Chapter 2239 Follow
There was actually a tea stall on the road, so they had a hot meal there at noon. After they finished eating and were about to take a rest before setting off, they saw two horses running towards them. The people on the horses got off the horses with large luggage on their backs, asked the shop owner for two pancakes and a bowl of soup, and then sat on the chairs outside to eat.
Dayu and the others couldn't help but squint their eyes to look at them, and General Nie and Manager Li also looked over.
Bai Shan and Man Bao noticed that the atmosphere was different and turned to look over. After staring at the two people, Bai Shan frowned and said, "I think I have seen them before."
Manbao looked them up and down and felt that they looked familiar. She was about to ask Koko when the two men stood up with pancakes and walked towards Manager Li. She looked over and didn't ask Koko first.
Fu You and his companions felt uneasy and didn't want to find Manager Li so early, but there was no way. Their gazes were too compelling. He felt that if he was any slower, they would suspect his identity.
The two approached Manager Li and asked him to accompany them, saying that they also wanted to go to the Western Regions, but the journey was long and there were only two of them, so...
Manager Li looked them up and down, then remembered, "Are you two of the people who came to see me the other day?"
Fuyou humbly replied "Yes" and begged Manager Li, "My family is in urgent need of money, so we can't risk going to the Western Regions right now. Please ask the adults to let us follow the team. Don't worry, we will follow from a distance and will definitely not disturb the adults."
This kind of thing is actually not uncommon. Some scattered merchants will rely on large caravans for safety, while some merchants who are short of money will give a gift to the large caravan and then follow them from a distance, not asking for their protection, as long as they can follow them.
But these two people's excuses...
Steward Li glanced at their horses, nodded, and stood up, saying, "I'll go ask our master."
He leaned over to Bai Shan and Man Bao and whispered, "Not long after we arrived in Shazhou the day before yesterday, when I went out to stock up on rice and flour, a group of people came up to me and said they wanted to follow our caravan to the Western Regions."
He said, "I felt that our convoy already had enough people, and bringing more would be a burden, so I declined. These two were among us at the time, but I didn't expect them to come looking for me today, saying they were in financial difficulty and in urgent need of money..."
He glanced at their horses and whispered, "But I think this is just an excuse. If their family really needed money urgently, they should have sold the horses. What's the point of rushing to the Western Regions to make money now?"
Manager Li meant to reject them.
Bai Shan frowned and asked, "Where did you see them? Why do they look so familiar to me?"
Nie, the military officer standing by, immediately said, "Mr. Bai, I think they look familiar to me, but I don't think I've seen them in the past two days."
Manbao asked Keke: "I think they look familiar to me, Keke, where have I seen them before?"
Koko selected it and said, "In the desert inn."
At the same time, Bai Shan lowered his voice and said, "I think I saw him in the Desert Inn. Yes, it was in the Desert Inn. The group of people who clashed with us in the bathhouse, didn't they wrestle with you outside the store that evening? I saw him in the crowd."
Although he didn't seem to make a move, he was indeed there.
Lieutenant Nie was startled and said in disbelief, "No way, are they here for revenge? How petty?"
Da Yu, who was sitting at the next table, couldn't help but come over and ask, "What are you talking about? Can you speak louder? I can't hear you."
Everyone glanced at him and said nothing.
Bai Shan paused and asked, "Do those two people look familiar to you?"
Da Yu curled his lips and said, "I've never seen them before, but I'm familiar with their smell."
He said, "They smell the same now as we did before."
It wasn't explained, but everyone understood it. This is a horse thief!
Manbao was in high spirits, but he couldn't believe it. "Do we think it's that easy to rob?"
Da Yu thought for a moment and said, "That's strange. Normally, even if they wanted to rob us, they wouldn't show up so early, and take such a big risk to follow us in person. Could it be that their people aren't here?"
Fu You and the other two were a little anxious. They were far away from Zhou Man and the others. They could only see them whispering to each other but could not hear the specific content.
There was no way. There were so many people in their convoy, and they were surrounded as soon as they got off their horses. They couldn't get close at all.
Bai Shan glanced at them and said to Manager Li, "Promise them, ask them for some money, and expose their lies directly. Tell them that we don't believe that their families are in urgent need of money, but that they want to follow us to the Western Regions to make money. In that case, show some sincerity."
Manager Li was startled and whispered, "Master, isn't it a bad idea to let them follow?"
Bai Shan said: "It would be even worse if we didn't let them follow us. It would be easier to control them if we kept them under our noses."
After saying that, he looked at Lieutenant General Nie and whispered, "Please ask Lieutenant General Nie to have the scouts look around to see if there are any more people following us."
General Nie agreed.
Manager Li went and soon returned with ten taels of silver. He handed it to Bai Shanhou and said, "Master, ask for five taels of silver from each of them."
Bai Shan took the silver and saw Bai Erlang staring at it, so he gave one to him and the other to Manbao.
He nodded and said, "Arrange a place for them near our carriage."
That's the middle position, so that the two fewer people at the back won't attract any attention at all.
After the caravan set off again, two scouts openly stepped out to investigate ahead, while two were quietly left behind. They quietly pulled their horses into the forest, and only got on their horses and left after the caravan was far away and could no longer be seen, and then they returned to investigate in the direction of Yumen Pass.
Although the situation outside Yumen Pass was unstable, there were still post stations and railway stations.
But the post station was very small and could not accommodate more than a hundred people. Fortunately, it was summer and it was not very cold at night, there were just a lot of insects.
Manbao and his companions lived in the post station, while the others were stationed around the post station on guard.
The two people ate and drank separately from them. Manbao stood upstairs and looked at them, then turned and went to the kitchen. After taking a look at the mutton soup they ordered, he added a little something to it.
The cook beside him: ...
Manbao shushed him and said, "Don't tell anyone."
The cook didn't tell anyone, but told the postmaster.
The postmaster thought of their exit documents and official seals, gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry about it, just stay in the kitchen and don't go out."
Then have another guy bring out the soup.
The most commonly drunk soup here is mutton soup. Soldiers and guards also have two large buckets of mutton soup. Those who want to drink it can get it themselves.
Steward Li, who had witnessed Miss Man drugging them, went to get a bowl of soup, then walked over to the two of them and said with a laugh, "Brothers, please forgive us. We're only taking you along. You'll have to take care of yourselves for food and lodging."
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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