Qiao Qiu was awakened by the noisy chatter of many children, who seemed very happy. She got up, opened the window a crack, and immediately saw Yu Honghua in the crowd, handing out snacks to the children.

Her smile was very sweet, and she looked like a friendly older sister next door, not at all like a mountain king.

Qiao Qiu knew what was going on without even thinking. A group of people must have been forced to turn to banditry because they had no food. Judging from the number of women and children here, there were far fewer men, indicating a clear labor shortage.

To win them over, she first needs to crack down on corruption. She needs to send someone to investigate who was the magistrate of Honghua's original village.

Qiao Qiu opened the window and walked to the front of the hall. "Someone come here."

A dark figure climbed in through the window and knelt on one knee before him, saying, "Your subordinate is here."

"Notify Ji Xian to immediately send someone to investigate where Yu Honghua and the others were from before they became outlaws. Also, investigate who the officials in charge were at that time?"

"Yes, I'll go right away."

As soon as her subordinate left, Qiao Qiu opened the door and walked out, lazily asking, "What's all the commotion about?"

As soon as she appeared, everyone fell silent, all staring at her. Qiao Qiu touched her mask; well, she didn't take it off.

Why are these people staring at her like that when she hasn't taken off her mask?!

She hadn't forgotten that she was a prisoner.

"My benefactor!"

A middle-aged man suddenly rushed out from the crowd and knelt down excitedly in front of Qiao Qiu. Immediately afterward, everyone behind him, except for a few leaders, also knelt down.

Qiao Qiu was stunned for a second, then looked up at Yu Honghua, who had regained her chivalrous demeanor in the distance, wanting to hear an explanation.

“Young Master Meng, you are such a kind person. If it weren’t for your willingness to give us a thousand taels of silver, we would all be starving to death here,” the middle-aged man said, choking with emotion.

Qiao Qiu finally understood what was going on and waved her hand, "You're welcome. This is just the money I paid to redeem myself. Get up, everyone."

Everyone was quite embarrassed by the incident, especially Yu Honghua, who had drugged Meng Yuanqing twice. To make matters worse, she felt she had fallen in love with him at first sight.

"This...Young Master Meng, I'm truly sorry. Our chieftain had no choice. If it weren't for us, she wouldn't have kidnapped you," the middle-aged man said sincerely.

"At such a young age, you're already learning bad habits." Qiao Qiu glanced at Yu Honghua with displeasure, then turned and left.

Yu Honghua was puzzled by the stares, so she handed what she was holding to the second brother beside her and chased after him.

Everyone stood up, huddled together, and watched the two figures disappear from sight.

"Hiss, I have a feeling our boss is interested in Young Master Meng."

“That’s great. Our boss has excellent taste. Young Master Meng is the richest man in our Jinxi Kingdom. If our boss marries him, we will never have to worry about food or clothing.”

"Yes, that's right."

"Hey, hey, hey, what if our boss is just being wishful?"

“Young Master Meng looks at our eldest son like he’s a little sister. That’s not very nice.”

"Fellow villagers, so that we can live a better life..."

Everyone exchanged glances, then simultaneously raised their hands, "Help!"

Qiao Qiu had no idea what kind of weirdos she had encountered. She was feeling really annoyed. It was one thing for them to kidnap her, but the thought that they had also kidnapped other men made her even angrier.

Feihong Mountain is just like an ordinary farmhouse, with houses on both sides and fields all around. To the west is a mountain stream, and this is the direction Qiao Qiu is heading.

"Meng Yuanqing, don't go that way!"

A scream came from behind. Qiao Qiu stopped and looked around warily. How could she have been so careless? Fei Hong Mountain was not simple, otherwise it would not have been impossible to conquer it for so many years.

Yu Honghua caught up with her and quickly pulled her out of the ravine.

The two had just left when countless venomous snakes slithered out from the hidden place, their density terrifying.

Qiao Qiu's eyes widened, her pupils contracted, "A poisonous snake."

She was afraid of very few things, but she was always terrified of venomous snakes. Even when she was in a position to kill them, she would feel the hairs on her body stand on end.

"Don't wander around here, or you'll be in danger." Yu Honghua was skilled in using poison, so she had poisoned many places. These places were usually strictly forbidden for people from the village to enter or leave.

Qiao Qiu nodded and looked down at their hands.

Yu Honghua noticed her gaze and looked down to see that her hand was tightly gripping Meng Yuanqing's. She felt as if she were holding a red-hot iron and quickly let go. Her face immediately burned, turning as red as a boiled shrimp shell.

"Thank you." Qiao Qiu felt she should say something, otherwise the atmosphere would become awkward.

"You're welcome. I should be the one thanking you." Yu Honghua twisted her fingers and lowered her head shyly.

"Where did you originally come from?"

“We have always been people of Nanxia, ​​but we were originally ordinary people from Mopan Village,” Yu Honghua said.

Why did you choose to become an outlaw?

Yu Honghua bit her lip. The question was harsh, but it was the truth; they were indeed bandits. "Back then, the landlords and county officials colluded to take 80% of our rent. These past few years, the harvest wasn't good; the villagers only had 20% of their grain to live on. How could they survive? Many starved to death. When I was young, my master took me away to learn a trade. When I returned, my family was already..."

Yu Honghua choked up and couldn't continue speaking.

"Corrupt officials should be dealt with swiftly." This was Qiao Qiu's serious thought. Even if Yu Honghua didn't kill that corrupt official, she would still report it to her father, the emperor, and ask him to punish him according to the law.

Yu Honghua composed herself and said to Qiao Qiu, "We didn't kill that corrupt official. Considering the safety of our fellow villagers, we moved our entire families here overnight to become outlaws and barely manage to live a peaceful life."

Qiao Qiu looked at her with her hands behind her back, "What's going on with the recent reports of you burning, killing, and looting everywhere?"

Yu Honghua became furious upon hearing this and glared at Qiao Qiu, "Do you also believe that we did it?"

Qiao Qiu looked her up and down. "Even if I were willing to believe it, you don't have that ability."

"You!" Yu Honghua was either angry or ashamed, her originally fair face turned as red as a ripe shrimp.

"You are skilled with poison, yet you have repeatedly attacked my men with violence." It seems that this is just as she expected; someone has indeed used the name of Flying Red Mountain to cause trouble everywhere.

Yu Honghua was slightly taken aback. "You came to this mountain stronghold with me to investigate this?"

Qiao Qiu nodded slightly and smiled, "Otherwise, what did you think it was? Did you really think that your little tricks could so easily get me out of the Murong residence?"

"Then why did you give me money?" Yu Honghua felt that her question was a bit abrupt.