Chapter 237 Robbery
Yongcheng is very close to the capital; it would take a maximum of five days to reach it by water.
With the river frozen over and travel by boat impossible, Sheng An and his party had no choice but to abandon the waterway and hire fifteen horse-drawn carriages from a carriage company in Yongcheng.
After a brief discussion, the group decided to take the official road.
The official road was relatively flat and in good condition, with post stations along the way for easy rest at night. The downside was that it took two more days to travel than by ordinary road.
After bidding farewell to Zheng Wenying in Yongcheng, the group continued their journey north by carriage.
To Sheng An's delight, he didn't encounter any more unlucky people along the way, even though traveling by water was more exhausting for his legs and backside.
The carriage had no shock absorption device. Even though the official road was in good condition, sitting in it all day would make your buttocks numb. It would take a while for your feet to land before you could walk normally.
The journey was relatively peaceful until one day at noon, when the group arrived at a valley in the middle of nowhere and were ambushed by a band of bandits.
This gang of bandits consisted of more than a dozen people, and their weapons included long knives, machetes, kitchen knives, and hoes.
When they saw Sheng An and his group, they thought they had encountered easy prey. But when they saw the twenty or thirty highly skilled guards who jumped out of the carriage, they were so frightened that they wet themselves and fled in panic.
If they had brought fewer guards, these bandits would have swarmed them like locusts.
Seeing that the bandits had disappeared from sight, Sheng An patted his pounding heart: "Luckily, we brought enough men, otherwise we would have suffered a huge loss!"
Seeing that she was frightened, Xu Jinnian put his arm around her and comforted her: "Fortunately, I have a wife who is very good at making money, so I can afford to pay a lot of money to have guards protect me all the way. Otherwise, I would have had to flee for my life in a sorry state."
Sheng An was amused by his words and kissed him on the corner of his lips: "Even if I don't earn money to hire guards, there's still Zhenlin and the others."
Xu Jinnian shook his head, his eyes gentle: "It's different. With An'an specially hiring someone to protect me, I feel especially safe."
I learned the word "security" from Sheng'an.
Feeling completely satisfied after being coaxed, Sheng An declared with boundless pride, "Don't worry, you'll get what you deserve if you follow me!"
Xu Jinnian: "..."
Today, An An belongs to the unrestrained type.
This minor incident with the bandits did not leave any psychological scars on anyone.
They ate their dry rations as they hurried toward their next destination.
The bandits, having failed in their robbery, were not in a good mood. After confirming that no one was chasing them, they came to a hillside to rest, panting.
The bandit leader kicked one of his underlings, pointing at his nose and cursing, "I told you to scout ahead, and you bastard stuck your own ass in there!"
The younger brother quickly begged for forgiveness: "Big brother, it was my fault. I will make amends and guarantee to get us real fat sheep!"
The bandit leader reluctantly believed him, and snorted, threatening, "If this happens again, I'll kill you with one blow!"
The younger brother shrank his neck and swore in his heart that he would definitely get a fat little lamb into his older brother's mouth.
Perhaps because they were in a bad mood, the bandits went on a robbery spree for the next few days, even robbing a hunter who lived in seclusion in the mountains, stealing the rabbits he was planning to take to the city to pay off a debt.
Even a small fly is still meat, let alone a rabbit.
Perhaps it was because these bandits were too unscrupulous that fate dealt them another Waterloo; not only did they fail to rob any money, they also lost two men.
Now, the bandit leader went completely mad. When he saw the three inconspicuous carriages on the official road that looked like easy targets, he led his brothers to rush at them.
The three carriages were occupied by none other than Xu Huaining and his group of seven, along with their attendants.
Upon seeing the bandits wielding weapons, Scholar Wang turned deathly pale: "What should we do? What should we do? Will they kill us?"
It wasn't that we didn't encounter robberies along the way, but the first few times we were robbed, it was mostly by nearby villagers who stopped us asking for money or food; they didn't even have any weapons.
If they had been more assertive, these villagers would have been scared away.
The bandits in front of us are real bandits!
The older scholar in the same carriage, however, was not surprised and comforted Wang, saying, "Don't be afraid, they only care about money and won't harm anyone."
Seeing his certainty, Wang, the scholar, blurted out, "How do you know?"
The older scholar said, "I encountered them here both times when I went to the capital for the imperial examinations. As long as I gave them some money, everything would be fine."
Wang Juren: "..."
It turned out to be an old acquaintance.
It's good to be an old acquaintance, it's good to be an old acquaintance, at least you can save your life.
Therefore, before the bandit leader could speak, the older scholar took the initiative to get off the carriage, greeted the bandit leader with a smile, and handed over the fifteen taels of silver that he and the other scholar had prepared, which was exactly five taels each for toll money.
The bandit leader didn't remember the elderly scholar, but seeing how sensible they were, he didn't make things difficult for them and waved his hand, saying, "You can go now."
The older scholar breathed a sigh of relief, immediately returned to the carriage, and urged the driver to drive away.
The middle carriage followed suit and also gave the bandit leader fifteen taels of silver.
The bandit leader was very dissatisfied. He grabbed the man who handed over the silver and cursed, "Only fifteen taels of silver? You're trying to fob me off like a beggar! Give me another fifteen taels, or don't blame me for being impolite!"
The three scholars on the carriage were terrified and dared not haggle. They scraped together another fifteen taels of silver and handed it over to the bandit leader.
Xu Huaining, who was using a carriage all by himself due to a leg injury, witnessed the bandit leader's behavior and immediately felt uneasy. He subconsciously hid the small bundle containing his silver.
Xu Huaining's premonition came true. The bandit leader walked over with a long knife in hand. Seeing that there was no movement from the carriage, he slammed his knife hard against the carriage door: "Hand over all the silver, or don't blame my knife for being merciless!"
The henchmen behind him followed suit, wielding weapons and hacking at the car door.
One person chopped at the car door a few times and easily smashed it to pieces.
The two servants who accompanied Xu Huaining trembled and clung to each other, howling as if the knives had been slashing their own bodies.
Xu Huaining, annoyed by the noise, shouted sternly, "Shut up!"
The bandit leader misunderstood, thinking that Xu Huaining was shouting at him, and immediately kicked the car door hard.
With a loud crash, the thin car door was kicked open, and the door panel slammed heavily onto the three people inside the car.
Unfortunately, the largest door panel smashed directly onto Xu Huaining's injured leg, causing him to wince in pain. He hurriedly lifted the door panel to check his leg.
Only after confirming that the broken bone hadn't shifted did Xu Huaining breathe a sigh of relief, managing a weak smile as he looked at the menacing bandit leader:
“Hero, I have no extra money. I hope you can leave me here. I will repay you handsomely on my return journey.”
The bandit leader wasn't about to fall for his empty promises. He thrust his long sword against Xu Huaining's neck and yelled, "Stop talking nonsense and hand over all the silver!"
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