[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take":3,"chapter-if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-103":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","If You Will Not Reject Me, I Wish to Bow and Take You as My Adoptive Father",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2276830,4454,"Chapter 103: Encounter on the Road","if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-103",103,"\u003Cp>Several days later, in the afternoon, on the donkey cart returning from the west gate to Hongxiu Fang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, Fengxian, little Fengxian, what are you daydreaming about?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Lian reached over and nudged Xiao Yu’s shoulder, puzzled: “What’s wrong with you? Did you fall asleep?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu glanced left and right, realizing the donkey cart had stopped, and outside, the crowd was shouting noisily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm, just dozed off. Are we at Hongxiu Fang?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Lian stared at her face. “Dozed off? But your eyes were wide open just now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wide open. Staring blankly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Alright, I was actually thinking about Sun Zhouhai’s ‘Invincible Iron Fist’ and his ‘Breaking Wave Fist.’” Xiao Yu made up a random lie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Jin Lian wasn’t as famous as Shao Yao, Hong Wei, Zi Xuan, or the other “Top Ten Courtesans of Shudong,” she was still among the top draws in Tianmen Town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the past few days, Xiao Yu had accompanied her to visit nearly thirty “Martial Elders”—at least those who had cultivated true qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Add in the “Martial Elites” (those who had cultivated internal qi and possessed at least one signature skill) and the new rising talents, and the number exceeded a hundred.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, today’s “Water Immortal Pavilion Tea Gathering” had over thirty young heroes from Yingxiang Prefecture in attendance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among them was even a young master from the Wen family—the illegitimate son of Wen Danxia’s cousin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were all excellent “martial treasure troves.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if their own cultivation levels were low, the immortal martial arts they practiced were far from inferior.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, the Wen family’s young master also practiced the martial arts from the “Wind-Yin Treasure Mirror.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Xiao Yu could unravel their core cultivation method, then their family’s “ancestral elders” who practiced the same art would also be vulnerable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The social customs of this era were absurd: servants typically addressed male and female masters as “Yé Niáng.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those of low status did so especially.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu, a courtesan’s maid (officially Jin Lian’s personal attendant), had to call nearly everyone she met “Yé Niáng”—it was proper etiquette, and no one would suspect her of ulterior motives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This made the trigger condition for “Great Annihilation Dad” extremely easy to satisfy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She should have reaped a massive harvest, greedily gathering the finest martial arts of Shudong without anyone noticing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after the Kunpeng Transformation, the gap between her strength and theirs had become too vast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Great Annihilation Dad” had activated, yet her purple palace remained utterly silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because even with her legs clamping a branch, she could easily stab to death most martial elders and Jianghu  elites.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had sighed in frustration multiple times over the past two days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today’s “Water Immortal Pavilion Tea Gathering” especially frustrated her—there were too many young masters and ladies from noble families present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the Wen family’s young master couldn’t sit in the seat of honor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young master being fawned over, He Zhimin, was said to be the legitimate grandson of He Chaohong, a reclusive immortal of Tianmen Town.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Young Master  performed the immortal technique “Heaven-and-Earth Throw” on the spot: in an instant, he flung forty-nine flying daggers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu watched, her heart bleeding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—If she could unravel the Heaven-and-Earth Throw, could any hidden weapon or crossbow in this world still harm her?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her purple palace gave no response.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Young Master  was too weak—he had no internal qi at all, only practiced the forms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then there was the excuse Xiao Yu had just given: “Invincible Iron Fist” Sun Haizhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His “Breaking Wave Fist” was mediocre—form without spirit, weak qi, scattered force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his father was the Enforcement Elder of the Sand River Sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the Breaking Wave Fist was the sect’s signature technique—only Sun Haizhou was too incompetent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sand River Sect itself was not weak; it had several half-step immortals among its elders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she could unravel the “Breaking Wave Fist’s essence,” the entire Sand River Sect would no longer threaten her. She wasn’t enemies with the sect—she simply craved the power to obliterate a major sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unfortunately, Sun Haizhou couldn’t trigger the purple palace’s derivation of “Break: Breaking Wave Fist Method.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu felt a hundred-billion-credit gift package kept landing on her head, and she kept missing them all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the tea gathering ended and she boarded the donkey cart, she had been dazed, mentally calculating how to break this deadlock.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sun Young Master ’s Breaking Wave Fist ranks first among the Sand River Sect’s Eight Great Techniques—it’s naturally exquisite, but you’re the Sword Maiden; you don’t need to waste energy pondering fist techniques.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Lian believed her lie and advised her, then pulled back the curtain and asked: “Chun’er, Xiao Lu, what’s going on outside? Why is the road blocked?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chun’er was her personal maid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Lu was a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boy—the youngest son of Lu Er, the old gatekeeper of Hongxiu Fang, a young eunuch servant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The small donkey cart couldn’t hold many people; Chun’er walked on the ground, while Xiao Lu led the donkey ahead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Someone jumped into Xiao Liang River.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chun’er leaned close to the curtain, deliberately lowering her voice—but couldn’t hide the strange excitement in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not joy, not sorrow—purely the thrill of watching a spectacle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her freckled nose was sweating, her squinting eyes wide open, gleaming with unusual luster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss, don’t get off the cart—I’ll push through the crowd and check for you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Jin Lian could respond, she scolded Xiao Lu to hold the donkey tight and not wander or gawk, then slipped into the crowd like a small eel, wriggled a few times, and vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, in broad daylight, who would jump into Xiao Liang River?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jin Lian, adorned with jade hairpins and dressed in silk, had no intention of getting off the cart to squeeze through the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Unless they had no other choice, who would jump into a river in broad daylight?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu lifted the curtain and peered forward, suddenly spotting a familiar figure: “Sister Jin Lian, I’ve met someone I know—I’ll go down and greet them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was far superior to Chun’er; with a light step on the cart’s crossbar, her embroidered silk shoe barely touched it, and she leapt like a flying swallow, effortlessly clearing two or three zhang to land on the stone bridge railing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister Cui, what a coincidence!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Cui’er, the maid of Master Wang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cui’er was now supporting an elderly woman in her fifties.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old woman wore silk robes, her hair neatly combed and glossy, clearly accustomed to a life of luxury.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But her condition was poor—she clutched her chest, gasping heavily, her face flushed purple.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cui’er anxiously pulled her forward through the crowd.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is this the Lady of the Courtyard?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh! Fengxian, what are you doing here?” Cui’er exclaimed, then turned to the old woman: “This is indeed our old lady. Madam, you know this girl, right? She’s the one who practices swordplay on the roof every morning.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, Miss Fengxian, you—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old woman was dizzy and confused, her eyes hazy; she couldn’t finish her sentence before gasping again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you trying to cross the bridge?” Xiao Yu asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cui’er patted the lady’s back while fretting: “Of course we’re crossing! But someone jumped into the river, the bridge is packed, and it’s triggered our old lady’s asthma!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu smiled: “Crossing the bridge isn’t hard. Close your eyes, both of you—I’ll take you across.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She leapt down from the stone lion pillar, grabbed Cui’er and the old lady’s arms, and lifted them as easily as carrying two lanterns.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then she leapt forward, landing on the next stone lion pillar, jumped three more times in quick succession—light as a dragonfly skimming water—before the crowd on the bridge could react, she had already brought Cui’er and the old lady to the other side, beneath a large willow tree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh my!” Cui’er hadn’t closed her eyes—she was just slow to react—and only screamed in panic after landing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh dear! Miss Fengxian, you jumped so high—you scared the life out of me!” the old lady cried out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What superb skill, young girl!” came cheers from the bridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu stood upright with a smile, bowed toward the cheering crowd, then turned to the Wang family’s servants: “You’ve seen me dance my sword on the roof—you should know that was just a minor display.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It looked dangerous, but I didn’t even use half my strength.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss Fengxian is truly amazing!” Cui’er believed her, her face full of admiration.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old lady caught her breath and took Xiao Yu’s hand to thank her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss Fengxian came out with her mistress—she’ll return to the other side now. Madam, you should head home too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu didn’t dally with them; she leapt again, faster and more graceful than before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the old lady, who knew nothing of martial arts, felt her posture was beautiful, like a celestial fairy flying through the air, radiating a unique rhythm and ethereal grace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The pedestrians on the bridge and at its ends burst into cheers again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Xiao Yu had carried Cui’er and Lady Wang across earlier, she hadn’t looked closely—this time, she saw clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the bridge’s center lay a drenched corpse, and several people were wrestling and shouting at each other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, Fengxian, over here, over here!” Chun’er waved to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was incredibly agile, having pushed all the way through the crowd to the front line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sister Chun’er, what’s going on? Eeeh~~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu suddenly recognized someone among the quarreling group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed to be “Old Xu the Gambler,” whom she’d seen a few days ago at Busiguī.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hey, young girl, you just helped Lady Wang cross the bridge, right? Is she alright?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Chun’er could answer, a forty-something, rough-looking woman shouted out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu turned to look—the woman had an ordinary face, a large mouth, small eyes, wore a faded blue jacket and gray-brown trousers, and had only a wooden hairpin in her hair. She looked neat and efficient, her face and body clean and tidy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was straining to squint at Xiao Yu; when she noticed Xiao Yu looking back, she laughed loudly: “I know you—you’re the one who practices swordplay on the roof every day, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hey, everyone calls me ‘Madam Zhang,’ and I live in ‘Soy Sauce Alley’ too!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soy Sauce Alley was the narrow alley less than two meters wide between Xiao Jingxuan and Master Wang’s mansion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Yu had asked the aunt at Lixiang Garden—half the houses and shops in Soy Sauce Alley belonged to Hongxiu Fang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among them was a soy sauce shop that filled half the alley with its aroma.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, it’s Aunt Zhang! Auntie, hello! My surname is ‘Yu,’ and I’m called ‘Fengxian.’ I just escorted Mrs. Wang to the shade of the willow tree—there were too many people, and she got squeezed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Little Fengxian, you’re such a good girl—beautiful, skilled in martial arts, and kind-hearted!” Aunt Zhang laughed heartily, her expression lively and expressive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hehe, Aunt Zhang, you flatter me. What’s going on here?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Aunt Zhang so willing to explain, Xiao Yu didn’t need to ask Chun’er.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sigh, poor Mrs. Xu!” Aunt Zhang’s smile vanished, replaced by sorrow and pity. “Her husband, Old Xu, is drowning in debt. The creditors are brutal—they came to take his daughter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Desperate, she took her ancestral jade pendant to the Xianghe Pawnshop to exchange for silver. But the two large ingots she received were fake. The gamblers recognized them. She couldn’t bear it—she threw herself into Xiao Liang River.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Aunt Zhang, if you don’t know, don’t spread rumors here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among the struggling crowd, an old man with a goatee and wide-winged hat cried out excitedly: “Mrs. Xu did come to my pawnshop, but she never sold me the jade pendant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Someone else bought the jade plaque.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The fake ingots weren’t mine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heaven and earth bear witness—I was the first to rush to the bridge with my staff when I heard Mrs. Xu had drowned.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mrs. Xu’s body was pulled up by me and Wang Er with bamboo poles.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You don’t have to thank me, but to slander me, to accuse me of swindling with fake silver—that’s unjust!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Heaven and earth bear witness—everyone in the neighborhood has known for decades the integrity of my pawnshop and my character!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I saw Mrs. Xu enter your pawnshop,” someone shouted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Everyone knows your character, Old Hu Four—you just built a big new house, didn’t you? Without swindling people, how could you afford a new home every year?” someone sneered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Old Xu, still gripping Hu’s arm, screamed desperately: “If it wasn’t your fake silver, why are you so nervous? Why did you rush over so fast to save my wife?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My poor wife, you died so cruelly! My poor Hui’er—the silver meant to save your life was stolen by this heartless pawnshop owner!!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why would I be nervous? It was my staff member Wang Er who noticed Mrs. Xu looked distressed and called me over to help! Wang Er, tell them!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve said it—said it many times.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Er’s sleeve was pulled taut; his face bore scratches, deep grievance, and helplessness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You damn bastard—you’ve ruined me this time!” Hu Four cursed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Er cried: “I told you, Master—that golden carp jade pendant had a warm, lustrous glow, elegant and ethereal—it looked like something from the imperial palace, worth at least five hundred taels!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I told you to give Mrs. Xu fifty taels to save her daughter’s life—it wouldn’t have been a loss!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But you refused outright—only willing to offer fifteen taels!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You even said, ‘Mrs. Xu is desperate for cash—she’ll come back to pawn the jade.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then some passerby at the door tricked her with fake silver, and now Mrs. Xu is dead, and you blame me? Why?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Stop playing along! The ones who ruined my wife and stole our jade—the ones who did it—are you! The ‘Xianghe Pawnshop!’” Old Xu insisted, shouting loudly.\u003C\u002Fp>",2319,"2026-06-20T00:29:13.334Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b2b01efed943c4b1fc345416791438ef8527a8e77749b597fbf5c9e5bc9b8755","if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-104","if-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-chapter-102",840,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fif-you-will-not-reject-me-i-wish-to-bow-and-take-cover.jpg"]