When Zhou Hao heard this, the smile on his face became even brighter.
But then, he suddenly changed the subject and looked a little embarrassed.
Zhou Hao said slowly with some apology: "I wanted to let you guys rest for a few more days, but the emperor's order is hard to disobey, and we still have a long journey to go, so I really don't want to delay you."
Mu Hongqi waved his hand and said with a smile: "Don't be polite, sir. It is a great honor to be able to rest in such a good inn for a night. You are right. There is still a long way to go. We should not waste time. Let's say goodbye now."
Zhou Hao seemed to have suddenly remembered something important, and reminded with concern: "Recently, on the official road heading south, bandits have been rampant and have gathered thousands of them. The government has organized encirclement and suppression operations many times but has been unable to do anything about them."
"For safety reasons, I suggest you take the mountain road to bypass the area. There are so many young women in your group, I'm really worried that you will be targeted by those vicious mountain bandits."
When everyone heard this, their faces suddenly changed slightly. They didn't expect that there were a large number of bandits gathered on the official road behind them.
Although they were just exiled prisoners, they had no money or anything valuable to be robbed.
However, at least half of the team are women. How could those bandits let them go easily?
After some discussion, everyone finally decided to follow the suggestion of the Yunzhou prefect and take the mountain road instead.
...
...
"Commander Xue, I wonder if we can take the mountain road instead. This way, at least we can ensure everyone's safety. What do you think?"
Mu Wanjun suddenly remembered that they were just exiled prisoners and had no right to choose their own route. The key was to convince Xue Bufan.
Xue Bufan looked at Mu Wanjun with a barely perceptible admiration in his eyes, thinking to himself: There is still someone smart enough to know that he is the one who can make the decision.
The prefect of Yunzhou walked up to Xue Bufan and secretly stuffed a folded silver note into his hand.
Only the words "one thousand taels" were visible on the banknote. He smiled and said, "Commander Xue, I will leave these fifty yamen runners of Yunzhou Prefecture to you. The journey ahead will be difficult. I hope Commander Xue can treat them well."
Although Zhou Hao did not directly persuade Xue Bufan to make a choice, his words concealed what he wanted to express.
Xue Bufan smiled slightly and said, "No problem. The Yunzhou yamen runners and I are brothers. I will naturally take good care of them."
Zhou Hao nodded with satisfaction and watched the exile team gradually leave.
At this time, the Su family and the Shen family had already packed up and walked ahead of the exile team.
Su Yunhai did not hear Zhou Hao's advice and led his team onto the official road.
Seeing that her best friend's team had already walked a long way, Mu Wanjun hurried to the front of the team and said to Xue Bufan, "Master Xue, the Su family took the official road. Can I remind them to follow us on the mountain road?"
The Su and Chen families brought so many supplies with them that they would definitely be targeted by bandits. It was too dangerous to take the official road.
Xue Bufan has no good feelings towards the Su family at all.
He is a member of the Jinwu Guard. Because of the Su family, the Jinwu Guard has become unbearable in reputation and is even disliked by His Majesty.
More than a hundred brothers are still locked up in prison. How can he really coexist peacefully with the Su family?
He hoped that something bad would happen to the Su family immediately.
If the Su family had not hidden many experts, he would not have been able to deal with the Su family without leaving any traces. Otherwise, he would have taken action long ago.
"No, no one can leave the team at will. Otherwise, I will think you are trying to escape. Then I will definitely pull the Mu family out and beat them half to death as a warning to others."
Xue Bufan's tone was cold and firm, leaving no room for negotiation.
Mu Wanjun's cheeks puffed up with anger, and her already chubby face looked even cuter at this moment.
She glared at Xue Bufan fiercely, and then shouted loudly to the team in front.
"Ari, Ari! Stop!"
However, the distance was too far. Mu Wanjun shouted several times, but the Su family’s team failed to stop.
Shen Shuli had been sitting in the carriage practicing martial arts.
It seemed as if I vaguely heard my best friend calling me.
But after listening carefully for a long time, I heard nothing and thought I was hallucinating.
She got off the carriage and wanted to see where the exile group was going.
When I looked back, there was no sign of the exile team at all.
Logically speaking, their team was not walking very fast, just like taking a slow walk.
The exile team shouldn't be unable to keep up.
"Dad, the exile team hasn't caught up. I'm going back to see what's going on." Shen Shuli came to Su Yunhai and said.
Su Yunhai rode on the horse and looked back.
He could still see the city gate which had become very small, but he did not see the exile team along the way, which made him feel very strange.
"That's weird. I just saw the exile team leaving the city. How come they disappeared?"
"Go back and have a look. We'll be waiting here."
"Okay." Shen Shuli became anxious when she heard it, and immediately rode her horse back to look for him.
There was no fork in the road they were walking on. Where could the exile team go?
I can't go back to Yunzhou Prefecture again, right?
Shen Shuli came to the city gate and asked the soldiers guarding the city.
"Master Bing, where did those exiled prisoners go after leaving the city? Why did they disappear?"
"Who are you and why are you asking about exiled prisoners?" The soldiers guarding the city looked at the woman in front of them vigilantly, full of alert.
"Oh, a prisoner owed my family a lot of money, and said he would pay us back after leaving the city. My family was waiting for them in front, but they disappeared before we knew it. Could they have run away?"
Shen Shuli said deliberately, hoping to attract the other party's attention.
"I see. Don't worry. There are so many guards watching them. How could they let them get away?"
"They took the path over there. You should still have time to chase them now," the soldier kindly reminded.
Upon hearing this, Shen Shuli stuffed a handful of copper coins into the other party's pocket and immediately looked towards the location pointed by the officer.
I actually saw a clear mountain road and a lot of fresh footprints.
She found an opportunity to put the horse into space and quickly caught up.
After chasing for just quarter of an hour, she saw the exile team.
She quickly called out to Mu Wanjun.
"Princess, Princess, wait a moment!"
Mu Wanjun didn't expect Shen Shuli to discover the problem and catch up so quickly.
Xue Bufan, who was at the front of the team, also heard Shen Shuli's voice and looked at the two of them with a sinister look on his face.
Mu Wanjun breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Shen Shuli aside to explain the reason.
"Do we really have to take the mountain road?" Shen Shuli was a little worried.
Both families have a lot of supplies, so climbing the mountain is definitely not easy.
But since the prefect said that there were thousands of bandits hiding on the official road, she did not dare to take the risk with her family.
Between life and hard work, there is certainly no room for hesitation.
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