freenovelworld Chapter 223 Bandits on the Official Road
Chapter 223 Bandits on the Official Road
Upon hearing this, Zhou Hao's smile grew even brighter.
But then, he abruptly changed the subject, his face showing some difficulty.
With a hint of apology, Zhou Hao slowly said, "I wanted to let you all rest for a few more days, but the imperial decree is hard to disobey, and there is still a long journey ahead, so it is really not good to delay you all."
Mu Hongqi waved his hand and said with a smile, "Prefect, please don't be so polite. It's a great honor to be able to rest for the night in such a nice inn. You're right, we still have a long way to go, so we shouldn't waste any more time. We'll take our leave now."
As if suddenly remembering something important, Zhou Hao reminded him with concern, "Recently, the mountain bandits on the official road heading south have become extremely rampant, gathering more than a thousand men. The government has organized several encirclements and suppressions, but they have been unable to do anything about them."
"For your safety's sake, I suggest you take the mountain path around. There are so many young women in your group, I'm really worried that you'll be targeted by those vicious bandits."
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed slightly. They hadn't expected that a large number of bandits would gather on the official road behind them.
Although they were just exiled prisoners, they had neither money nor anything of value worth robbing.
However, at least half of the group consisted of women, so how could those bandits let them go so easily?
After discussing it together, the group finally decided to follow the suggestion of the prefect of Yunzhou and take the mountain road instead.
"Commander Xue, I wonder if we could change our route and take the mountain path? That way, at least everyone's safety can be guaranteed. What do you think?"
Mu Wanjun suddenly remembered that they were just exiled prisoners, so how could they have the right to choose their own route? The key was to persuade Xue Bufan.
Xue Bufan looked at Mu Wanjun with a hint of barely perceptible admiration in his eyes, thinking to himself: At least there's someone smart enough to know that he's the one who can make the decisions.
The prefect of Yunzhou walked up to Xue Bufan and secretly slipped a small folded silver note into his hand.
The banknote only showed the words "one thousand taels". He smiled and said, "Commander Xue, I entrust these fifty constables of Yunzhou Prefecture to your command. The journey ahead will surely be arduous. I hope you will treat them well."
Although Zhou Hao did not directly persuade Xue Bufan to make a choice, his words implied the meaning he wanted to convey.
Xue Bufan smiled slightly and said, "No problem. The constables of Yunzhou are brothers to me, so I will naturally take good care of them."
Zhou Hao nodded in satisfaction, watching the exile procession gradually depart.
By this time, the Su and Shen families had already packed up and were ahead of the exile procession.
Su Yunhai ignored Zhou Hao's advice and led his team onto the official road.
Seeing that her best friend's group had already gone quite far, Mu Wanjun hurriedly ran to the front of the group and said to Xue Bufan, "Lord Xue, the Su family took the official road. Could I go and remind them to follow us and take the mountain path?"
With so many supplies being carried by the Su and Shen families, they are bound to attract the attention of bandits; traveling along the official road is simply too dangerous.
Xue Bufan had absolutely no good feelings towards the Su family.
He was a member of the Imperial Guard, whose reputation was almost ruined because of the Su family, and they were even disliked by His Majesty.
With over a hundred of his brothers still imprisoned, how could he possibly coexist peacefully with the Su family?
He wished the Su family would immediately meet with misfortune.
If the Su family hadn't hidden many experts, making it impossible for him to eliminate them without leaving a trace, he would have already taken action.
"No, no one is allowed to leave the group at will. Otherwise, I will assume you are trying to escape, and I will definitely drag the Mu family out and beat them half to death as a warning to others."
Xue Bufan's tone was cold and resolute, leaving no room for negotiation.
Mu Wanjun puffed up her cheeks in anger, making her already chubby face even cuter.
She glared at Xue Bufan fiercely, then shouted loudly towards the line in front.
"Ah Li! Ah Li! Stop!"
Unfortunately, the distance was too far, and despite Mu Wanjun calling out several times, the Su family's group could not stop.
Shen Shuli remained inside the carriage, practicing her martial arts.
She seemed to faintly hear her best friend calling her.
After listening carefully for a long time, I still couldn't hear anything and thought I was hallucinating.
She got off the carriage, wanting to see where the exile caravan had gone.
Looking back, there was no sign of the exiles at all.
Logically speaking, their group was not moving fast, but rather at a leisurely pace.
The exiles shouldn't be lagging behind.
"Father, the exile caravan hasn't caught up. I'll go back and see what's going on," Shen Shuli said to Su Yunhai.
Su Yunhai rode his horse and glanced back.
He could still see the city gate, which had become very small, but he did not see any exile processions along the way, which he found very strange.
"That's strange. I clearly saw the exile caravan leave the city just now, so how come they've disappeared?"
"Go back and check on things. We'll wait here."
"Okay." Upon hearing this, Shen Shuli became a little anxious and immediately mounted her horse to look back.
The road they were on had no forks in it, so where could the exiled caravan go?
We can't possibly go back to Yunzhou Prefecture again, can we?
Shen Shuli arrived at the city gate and inquired with the soldiers guarding the city.
"Sir, where did those exiled prisoners go after they left the city? They've disappeared!"
"Who are you? What are you asking about exiled prisoners for?" The guards looked at the woman warily, their bodies full of vigilance.
"Oh, a prisoner owes my family a lot of money. He said he would pay us back after leaving the city. My family was waiting for them ahead, but they disappeared without us noticing. Could they have run away?"
Shen Shuli said this deliberately, hoping to get the other party's attention.
"I see. Don't worry, there are so many constables watching them, how could they possibly get away?"
"They left via that path over there; you should be able to catch up if you go now," the officer kindly advised.
Upon hearing this, Shen Shuli slipped a handful of copper coins to the other party and immediately looked in the direction the soldier pointed.
I did see a clear mountain path, and quite a few fresh footprints.
She seized an opportunity to put the horse into her space and quickly chased after it.
She had only been chasing for a quarter of an hour when she spotted the exile caravan.
She quickly called out to Mu Wanjun.
"Princess, Princess, wait a moment!"
Mu Wanjun didn't expect Shen Shuli to discover the problem and catch up so quickly.
Xue Bufan, who was at the front of the group, also heard Shen Shuli's voice and looked at the two of them with a sinister expression.
Mu Wanjun breathed a slight sigh of relief and pulled Shen Shuli aside to explain the reason.
"Do we really have to walk along mountain roads?" Shen Shuli asked with some concern.
Their two families have quite a lot of supplies, so climbing the mountain is definitely not easy.
But since the prefect said that there were thousands of bandits hiding along the official road, she dared not take her family on the risk.
Between risking one's life and enduring hardship, there is certainly no room for hesitation.
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