Chapter 25 Best Route!
No one dared to eat the food that had been drugged, and the constables, feeling it was a waste, took it outside and threw it away.
The recent collaboration between officials and criminals has greatly improved the attitude of the constables towards exiled prisoners!
The woman who had previously pulled down the bandits' underwear looked pained as she saw the constables throwing away the food.
"Sir, why throw away all this good food? It's such a waste!"
This constable had witnessed women pulling down someone's underwear before, and instinctively took two steps back.
"These dishes have been laced with sleeping pills, who would dare eat them?"
Woman: "Can sleeping potion kill people?"
The constable replied, "That won't happen. At most, it will put them to a drowsy state!"
Upon hearing that the food wouldn't kill anyone and could even help with sleep, the woman quickly pulled out a cloth and wrapped all the food in it.
The more the constable looked at the cloth, the more it resembled underwear. He looked at the woman as if she were something filthy, and quickly kept his distance.
After the thirty-five refugees were rescued and regained consciousness, they immediately burst into heart-wrenching cries. From their cries, it was learned that some of their sons and husbands had been killed immediately after being captured. The bandits spared them, abusing the women and intending to keep the elderly and children as provisions. Their actions were utterly outrageous and abhorrent!
Liu Laohu immediately had murderous intent, but as an official, there were some things that couldn't be handled through his hands!
"Young Master Lan, what do you think we should do with these bandits? We are escorting government officials; we can only move forward, not backward. It's really inconvenient to escort these people!"
Shen Lanxi readily took over the conversation: "If Brother Liu trusts me, then leave it to me. I'll have someone take them to the Yongcheng government office!"
Liu Laohu quickly agreed. After the exiled prisoners had walked a distance, he quietly sneaked back and saw Shen Lanxi distributing travel expenses to the victims.
He couldn't help those who were victimized, so he could only give them some food and let them escape.
Then he saw Shen Lanxi pull out two knives, which the two victims took directly and stabbed at the bound bandits.
They stabbed him several times before stopping. Two of them had already started, but the others joined in, as if venting their anger, stabbing each of the bandits seven or eight times before they felt satisfied.
Liu Laohu quietly retreated, and Shen Lanxi followed him shortly after.
After this, Liu Laohu took the initiative to ask if the Shen family members should take turns coming over to ride in the car.
Shen Lanxi rejected it outright.
"Keep a low profile, and the Shen family will be the only ones who can save their lives! Just treat the Shen family the way you treated them before, and continue to treat them the same way you did before!"
Liu Laohu left respectfully.
In the past, they would have rested at the post station for a while longer. Now, the post station was an easy target. After dealing with the bandits, Liu Laohu immediately led his men on their way, even eating their meals on the road.
After what happened at the inn, the exiled prisoners were not depressed at all; on the contrary, they were in a state of inexplicable excitement and a strange sense of unity.
This unity was evident when Li's mother delivered food to the Shen family; no one tried to snatch it or made any comments or complaints.
While resting at night, several muffled thuds were heard. Shen Yuantang, who had been listening intently since morning, could no longer contain himself and ran off to a nearby spot.
Everyone else was stunned to see her like this.
It wasn't until I saw her run up to the woman who had pulled down someone's underwear during the day, grope around for a while, and then slap the child next to the woman on the hand that I suddenly realized what had happened!
This little girl is so vengeful! That woman asked her for a steamed bun but couldn't get one, so she had her son knock her to the ground. She kept quiet and still remembers it!
Shen Yuantang was very clever. He found a few pieces of silver, took only one, and quickly ran to his father to hand it over.
The other women, who had been eyeing the constables coveting them, pounced on them like hungry wolves when they saw that the constables were ignoring them.
They're all women; they're capable of doing that!
Some men, dissatisfied with their wives' slow movements, would kick them, forcing them to reach into their husbands' pockets.
The faster it gets snapped up, the faster it ends!
Even Old Mrs. Shen was tempted, and she secretly lectured her three sons: "Look at the children you raised, and then look at the eldest son's child? They don't even know how to snatch food, they can't even catch the best food while it's still fresh. And you always say the eldest son is lucky. The food is right in front of you, and you don't even try to grab it. What can you do about it..."
Nu Bai recounted everything that had happened here to Shen Lanxi in great detail.
"Master, that woman is so unlucky, it's all because she was greedy!"
"Your sister is both vengeful and audacious!"
"Old Madam Shen is so biased! She actually encouraged your uncles to rob it!"
Shen Lanxi listened to the story as she looked at the map!
The map was a modern one; aside from the place names, the terrain and mountains remained largely unchanged. She wanted to get a map of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but drawing maps without authorization was a serious crime. Only the garrison troops of provinces and prefectures had maps, and even those were just deployment maps of local forces—useless to her!
To reach Dongchuan as quickly as possible, one should take a ferry from Jinmen Ferry Terminal, sail downstream to Xiguan, and then change course to Dongchuan. Following this route would allow one to arrive in Dongchuan at least half the time earlier.
The difficulty now is that Tianjin is in the southeast, and they keep going north. If they want to get to Tianjin, they have to go back to Yongcheng and then go southeast again.
Is Liu Laohu capable?
Putting away the map, Shen Lanxi felt that now was not the best time to negotiate with Liu Laohu; it would be better to take another drastic measure!
Unexpectedly, this drastic measure worked faster than anticipated, and it was even chosen by Liu Laohu himself!
A scream woke everyone up in the morning, followed by the woman's screams and curses.
No matter how scathing her insults were, no one paid any attention to her. Her only fate was to be warned with a whip by the constables!
Liu Laohu decided to take a shortcut and informed Shen Lanxi in advance.
Shen Lanxi: "Can the carriage pass?"
Liu Laohu: "Okay!" He now has an inexplicable trust in Shen Lanxi, and feels more at ease with her by his side!
Soon the sound of whips rang out, and the constables began urging the prisoners to hurry on their way.
The two children with fevers have recovered, and Shen Lanxi asked Chunxue to take them back.
When Chunxue returned, she said angrily, "Young master, the old lady wants the other young masters to pretend to be sick so they can ride in the carriage."
Shen Lanxi: "Did you agree?"
Chunxue raised the corners of her mouth: "The master stopped them and even talked to the old lady!"
Shen Lanxi smiled faintly and didn't say anything. After a while, Chunxue took a water bag to moisten the master's throat. There was only a few sips of water, and once the Shen family's main branch finished drinking it, there was no more.
Old Master Shen and Old Madam Shen waited calmly, but when they saw Chunxue leave with the empty water bag, they were so angry that they kept pounding their chests.
Liu Laohu led them along an abandoned official road. This road had collapsed before, leaving several large pits in the ground, making it difficult for carriages to travel. Gradually, no one used this road anymore.
After walking for a long time, just as they entered the winding mountain road, an arrow suddenly pierced the air and struck the foremost constable directly in the chest. The arrow pierced through the constable's chest, and he died instantly!
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