Fifteen minutes later.

"Great...Great hero, this is all our possessions. With the young lady here...well, we don't need to take off our pants, right?" The bandit leader, with a bruised and swollen face, led a group of bruised and swollen henchmen, neatly handing over their stolen goods, revealing eight standard teeth with a fawning smile.

Standing at the very end, the bandit henchman, who had been obediently taking off half of his clothes, quietly put them back on.

The bandit leader was heartbroken. If he had known this would happen, he would have been better off going home for dinner earlier. He had lost both his wife and his army. Sigh, he would have to kneel on the washboard again tonight.

The tyrant completely ignored the bandit leader, as if the people kneeling before him were just weeds, not worth mentioning. He glanced at the messy, filthy things and said coldly, "Burn them."

"Burn it? Oh, okay, okay... Great hero, I'll burn it, I'll burn it." The bandit leader felt a brief pang of heartache. So many silver notes, just like that? If it were his own son, he would definitely tie him to a tree and give him a double beating.

But hearing the tyrant's menacing tone, and realizing that any further hesitation would result in their execution, the bandit leader took out a tinderbox.

Sigh, I should have known better than to exchange those gold and silver jewelry for banknotes; otherwise, I could have picked up some scraps.

Shen Jiao looked at the filth that was about to burn to ashes, pretended not to care, and pressed her lips together. Before she knew it, tears of excitement almost streamed down her face.

It is estimated that the bandits found it inconvenient to rob gold and silver jewelry, so they exchanged it all for silver notes, with only a few hairpins and earrings mixed in, mostly to take home to appease their wives and concubines.

Although it wasn't her own property, she couldn't help but feel heartache for others. Shen Jiao sighed inwardly, thinking, "That tyrant is such a spendthrift brat!"

Suddenly, she felt that cold, snake-like hand stroking her back, finally pinching the back of her neck. The tyrant was displeased, "How can you be so pathetic, liking something like this piece of rubbish?"

Torn paper? Please! This is money! Shen Jiao could only shake her head. "Actually, he's just so-so and unambitious."

Honestly, "like" doesn't even begin to describe how she feels right now. Otherwise, stop burning banknotes and burn me instead! I'm worthless.

Seeing her expression, Ji Yan noticed the hamster's eyes sparkling, a brilliance that surpassed even the luster of jade and precious stones. "You really like it?"

Shen Jiao immediately became alert. What did those words mean? Did liking someone mean they could belong to her? Or was there some other meaning behind them?

After a moment's consideration, she chose an official statement: "Everyone has a love of money."

Excellent, that's a very tactful and flawless answer.

Having said that, he lowered his eyes and met the gaze of the bandit leader who shared the same ideals and appreciated each other.

She thought to herself, "I'm ashamed, brother. Our dreams are indeed the same, but at their core they are completely different. I don't steal or rob, I abide by the law, and I love my country."

“Since you like it so much…” Ji Yan paused, and just when Shen Jiao thought she might have a chance to get rich quick, the tyrant handed her a tinderbox, “Then burn it yourself.”

Shen Jiao: Hmm? Are you alright with that congratulatory tone? If you can't have it, you'll destroy it? What kind of cringey 1990s talk is this? Can you please have some sympathy for me, the guy who's been eating, drinking, playing, chatting, sleeping, and fighting with you every day for free?

"Actually, we don't necessarily have to burn them, do we? Hmm, these are also considered ownerless property, so why not hand them over to the local magistrate or prefect to help refugees?" When traveling, Ji Yan concealed her identity as the top leader of Yan, and spoke tactfully.

Ji Yan, whose body was filled with destructive power and overflowing resentment, paused for a moment upon hearing this, then revealed an extremely disgusted expression. "What do I care about the lives of refugees?"

Shen Jiao: ? ? ? Brother, are you the Emperor? Look at your reckless behavior! Even if Wei doesn't attack you, you'll still destroy your family and home. If you continue to squander your wealth like this, you'll only end up as Ji Qigong, the leader of the Beggars' Sect!

Upon hearing this conversation, the bandits were immediately jolted and terrified. A chivalrous person with such awareness must be an official. If it were a wandering swordsman, he would at most get beaten up, but if he got involved with the government, he would end up in jail!

Most importantly, they can neither fight nor run away now.

The bandit leader's face turned ashen. Looking at Ji Yan, Shen Jiao, and Liang Heng again, he immediately felt that the three of them exuded nobility and were unapproachable. They had elderly parents and young children to support, and they absolutely could not afford to have anything happen to them.

In fact, becoming bandits in the mountains back then was a last resort. The late emperor was too incompetent, indulging in women and neglecting to attend court every day. At the same time, war broke out everywhere, smoke filled the air, and refugees could be seen everywhere. The court did not care about the lives of the people. In order to survive, they had no choice but to become bandits, which was despised by everyone.

Shen Jiao's words stirred up the bandit leader's memories and awakened his yearning for redemption. He kowtowed several times, saying, "It was my fault for being blind and not recognizing your greatness. I didn't know you were passing by and that's why I made such a big mistake. I beg you to give us a chance to repent and start anew. I guarantee with my life that I will use this ill-gotten wealth to help the disaster victims."

Shen Jiao was still pondering how to persuade the tyrant, this unruly and freedom-loving wild dog, when she was stunned by the bandit leader's kneeling.

This is quite different from how Wang Dazhuang's underlings felt when they knelt before her. Back then, it was just a casual gesture, but now, the bandit leader's burning gaze seems to regard her as a savior. What's going on? What's happening? Why are they suddenly so grateful to her? I'm so flustered.

Seeing the tyrant's face clearly saying "Those who disobey their father shall die," Shen Jiao didn't have time to think. Afraid that he would smash the bandit's head with a single palm strike, she grabbed Ji Yan and hurriedly said to the bandit leader, "Alright, alright, hurry up and take the opportunity and the money to the magistrate's office to report. Brother bandit, don't even think about running away, otherwise this magistrate might wipe out your entire mountain if he's unhappy. Remember to tell the magistrate that Lord Ji has arrived."

She said this partly because she didn't trust the bandit leader she had just met, and partly because she was worried that the county magistrate was corrupt. After all, a mountain of silver notes was a considerable windfall, and using the tyrant's reputation to exert pressure would be audacious, even if the magistrate had the ambition.

Where in the world is there a Lord Ji? The surname Ji is something people avoid even mentioning, let alone speaking of his existence. The bandit leader, out of hatred for the imperial family's inaction, had already found out all this. Besides, Ji Yanbao's reputation for tyranny is widespread; his name is known to everyone.

Now, even the most oblivious bandits realized who they had robbed.

The bandit leader froze, recalling the events of just moments ago. He had actually tried to strip the tyrant of his clothes? He dared to strip a tiger of its skin!

"If not now, when?" The bandit leader glanced gratefully at Shen Jiao, then, with lightning speed, led his bruised and battered underlings and fled with the silver notes.

Although the bandits practically used their two legs as if they had four, at that speed, if the tyrant still thought they resembled tortoises, he could easily twist their heads if he wanted to chase them, and none of them could escape.