Banditry 01

Fang Zhiyi woke up in bed and immediately looked towards Xiao Hei, only relaxing when he saw Xiao Hei nod.

The feeling of not having anyone chasing after you was quite good.

Then, Xiao Hei continued transmitting the plot.

This was a story of a ruthless hero in turbulent times, a genre Fang Zhiyi was quite familiar with, as TV dramas of this type aired periodically in his original world.

This was a small city in the south.

The female lead was a progressive student named Shen Zhixia. Her parents were somewhat well-known figures. Due to a conflict with them, Shen Zhixia secretly ran away, traveling south with her uncle's family. Her uncle was a merchant, making this trip to deliver goods.

Thirty li from Xi City, the group encountered bandits. The merchant party suffered heavy casualties, and Shen Zhixia was abducted to the Qingfeng Stronghold. It was here that she met the male lead, Fu Yunshen. Fu Yunshen was captivated the moment he saw her. Shen Zhixia stood in the main hall condemning their bandit ways, making everyone roar with laughter. Looking at this girl, Fu Yunshen unconsciously curled the corner of his mouth.

He was domineering, she was stubborn. The two of them began a game of cat and mouse within the Qingfeng Stronghold. Shen Zhixia gradually adapted to life there, occasionally helping others in the stronghold with tasks. During an outing, she encountered other bandits, but luckily Fu Yunshen appeared in time and saved her. It was from this moment that Shen Zhixia finally took Fu Yunshen's hand of her own accord and began to learn his story.

Fu Yunshen was originally from a wealthy family, but because his family backed the wrong side, they were purged by the local warlord. He escaped, alone and destitute, and was found by bandits, making the Qingfeng Stronghold his home from then on. However, the old stronghold leader was cruel and tyrannical, so the resourceful Fu Yunshen schemed to poison the old leader and had those who opposed him, like the second-in-command, eliminated, thus stabilizing the situation in Qingfeng Stronghold.

However, through his interactions with the female lead, Fu Yunshen was moved by her and decided to turn over a new leaf.

"Lay down the butcher's knife, and become a Buddha on the spot."

Fu Yunshen disbanded many of the Qingfeng Stronghold members, with only some brothers who were wanted by the authorities remaining. Fu Yunshen took Shen Zhixia to Xi City. He had money, so he bought a house in the city to live in and opened a general store to run a small business. Shen Zhixia spent her days painting and reading. The couple were both great benefactors, actively helping neighbors in need. Their life was exceptionally peaceful.

But this tranquility was soon shattered because former subordinates of Fu Yunshen came to visit. The Fu couple hosted a banquet for them. This scene was witnessed by a neighbor, who grew suspicious because he seemed to have seen a few of the guests on official wanted posters before.

Through the neighbor's secret investigation, he finally confirmed that Fu Yunshen was the leader of the Qingfeng bandits and immediately ran to the county yamen to report him.

The county yamen sent soldiers to arrest Fu Yunshen. Upon learning he was surrounded, Fu Yunshen did not resist. He only slipped Shen Zhixia a map when saying goodbye, telling her to leave. Shen Zhixia, clever as she was, immediately disguised herself as a man, passed through layers of checkpoints to get outside the city, hired a hunter to go into the mountains with her, and according to the map's markings, found a hidden cave. There, she saw the treasure Fu Yunshen had hidden away.

Shen Zhixia immediately formed a plan. She took some silver dollars and gold bars and returned to Xi City. She saw Fu Yunshen in the prison. Fu Yunshen looked surprised and urged her to leave, but Shen Zhixia said she was determined to save him. After arguing back and forth, Shen Zhixia resolutely left.

Indeed, the power of money is great. That night, the county yamen officials' eyes gleamed at the sight of the gold bars and silver dollars Shen Zhixia presented. Having taken the money, they had to deliver. So the next day, Fu Yunshen was brought for interrogation. Already knowing the reason, he began to deny the accusations. Eventually, the county magistrate determined he was not the leader of the Qingfeng bandits, and Fu Yunshen was successfully released.

Upon gaining freedom, Fu Yunshen's first thought was to settle scores with the neighbor who informed on him, but the neighbor had already fled upon hearing the news.

After discussing it, the couple still decided to leave Xi City. But fate played its tricks. Just as they were about to depart, they encountered an army coming to take over Xi City. The leader was a young general surnamed Yan, named Yan Qi, known as the Iron-blooded Asura.

Shen Zhixia saw that missing neighbor and knew things were bad. Sure enough, before they could leave, they were blocked in an alley, and Fu Yunshen was taken to prison again.

However, Shen Zhixia's background was clean, and Yan Qi did not trouble her, merely driving her away.

Shen Zhixia set out to rescue her husband again. Following Fu Yunshen's suggestion, she again hired the hunter father and son from before to go into the mountains. This time, she found her husband's former subordinates. These bandits, upon hearing their leader was captured, immediately decided to break him out of prison.

But they underestimated Yan Qi's methods. Most of the bandits who went were surrounded and killed, and the rest could only flee in panic.

However, in the chaos, Fu Yunshen also escaped.

He and Shen Zhixia were forced to become bandits once more. So Fu Yunshen took out his hidden treasure to recruit soldiers and buy horses. Relying on his formidable protagonist's halo, he wiped out the large and small bandit strongholds nearby, and actually gathered over a thousand bandit soldiers under his command.

Thus, he began a war of attrition with Yan Qi. When Yan Qi suppressed bandits, they hid; when Yan Qi returned to the city, they harassed.

But because Shen Zhixia wanted to buy books and went into the city, someone noticed something amiss, and Shen Zhixia fell into Yan Qi's hands.

To rescue her, Fu Yunshen mobilized all his men. But bandits were, after all, bandits, gaining no advantage against regular troops. So he thought of another plan.

Yan Qi was subordinate to a major warlord and had been sent to Xi City due to his stubborn character. So Fu Yunshen took money to pay a visit to the major warlord. Everything went smoothly, and the major warlord also admired Fu Yunshen. Consequently, Yan Qi was dismissed and held accountable.

Yan Qi had no way to defend himself and could only leave in anger. However, once he left, he never returned. It wasn't until three months later that someone discovered his corpse hanging at Eagle Beak Ridge, his internal organs removed, a horrific sight. The neighbor who initially reported Fu Yunshen also died, his head missing.

As for Shen Zhixia and Fu Yunshen, they stayed. Fu Yunshen became the local security regiment commander, essentially obtaining an official position.

But the story did not end there. Later, Fu Yunshen was framed by others and also discovered the major warlord's greed. He secretly launched a coup to seize power, ultimately becoming the new ruler, while Shen Zhixia became the widely known Mrs. Fu, a great benefactress.

A legendary love story in turbulent times.

Fang Zhiyi scratched his head: "Where am I?"

Xiao Hei said, "You are Fu Yunshen's neighbor."

"Ah?" Fang Zhiyi looked down at the long gown he was wearing. "A minor character to advance the plot, right?"

At that moment, he heard the commotion from next door. According to the original plot, he would now go to secretly observe, because Fu Yunshen's household had always been quiet, and the sudden arrival of guests would arouse curiosity.