The two were somewhat bewildered as they were being scrutinized by a little child.

One of them wanted to go up and pat the little girl's head, but just as he reached out his hand, he remembered that she was not only a princess, but also the imperial advisor.

If he were to actually touch someone's head, he might be punished for insubordination, so he lowered his outstretched hand.

Before long, the Marquis emerged from the carriage, dressed in casual everyday clothes.

"When I arrived in Liumei County, I heard about the reputation of Taiping Escort Agency. I heard that you have wiped out bandits in several mountain strongholds and achieved remarkable results!"

After the Marquis finished speaking, he seemed to think of something and asked, "Moreover, I heard that your Taiping Escort Agency has produced a sharpshooter who never misses a shot. I wonder if we will have the honor of seeing him today?"

Lord Wu had heard that a group of bandits from Liumei County had gone up the mountain. When he arrived with his men, all he saw on the mountain were corpses. Many of the corpses had arrow holes in them.

The arrow holes were all aimed at vital points, and the trajectory clearly indicated that they were made by the same person.

Later, after inquiring in the nearby villages, I learned that the bandits on the mountain had been wiped out by the Taiping Escort Agency.

Moreover, it is said that the bodyguards in the story are all quite skilled, especially the archer.

The people down the mountain raved about the Taiping Escort Agency, saying it was unparalleled in the world. Although Lord Wu didn't believe it entirely, he did confirm one thing from this: the bandits on the mountain were indeed killed by the Taiping Escort Agency.

The reason why the Marquis invited them was mainly because cavalrymen were not good at close combat.

Archers are quite effective at countering cavalry from a distance. Getting them to join forces to suppress bandits is secondary; the main goal is to recruit them.

Su Muyao simply tilted her head and listened attentively, appearing as well-behaved as an ordinary child, without uttering a word.

The bodyguard said, "You flatter me, my lord. What kind of archer are you talking about? Bodyguards are all villagers from the village and have only been trained for one or two years. They are far from being the sharpshooters you are talking about."

Seeing that Mingqi's expression was genuine, the Marquis couldn't help but ask with some doubt, "But I have actually seen that your accuracy rate is indeed extremely high."

Just then, Ming'an laughed and said, "My lord, I think you must be mistaken. What we are using is not a bow but a crossbow. That crossbow is quite good. It can basically hit the target wherever it is pointed, so no matter who uses it, it will be a perfect shot."

The Marquis was immediately disappointed. The crossbow's range was not far enough and it was troublesome to cock. It could only fire a single shot and was not effective against the enemy.

I originally thought I could find a really good archer.

"It's a crossbow..." The Marquis's voice was full of regret.

Ming An and Ming Qi had no idea what the other was regretting. Ming An said, "Since the prince has already arrived, why don't we join forces to suppress the bandits?"

"I've heard that many bandits have been entrenched in the mountains for years, and the people down there are suffering terribly. Since you're already here, let's go together!"

The reason the two brothers said this was because they felt from the Marquis's disappointed tone that he seemed to be about to withdraw.

Mingqi also spoke up: "I heard that there are nearly eight or nine thousand bandits in that bandit stronghold, which is why we dare not make any rash moves."

With the Marquis in charge today, I believe we can wipe them out in one fell swoop.

The Marquis simply nodded: "How many bodyguards do you have now?"

After Ming'an finished speaking about "1000", he added, "But we still have new bodyguards, about 600 or more."

Su Muyao, who was listening from the side, kept facepalming. Well, after all this time, it turns out that your 1,000-plus people are going to fight against their 8,000-9,000-plus people.

Then the Marquis told them how many men he was going to bring, and then the group began to set up their battle formation.

Only Su Muyao listened from the side, shaking her head. It was from this that she learned that the crossbow they had was actually the same crossbow she had taken out.

But logically, it shouldn't have ended up in the hands of the bodyguards. Su Muyao suddenly asked, "Uncle, I want to ask where you got that crossbow?"

The group was still discussing their plans when they heard Little Milk Group's voice coming from behind them.

The Marquis was startled and quickly looked back. He was relieved to see that the little girl hadn't run around. He had been so focused on discussing how to eliminate the bandits that he had completely forgotten about the little girl.

Ming An replied, "Reporting to the young princess, we bought those at a high price, and I heard that only three are sold."

We happened to snag one of them, because many people didn't believe it had such a use and they wouldn't even demonstrate it at the time.

Hearing this, Su Muyao gritted her teeth in anger. Well, all the hard work she put into making it ended up being sold by someone else.

How does this old bastard manage his subordinates? How dare he give such a weapon to this kind of person?

The Marquis noticed something was wrong with the little boy and asked, "What's wrong? Why are you so angry?"

Then the little dumpling said angrily, "This crossbow is a new one that I developed. I gave it to the Emperor, and it was sold by someone else before even a month had passed."

The Marquis remained unmoved. Although he found it strange that he had been sold out, what use was this crossbow anyway? So what if it was sold?

"My newly made crossbow is no ordinary crossbow. Not only can it fire in rapid succession, but its stability and range are also top-notch..."

The Marquis was practically spitting fire after hearing what the young princess said.

"Which bastard sold her? I'm so angry!" she said, pulling the little dumpling back to the palace.

Su Muyao was not willing!

"My lord, my lord, please wait a moment. How about we wipe out these bandits first, and then I'll send you a few to play with?"

The Marquis then remembered his purpose and nodded.

So he led his men towards the bandit mountain.

On the way, Ming'an introduced to everyone: "I heard that there are nearly 10,000 bandits on this mountain who plunder 30% of the people's grain every year. These people are suffering a lot. Every year, besides paying taxes, they can barely make ends meet."

But the remaining food, barely enough to feed themselves, was completely looted by these bandits.

I heard that anyone who resisted was brutally murdered. The government had tried to intervene before, but they couldn't manage it because there were too many bandits in the mountains.

The Marquis was furious upon hearing this: "Didn't the government report this?"

"How could it not have been reported? I heard it was reported more than once or twice, but it was always suppressed by the higher-ups, who said they couldn't control it."

Su Muyao sensed something fishy from their conversation. It was obvious that the officials above knew the bandits, otherwise they wouldn't have stopped the report from going up the chain of command.

For incidents like this that harm the local community and are beyond the jurisdiction of the local government, a special person will usually come to handle them after a report is filed.