her so much she covered her ears.

No, it can’t be, that can’t be her own voice, but no matter how she opened her mouth, she couldn’t hear her own voice. She, had become mute.

Xiao Chunlan sat paralyzed on the ground, her life was over, her entire life was over.

"Master, how about we just..."

The servant Pillar made a throat-slashing gesture beside him.

"Master has a love for wealth, not women. Master robs money, not lives; some lines cannot be crossed, once crossed, chaos will ensue," Jin Biao said. "Black Mountain Cave has its rules, make sure all of you remember them. If you break any, go receive your punishment."

"Yes, Master." Pillar’s face changed, the punishments at Black Mountain Cave were no simple matter.

Nobody knew the true appearance of this master, only that he was the godson of the previous master, brought in directly from outside at the age of eighteen to assume the position. The old master handed him the responsibility and went off to enjoy his leisure time.

When this master first took over, a few of the seasoned veterans were not convinced and often tried to challenge him one-on-one.

He set the rule: anyone can challenge him, but they must accept defeat.

In the end, those who tried to challenge him all lost, accepted their punishment in shame, and couldn’t walk properly for half a year.

That was just the result of a challenge. If any other rule was broken, the punishment might be as light as losing a hand, or as severe as losing a life.

People in the martial world would change their expression upon hearing ’Black Mountain Cave’, but people in the nearby villages revered it as a temple deity, willingly offering tributes on the first and fifteenth of every month. Working there was as easy as at a wealthy household, with monthly wages always paid on time.

So everyone worked diligently, tasks like these were hard to find elsewhere.

In short, Black Mountain Cave had a dual nature. Everything they did was by the rules.

"Master, what do we do with that woman?"

Pillar was a bit eager; if the master didn’t want her, he wouldn’t mind trying her himself.

"No one is to touch her," Jin Biao said. "Whoever does, dies."

"Master?"

Why?

No one knew, it wasn’t that Jin Biao didn’t touch Xiao Chunlan for a reason, but because he too had such a dream in his heart.

That was when he was six, he followed his mother into the Xiao family.

He saw a chubby, adorable little girl he really liked, and he stepped forward to play with her, only to be harshly yanked away by an old maid nearby.

"Where did this wild brat come from? This is the young lady of the Xiao family, not someone you can casually touch."

The maid’s scolding was incredibly harsh; she only grew more intense as she scolded. Little Jin Biao stood frozen there.

"Nanny Zhao, don’t scold him, he didn’t mean it. He probably just wants to be friends with me, wants to play with me, isn’t that right?"

"Yes, I think you’re nice, I like to play with you."

"Okay, I also like playing with you."

The chubby little hand took his hand, and they went to the garden to catch butterflies. When she fell, she got up and kept chasing after them. At that time, Jin Biao had only one thought in his mind: She was that joyful butterfly!

She not only played with him but also shared her pastries with him.

That was the most delicious and sweetest pastry he’d ever tasted in his life.

That afternoon was the happiest afternoon of his six years.

In the end, they reluctantly parted.

He saw her again six years later.

But by then, Miss Xiao no longer liked to play with him.

"Where did this smelly boy come from, daring to catch my butterflies in my garden! Are you looking to die? Someone, catch him and give him twenty hard strokes."

"Miss, it’s me, the one who played catching butterflies with you..."

Before he could finish, he was dragged away and given twenty hard strokes, then thrown out.

His mother heard about it, came out and carried him back home.

At twelve, although not very strong, he was heavy. His mother walked step by step, instructing him along the way.

"Jin Biao, listen to your mother. Don’t go to the Xiao family again. She’s the young lady, a swan in the sky. We’re just frogs on the ground, one’s in the sky, one’s on the ground; no matter how much you like her, it’s no use."

"Mother, I’m going to work hard to learn martial arts, so I can fly into the sky and chase after her."

"Jin Biao, why are you so foolish? Her eyes are on her forehead. There are so many young masters from big families in Changzhou that don’t meet her standard. How could she ever look at you? Don’t go looking for her anymore."

How could Jin Biao not know this?

But once someone is in your heart, how can you forget?

So he appeared in the Xiao family courtyard every now and then, whether as a young laborer or a coachman, invariably serving only one person.

The so-called ’distance adds to the beauty, and too near means trouble.’ The more he was near, the more he understood her.

It took Jin Biao two whole years to realize: the young lady now was no longer the young lady he had seen as a child. Her kindness and beauty gradually vanished, replaced by arrogance, ignorance, imperiousness, and rudeness...

Jin Biao’s last encounter with her was while sweeping the garden. Distracted, he didn’t notice when dust from the broom landed on her embroidered shoes, resulting in another twenty strokes.

After that experience, the vision of the wonderful little girl he had in his heart died.

Really, seeing her now, he couldn’t relate her to the girl she used to be. Her foolishness made even him feel embarrassed. How did he ever fancy her back then? What made him think she was good?