"Princess, we are surrounded by bandits."
Shi Shuang followed Yi Huan in business, and they had just opened up a sales channel for medicinal herbs in Southern Chu. Unexpectedly, when they returned to the territory by waterway, they encountered river bandits.
Yi Huan glanced fearlessly at Shi Shuang and spoke.
"Don't call her Princess outside. Have someone hang up the Shen family's banners and make them back down."
"Yes, Miss!"
When Yi Huan, a woman, wanted to keep her identity a secret, she would use the name of the Shen family.
Since both companies have a partnership, Uncle Shen won't mind using their name.
Yi Huan's merchant ships were mostly used for carrying cargo, and apart from being large, they were not particularly luxurious in appearance.
"Miss, look! All the river bandits have come out of the river."
The people on the merchant ship were all on high alert. There were many carriages on the riverbank, and three small boats came down the river.
They didn't seem like they were going to rob them; rather, they seemed to want to make some kind of deal with them.
The bandits only cheered after Yi Huan and her group raised the Shen family's flag.
Yi Huan's first reaction was not to fight them, but to wonder if these river bandits had any connection with the Shen family.
"So you're from the Shen family? Did you bring the three thousand taels of gold?"
Yi Huan looked at the river. Not far from them, on a small three-boat, the person shouting at her was a young female bandit, with two burly men beside her, who were probably the woman's fathers.
"Miss, it seems they have something from the Shen family that caused them to misunderstand us."
Yi Huan dressed very casually. The wind on the river was strong, so she covered her mouth and nose with a silk scarf, leaving only her watery eyes showing.
"What is worth three thousand taels of gold? Just ask around and you'll find out."
Yi Huan runs a business in Nanning, and her status can be said to be on par with the Shen family. Their cooperation is also intricate and they have long been interdependent.
Since she had encountered something related to the Shen family, she decided to do them a favor.
Yi Huan walked onto the deck and casually spoke to the group of men who appeared to be bandit leaders.
"Three thousand taels of gold is nothing to our Shen family, but you all lack sincerity."
Several bandits slung their broadswords over their shoulders, pointing at Yi Huan with gritted teeth.
"Stop talking nonsense. Your young master is in my hands. If you don't produce three thousand taels of gold today, you'll be in my hands."
Tonight, that boy from the Shen family will marry into my Dawang Village. After they have a baby, all of the Shen family's property will belong to my Dawang Village, hahahaha…”
Yi Huan and Shi Shuang exchanged a glance, their brows furrowing.
The Shen family does indeed have an only son named Shen Jiazhen. Yi Huan only met him once when she was a child, and never saw him again after that.
I heard that he was frail since childhood, so how did he end up in the hands of these bandits?
Could it be that he tried to do business like others and got caught by accident?
"Manager Shi, have your men on high alert. It seems we'll have to wipe out a gang of river bandits while we're at it."
"yes!"
Shi Shuang stepped down and told the people on the merchant ship to get ready, because the people around them were not to be trifled with!
These were all highly skilled bodyguards trained by the prince and kept by his young mistress for self-defense. Today, these bandits have really bitten off more than they can chew.
Yi Huan turned to the bandits and continued to probe, "Gentlemen, let's talk this out. As long as you see that our young master is unharmed, we will give you the three thousand taels of gold immediately."
The two burly men exchanged a glance, then looked at the woman in front of them to discuss something.
“Wanwan, three thousand taels of gold for that kid is a good deal. Why don’t we release him?”
The woman in red glanced at the two of them, her expression twisting as if she was very displeased with what they had said.
"We finally have such a big fat sheep in our hands, and you've been bought off with a mere three thousand taels of gold."
Father, Second Uncle, I am beautiful and charming. Once I have sex with that boy and have seven or eight children with him, these children will be able to continuously bring the Shen family's money to Dawangzhai.
The Shen family is the top merchant family in Nanning. You need to have a long-term vision.
I've already found out. The Shen family only has this one son. If we leave the father and keep the son, how could the Shen family possibly disown their bloodline?
Immediately, the two burly men's eyes lit up, clearly moved by the woman's words.
"What about this merchant ship? It has three thousand taels of gold on board."
The bandit leader slapped his second son on the head, disappointed in him.
"How could I have a younger brother like you? What are we? We are wolves. Do wolves ever complain about not having enough meat?"
Find a way to get them ashore, kill all the Shen family members on the boat, and take all three thousand taels of gold, all of the Shen family's property, and the entire Dawangzhai estate.
Although Yi Huan couldn't hear the bandits' whispers, she could read lips, a unique skill she had specially trained with someone.
These fools, their greed was insatiable, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. They weren't even afraid of bursting their bellies, and they died without ever knowing how they died.
"Hey, Shen family, moor the boat to the shore. We'll exchange gold for people."
Shi Shuang returned to Yi Huan's side and nodded to her, indicating that everyone was ready and could charge out at any time.
Yi Huan understood and waved for someone to row the boat to the shore.
She stood up straight, and at such a young age, she already had the demeanor of someone in charge.
When the merchant ship docked, about two hundred pirates rushed out, all armed with knives, and climbed onto the ship.
The bandit leader personally led the way, leaving only the second brother and the woman in red behind.
The promise to go ashore was merely a fear that the gold would be thrown into the river and impossible to retrieve, ultimately resulting in them losing more than they gained.
On the river, their advantages as water bandits would be even more apparent.
Seeing the ship swarming with people, they were like ants encountering carrion, rushing towards it.
Yi Huan raised one hand to her ear and waved it lightly. Behind her, the merchant ship was filled with archers. They used crossbows, which had great impact and high accuracy.
They shot them one by one, killing them instantly. The bandit leader was startled and realized something was wrong.
Getting on the ship like this isn't a solution, but there's no turning back now, and the people on board won't stop either.
"Everyone get in the water..."
Upon hearing the order, all the bandits went into the water, as they were better at committing crimes underwater than on land.
Once the bandits have gone down the river, the accuracy of crossbows becomes much lower; even a dozen or so arrows might not hit them.
However, it appeared that the bottom of the huge ship had been pried open, and water had entered the merchant ship.
In that instant, the bandits used iron hooks to grab the hull and climbed up the boat in a dense swarm.
The archers and pirates on the ship could only engage in close-quarters combat.
With this opening, all the river bandits on the riverbank swarmed onto the boat.
This was an attempt to silence her. Yi Huan told Shi Shuang, who didn't know martial arts, to go inside and hide. She brandished her sword in one hand and held up the hidden arrow on her wrist in the other.
"Manager Shi, bring them something fun."
Yi Huan said that there were several spray nozzles on the merchant ship, and the pepper spray that sprayed out made the pirates unable to open their eyes.
The crew members turned and hid to the side. The pirate leader realized that everyone on the ship was under the command of a young woman.
Seeing so many of his men killed or wounded, he flew into a rage, grabbed his broadsword, and stormed toward Yi Huan.
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