In her previous life, Luo Longwen was executed after the Yan faction's downfall, sharing the same execution platform with Yan Shifan. In truth, Luo Longwen hadn't committed any heinous crimes. On the contrary, he had ventured deep into Japanese Pirate strongholds at great risk, persuaded Xu Hai to surrender, and contributed significantly to resisting the Japanese Pirates.
Thus, both publicly and privately, Wei Caiwei felt compelled to save his life.
With trembling hands, Luo Longwen accepted the gold bars and household registration documents. "Might I ask your esteemed name, He Daifu? You've spared my life—I cannot remain ignorant of your true identity."
Wei Caiwei smiled bitterly. "You may find this hard to believe, but 'He' is indeed my real surname. As for my given name... my father passed away early and never had the chance to give me a formal one."
Luo Longwen said, "I believe you."
Carrying simple luggage, wearing a bamboo hat, and leaning on a walking stick, Luo Longwen chanted as he walked: "Raising banners alone at sea, I claimed supremacy / For my beloved, I surrendered at the halberd gate / If the ten-li heroic souls remain conscious / They'll accompany you through misty moons at dusk."
These were Wang Cuiqiao's final words. However, while Wang Cuiqiao died for love, Luo Longwen had no intention of sacrificing himself for his patron Yan Shifan. He boarded the merchant ship Favorable Wind once more, sailing smoothly to Hangzhou, vanishing without a trace thereafter.
Wei Caiwei watched Luo Longwen's figure disappear into the rainy night and was about to turn away when urgent hoofbeats echoed from the long, rainy alley. Wang Daxia arrived on his white horse, clad in red. His hair bun had come loose, strands flying wildly in the rain as his horse galloped.
After nearly a month apart, the longing was intense. Wei Caiwei hurried forward to meet him. They reunited on a small bridge where Wang Daxia leaped from his horse, and they embraced, treating the surrounding battlefield as mere fireworks.
During their brief moment of tenderness, as Wang Daxia was about to pour out his feelings, shouts of battle erupted from the river. The Qi Family Army and Yu Dayou's troops were closing in on the Japanese Pirates.
Xinghua City's dense river network meant residents lived along the waterways. The Japanese Pirates desperately fled in small boats, heading straight toward the bridge.
Wei Caiwei immediately pushed Wang Daxia away. "Think of something! We can't let them escape."
Wang Daxia leaned over the railing to look. The best method would be to blow up the bridge and block the river, but he had no explosives—no one brings explosives on a date.
Drawing his twin blades, Wang Daxia vaulted over the railing. As the Japanese Pirate boats approached the bridge, he leaped directly from it!
Generals Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, chasing the pirates on horseback along the riverbank, saw a figure in red fall from the bridge. Mistaking it for a dishonored woman committing suicide by drowning, their fury intensified.
As Wang Daxia landed on the boat, the Japanese Pirates prepared to attack but froze in shock upon seeing his face. "It's the Madame!"
"Madame! We're on the same side! Why attack your own people?"
"Ming Wang is dead—killed by a traitor. We couldn't save him and had to flee."
Wang Daxia smirked coldly, offering no explanation. With two swift strokes, he beheaded the pirates rowing the boat.
Realizing the Madame had turned against them, the pirates exclaimed, "So the Madame was a court spy all along! What an elaborate honey trap!"
They drew their blades and charged at Wang Daxia.
"I always suspected this seductive snake!"
"She was always by Ming Wang's side—she probably killed him herself."
"Kill the traitor! Avenge Ming Wang!"After a year of training under Lu Ying, Wang Daxia's martial skills had greatly improved. He was no longer the amateur who relied on street brawling techniques. Now, every swing of his blade drew blood as he moved like a phantom through the narrow cabins, becoming a cold-blooded killing machine. His twin blades flashed like lightning, cutting down Japanese Pirates like weeds.
By the time the small boat passed under the bridge, Wang Daxia had eliminated all eight Japanese Pirates aboard. He immediately sheathed his blades, took the helm, and turned the boat sideways across the narrow urban canal—much narrower than the grand canal—blocking the path completely.
The Japanese Pirates' vessels behind couldn't steer around the obstruction in time. The lead ship crashed directly into the middle of the small boat. At the moment of impact, Wang Daxia abandoned his twin blades, grabbed a bamboo pole, and plunged it into the riverbed mud. He vaulted from the boat to the riverbank and jumped into waist-deep water, where he overturned another small boat nearby, sending its eight Japanese Pirates crew into the water.
With two boats now capsized and completely blocking the canal, the remaining Japanese Pirates vessels found their water route impassable and had to dock to escape ashore.
Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou's cavalry arrived promptly, surrounding and annihilating the Japanese Pirates who came ashore. Wang Daxia joined the fray with his twin blades, leaving a trail of fallen enemies wherever his red figure passed. His ferocity and combat prowess astonished even the battle-hardened Qi Family Army, who had already been fighting with bloodshot eyes.
It turned out the woman in red hadn't jumped into the river to commit suicide, but rather to board the enemy boat and kill Japanese Pirates, preventing their escape by water.
Dressed in crimson and wielding twin blades, Wang Daxia moved like a legendary yaksha—both beautiful and terrifying. The blood splatters made his red skirt appear even redder. He cut down enemies with every few steps, his blades brighter than lightning and colder than frost.
When the riverside battle concluded, Wang Daxia was utterly exhausted, his twin blades notched with several gaps from the fierce combat.
Leaning heavily on his blades to avoid collapsing from fatigue, he barely remained standing. From the bridge, Wei Caiwei watched with her heart in her throat, quickly riding over to check on Wang Daxia's injuries.
Gasping for breath with legs trembling from exhaustion, Wang Daxia's two cotton chest pads had absorbed rainwater. Though somewhat shrunken, they had hardened into heavy weights that wobbled precariously with each labored breath, like two plump lotus seedpods by a lakeside in the rainy night.
His hairpins had been lost during the intense fight, leaving his black hair cascading like a waterfall down to his waist. The drenched clothing clung tightly to his body, clearly outlining his slender waist and curved hips.
What a deadly beauty.
Qi Jiguang approached with admiration, asking, "Might I ask the noble name of this female warrior?"
Panting like an ox, Wang Daxia stammered, "I... I... actually I'm..." He bent forward, the two waterlogged cotton balls on his chest having absorbed at least two catties of rainwater. Finding them cumbersome, he immediately removed his outer robe and reached inside his undergarments to dig out the sodden padding.
Qi Jiguang and his soldiers stared in stunned silence as the red-clad warrior undressed and groped his own chest, averting their eyes in embarrassment.
After pulling out one waterlogged cotton pad, Wang Daxia extracted the other. The two heavy balls rolled from his feet into the river.
Relieved of the five-catty burden, Wang Daxia finally caught his breath and sighed contentedly, "That's better. Being a woman is exhausting."
Suddenly remembering Lu Ying's mention of Wang Daxia—the Hundred-Household Commander who disguised himself as a woman to infiltrate Ming Wang's ranks—Qi Jiguang tentatively asked, "Are you... Hundred-Household Commander Wang?"Wang Daxia swept the two strands of hair sticking to his cheeks behind his ears, unconsciously curling his little finger in a delicate gesture as he did so. He bowed to Qi Jiguang, "Indeed. Your humble subordinate Wang Daxia of the Embroidered Uniform Guard pays respects to General Qi."
Qi Jiguang: Truly, seeing is believing! Lu Ying didn't exaggerate at all! So such devastatingly handsome men really exist in this world!
Wei Caiwei arrived on horseback and, seeing the multiple knife wounds on Wang Daxia's body, felt her heart ache with concern. She immediately reached out to him, "Quickly come back with me to clean your wounds. You're still bleeding."
Wang Daxia clasped his hands in farewell to the stunned Qi Jiguang, "Your subordinate takes his leave."
With these words, Wang Daxia leaped onto the horse, sitting behind Wei Caiwei. The two rode off together on the same horse, disappearing into the battlefield.
Upon their return, Wei Caiwei immediately stripped off Wang Daxia's clothes, leaving him only in his shorts. She stopped the bleeding and sutured his wounds - he had over ten injuries all over his body, with four places where the flesh on his arms, chest, and right thigh had been torn open.
Heaven knows how he managed to fight with these injuries.
Wei Caiwei said, "Didn't it hurt during the fight?"
Wang Daxia replied, "It hurt, but I couldn't retreat. You were still on the bridge, and I knew you wouldn't leave alone. So I decided to stay and help the Qi Family Army eliminate all the Japanese Pirates. For the past month, these Japanese Pirates have been swaggering around right under my nose - I've tolerated them long enough."
Wei Caiwei's heart ached with pity as she smoothed the torn skin. Wang Daxia remained silent, letting her tend to him as she pleased.
Wei Caiwei said, "If it hurts, just cry out. It's no big deal - there's no one else here anyway."
Wang Daxia lay on the cool bed, too lazy to even move a finger. "What's there to cry about? Even if I screamed my throat raw, no one would come to save me. I might as well accept my fate. Do whatever you want - I've been yours for a long time anyway."
Wei Caiwei thought to herself: Even injured like this, he still has the mood to joke around. It seems he's not in serious condition.
Author's note: Lu Bing from the nine springs below kicks over his coffin lid: What kind of creature have I recruited into my service?
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