Li Garden, the Plum Blossom Thief

"Manor Master Long, has Li Xunhuan arrived yet?"

Long Xiaoyun shook his head. "No. He will probably not arrive until tomorrow."

"Looks like I got here early."

Lu Xiaofeng thought to himself.

In this world, the capital of Ming State was not Yanjing in the north, but Jinling, more than two thousand li away from Baoding.

Lu Xiaofeng had originally calculated that he would arrive four days later, but thanks to the speed of the strange-blooded horse, he had arrived on the third day.

In truth, Long Xiaoyun had not expected Lu Xiaofeng to arrive so quickly either. If he had not been the local big shot and received word the moment Lu Xiaofeng entered Baoding, he probably would not have come to greet him at the gate.

At this point, Zhou Ming dismounted together with the four maidservants. Long Xiaoyun asked, "This young hero is...?"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "This is Zhou Ming. He is merely curious about the Plum Blossom Thief and came with me."

Long Xiaoyun's eyes immediately lit up, and a flash of fervor appeared in his gaze. "So it is the Grand Secretary's... ahem, I mean, Young Master Zhou Ming, one of the Four Heroes of the Capital."

Zhou Ming clasped his fists. "Manor Master Long is too kind. I dare not accept the title of one of the Four Heroes. I came today only because the Plum Blossom Thief has committed countless evils and brought disaster upon the martial world. I heard that famous heroes had gathered here to eliminate the Plum Blossom Thief, so I came to offer what little help I could."

Long Xiaoyun smiled. "Young Master Zhou is so young, yet already cares for the world. You naturally deserve the word 'hero.'"

The martial world and the imperial court had always been deeply entwined.

Other than those true wanderers with no ties or attachments, perhaps no one could truly ignore the imperial court.

Especially martial artists like Long Xiaoyun, who had settled in one place to build power and reputation.

Zhou Ming's adoptive father was not merely the Grand Secretary wielding immense authority. He also had countless talented people under his command. He had survived innumerable assassination attempts, including attacks by master-level assassins, without ever coming to harm.

It was said that there were martial arts experts in his service, perhaps even a Grandmaster.

He could be said to have one hand in the court and one in the martial world, giving equal weight to both.

Someone like Long Xiaoyun, whose power was limited to being a local strongman and whose martial arts had only reached the Innate Gang Qi Realm, could only dominate one small region.

Before Zhou Ming's adoptive father, he was nothing more than an ant.

Now that he had met Zhou Ming, he naturally intended to curry favor with him.

Amid the pleasantries, he also asked about Chun Hua and the others. Upon learning that they were merely maidservants, he said no more.

Yet inwardly, he was secretly shocked. The four of them all felt extremely dangerous to him. Any one of them could probably sweep through Xingyun Manor.

All he could do was sigh. As expected of the Grand Secretary's adopted son, the protection around him was truly formidable.

He then invited everyone into the manor.

As they entered, Zhou Ming glanced to either side and saw a couplet carved beside the gates.

One family, seven Presented Scholars,

Father and sons, three Third-Ranked Scholars.

That was right. This so-called Xingyun Manor was actually the Li family's ancestral residence, Li Garden.

Before Li Xunhuan left the Central Plains, he had transferred this manor away. Yet he had not given it to Long Xiaoyun, but to Lin Shiyin.

So Long Xiaoyun was, in effect, living in his wife's home—a man living off his wife.

Li Garden was grand and imposing, its residences stretching as far as the eye could see. Even in the depths of winter, its shade trees formed groves, while cold plum blossoms stood proudly against the snow in the distance, their faint fragrance drifting through the air.

Still, compared to Zhou Ming's residence in the capital, it was far inferior.

To say nothing else, when Zhou Ming went fishing, the fish he caught came from his own family's lake.

That alone surpassed Li Garden.

Moreover, it had fallen into much greater disrepair than before.

But recently, it had become rather lively.

Li Xunhuan had, after all, been a great hero famous throughout the land ten years ago. Since returning from beyond the frontier, he had become embroiled in the Golden Silk Armor and Plum Blossom Thief affairs one after another, and was now even suspected of being the Plum Blossom Thief.

He was truly the greatest hot topic in today's martial world.

Furthermore, the route he had taken since returning had been extremely obvious. His destination was clearly Li Garden.

Thus, quite a few people from the martial world had come directly to Li Garden to wait for Li Xunhuan's arrival.

Some were righteous heroes hoping to uphold justice, capture the Plum Blossom Thief, and increase their own fame.

There were also young heroes infatuated with Lin Xian'er, the Number One Beauty of the Martial World, who wished to capture the Plum Blossom Thief and marry Lin Xian'er.

There were even reporters from the Jianghu Monthly Report and spies from the Red Leaf Small Inn, who had simply come to watch the excitement and ride the wave.

But whoever they were, they naturally treated the two men with great courtesy.

Lu Xiaofeng had friends throughout the land. He was also chivalrous and eager to help others, having solved troubles for many people, and had long enjoyed the reputation of a hero.

Zhou Ming, meanwhile, had spent half a year out of the Quanzhen Sect and had at least managed to earn himself the title of one of the Four Heroes of the Capital.

Then there was his adoptive father, who was the current Grand Tutor, Grand Secretary, Minister of Personnel, Minister of Justice, and Marquis of Wenxi, a man who wielded enormous power.

Who would dare treat him discourteously?

"This humble woman is Lin Xian'er. Greetings, young heroes."

Accompanied by the faint fragrance of plum blossoms, a peerlessly beautiful figure appeared.

Her features were pure and delicate, stirring pity in all who saw her, yet a barely visible allure lingered in her eyes and brows, tugging at the heartstrings.

She was Lin Xian'er, known as the Number One Beauty of the Martial World.

Beautiful she certainly was, but honestly, she was still far from deserving the title of number one in the martial world.

Setting aside distant examples, even the four maidservants beside Zhou Ming surpassed her.

But the four were ultimately only maidservants. After entering the manor, they had remained silent and stayed behind Zhou Ming, drawing little attention.

Lin Xian'er, by contrast, became the focus of the crowd the instant she appeared.

Several young men in the crowd immediately crowded around her, eagerly fussing over her.

"Who could possess such breathtaking beauty? So it is Miss Lin, the Number One Beauty of the Martial World."

Lu Xiaofeng's face broke into a broad smile as he asked curiously, "Why is Miss Lin here?"

Long Xiaoyun explained, "Miss Lin and my wife are sworn sisters. She has lived in the manor these past years."

Lu Xiaofeng said in surprise, "Miss Lin actually shares such a bond with your wife? I had no idea."

Long Xiaoyun said, "It was also a coincidence. Many years ago, my wife happened upon Miss Lin after she accidentally fell from a cliff. She brought her back to the manor and learned that her family was poor. They got along well, so they became sworn sisters."

"Yes. Elder Sister is beautiful and kindhearted. Even now, Xian'er still thinks that without Elder Sister's help, who knows what Xian'er's circumstances would be like today?"

Lin Xian'er spoke with a smile, her eyes curving into two crescent moons as she concealed the fleeting resentment that had surfaced within them.

"Heh, pathetic."

Watching from the side, Zhou Ming sneered inwardly.

He naturally knew that the Plum Blossom Thief, whose reputation in the martial world was now utterly notorious and who had committed so many major crimes, was actually this very Number One Beauty of the Martial World.

Or rather, it was a group led by her.

She was as beautiful as an immortal, yet her heart was that of a demon. Filled with extreme desires, she wanted to see countless people go mad for her and be manipulated at her whim.

But her martial arts were mediocre, and her family was poor. So she made direct use of her most powerful weapons.

Her beauty, and her body.

Using those powerful weapons, she had indeed ensnared quite a few people from the martial world.

Among them was You Longsheng, the young manor master of Hidden Sword Manor, who had directly given her the ancestral Fish Gut Sword.

There was also Qiu Du, disciple of Yi Ku of the Green Demon Hand, who had given her his master's famed weapon, the Green Demon Hand, simply to win a beauty's smile.

These people were all under Lin Xian'er's control, obedient as well-trained dogs.

But she was not satisfied with that. Disguising herself as the Plum Blossom Thief, she committed one major crime after another, then spread word that whoever eliminated the Plum Blossom Thief would marry her directly. This immediately caused a huge uproar throughout the martial world.

She had also secretly influenced the later events concerning the Golden Silk Armor.

All of this was for no other reason than to enjoy the thrill of manipulating the storms of the martial world and watching countless people slaughter one another for her.

But what she had not expected was that a famous hero who had long vanished from the Central Plains would inexplicably intrude upon the affair.

That man was Li Xunhuan.

Under such circumstances, Lin Xian'er had actually tried to act personally and had even used her most powerful weapon.

Yet Li Xunhuan had treated her body as though it did not exist.

Lin Xian'er had been too confident.

She had seduced a few worthless fools and thought every man in the world was the same?

How laughable.

That night, she had fled in panic.

But that was not the most terrifying part. The most terrifying part was that Li Xunhuan had seen her true face!

She had to destroy Li Xunhuan!

That was how the absurd rumor that Li Xunhuan was the Plum Blossom Thief came about.

"As a villain working behind the scenes, she actually exposed her face to someone she could not control. Too stupid. If not for that, how could she have fallen into this predicament, where she had no choice but to act personally?"