Chapter Twenty: This Woman Is Quite Something

After stepping out of the courtyard, Li Xiao led the three of them just a short distance to his second uncle's house. His second aunt had already taken Erbao and their two daughters to Dragon Heart Island, and Dahu would be coming over to stay with Li Xiao and Erhu. Thus, his second uncle's house was left vacant, making it the perfect place for Xiao Yanyan and her companions to stay.

"These rooms are for you. We don't have enough bedding, so you'll have to make do with sheepskins for a few days," Li Xiao said, entering the house and instructing Xiao Yanyan. Although the villagers of Hexi Fort were full of resentment toward the man named Dahu Chuluoduo, they wouldn't hold a woman like Xiao Yanyan responsible. Furthermore, Li Xiao knew she was a princess.

"Fine. It looks decent enough here," Xiao Yanyan said, looking around the courtyard before turning to Li Xiao with a satisfied tone. "We won't mess with your things. Also, take this—consider it payment for our lodging and food for the time being. I don't like owing anyone favors."

With that, she nonchalantly took out a hanging ornament from her person. It was a phoenix shape forged from gold, exquisitely crafted. Having lost many belongings during their escape, this piece was one of her more valuable items.

"Gold! Well, it's worth a bit, so I won't stand on ceremony," Li Xiao said with a chuckle, accepting it. The golden phoenix pendant weighed about three taels. In Western Liao, the exchange rate between gold and silver fluctuated around ten to one, meaning the ornament was worth roughly thirty taels of silver. If one accounted for the craftsmanship, it could potentially be worth double that. In this era, one tael of silver was worth about a thousand copper coins, or one string. Thirty strings might not sound like much, but Western Liao’s commerce was not particularly developed, especially in the four northern border provinces where the industry was singular, focusing mainly on agriculture and animal husbandry. The Han people in the north might have plenty of cattle, sheep, and grain, but aside from paying taxes, they rarely sold them. Thus, precious metals like gold and silver were quite scarce.

To Li Xiao, this finely crafted ornament was worth a decent sum, but to a princess of Western Liao, it was likely just an ordinary trinket. He accepted it without hesitation; after all, the horse meat he had just served them was also quite valuable.

However, seeing Li Xiao accept the gold so shamelessly, the Khitan warrior who spoke Chinese couldn't help but snort, "This thing could buy two fine horses! Aren't you going to thank the Princess?" The reason the warrior was so annoyed was that he found these Han people utterly shameless. Not only had they confiscated the horses and weapons of the Karluks, but they hadn't spared the Khitans either. They had robbed them of so many horses and weapons, and now they were even charging for food and lodging? How shameless!

Li Xiao glanced at him coldly. For some reason, these two had disliked him from the start, and he felt the same about them. In the northern border, a good horse cost much less than in the Central Plains, but still between ten and twenty taels of silver. The Khitan wasn't lying about the value, but Li Xiao didn't care for the money—it was the man's tone that irritated him.

With a natural movement, Li Xiao pocketed the ornament and, in the next second, delivered a sudden kick.

*Thud.*

Since his arrival, Li Xiao’s physical strength had seen an all-around improvement, and the power in his leg was immense. The kick landed squarely on the Khitan’s chest, sending him flying backward to land heavily on the ground with a muffled groan.

"Argh!" The warrior lay on the ground, clutching his chest and wailing. He felt as if his ribs were about to snap, and he began to retch, vomiting up the horse meat he had just eaten.

"Eating so much and yet so useless, you're just a bottomless pit!" Li Xiao scoffed. "No wonder your master was hunted down so miserably by the Karluks—it's because she's surrounded by trash like you."

"Atulu!" The other warrior, seeing his companion struck, shouted in anger and reached for his blade. But Li Xiao kicked again, sending the second warrior sprawling alongside the first.

Li Xiao was truly incensed now. He pointed at the pair and cursed, "Damn you, I’ve been putting up with you for a long time. You keep chirping in front of me—do you think this is the Royal Court? Do you want to see if you can even make it out of Hexi Fort alive?"

Western Liao was, after all, a state ruled by the Khitans, so even low-ranking Khitans often felt a sense of superiority over the Han people. But Li Xiao didn't buy into that. If they dared to act arrogant in front of him, he wouldn't hesitate to remind them of their place. Not killing them was already giving Xiao Yanyan face.

After dealing with the two warriors, Li Xiao turned to Xiao Yanyan, his expression indifferent. "Miss Xiao, you really should discipline your subordinates. A temperament like theirs will only bring you trouble."

Li Xiao’s movements had been so swift that Xiao Yanyan hadn't even reacted. She turned to look at her two groaning subordinates, her beautiful eyes widening in a dazed, bewildered expression.

"You—" Her face puffed up with indignation as she glared at Li Xiao. She had never expected that the man who had been perfectly fine a moment ago would turn violent so suddenly. Was he a dog? And one never beats a dog without considering its master! This scoundrel was bullying her people right in front of her.

Xiao Yanyan was furious. The Princess, who had initially found Li Xiao’s wild and fierce nature somewhat refreshing, now felt her favor toward him dropping to nearly zero.

Li Xiao, however, didn't care what the Princess thought. He shook his head and said, "I was just helping you out, no need to thank me." With that, he turned and left. Although Xiao Yanyan was a princess and a daughter of the Xiao clan, Li Xiao wouldn't pamper her. He had no intention of relying on the Khitans to climb the social ladder. In this world, it was all about whose fist was bigger.

After Li Xiao left, Xiao Yanyan stood in the courtyard, her anger simmering. She snapped at the two guards still groaning on the ground, "Why are you two so stupid? You couldn't even beat one boy! He was right—how long has it been since you practiced your martial arts? You just eat and sleep; you've become nothing but useless gluttons!" She channeled all her frustration toward Li Xiao onto her subordinates. It was humiliating. Her chest heaved with exertion as she panted, "I'm so angry! That scoundrel! He doesn't hold me in any regard at all!"

To think a proper Princess of Western Liao was being lectured by a brat! The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She walked over to a ram passing by and gave it a kick in the rump.

"Baa, baa!"

Before this, Xiao Yanyan had a rather good impression of Li Xiao, viewing him as a brave young hero. She had even considered having him serve as her bodyguard. But now, she changed her mind: Li Xiao was a jerk. His temperament was too foul, he couldn't take a joke, he was arrogant, and he had no awe for the nobility. If she took him to the Royal Court as a bodyguard, he would surely cause her nothing but trouble. Perhaps one day, in a fit of rage, he would just go and slaughter Yelu Zhilugu.

Yelu Zhilugu was the current Gur-khan and also Xiao Yanyan’s cousin. Although she herself wanted to kill him, she knew it was impossible. Yet, she felt that if the scoundrel Li Xiao went to the Royal Court, he would actually dare to do it.

Facing her reprimands, the two guards looked aggrieved. "Princess, we... that boy’s strength is just too great..." One guard tried to explain that it wasn't their fault, but that Li Xiao was simply too fast and too strong. They couldn't help it; the opponent was just too formidable. But to Xiao Yanyan, these were merely excuses.

Just as her anger reached a boiling point, one of the guards on the ground suddenly widened his eyes and shouted, "Princess, look out!"

Before the words were out, Xiao Yanyan felt a heavy blow to her backside—it was excruciatingly painful.

"Ah!"

The world spun, and she stumbled forward, landing flat on her face. To make matters worse, she landed right in a pile of cow dung.

"Argh!" Xiao Yanyan was absolutely livid, ready to explode. She looked back, fully expecting to see that scoundrel Li Xiao sneaking up on her. But to her surprise, all she saw was a sheep!

It was the very same ram she had kicked earlier. The ram had been walking by peacefully when it was kicked for no reason. Being a combative creature, it couldn't let that slide. And Xiao Yanyan, having no patience either, was stunned that even a sheep would dare to bully her.

She pounded the ground in rage, stood up, and charged at the ram, grabbing its horns and attempting to wrestle it to the ground. "You scoundrel! How dare you ram me!"

Meanwhile, Li Xiao had not yet reached his own house when he looked back and saw Xiao Yanyan wrestling with a sheep. He was speechless.

"This woman is quite the firecracker," he muttered. In his mind, ancient princesses were supposed to be dignified and elegant, keeping up appearances in everything they did. Some were even scheming, masterful manipulators. But seeing this, he realized the Princess of Western Liao was truly a maverick—the type who would rather fight than talk.

He liked that personality.