Chapter 49 An Old Friend?
Wei Mingde remained calm and composed, only politely bowing with his hands clasped in greeting.
"Sir, you are mistaken. If we kill the officers, we can simply escape. Why bother bringing the documents into the city and inviting trouble upon ourselves?"
He was right, but Yangguan County was a necessary stop on the way to exile in Lingnan.
This was the first time they had encountered a prisoner carrying his own documents into the city.
The officials didn't dare to act on their own, and the lead official turned to his subordinate and whispered instructions to him.
"Go and ask the adults for permission."
"yes."
After the official left, Wei Mingde calmly extended his hand, signaling the official to return the documents.
"You lot, drag them aside and search them. I'll take this document for now, and we'll decide what to do when our magistrate arrives!"
He naturally dared not return the documents directly.
Without documents or a pass, these people can't go anywhere, which makes them safer.
Wei Mingde didn't confront him directly, but calmly bowed again and said, "Thank you for your trouble."
Back at the oxcart, he explained, "They have some doubts about this document."
"We've already sent someone to consult the county magistrate. Let's go over there and prepare to be searched."
"good."
Lu Xun looked up at the officials and then drove the oxcart to follow them to the waiting point.
"Everyone, get off the bus!"
The officers surrounded them with knives and then cautiously made them get off the carriage one by one.
Those who got off the carriage before them were either frail scholars or women and children, and the officials didn't pay them much attention.
The officers immediately tensed up when Xu Yifei came down.
The officer closest to Xu Yifei felt something was amiss, and hearing the clanging sound of shackles, he subconsciously lowered his head.
Xu Yifei's feet were suddenly dangling from the ground, and he abruptly took a few steps back.
"Boss, this guy isn't wearing shackles!"
"What?!"
This terrified the officials, and a group of them quickly gathered around.
Xu Yifei was tall, but he wasn't wearing shackles, which was really frightening.
Yun Zhao dashed forward, grabbed Xu Yifei's trouser leg, and started climbing up.
"Don't hit my uncle! Don't hit my uncle!"
Suddenly a baby appeared, and the officials immediately stopped.
The little baby stared wide-eyed, spread his short arms, and shooed everyone away with a fierce, adorable gesture.
"Don't bully my uncle! Zhaozhao is very fierce!"
"Pfft!"
She's adorable; her chubby cheeks puff up when she's angry, making you want to tease her.
"What if I bully your uncle?"
"Then, then I'll beat you up! Zhao Zhao's punches really hurt!"
Yun Zhao stiffened her neck and shook her small, white fist.
"Pfft, hahaha! This doll is really funny!"
The officials burst into laughter.
Yun Zhao turned around with a puzzled look and hugged Xu Yifei's neck. "Uncle, are they afraid of Zhao Zhao? They won't bully you, will they?"
Xu Yifei gently patted her back and coaxed her softly, "Yes, our Zhaozhao is the best! With Zhaozhao around, no one dares to bully Uncle!"
This dignified seven-foot-tall man, having not trimmed his beard in a long time, now has a full beard.
This rugged man is holding a tiny baby who looks like a New Year's picture doll.
His patient coaxing words made him seem softer and less intimidating.
Perhaps because he was holding a little girl, the officers lowered their guard and spoke more gently when they spoke again.
"What's wrong with you? It's normal for babies not to wear shackles, why aren't you one either?"
"I……"
"The officers untied him."
Before Xu Yifei could speak, Wei Jingchen answered for him first.
Xu Yifei: ?
"Huh? I..."
"We encountered bandits on the road. Although my elder brother here doesn't know martial arts, he's still a tall and imposing man."
The officials asked him to help protect everyone; the whole family, including women and children, was still alive.
They weren't worried about our leader running away; the officials said they'd put him back in shackles once we safely reached Yangguan County.
Wei Jingchen explained simply, directly stating the criteria that would reassure the officials: Xu Yifei did not know martial arts and his family consisted of women and children.
The officials immediately nodded.
"Okay, then you all line up according to your family, and we'll count the number of people."
The documents clearly stated the families and individuals to be exiled, as well as the reasons for the exile; they only needed to verify each item.
The two families lined up, and when the officials took a look, they realized that the number of people was quite different.
"Isn't your Xu family supposed to consist of four men, three women, and one child?"
When the officers saw that the number of people didn't match, they immediately became suspicious of them again.
"Here's the thing, we got separated from the bandits on the road. Our family wasn't very close to begin with, and we've already split up. Here we are, all of us."
Xu Yinan is irresponsible and doesn't think this is a family scandal. He bluntly says that the family has already split up long ago, even though the older generation is still alive.
"Ha, big families are just different."
The official scoffed, clearly looking down on a spoiled brat like Xu Yinan.
Xu Yinan wasn't annoyed. He grinned, showing off his bright white teeth, and stood protectively by his side.
Once the officials had confirmed the number of people, people from the county town also arrived.
"grown ups!"
To everyone's surprise, the visitor turned out to be the magistrate of Yangguan County himself!
"My lord, why have you come in person?"
The guards at the gate were equally surprised.
Yun Zhao clung tightly to Xu Yifei's neck, feigning fear, while secretly observing the county magistrate.
He rushed over and immediately reached out to have the official hand him the documents.
He quickly scanned the documents, his gaze landing on a certain spot before he looked up.
Who is the Princess Consort of Jin?
Yun Zhao: ?
Hmm? Looking for her mother?
Even Xu Qingyi herself was stunned.
As the daughter of a great general, and later married to the Prince of Jin, she was naturally a lady of high birth, so how could she possibly know any men from outside the capital?
Worried that Xu Qingyi wouldn't know how to answer, Yun Zhao spoke first.
"What do you want with my mother?"
The magistrate turned to look at her, a kind smile on his face.
"Is the young lady the daughter of the Prince of Jin?"
"It's me, Uncle County Magistrate! You still haven't answered my question!"
Yun Zhao looked at him with a serious expression.
"I am Yang Jingyan, the magistrate of Yangguan County. Please follow me into the city!"
Yang Jingyan politely bowed to the group, offering no direct explanation, but instead turned and instructed the officials to clear the way.
He didn't say it directly, which made Xu Qingyi uneasy, and she suddenly didn't know whether she should go into the city.
Seeing this, Wei Mingde whispered, "Sister-in-law, it's getting late. Let's go into the city first and talk about it!"
"What Lord Wei said is absolutely right."
Even after Wei Mingde said that, Xu Qingyi still got into the car with the children.
The group entered the city, with Yang Jingyan following closely behind.
The guards at the gate couldn't help but find it strange.
"Boss, hasn't the Prince of Jin already been demoted to a commoner? Why is the lord still so respectful to the Princess Consort of Jin?"
"Our parents used to study in the capital; they might be old acquaintances!"
Someone answered.
"An old friend? Doesn't seem like it. My lord doesn't even know who the Princess Consort of Jin is, and when I looked at them, it seemed like none of them recognized our lord!"
The lead officer glared at his companion. "Get to work! We're about to close the city gates!"
"No, boss, were we too fierce just now? Did we offend someone?"
"Hiss! You've hit the nail on the head!"
Everyone was immediately alarmed.
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