Chapter 82 – My Young Master is Pure and Unpretentious (4)
Jiang Pengji was shorter than everyone present, yet her aura effortlessly overshadowed them all.
Xu Ke gazed at her, momentarily lost in a daze, envisioning a lithe and powerful tiger, its fangs stained with blood, muscles taut with anticipation, fixating intensely on its prey. Her fierce and cold gaze seemed to spell certain doom for anyone who met it.
When he snapped back to reality, the sight before him was still that of the young boy bathed in sunlight, his dark hair gleaming with a halo.
After a long pause, although everyone trembled in fear, their teeth chattering, not a single person felt brave enough to voice an opposing opinion.
Jiang Pengji held a smirk at the corner of her lips, her eyes narrowing slightly, revealing a glint of mischief and interest.
“Since there are no objections, let’s get started.”
She raised her hand and tossed her sandalwood fan towards Xu Ke. He instinctively reached out to catch it, the familiar fragrant scent causing him to shudder, inadvertently recalling that night when Liu Zhi’s chilly, toxic gaze haunted him… There was no escaping the psychological shadow looming over him.
No, wait… now was not the time to be scared; my Young Master said to begin… begin what?
Was this even part of the initial plan?
Before the bewildered Xu Ke could grasp what “starting” meant, the words that came next from Jiang Pengji nearly sent him into a panic.
Jiang Pengji casually stated, and Xu Ke’s heart skipped a beat, “I’ll choose the first batch of squad leaders, fairly and justly, no favoritism.”
Then she continued, “I know some of you have already started to rethink your life choices, fearful of losing your lives to these ruthless scoundrels. Unfortunately, your contracts of servitude are in my hands, and you dare not act recklessly. Now, I’ll give you a chance. Whoever can defeat me, I will release their contract and grant them freedom, plus a year’s worth of monthly silver.”
Long after that day, the most vivid memory Xu Ke had of Jiang Pengji was the image of her smirking lips under the afternoon sun, her gaze fiercely burning.
“Come one by one, or all at once, your choice. You don’t need to hesitate; life and death are in the hands of fate!”
At her declaration, the crowd buzzed with surprise, never expecting Jiang Pengji to be so audacious.
They were all children of poor families, laboring in the fields from a young age, blessed with substantial strength.
Although Jiang Pengji belonged to the noble Liu family, and perhaps trained with a master, she looked so slender and weak, like a little chick, scarcely holding any strength compared to them, right?
Winning against her would mean reclaiming their contracts, and a year’s worth of silver? Could it really be that good?
The crowd exchanged glances, their steps faltering, no one daring to step forward, fearful that this was just a trap to test their mettle.
Xu Ke, anxious from the sidelines, wanted to rush over to pull Jiang Pengji back but feared overstepping his bounds. Yet, if nothing was done and she got hurt by these brazen fools, what then? Even worse, what if she got killed in some chaotic brawl?
His heart raced, anxiety bubbling up like a small flame licking at his chest, both distressing and torturous.
However, the next moment, he inadvertently caught sight of the smile forming at the corners of her lips, her eyes shining with the thrill of the show.
Xu Ke’s advancing step halted abruptly, recalling that day at the Elegant Gathering when she had playfully mocked everyone, a hint of disdain glinting in her eyes. It was a signal—she didn’t see her opponents as threats at all! He quietly withdrew his footstep.
The atmosphere thickened, each person felt as though a seemingly light yet undeniably heavy stone rested on their chests, an indescribable tension making breaths quick and shallow, sweat beading on their backs as if bearing a weight their lives couldn’t sustain.
“Not one brave enough?”
Jiang Pengji struck at the perfect moment, her words slicing through the tension at its peak.
As soon as her words fell, a burly man with red-tinged eyes burst from the crowd, the strongest among the house servants. He swung a fist as large as a boulder straight at Jiang Pengji’s face, a rush of wild wind trailing behind it.
“Finally, someone with guts!” Jiang Pengji chuckled softly, not even fazed by the incoming blow, while the Village Head was so scared his heart raced chaotically, nearly unable to keep pace with his own breathing. Xu Ke couldn’t bear to watch, turning his head away.
The audience in the live stream all instinctively held their breath, fists clenched.
They were starting to wonder why the live feed was so clear, making it feel like that fist might break through the screen and land right in their faces. Some timid viewers even braced themselves for a bloodbath on-screen.
Many streamers often did reckless things to draw in viewers; who would have thought Jiang Pengji would follow suit?
Amongst the crowd, those who had previously witnessed Jiang Pengji’s fierce fighting spirit had the least to worry about.
While everyone else trembled in anxiety, they were the only ones with wide eyes, thrilled and excited, eager not to miss any of the action.
“Bring it on!”
Facing the thunderous punch, Jiang Pengji didn’t flinch but stepped forward, directly meeting the blow head-on.
She side-palmed the man’s wrist, deflecting most of the force, then with a powerful thrust, seized his arm, spinning and tossing him aside as if using his own strength against him. The movement was simple, yet it showcased the absolute finesse of using “force” to its fullest.
These were house servants who needed training; she couldn’t just pummel them without restraint, leaving them groaning helplessly afterward—who would train them then? Therefore, Jiang Pengji simply sought to teach them a lesson, leaving them thoroughly convinced.
The Seventh Legion was known for its combative spirit; their motto was effectively “stir things up,” and they had some rather crude “bad habits” in the eyes of outsiders.
Every year, nearly all new recruits had to endure a “new recruit initiation,” which meant confronting the veterans and taking a beating. Young people always had the fiery spirit; without a good brawl, they’d be hard to handle later.
Similarly, these house servants had their own agendas; they wouldn’t necessarily take their training seriously in the future—time for a little motivation.
Rather than worry about future headaches, it was better to knock some sense into them now.
For Jiang Pengji, nothing in this world couldn’t be solved with a good thrashing; if there was anything left unresolved, she’d just give them another round!
The first servant to charge at her was like a signal, dispelling the doubts in the hearts of the others, seizing the moment of courage to rush at Jiang Pengji. Surely with their numbers, how could they fear taking down a young and seemingly weak noble?
They didn’t want to go overboard; none of them were looking to kill her since that would lead to their own doom as well.
They merely wanted to defeat Jiang Pengji; once won, her promise made before everyone would bind her to her word, and for the sake of their pride, they couldn’t afford to ignore it.
But dreams were pretty, reality was painfully stark.
