On one side of the Shuanglong Gang’s martial arts training ground, there was a row of tall trees, their shade covering the sun.
Sunlight filtered through the mottled leaves, falling on a square of bluestone slabs beneath the trees.
Several sheds were set up nearby, used for meals and drinking water on a daily basis.
At this time of day, there should have been no one here.
However, a beautiful young woman wearing the new recruit’s plate armor
was sitting leisurely on a stone block under the shade of the trees, holding a large flatbread in her hand and eating with relish.
It was none other than Shan Wanjing, resting here!
And the reason why Li Xiuning and Hongfu Nu hadn’t seen her before.
All the new recruits in the training field were wearing uniform plate armor, and the shade of the trees concealed her figure.
Naturally, they hadn’t noticed her!
“Cough…”
Suddenly, Shan Wanjing seemed to have choked on the dry flatbread.
She rushed to a water tank nearby, scooped up some water, and drank several large gulps!
Her completely unrestrained actions formed a stark contrast with her stunningly beautiful features!
After finishing the water, she let out a satisfied sigh, as if she had cast all her troubles to the wind!
Just then, a few new recruits’ voices reached her ears from behind:
“That red-clothed girl just now was way cuter than the big sis!”
“Right! She looks like such a gentle and sweet girl, I really want to go up and introduce myself!”
“What are you talking about, you’re just being a creep!”
“That dignified-looking woman beside her is definitely a stunning beauty too!”
“They were looking over here earlier, they must have been captivated by me…”
Shan Wanjing turned around sharply, her eyes scanning the new recruits, and asked sternly:
“Who did you say is prettier and gentler than this young lady!”
The few new recruits shuddered, turning their heads to see the smile-yet-not-smiling expression on Shan Wanjing’s face!
Their legs went weak!
One of them quickly pleaded:
“Big sis, we didn’t say anything!”
Shan Wanjing was not only not inferior to other men in terms of training in the military camp!
Even her martial arts skills were exceptional among the new recruits!
Not to mention that she even dared to contradict Vice-commander Xu Ziling, so no one dared to provoke this little miss!
And there was a rumor that she often called the young commander “husband”!
With this rumor added!
Shan Wanjing was practically untouchable in the Shuanglong Gang!
Although she hadn’t done anything out of line because of it.
But neither new nor veteran soldiers in the young commander’s army dared to provoke her!
A thought flashed through Shan Wanjing’s mind, remembering that the people they were describing seemed familiar to her!
When she first came to Jiangdu, she had originally planned to first seek refuge with her good friend, Li Xiuning!
But she happened to catch the young commander’s army recruiting new soldiers, thinking it would be a shame to miss this opportunity.
She ended up joining the Shuanglong Gang by chance…
It seemed she hadn’t even greeted Sister Li yet!
Thinking this, she asked the few new recruits, whose faces were a little tense:
“Where did those two women you mentioned go?”
The few new recruits immediately pointed towards the direction of the meeting hall in the backyard:
“They went to the meeting hall!”
Shan Wanjing snorted coldly, and said:
“Next time, don’t let me catch you, otherwise, I’ll make you do extra training!”
After saying that, Shan Wanjing ignored them and strode towards the meeting hall.
The few new recruits looked at each other, thinking that they wouldn’t dare to gossip again in the future…
Meanwhile, inside the meeting hall, after Li Xiuning finished saying that she was there to find someone.
Xu Ziling calmly glanced at Kou Zhong.
He thought to himself, wouldn’t this be the crazy woman that Young Master Zhong had said he would go and find?
Kou Zhong didn’t respond to Xu Ziling’s gaze, but looked at Li Xiuning indifferently.
This was the woman who had a huge impact on the original Kou Zhong!
In the original story, after the Twin Dragons were coincidentally saved by Dongming Madam, they stole the secret ledger of the Dongming sect!
Then they met Li Shimin, and thus became acquainted with Li Xiuning!
The original Kou Zhong was instantly smitten by this woman!
He harbored feelings for her in his heart, but he didn’t realize that Li Xiuning already had a lover and didn’t have any feelings for him.
Later, because of the ledger and the “Long Life Scripture”, they were targeted by the various factions.
Li Shimin had the intention of recruiting the Twin Dragons, so naturally he was warm and polite!
However, Pei Ji and Chai Shao were incredibly arrogant towards them, not taking the Twin Dragons seriously.
Coupled with the ambiguous interactions between Li Xiuning and Chai Shao, the original Kou Zhong felt extremely uncomfortable!
Finally, when Li Shimin proposed that the Twin Dragons could work together with him to conquer the world!
And when their Li family had achieved success, the Twin Dragons could also enjoy the wealth and glory…
The Twin Dragons immediately rejected the offer and left!
It was also from that time onwards that the original Kou Zhong first experienced the disdain that the powerful families felt towards people like them.
He said that he would become emperor, that he would fight for dominance, that he would establish an eternal legacy!
As Kou Zhong pondered, Li Xiuning’s face was calm beneath her veil.
But she was secretly calculating the Twin Dragons’ situation.
Previously, she had only heard rumors, but now that she had met them in person, she discovered that Kou Zhong was the leader of the two!
Xu Ziling seemed clever and resourceful, but based on his performance just now.
He was not as steady as Kou Zhong!
Her return to her separate residence in Jiangdu also carried a huge risk!
Her father, Li Yuan, was currently guarding Taiyuan, while the Turks on the border were very restless!
And the two rebel leaders of the Yingyang faction, Liang Shi’du and Liu Wuzhou, had defected to the Turks!
They were respectively enfeoffed as the Great Du Pi Jia Khan and the Ding Yang Khan!
These two traitors later, under the orders of the Turkic Khan, pressed forward to attack Taiyuan!
If Li Yuan couldn’t defend Taiyuan, the Turks would definitely seize the opportunity to invade, and then the Central Plains would be in danger…
The Li family’s current situation was truly a double-edged sword!
And the Dugu family and the Yuwen family, both of them wished they would be completely wiped out!
But no one could help them, they could only rely on the Li family’s own fortune.
And she was sent back to Jiangdu by her father and brothers at great risk to seek her fortune—
The Shuanglong Gang!
The Li family’s stronghold, Taiyuan, was located on the upper reaches of the Fen River, between the Taihang Mountains and the Yellow River!
It controlled the mountains and rivers, stood on the shoulders of the world, and was the foundation of Hedong, with abundant troops and supplies!
They must spread their benevolence throughout the world, win over martial arts heroes, and expand their influence in order to survive!
And the key to the Shuanglong Gang was clearly the Twin Dragons in front of her!
Seeing that neither Kou Zhong nor Xu Ziling said anything, Li Xiuning couldn’t help but speak again:
“Have either of you gentlemen seen a stunningly beautiful young woman enter the Shuanglong Gang?”
Xu Ziling still maintained his gentle expression, and Kou Zhong wouldn’t speak if he didn’t, so he definitely wouldn’t speak.
Kou Zhong pretended to think about it for a moment.
His Divine Consciousness spread out, and he discovered that Shan Wanjing was on her way to the meeting hall.
In the distance outside the Shuanglong Gang’s base, there were many armored cavalrymen standing by.
A hint of strangeness flashed in his eyes, it seemed that Li Xiuning’s intentions were not simple this time.
Then I can’t let you have your way…
He suddenly said to Xu Ziling:
“Young Master Zhong, don’t you still have to oversee the new recruits’ training? Don’t let them slack off.”
His gaze continued, inexplicably:
“Don’t let ‘any’ deserters appear.”
Xu Ziling was puzzled, but his expression remained unreadable. He stood up and said:
“Then I shall take my leave!”
He left the meeting hall…
He walked for a while, still thinking about what Kou Zhong had said.
“Hey, white-clothed jerk!”
As he was pondering, a soft voice reached him from ahead.
He looked up and saw Shan Wanjing, and Xu Ziling immediately understood Kou Zhong’s meaning.
He couldn’t let Shan Wanjing appear right now!
“How come you’re a deserter? Don’t you know you can’t leave the training ground during the rest period?”
Xu Ziling immediately said to Shan Wanjing with a cold face.
Shan Wanjing was indifferent, saying:
“I was looking for my good friend, she seems to be looking for me!”
Xu Ziling stood in front of her and continued:
“Young Master Zhong said, if any new recruit breaks the rules, I can dismiss them!”
“If you want to stay in the Shuanglong Gang, go back with me to train immediately!”
Shan Wanjing glared at Xu Ziling, who was like a bomb that had just been ignited, but she didn’t want to be expelled!
If she left the Shuanglong Gang, she would definitely be caught by her mother and brought back!
She went back to the training ground with Xu Ziling…
Inside the meeting hall, Kou Zhong stood up and said:
“Miss Li, we haven’t seen any unfamiliar young women in our gang.”
“And the young commander’s army can’t have you all searching one by one, so how about this…”
“I’ll have someone check everyone tonight, and if we find her, I’ll personally escort her to your manor!”
“I have something else to take care of, so I won’t see you off.”
As he spoke, a maid walked up, looking like she was about to escort them out.
Hongfu Nu, seeing Kou Zhong’s attitude, her fiery temper flared, and she stood up, pointing at Kou Zhong:
“You…”
But Li Xiuning stopped her, she removed her hood, revealing her heroic and stunning face.
She stared deeply at Kou Zhong, then said:
“Then we’ll wait for good news…”
She pulled Hongfu Nu and left.
Along the way, they avoided the training ground and were sent out of the Shuanglong Gang’s base.
In the carriage, Hongfu Nu was furious, saying:
“Miss, those Twin Dragons are too disrespectful to us!”
“We’ve only been here for a short while, and they’re completely…”
Li Xiuning’s face was calm, and she said:
“Little Sister Shan must be inside the Shuanglong Gang, but they don’t want to hand her over to us now.”
“They clearly have some ulterior motive, we’ll just wait and see.”
Li Xiuning’s carriage arrived at her manor.
But she saw a handsome young man in yellow robes in the courtyard!
Li Xiuning couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise:
“Brother Shao!”