Chapter 1476 – Defeating Nie Liang, Attacking Yang Tao, Sword Points to the World (Sixteen)
Nie Liang casually turned the humiliation of receiving “a woman’s shirt” back on Jiang Pengji, instead putting her in a difficult position.
If we take Nie Liang’s words into account, Jiang Pengji gifting him “Liu Xi’s woman’s shirt” wasn’t humiliation at all; it was more like she was boldly confessing her feelings. But he had used the excuse “the goddess has feelings, the king is disinterested” to reject her, clearly stating he had a wife and children, and that Jiang Pengji was much too young for him, even going so far as to suggest she was more suited in age to his son, cleverly diffusing a crisis.
“Liu Xi is deeply affectionate; if our lord burns the woman’s shirt as a flag sacrifice and doesn’t inform her, outsiders will undoubtedly call him cold-hearted.”
Nie Liang turned to Wei Ying and chuckled, “I think Zi is more suave, knows a girl’s thoughts, and wouldn’t want to hurt a lady’s feelings.”
Wei Ying nodded in agreement, “Our lord jokes too much.”
Nie Liang had someone prepare ink, paper, and an inkstone, personally writing a reply to Jiang Pengji.
The messenger, escorted by hundreds of soldiers, rode swiftly towards Zhanjiang Pass, determined to deliver the letter before dark.
The soldiers on the city wall were the first to notice this small contingent of enemies, their nerves taut as they tightened their grips on their red tassel spears.
One guard shouted down at the enemies, “Who goes there?”
The atmosphere was tense, a standoff where swords could almost be drawn.
“We come at our lord’s command, to deliver a letter to your master.”
The messenger hurriedly stated his purpose, securely tying the letter to an arrow, drawing back the heavy bow, aiming at the city tower.
With a sharp twang, the arrow shot forth, embedding itself firmly in a crevice of the city wall.
“The letter has been delivered; farewell.”
The messenger put away his longbow, saluting towards the wall, then turned his horse around.
Once the group galloped out of sight, the soldiers guarding the city struggled to retrieve the letter from the wall, rushing it to the command tent.
Jiang Pengji smiled, “Is this a reply from Nie Liang? Let me see; could it be he’s madly scribbling insults at me?”
She was well aware of her actions. Even with the best self-discipline, it’d be normal to feel furious, writing a letter of rebuttal was a common reaction.
However, Wei Ci and the others felt it wasn’t so severe; as the most formidable lord of Zhong Zhao, Nie Liang’s personality couldn’t be that petty.
It would be extremely undignified and lacking in decorum for him to lash out just because she teased him a couple of times.
In the live stream, the idle viewers eagerly awaited the contents of the letter.
Stowaway Non-Money: Looks like our anchor is quite self-aware. Luckily, it’s ancient times with underdeveloped communication; if it were modern, folks would climb through the internet cable to beat you up. Even a somewhat cultured person would be waiting at your door to give you a thrashing.
Big Dudu: I have a question, with the anchor’s combat skills, challenging her one-on-one is practically asking for death, right? Why does she dare to act so cheeky, isn’t it backed by her fighting prowess? I feel sorry for Nie Liang; facing such an opponent, it’s frustrating whether he fights or not.
The idle viewers watched Jiang Pengji toy with Nie Liang the entire time. Even that woman’s shirt was something the idle viewers helped strategize.
Jiang Pengji initially intended to gift a more modest shirt, but the viewers insisted on something pink and cute. At one point, an idle viewer strongly suggested she send a set of mourning clothes instead. She thought to herself, that suggestion was way worse than her own plans.
Glancing at the comments, she felt these idle viewers were sneakily mischievous.
While pretending to be empathetic, they secretly wished for Jiang Pengji to stomp on Nie Liang.
“Let me see what he wrote,” she mumbled as she pulled the letter from inside, shaking it open cleanly.
“The handwriting is quite nice, exuding a scholarly air. Even with Nie Liang’s condition, his wrist still has such strength.” Jiang Pengji praised and mocked, then focused on the contents; her expression grew serious, hints of killing intent forming between her brows.
Qi Guanrang and the others waited for word; upon seeing their lord’s expression, they sensed the letter wasn’t simple.
“What’s written in there?”
Jiang Pengji angrily slammed the letter on the table, producing a loud crash as the bronze surface suspiciously sagged at its corners.
“What does it say? I’ve never seen someone so self-absorbed!”
He was even more narcissistic than her; she couldn’t stand it.
Qi Guanrang stepped forward, “May I take a look?”
Jiang Pengji huffed, “Go ahead, just don’t let it make you lose control.”
After reading it, Qi Guanrang’s face turned ashen as he passed the letter to Wei Ci, the closest to him.
Wei Ci took it with suspicion, his expression darkening as well.
He said, “This is a poem.”
Having lived in Zhong Zhao for quite some years, Wei Ci was naturally aware of the customs there. During the days around the Flower Festival, noble girls busied themselves attending various banquets and poetry contests. Concurrently, eligible young men would be invited—it was essentially a large matchmaking event. If a girl took a liking to a boy, she would write a cryptic love poem on a napkin or scent pouch, showcasing her talent. If the boy reciprocated the interest, he would accept the gift; if not, he would write a counter poem to decline.
Of course, this custom was a relic from over twenty years ago, once considered a grand festival in Zhong Zhao.
Since the demon queen wrote something about the “Four Books for Women,” restraining all women and teaching them female virtues, this tradition had been derided as outdated and discarded.
Let alone matchmaking, even passing tokens of affection privately, or meeting once was seen as immoral.
For Nie Liang to write this as a reply meant to convey a simple message: don’t get your hopes up; I’m not interested.
Qi Guanrang sneered, “Nie Liang shouldn’t be underestimated.”
It was clearly a massive insult. He not only endured it but retaliated beautifully, leaving Jiang Pengji in a tight spot—quite impressive.
Wei Ci’s expression turned cold; he was lost in thought.
However, he certainly wasn’t as calm as he appeared, evidenced by him practically crumpling the letter in his hand.
They all awaited Jiang Pengji’s decision—should they reply, or do something else?
Jiang Pengji seemed rather carefree, saying, “What should I reply? With two lords frequently communicating, what will future generations say? Nie Liang has already labeled the matter of the woman’s shirt, and if I write back, it would just solidify his words. Ignoring him is better; we can fight him back on the battlefield.”
She truly didn’t take it to heart, mostly thinking Nie Liang was just rather self-absorbed.
The others felt like there was a thorn in their throats, wishing they could rush over to Nie Liang right now to reclaim their dignity.
“Don’t take this matter too seriously; just minor tricks at play. Let’s see who shows their true skills on the battlefield. It’s getting late; let’s disperse.”
The crowd dispersed, those who had work got to work, those who had meals got to eat, but only Wei Ci quietly returned.
Jiang Pengji seemed to have anticipated this, her chin resting on her hand, smiling at him.
“Zi, are you feeling jealous?”
Wei Ci sighed, “How could Ci feel jealous over that?”
He was merely worried that his lord was genuinely angry, trying to maintain composure so as not to cause her concern.
Now seeing she truly wasn’t taking Nie Liang’s counterattack to heart, he inexplicably felt a twinge of heartache.
Nie Liang’s fierce operation countered dazzlingly, yet unfortunately, his opponent was “blind” and completely ignored his moves.
