After transmigrating into the body of a widow, I became the richest man in the capital.

Chapter 212 Encountering Mountain Bandits
Su Xiaoxiao rubbed her hair and walked out, where she saw Liu Qiaomei drawing water from the well in the yard.

"You took me back to my room last night?"

Liu Qiaomei smiled shyly, "No, it was Brother Pei Yuan who took you back?"

"Is he the only one?"

Su Xiaoxiao remembered her clothes, "Where are my clothes?"

"My brother Pei Yuan asked me to help you change your clothes?"

Liu Qiaomei replied with a bewildered look.

"Oh, is that so? That's good, that's good..."

Just as Su Xiaoxiao was about to leave, Liu Qiaomei approached her with an air of knowing everything, "Sister Su, why do you seem so disappointed?"

"What are you saying? Get back to what you're doing!"

Su Xiaoxiao pretended to be busy with her own things, feeling guilty, but her face was as red as a sheet.

She was terrified of running into Pei Yuan, so she walked with her head down guiltily, only to bump into him again.

She remembered how she had pinched and squeezed the girl's face on the roof last night, and that instantly sobered her up completely.

She pretended to remember something, slapped the back of her head, and said, "Um, I'm going to take a shower."

Su Xiaoxiao hurriedly ran away from Pei Yuan, afraid that Pei Yuan would bring up what happened yesterday.

Thinking about it, Su Xiaoxiao felt she had really been bold enough. She felt that this rooftop Mid-Autumn Festival meet-and-greet was a great deal. She hadn't even bought a ticket, yet she had touched the face of her idol, Hiroki Iijima, and even took advantage of her drunken outburst to grope him. It really was a great deal.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Emperor finally decided to return to the palace, but he still did not notify the local government to avoid causing a commotion.

Su Xiaoxiao asked the Emperor what he wanted to eat, and the Emperor replied, "Just arrange some dishes that you haven't cooked in the last few days."

Upon seeing this, Su Xiaoxiao said to the Emperor, "No problem."

Su Xiaoxiao made a steamed pork dish using rice flour. After frying the rice until fragrant, she added salt and spices and then ground them together.

Su Xiaoxiao had never actually made steamed pork with rice flour before. She only remembered hearing that a certain big star from that era loved to eat it, which is why she remembered how to make the dish.

Today, the village head gave Su Xiaoxiao some sweet potatoes. Su Xiaoxiao cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and immediately made a traditional sweet potato sauce.

There's also tofu puffs and braised pork bones with pickled cabbage, and of course, stir-fried cured duck, which was the emperor's favorite dish.

The dish was stir-fried with chives. After stir-frying the chives, Su Xiaoxiao stir-fried some snails that Da Bao had caught from the river that day.

It's stir-fried with chili peppers, and the aroma is simply irresistible.

Life is only about 30,000 days long. We eat and drink as we please, mainly busy with our own mouths.

The tedious steps of washing, preparing, and cooking vegetables took almost half a day. It's only because Su Xiaoxiao is smart that she took so long; someone less intelligent would have taken much longer.

The sauerkraut stew with pork bones also included blood sausage. Luckily, a neighbor was slaughtering a pig, so I asked for some blood sausage.

Su Xiaoxiao asked Dabao to call the Sun family over, as it would be more lively with more people.

When the Sun family arrived, it certainly made the place much more lively.

Everyone drank heartily and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

The next day, Su Xiaoxiao and Pei Yuan escorted the Emperor to the town. The Emperor wanted Pei Yuan to accompany him back to the capital.

"I will not return. Your Majesty, please take care!"

Pei Yuan bowed, and the emperor had no choice. This incognito visit was supposedly to show concern for the people, but in reality, he wanted to meet with his good brother and persuade him to return to court to help.

Pei Yuan refused, and the Emperor was powerless to stop him. He couldn't very well kidnap Pei Yuan and bring him back to the capital, could he?
In fact, Pei Yuan had long wanted to resign and return to his hometown, but the emperor was reluctant to let him leave.

After seeing the Emperor off, Su Xiaoxiao was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

She and Pei Yuan walked back together. When they passed the grove of trees on the edge of the village, Su Xiaoxiao noticed that Pei Yuan kept looking behind her.

Su Xiaoxiao noticed that Pei Yuan's expression was off, and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Just as Pei Yuan was about to speak, he heard a lot of chaotic hoofbeats behind him, followed by someone shouting, "This mountain is mine, this tree is mine, if you want to pass, leave your toll!"

Su Xiaoxiao felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing this. Could it be that she had been robbed?
She remembered passing by this road every day and never encountering bandits here.

It was still midday, and the weather was hot; I figured no one would be out and about. But in broad daylight, we encountered bandits.

A group of men dressed in black bodysuits and wearing veils ran up behind her.

Her face was covered by a black veil; she was certainly professional.

Su Xiaoxiao glanced at Pei Yuan beside her and asked, "Do you have any money on you?"

Pei Yuan shook his head innocently and shrugged, revealing that he had never been penniless.

Su Xiaoxiao checked her pockets and found them empty; she hadn't brought any money with her when she came to town to see the Emperor off.

There are at least thirty men in black right now. How come there are so many thieves, and they're all dressed so neatly?

One of the bandits said to his leader, "Boss, we actually caught a fat sheep today! This woman seems to be very rich!"

Upon hearing this, Su Xiaoxiao felt utterly wronged, "Where would I get any money?"

Su Xiaoxiao thought to herself, "I'm just wearing ordinary peasant clothes and I don't have any other valuable jewelry. How can they tell I'm rich?"
"Reporting to the boss, this woman sells jam in our town. She even owns a shop. She's really rich!"

Su Xiaoxiao was startled; how had she been recognized?

As the saying goes, "People are afraid of becoming famous, just as pigs are afraid of getting fat," which is exactly the point. In fact, Su Xiaoxiao is now considered a celebrity here.

Just as she was wondering what to do, the bandits rushed up and surrounded Su Xiaoxiao's carriage, which was empty.

But they still managed to rob everything. "Reporting to the boss, there's nothing left."

The gang leader leered at Su Xiaoxiao and grabbed her arm.

"It's alright, as long as we catch her, we won't have to worry about anything."

Su Xiaoxiao glared at them fiercely, and was about to say what she would do to resist when she suddenly heard the leader behind her shout.

A gleaming dagger had appeared under his neck without his noticing.

This knife looks very sharp.

"Don't move, don't come any closer. If you do, I'll stab your boss right through the heart."

The bandits below were terrified and panicked. "Okay, hero, whatever you say, we'll listen to you, as long as you don't hurt our boss."

It turned out that Pei Yuan was holding a dagger and had threatened the bandit leader.

"First, you must return everything you stole from the carriage."

The bandits quickly complied, saying, "Secondly, you should retreat to a place a hundred meters away before we talk."

The bandits dared not disobey and had no choice but to comply.

Finally, Su Xiaoxiao and Pei Yuan got into the car together, and Pei Yuan kicked their boss away.

(End of this chapter)