Chapter 252: Catching the Thief and Returning to Chang'an
"Stop." Zhang Shun shouted, "Just let them go right here."
The Song family's servants dropped the ropes they were holding, jumped off the camels, and drove the ten thieves back. Meanwhile, Song Xian and a group of people drove the camels carrying goods forward.
Gan Da and Gan Er each carried down a box of money. They used machetes to cut the ropes that tied the money boxes, kicked the boxes open violently, and the strings of copper coins scattered all over the floor.
"Look, four thousand coins, not a penny less." Sui Yu drove her camel closer to the group of thieves behind her. They had been walking for nearly two hours, their legs and feet weak from exhaustion, their mouths parched from the heat. They took off their shirts, their bodies gleaming with oil. She didn't shy away, scanning the crowd and asking, "Who's in charge?"
"Little girl, what do you want from me?" A burly man stood up and stared at Sui Yu with disdain. "You're dressed like a man, neither man nor woman. It's disgusting. Is your man dead? I'm asking you to come out and sell your face."
Sui Yu's face changed. Li Wu, who was standing by, kicked Wang Er. Wang Er fell heavily to the ground. The wine jar tied in front of him was completely broken. Bright red blood flowed from his forehead, mixed with the bright red wine. He lay there motionless.
The valley fell silent. The other servants drew their swords. Li Wu spat at the bandit leader and cursed, "You better keep your fucking mouth clean."
Wang Heiniu was so angry that his face turned blue. Someone behind him was cursing and wanted to come out to fight, but he turned his head and slapped him in the face, and then he quieted down.
"Okay, you've got guts. Your grandpa will remember you." Wang Heiniu waved his hand and said, "Move your things, bring your people, and let's go back."
"Wait a minute, I have returned the person, and also given you the money and goods. Let's discuss it. We will come again next time, and you can't rob our goods again. How about that?" Sui Yu said.
Wang Heiniu smirked. He walked over to Wang Er, kicked him, and said, "My brother is dead. How do you think this should end?"
"Not really, just fainted." Li Wu retreated to Sui Yu's side and said, "He's still breathing."
"Treatment will cost money, right? Give us another four thousand coins, and we'll be done with it." Wang Heiniu looked ahead and saw a group of people and camels blocking the road. He couldn't see the camels carrying goods clearly, so he said to Sui Yu, "Have your people give us another four thousand coins to cover the medical expenses. If you want to settle this grudge, give us another five thousand coins. We won't rob you again if you pass by here."
"Master, the people are coming down." Xiao Chunhong reminded.
In order to lower the vigilance of the bandits, Sui Yu only brought nine maids and seven male servants. The others followed Song Xian forward, then took the opportunity to go up the mountain, turn back from the forest, and intercept the bandits from behind.
"Boss——" a minion found that they were surrounded.
However, it was too late. Before he could finish his words, Xiao Chunhong released the arrow in her hand and hit his shoulder blade.
"Fight them." Sui Yu rushed forward with an axe in hand, saying, "Those who surrender will be spared, but the rest will be killed."
Attacked from both front and back, these bandits had neither camels nor decent weapons. They were unable to resist the aggressive slaves even with their shovels, hoes and rusty axes.
Qingshan chopped down from above, and when the two collided, the man who was swinging the shovel felt pain in his arms. Then the shovel fell to the ground, and the shovel handle poked the camel's neck. The camel twisted its neck, opened its mouth and bit his arm.
The screams scared the birds in the forest away, and the birds' calls in the valley became one and the same.
Sui Yu swung the machete and hit the thief hard on the back with the back of the knife. She stared at Liu Yaer coldly and asked, "What? You want to die? You can't bear to kill him, but he can't bear to kill you."
Liu Yaer's face flushed. She picked up the machete and gritted her teeth as she chopped at the thief who was in so much pain that he couldn't get up.
"I surrender! I surrender! Don't kill me." The man with a stubbled chin protected his head with both hands and begged for mercy: "Girl, spare my life! I have an old mother and a young child. They are waiting for me to come home. Please don't kill me."
Liu Yaer paused as she was about to swing her knife. She glanced at Sui Yu and saw that her master was staring at her. She turned the knife handle over and hit him hard with the back of the knife. Seeing that he was completely unable to resist, she took out a rope and tied his hands.
The situation elsewhere was almost resolved. There were only thirty-six bandits who could resist. Sui Yu brought twice as many people as them, two against one, and they easily tied up this group of bandits.
Wang Heiniu was disfigured. With a bleeding face, he asked Sui Yu what he planned to do with them.
"I still have money in the mountains. If you let us go, all the money and goods in the mountains will be yours." He tried to bribe us.
"We don't touch dirty money." Sui Yu waved his hand and said, "Tie up the people and take them away. We will continue on our way."
"What should we do with this person who fainted?" Li Wu asked.
"Tie it up and put it on the camel's back. If it dies soon, dig a hole and bury it." Sui Yu said, "Don't dawdle, pack it up quickly."
The thieves' hands were tied behind their backs and ropes were put around their necks. The money strings, cloth and mulberry wine were then tied onto the camel's back. After everything was packed up, the caravan continued on its journey towards the sunset.
In order to avoid further accidents, Sui Yu and Song Xian discussed that the caravan should travel overnight. The group walked through the valley holding torches, and the long team looked like a fire dragon.
At dawn, the caravan walked out of the Daqing Mountains. The camel riders were still in good spirits, but the bandits who had walked all the way with injuries were exhausted. As soon as the caravan stopped, they were so tired that they fell to the ground and fell asleep.
"Will the remaining bandits catch up with us?" Song Xian asked.
Sui Yu stared at the jumping flames in a daze. She blinked and said, "I'm not worried about the bandits chasing us. I'm worried about the police chasing us."
The collusion between the bandits and the officials was a win-win situation when nothing went wrong, but once something went wrong, the officials could no longer cover up their situation and started to panic. If a case of banditry in the mountains of Taiyuan County reached Chang'an, the prefect would be punished regardless of whether he knew about it or not. If the emperor was in a bad mood, he would even lose his official hat.
Hearing this, Song Xian rubbed her hands and said worriedly, "Isn't this a bit too much? How about we let them go?"
Sui Yu shook his head. "If we let them go, they'll become even more reckless, and more caravans will be harmed. Besides, I suspect they've already taken lives. Rocks rolling down the mountain won't just kill camels and mules. That alone won't let them go. Let's hurry up and eat, then continue on our journey and return to Chang'an City as soon as possible."
Wang Heiniu felt disappointed when he heard this. He was really meeting a tough guy.
"Boss, listen to me, you should show mercy when you can. If you let us go, next time you come to Taiyuan County, we will prepare the silk you need and sell it to you at the lowest price. You don't need to bother shouting in the village." Wang Heiniu tempted.
Sui Yu ignored him and asked Zhang Shun to stuff his mouth with smelly socks.
"You little bitch, you've offended the police and you're in trouble." Wang Heiniu cursed, "Just wait and see...mmmm--"
Sui Yu took off her shoes and slapped him in the face, "I've been wanting to slap your stinky mouth for a long time."
"Master, the millet porridge is ready." Xiao Chunhong shouted, "The eggs are gone. I will buy another basket of eggs when we get to the next village."
"Okay." Sui Yu put on her shoes, took the bowl and sat on the stone to drink porridge.
The weather was hot, and bread and steamed buns couldn't keep well. The only rations they had on the road were either rice or noodles, or fried rice and noodles. When they passed through a village, Sui Yu would ask people to buy some eggs, or a few live chickens and ducks. He would stew a pot of meat during his nighttime rest, ready for the daybreak. This was a huge expense, but with the tight schedule and irregular schedule, he couldn't bear to eat only rice and noodles without meat.
After the meal, everyone took a light nap for an hour. After the sun came out, the caravan continued on its journey.
This group of bandits had been hungry for a day and a night, and had been led by the neck to walk for a day and a night. They were tormented by Sui Yu so much that they had completely lost their minds. Even the tough guy Wang Hei Niu became soft-hearted after this incident. When dinner was being cooked, he begged for a bowl of rice.
"Untie them. Anyone who dares to escape will be beheaded." Sui Yu ordered, "Everyone will have a bowl of oil tea. Those who behave themselves will have a full stomach tomorrow. Those who don't behave themselves will go hungry again tomorrow."
In this wilderness, with no village in front and no shop behind, these bandits had no intention of escaping. They ate their meal ravenously, put down their bowls and chopsticks, and with their hands and feet tied with ropes, they had no choice but to fall to the ground and sleep peacefully.
"If you were willing to use this method to train slaves, there wouldn't be any troubles before." Song Xian spoke in front of the Sui family's slaves.
"Our master is kind," Xiao Chunhong boasted. "She treats us like family."
Sui Yu smiled and didn't respond.
Song Xian rolled her eyes. This was quite disgusting.
"Master, Li Wu and I will be responsible for guarding them at night, you can rest assured." Zhang Shun said.
Sui Yu nodded and said, "Arrange a few more people and take turns to keep watch. Everyone has been exhausted these past two days. Get as much sleep as possible at night."
"Yeah." Zhang Shun agreed.
Nothing happened during the night, and after dawn, the caravan continued on its journey.
Two days later, the wound on Wang Er's head scabbed over and no longer affected his walking. Gan Da drove him off the camel and pulled him along by the rope to continue on his journey.
At the same time, two fast horses came out of the county town.
There is a six-day journey between the two.
That night, the caravan traveled all night holding torches. On the way, they met a caravan heading east resting in the wilderness. Wang Heiniu and his men called for help. Sui Yu used the excuse that he was a private slave bought in Taiyuan County and was going to take him to Chang'an to sell him. The caravan did not ask any questions.
Afterwards, the gang of bandits were beaten and had rags stuffed in their mouths, which they would not take out until they had food.
After another three days of travel, the walls of Chang'an City became faintly visible. Officials on swift horses encountered the caravan heading east. After inquiring, one of them, his mouth blistered with anxiety, said, "Third brother, I don't think we can catch up this time."
"Even if you can't catch up, let's go."
"No, I mean we should go back as soon as possible. Those people in the mountains should have disappeared. Before the imperial court sends people here, we should wipe out the bandits first. Then we can firmly claim that the idiots we captured were straying here from somewhere else. I'm sure the adults won't blame us."
"Then you won't chase me anymore?"
"What the hell are you chasing? Are you going to chase me into Chang'an? Let's go back."
After a long day of hustling, Sui Yu's caravan finally entered Chang'an, carrying forty-six bandits with them, just before the city gates closed. When registering for entry, Sui Yu pointed to a man with bound hands and gagged mouths and said, "Sir, these are the bandits we encountered on the road. We've arrested forty-six of them, but the rest have escaped. Which government office do you think we should report this to?"
"Bandits? Where did you run into them?" asked the city guard.
"Daqing Mountain is adjacent to Taiyuan County. We are not sure which place it belongs to. Since we were going back to Chang'an, we brought them here," said Sui Yu.
The men guarding the city gate looked at each other, and a guard in armor led the masters and servants to drive the bandits into the city.
Sui Yu arranged for Xiao Chunhong to lead the caravan to find a place to stay first. After the arrangements were made, she followed the city guard. This was her first time entering the inner city gate and being able to see the imperial palace up close. Through a wall, she could also hear the eunuch's shrill voice.
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