Volume 1: Wu Fan's Forbidden Chapter 5: Xiang Yan's Solo Challenge

  The Ling family was located between Osmanthus Lane and Wumeng Lane, and had been engaged in the shipping business for generations. With more than a dozen large ships at their disposal, even officials would come to them in times of urgency to borrow boats to transport goods. With such wealth, the scale of the Ling estate was naturally not small. The surrounding wall was over three meters high and one meter wide, with two thick stone lions standing in front of the gate. Two thick vermilion-painted large doors were tightly closed, with a huge gold-plated signboard on top of the door, "Ling Estate" shining brightly.

  At this time, the Ling Mansion was closed tightly, with no sound coming from behind the walls. A large group of servants holding wooden sticks and brooms were tensely peeking through the door gaps, while a plump little young master was searching for a hiding place throughout the mansion, even putting on his father's soft armor, his face full of terror.

  Huang Tian sat on the stone lion's head at the entrance of the Ling Mansion, swinging her legs and waiting. She wore a small flower-patterned jacket and a fluffy hat, with a brand new large knife in her hand. The knife was nearly four feet long, and with its long handle, it was almost as tall as she was. It was unknown how her slender figure could wield such a heavy knife, but somehow, she managed to look quite elegant and heroic.

  A little further down the street, a tall young man came over with a dozen or so kids in tow. Due to the cold weather, the kids' faces were all red and puffy.

  These little brats are Zhao Xian's 'younger brothers', most of whom are kids from Guihua Lane. Zhao Xian grew up with these little brats, and when he had nothing to do, he would take them mountain climbing, hunting, or swimming in the river, just like recalling his childhood, and they lived a happy life.

  From a distance, he saw the figure of Huang Tian Tian, a young man with a hatchet in his arms, triangular eyes, and a lean build, huddled beside Zhao Xian whispering: "Xian Ge, she just became the female captain two days ago, that's a big shot with status, we can't afford to mess with her." The young man's frozen face showed a hint of worry, he had been in fights before, but as Nan Cheng Hu Yi Dao, he had never fought with a captain before, captains were people who ate imperial rations, famous figures known throughout several streets, their status was extremely high.

  "What's there to be afraid of?" Zhao Xian was exasperated by Hu Yidao's spineless words. He was just a constable, what kind of storm could he stir up?

  Zhao Xian carried a thick wooden stick, coming to the entrance of the Ling mansion with an air of fury. At first glance, he saw that the outside of the Ling mansion was empty, with only Huang Tian Tian standing alone. He looked around at the rooftops and alleys, but apart from the thick snow and bent tree branches, there wasn't a single person in sight. There were only a few idle men who had rushed over to chat and gossip. Zhao Xian couldn't help but feel surprised - did this little girl think she could ambush him?

  "No need to look, I didn't bring anyone today." Huang Tian Tian jumped down from the stone lion and stuck his long knife into the bluestone slab. His big eyes were wide open, and there was still a layer of thin snow on his fluffy hat because it was cold outside. His small face was rosy, with a rather lovely look to him.

  Zhao Xian unexpectedly glanced at Huang Tianyan and waved his hand: "Give you time to call someone, so as not to say I bullied you."

  Huang Tian drew a beautiful knife flower, sizing up the wooden sticks, choppers and hammers in Zhao Xian's hands, with a hint of disdain on his face. He shook his head and sneered: "I don't need anyone's help, let's all go together, so you can lose convincingly, and I won't have much time to play with you later."

  Being despised by a little girl like this, Zhao Xian felt very uncomfortable in his heart. He raised his hand to let Hu Yidao and others retreat, carrying a wooden stick as thick as a bowl, walked to Huang Tianba's side, and said: "Don't think that just because you took your father's knife, I can't beat you. Want to fight one-on-one with me? You know you're getting married soon, it won't be convenient for you to fight in the future. The Ling family is a big household, they won't let their daughter-in-law wield knives and guns."

  Huang Tian Tian is sixteen this year. In this era, it's common for girls to become mothers at the age of sixteen. Her age is also considered quite old. Among the families in the south of the city who have a good relationship with the Huang family, and are of similar social status and age, there is only one man who has not yet been engaged: the second young master of the Ling family, that little white fat boy whom Huang Tian Tian has beaten up since childhood. Although the two families have not yet finalized the engagement, it's unlikely that this matter will fall through.

  "Pfft! I'm not getting married." Huang Tianba was annoyed as soon as he heard this, his eyebrows furrowed, and he waved the long knife in his hand, arguing: "I said I didn't have time because I'm now a captain, there are many things to do. You think everyone is like you, only knowing how to forge iron, cause trouble, and marry a wife, without any ambition at all."

  Zhao Xian's face changed slightly, and he was very concerned about this sentence. He wanted to stand out, but the imperial court's laws clearly stated that ordinary people could only engage in agriculture and other manual labor. As for doing business, Hua Yu's sister had a very conservative idea, thinking that merchants were hoarding goods and raising prices, which was an inferior industry that exploited ordinary people. She would rather let Zhao Xian become an ironworker and learn a trade than allow him to do business. The only path to standing out was to become an official.

  As for being an official, Zhao Xian hadn't considered this matter before. He looked at Huang Tian and smiled: "I can only forge iron, but I still have my own freedom. You've become a captor, yet you'll still have to get married, do laundry, cook meals, take care of children, and perhaps even suffer from your mother-in-law's temper. Your violent temper should be changed now, or else one day you might be driven out by the Ling family, which wouldn't sound good when it gets out."

  In this day and age, even if a princess doesn't follow the rules and gets kicked out by her husband's family, no one would dare to speak up for her. Let alone Huang Tian Tian, who is just the daughter of a rural gentry, with her violent temper, she still has to be extremely polite to that little fatty every day, or else she would get angry to death.

  Huang Tian's small face was red with anger, but he couldn't refute it. Holding a knife, he rushed towards Zhao Xian and scolded: "Mind your own business! Whether Ling Yue can live to see her wedding day is still uncertain, I'm not worried about these things."

  The little white fatty behind the Ling Mansion's gate let out a quiver, his face as pale as paper, with beads of sweat the size of beans rolling down, he pushed aside the attendants and ran towards the rear residence, his round body moving swiftly, it was clear that he had been frightened quite badly.

  Hu Yidao and others held melon seeds and snacks, seeing the two fire heads rising, not disgusted, sat on the steps of Lingfu's mansion, watching the good show with great interest, and even shouted: "Hanjiao is great, replacing us to deal with her!"

  Zhao Xian has been fighting since he was a child, relying solely on his physical strength. However, as the saying goes, 'one force can subdue ten skills'. Zhao Xian started practicing ironwork from a young age, and his physical strength is truly not something ordinary people can compare to.

  Huang Tian Tian followed his father, Huang Zong, to learn martial arts. Although she was as light as a swallow and as swift as the wind, when she fought with Zhao Xian, even a thick wooden stick as big as a bowl would not dare to approach her easily.

  Zhao Xian only felt that Huang Tianba was as agile as a small cat, with pent-up energy in his body that was hard to bear. The two men were locked in a stalemate for a moment, and then he deliberately swung his stick with great force, pretending to "fail to pull back".

  Huang Tian was after all a fifteen or sixteen year old girl, seeing Zhao Xian reveal an opening, a smile immediately appeared on her small face, she raised her hand and swung the knife over, thinking that Zhao Xian had spare strength, at this time he suddenly swung the wooden rod to sweep across the blade, knocking the big knife high into the air, Zhao Xian's remaining strength was undiminished, taking advantage of Huang Tian's open door, he directly swept towards her chest.

  Huang Tian's face turned slightly pale, and the great force transmitted through his hand made even the tiger's mouth feel slightly numb. The wooden stick came at him with a fierce momentum, and he didn't dare to be careless. He hastily abandoned his knife and leaned back, bending his waist to an unbelievable arc, dodging this strike. With both hands propping up the stone bricks on the ground, his toes kicked towards Zhao Xian's chin in a swift motion.

  Huang Tian wore a small jacket every day, but didn't show any signs of bloating. The iron bridge's movements had enticing curves that possessed a certain beauty.

  Zhao Xian's attack fell short, and he tilted his head to dodge the incoming kick from Huang Tian's embroidered shoe. However, Huang Tian hooked her leg around Zhao Xian's neck, while the other foot pressed against his chest, attempting to use her legs to perform a "shoulder throw" on him.

  Unfortunately, Huang Tian forgot the physical difference between them. Her tightly clenched thighs were only as thick as Zhao Xian's arm. With this effort, not only did she fail to throw Zhao Xian away, but both of them lost their balance and fell onto the snow-covered ground.

  "Wow, wow!!!" Seeing this explosive scene, Hu Yidao and others immediately started cheering, thinking to themselves: "Tonight when we're drinking, there's going to be a lot of bragging, the Southern City rascal bullied an innocent girl from Wumeng Alley in broad daylight, tsk tsk tsk..."

  Huang Tian lay on the ground, face up, with Zhao Xian pinning him down. His small legs were hooked around Zhao Xian's neck, causing his elastic legs to almost fold in at the chest. The two glared at each other, their faces inches apart, in a pose that looked rather ambiguous. Yet neither of them felt anything was amiss, and they continued to grapple with each other, showing no signs of giving up.

  Zhao Xian was caught by the hair, gritting his teeth in pain. He also ruthlessly pinched Huang Tian's small nose, making her face turn bright red. As he hit her, Zhao Xian suddenly felt something was off.

  Although it was thickly wrapped in winter clothes, Zhao Xian's body pressed against that delicate figure, and he could still feel the fiery temperature through his clothes. Before, he had only thought of her as a little girl, and hadn't paid much attention to her antics, but it had been a long time since they'd fought like this, and he hadn't realized she'd developed so well, especially the little rabbit in front of her chest, which made Zhao Xian's heart itch, just like a cat scratching, and he couldn't help but raise his paw to scratch that place...