Pei Sining was worried that the bandits wouldn't give them a chance to talk, so she leaned closer to Zhu Haotian and whispered.

"Brother Zhu, that bearded bandit must be the leader. I'll distract the other bandits while you secretly capture the leader."

Zhu Haotian followed Pei Sining's hand and looked in the direction of the bandits, then nodded after a moment's thought.

"Okay, then be careful."

After leaving a message, he turned and disappeared into the tall grass behind him.

After confirming that Zhu Haotian had left, Pei Sining cautiously emerged from the bushes, picked up a stone from the ground, and threw it at the bandit who was eating a pancake.

"Hello!"

The stone landed squarely on the burly bandit. He paused for a moment, his gaze turning fierce, and looked up at Pei Sining.

"Where did this wild child come from? Are you looking for death?!"

"Yes, I'm courting death. Come on then if you dare!"

Pei Sining put one hand behind her back, raised her chin, and beckoned to the bandits with a hint of disdain in her eyes.

The provocative attitude instantly enraged the bandit. He angrily threw away the flatbread in his hand, pulled out the large knife stuck in the mud, and charged towards Pei Sining with red eyes.

"You brat, I'll kill you, you little brat!"

The other bandits, not wanting to cause trouble, hurriedly stepped forward to stop the enraged bandits.

"Sixth Brother, don't be impulsive, don't delay important matters."

The bandit named Lao Liu was furious. He waved his hands and tried to step forward with a ferocious expression, shouting, "Get out of my way, I'll kill this little bastard!"

While Pei Sining was circling with the bandits, Zhu Haotian had already lurked behind them, stealthily pressing a dagger against the neck of the bearded bandit.

"Don't move, or don't blame me for accidentally hurting him."

Upon hearing this, the bandits turned around and stared blankly at Zhu Haotian behind them. After a moment, the bandits' laughter echoed through the mountains.

"This kid dares to take the boss hostage?"

"Looks like he's tired of living!"

"You brat, do you think we're all pushovers?"

Zhu Haotian was immediately confused, his breathing became heavy, and a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He looked at Pei Sining in a panic.

Pei Sining, however, calmly shook the money bag in her hand, walked to the fire cluster, and floated the money bag above the fire cluster.

"If it were me, I would just throw this money away."

The bandit's expression froze upon seeing this, and he instantly panicked, staring nervously at the money bag in Pei Sining's hand.

Compared to the tension of the other bandits, the bandit leader appeared quite calm. He glanced at Zhu Haotian and roughly recognized his identity.

"Brother, we were entrusted with the task of pursuing you last time. Now that you've come here seeking revenge, you've probably come to the wrong person."

"You're wrong. We're not seeking revenge, but rather cooperation."

After learning that the bandits had guessed Zhu Erge's identity, Pei Sining smiled, turned around, handed over the money bag in her hand, and signaled Zhu Haotian to release the man.

Zhu Haotian hesitated for a moment, glanced at the bandit in his arms, and finally gritted his teeth, put down the dagger in his hand, and slowly retreated behind Pei Sining.

The bandit leader squinted at Pei Sining with a puzzled look, then asked her a question.

"Cooperation? How can we cooperate?"

“We know that someone paid you to take our lives. Now we’re offering three times the price. From now on, you’ll do as we say.”

Pei Sining didn't want to waste any more words. She took out the gold given to her by Old Madam Zhu from her bosom and showed it to everyone in her palm.

The bandits had never seen gold before, and their eyes lit up the moment they saw it.

Pei Sining was worried that the bandits would kill and rob her, so she pretended to be indifferent and put the gold away, speaking in a nonchalant tone.

"This is a gift to mark our meeting. If things go well, we will receive medicine and food in exchange."

"Food and medicine?"

The bandits, who had been hesitant, became more decisive and patted their chests to assure Pei Sining.

"Don't worry! Just tell us what you're going to do."

Pei Sining thought she would need to use more persuasion to win over these bandits, but she didn't expect that mentioning medicinal herbs and food would make them decide to follow her.

Although the problem was resolved satisfactorily, he also learned from this that the Yuan Kingdom's shortage of food and medicine was far more serious than the information obtained by the spies revealed.

However, Zhu Haotian didn't quite trust these bandits. After all, they were people without principles. If Zhu Yanyan offered them a higher price, wouldn't they be inviting trouble?

Thinking of this, he moved closer to Pei Sining with an uneasy expression and whispered.

"Little Pei, these bandits have no integrity whatsoever. If they go back on their word at the last minute, then..."

"Don't panic!"

Pei Sining had naturally taken these issues into consideration. When he noticed the bandits looking at them with strange expressions, he immediately interrupted Zhu Haotian and stepped forward with a smile.

"May I ask how you gentlemen are addressed?"

"Just call me Boss Niu. These are my brothers: Second Brother, Third Brother, Fifth Brother, and Sixth Brother."

Boss Niu hung his broadsword at his waist and stared at Pei Sining and Zhu Haotian with a strange expression. "I have a question, but I don't know if I should ask it?"

"Please speak," Pei Sining said calmly, gesturing for him to proceed.

After glancing back at his brothers, Boss Niu said loudly without any hesitation, "How do you, as serious criminals of the imperial court, have medicine and food?"

"Why would you ask that? Do you doubt that the gold I gave you earlier was real?" Pei Sining asked curiously, feigning ignorance.

This question made the usually straightforward Boss Niu hesitate, and he looked back at his brothers with a conflicted expression.

The sixth brother noticed his elder brother's dilemma, stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, "Boss, they'll find out sooner or later anyway, it's not a big deal."

Boss Niu nodded slightly, sighed, and gestured for everyone to sit down before beginning his explanation.

"Alright! You'll feel it eventually anyway, so it's better to let you know sooner rather than later. There have been years of drought, and the imperial court has increased its taxes."

"The people were crying out in despair. Many farmers gave up the idea of ​​farming and fled north with their families. Starting a few months ago, the price of grain had increased from one tael of silver per dou of rice to thirty taels per dou of rice. Even so, the supply still could not meet the demand."

"I'm afraid that in a while, the price of food will rise, and not only food, but even drinking water will become very precious."

After understanding the cause and effect, Zhu Haotian and Pei Sining finally understood why Boss Niu would suspect whether they had food.

Pei Sining frowned slightly and pondered for a moment before standing up and looking at Boss Niu. "Send one of your people to come with us, and we'll have your people go and check it out."

"However, don't even think about ambushing us. We not only have food and herbs, but also plenty of weapons. If it really comes to a fight to the death, we will do everything in our power to protect our families."

"That's right, you've witnessed the power of our gunpowder. I advise you not to have any unrealistic ideas."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Haotian stood up, patted his chest, and loudly warned the bandits.

Niu Laoda was afraid of the Zhu family's gunpowder, which was why he dared not make any rash moves. Upon seeing Zhu Haotian's indignant expression, he immediately stood up and nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, we don't want to take anyone's life."

With time of the essence, Pei Sining had no choice but to temporarily trust Boss Niu and turned to walk into the bushes.

Seeing this, Boss Niu signaled the others to stay, and then jogged away behind Zhu Haotian.

After the three left, Zhu Xixi also stopped indulging in gossip and frowned, looking preoccupied.

[It's all over. The Yuan Kingdom is going to fall into chaos. Food shortages will trigger a series of problems.]

It seems I need to transfer some food from Zhu Yanyan's space.