Chapter 409 is her type.

A clean break, excellent!

Xiao Qi gestured for Fang Dazhuang to accept the money, and told them to take care of themselves from now on. He warned the bodyguards that they were only concerned with short-term gains and would regret it later.

When they disagreed, the two groups immediately separated and each occupied a corner of the room.

The bodyguards were all slightly injured, and since they were in bandit territory, the bandits hadn't even tied them up with ropes, confident that they couldn't escape.

The white figure mingled with the escort team, moving towards the corner of the wall. Suddenly, a coughing sound came from inside the room.

Xiao Qi curled his lips and looked at his subordinate with a warning in his eyes. Bai Ying had no choice but to turn back to his master's camp like a wronged wife.

"Brother Bai, what are you doing?"

The head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) was unhappy. The bearded man was a cheap coachman they had hired. Because Fang Dazhuang couldn't drive a carriage, they temporarily let the bearded man be Xiao Qi's coachman. But now, he had betrayed them.

“Scholar Xiao is kind-hearted and wouldn’t even step on an ant. You have misunderstood him. Besides, we implicated him in being kidnapped and taken to the mountain.”

In order to protect himself, Bai Ying was full of survival instincts and spoke with great relish.

"Hmph, utter nonsense!"

The head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) sneered and turned his head away, ignoring the white-haired, bearded man. Birds of a feather flock together; they wouldn't associate with a fool like that!

Before the bandits even arrived, the group had already split into two factions. Xiao Qi's side consisted of only four people, including Big Beard, while the caravan had more than a dozen brothers, clearly divided into two groups.

The group was captured and taken to the mountain. Several hours later, the bandits finally arrived.

The leader was a beautiful woman in her early thirties, with a charming look in her eyes and brows. Behind her were several tall and burly men who entered the room and gave everyone a menacing look.

"Boss, the brothers were going down the mountain when they ran into a caravan transporting furs, so they brought the people and the goods up with them."

Fur can be used as decorations, and it is especially needed in the mountains where the wind is strong and the weather is cold in the mornings and evenings.

In addition, the men in the escort team were all good-looking, without any old, weak, sick, or disabled members, and were strong and robust. They were exactly the type their boss liked, so they were all brought up to serve him and he could choose any of them.

There's no need for so many people on the mountain; it's too much of a food expense. The leader will keep the ones he likes, and as for the rest, the man grinned and made a throat-slitting gesture.

"I will not submit to such a shameless woman!"

The head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) was furious. They were tough men, yet they were being kept by a woman and forced to serve her. Where was their dignity?

He thought this place was a den of thieves, but it turned out to be a den of lewdness too, ugh!

"I don't need you to agree. I didn't even look at you. You should take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror."

The bandit leader, Madam He, raised an eyebrow, mocking the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) for being delusional. The head镖师's face turned a deep purplish-blue, wishing he could disappear into the ground. He was both ashamed and furious; he was the most handsome man in the镖队 (escort team), and no one had taken a liking to him—were they blind?!

"You went down the mountain for seven or eight days and brought back this stuff?"

Lady He was very dissatisfied. She walked around the escort team, staring at the waists of the escorts. Some of them tried to resist, but she gently pushed them, making a cracking sound as their bones and joints dislocated.

Now, no one dared to act rashly. A woman who had become the leader of a mountain bandit group was certainly not as simple as she appeared.

"Boss, none of these suit your taste?"

The man behind him, filled with trepidation, cautiously asked, "How about we wait a few more days before heading down the mountain, or...?"

"No need."

Madam He waved her hand and went to the other side. Seeing Xiao Qi squatting on the ground, she frowned and asked, "Where did this scholar come from?"

Smuggling...

The precise choice of words almost made Bai Ying burst out laughing. He lowered his head and bit his lip hard. Compared to the bandits, his master was much more terrifying.

"I don't know either, but I guess they're traveling to the capital with a caravan to take the imperial examinations?"

The man looked at Xiao Qi, his expression turning cold.

The brothers ate meat and drank wine heartily, and they despised pedantic scholars who were full of trivial matters and sanctimonious morals, but were filthy inside.

They knew their boss's taste; he only liked strong men and looked down on scholars.

"Boss, do you perhaps want this scholar to serve you?"

The man curled his lip. This scholar was like a white chicken, thin and weak with hardly any meat on his bones. The eldest brother was born with superhuman strength; one push would have broken him apart.

"No."

Lady He was very interested in Xiao Qi. She smiled and said, "I've only heard that scholars seem honest on the surface, but are actually extremely cunning. I'm wondering where he hides his silver."

In the past, when the group robbed together, they would occasionally find some amusement, such as figuring out where the scholar hid the silver.

Since she acquired her own territory, Madam He has long lost her joy.

"Take off your clothes."

Madam He pointed at Xiao Qi with great interest and said, "Hurry up, don't make me say it a second time."

Liu Quan trembled. They were unlucky enough to run into bandits, but there was a shrew among them. What if she took a fancy to the young master... no, judging from the conversation between the shrew and her men, they might have taken a fancy to Fang Dazhuang.

"Men and women should not touch each other. How could you take off your clothes in front of everyone? It's so indecent!"

Xiao Qi resisted and was about to struggle when he was immediately pressed down by the man behind He Niangzi, like a fish on a chopping board, unable to move.

Bai Ying watched the spectacle from the sidelines, not worried at all but secretly a little excited.

"One must be reasonable in life."

Xiao Qi patiently continued to persuade her, but He Niangzi immediately interrupted him. She said that the scholar was all pedantic and used classical Chinese, and he insisted on speaking gibberish to them, a bunch of roughnecks. This one in front of her was much better, but he was full of talk about benevolence and morality. If she knew etiquette and did good deeds, would she still be able to occupy the mountain?

The bandits were about to search Liu Quan for his hidden money, and Liu Quan broke out in a cold sweat; his heart was pounding.

Before leaving, besides the loose change they carried for the journey, the young lady gave the young master more than 20,000 taels of silver notes to keep on his person. Liu Quan was afraid that he would not be able to afford to lose the silver notes, so he strongly agreed with the young master to keep them safe.

Therefore, all the money and all the family's wealth are currently in the young master's possession!

These bandits searched him, took the silver notes, and even if they escaped from the mountains, they wouldn't have any money to take to the capital, which would inevitably delay the young master's journey to the imperial examination.

Liu Quan was suffocating. He clenched his fists nervously, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

“Boss, the scholar’s ​​inner garment has an inner pocket, but it’s empty.”

The man first touched Xiao Qi all over, then turned to Lady He and said.

"That's interesting. A scholar is refined; he would never hide a silver note in the sole of his shoe. Could it be that this scholar is too poor?"

Lady He crossed her arms and looked at Xiao Qi. Judging from his appearance and clothes, he really didn't seem to be from a poor family. He had fair skin and delicate flesh, a carriage, and servants. He shouldn't be penniless.

"Search the scholar's servants first; the money might be on them."

Madam He pulled up a chair and sat down, focusing her attention on Fang Dazhuang. Hmm, not bad, honest and kind, tall and strong, just her type, she likes him!