Chapter 30: The Bandit's Den, should we take action?
After a hearty meal, the water in the small pond was almost gone. The water bags were overflowing, and the exile group continued their journey!
The prisoner walked ahead, while Shen Lanxi's carriage followed at a distance.
There were two more rocky mountains. Relying on her knowledge of the terrain, Liu Yanhui communicated with Liu Laohu about the route and then went to find Shen Lanxi without any qualms.
“Young master, I read in a travelogue that there are two more similar rocky mountains on this road to Tianjin, after which the road will be easier to travel. But we still need to be careful about one thing.”
Shen Lanxi asked Liu Yan to get back into the carriage to talk.
Inside the carriage were writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, exquisite teacups and snacks, silk embroidered stools, soft couches, and cushions woven from purple bamboo. After Liu Yan went inside, she didn't know where to put her hands and feet.
"Please sit down!"
Liu Yanhui dared not sit on the soft couch, nor on the embroidered stool.
"I'd better sit on the ground!" He could shake off two pounds of dirt with a flick of his clothes, and even if he sat on the ground, he was afraid of getting it dirty.
Shen Lanxi took out a 1:1 replica of the map from Yongcheng to Tianjin and hung it on the wall of the carriage.
After Liu Yanhui saw it clearly, her pupils dilated.
This is a map; it's a serious crime for it to be in private hands!
Shen Lanxi pulled out a one-meter-long bamboo stick from the side and pointed to a spot on it.
"We should be here right now!"
Liu Yanhui lowered her eyes, her gaze flickered, and she quickly nodded.
“I saw in a memorial to the court that there were bandits on the road from Yongcheng to Tianjin. The rocky mountain is barren and not good for hiding, nor is it suitable for the bandits to live on. I guess their base must be in the mountains behind the rocky mountain!”
Shen Lanxi: "Why doesn't the imperial court send troops to suppress the bandits?"
Liu Yanhui said with embarrassment, "Because the memorials were suppressed, the encirclement and suppression campaign requires silver, and the Ministry of Revenue has no money to allocate. Even if it did, it would be prioritized for the border war!"
Shen Lanxi stared intently at the map, her dark eyes sending shivers down Liu Yanhui's spine!
"Should we take over this bandit's den?" Shen Lanxi asked, her eyes shining as she rested her chin on her hand.
Liu Yanhui shuddered violently, a thought suddenly flashing through her mind, she felt like she had boarded a pirate ship!
"Isn't that a bad idea? We don't even know what's going on in the bandit's den."
Shen Lanxi already had an idea in mind.
"The information you provided is very useful. Let's go down now. There are still two mountains to climb. I need to think about how to proceed next!"
Liu Yanhui quickly bowed and respectfully withdrew.
For a fleeting moment, he felt like a eunuch in the imperial palace. The thought had barely crossed his mind when he quickly pinched himself in fright.
He's a eunuch, so who is Shen Lanxi?
The journey went smoothly from then on, and Shen Yuanjing and his siblings even came over to the carriage to talk to her, without any of the yamen runners stopping them.
"Big brother, how did you become so amazing?"
"Big brother, who did you learn your martial arts from? Could you teach us?"
Shen Lanxi looked at the chattering group and replied with a smile, "Great! If you want to learn martial arts, you must first be unafraid of hardship and fatigue. I wonder if you can persevere?"
Shen Yuanjing's eyes lit up: "Sure, I can definitely keep going. Big brother, can you teach us?"
Shen Lanxi: "If you want to learn from me, you're still a bit lacking. How about this, you guys first learn the basics from Chunxue and Qiushuang, and once you've mastered the basics, I'll teach you!"
The Shen brothers were somewhat disappointed.
Shen Lanxi: "My kung fu is fierce and powerful. If you can't build a solid foundation before you learn from me, you'll either suffer minor injuries or end up like those wolves last night!"
The Shen brothers thought about how strong their eldest sister was at fighting wolves yesterday. If they were to let their sister teach them, and she accidentally hit them with the stick... they didn't dare to think about it, they absolutely didn't dare to think about it!
They were on the move and it wasn't a good time to stand in a horse stance, so Chunxue and Qiushuang had the three brothers carry the heavy items on the carriage.
At first, the three brothers were chatting and laughing, but after a cup of tea, they all started to grin and grimac!
The attention of the other young people in the Shen family was all on the three brothers.
"Auntie, I want to learn martial arts too!" Shen Yuanqing pleaded softly with his aunt, Wei Rulan.
Wei Rulan said with heartache, "My children, the journey to exile is already hard enough. How can you endure more suffering!"
He said this to his other son as well.
"Just wait and see, they're only excited for now, they won't last long!"
Zhang Zifen's son also pleaded on the side.
Zhang Zifen lowered her head and said in a low, disdainful voice, "Son, your eldest sister is the legitimate daughter, so she will definitely only teach legitimate children. It's not that your mother doesn't want you to learn; if you were the legitimate daughter, your mother certainly wouldn't object. Even if you manage to get through to your father, your sister's people won't genuinely teach you. Let's not go and make ourselves a nuisance!"
Shen Yuanxin looked into the distance, a hint of gloom flashing across his envious eyes.
Other rooms
"Third brother, fourth brother, should we send the children to learn skills from Lanxi?" Shen Conglian asked, frowning.
Shen Congli: "Of all professions, only studying is noble. Even if you're good at martial arts, at best you can only guard the house and protect the property. What future can you have?"
Shen Congyi nodded: "Lanxi must have a lot of money on her hands from treating so many people to meals before. After we get to Dongchuan, let Mother take charge of the household, get the money, and hire a tutor for the men in the family to teach them to read and take the imperial examinations. Isn't that better than learning martial arts?"
“That makes sense, that makes sense. My older brother went out to study. When we were back in our hometown, we were only focused on farming to earn money to support his education. Since my older brother is academically gifted, we certainly won't be any less so. Our children will definitely follow in our footsteps and be good students!”
"Yes, yes, what the fourth brother said makes sense!"
As usual, Shen Lanxi went out to scout the route for a while each day, taking turns to make sure the horses had drunk their fill of water. After failing to find a water source on the next mountain, Liu Laohu began to strictly control the daily water supply.
The exiles returned to their previous dejected state, moving forward numbly each day, their lips cracked from thirst.
After being thirsty for a whole day, Shen Lanxi began to limit the water supply!
The Shen family has priority, and Liu Yanhui and his family have priority.
When the prisoners saw the water, their eyes turned red, and they wanted to grab it.
Shen Lanxi walked around them with a stick in her arms, and everyone quieted down and obediently lined up to get water.
She has plenty of water in her space; she's not a saint, and she would never do anything selfless!
The second stone mountain was finally over. When the third stone mountain was about a third over, Shen Lanxi went out to scout ahead, and she was gone for a whole day.
While Shen Lanxi was away, the prisoners incited the constables to steal water. The prisoners who incited them were severely punished by Liu Laohu, and no one dared to mention stealing water again!
In the evening, Shen Lanxi returned, bringing with her some news.
"After crossing this rocky mountain, there is a small river at its foot!"
Liu Laohu pursed his chapped lips, his eyes shining.
"Damn it, I'm not sleeping tonight, I'm going to travel all night to get some water!"
Shen Lanxi continued, "Don't be too happy yet. There's a bandit stronghold by the river called Black Wind Stronghold! It's a huge stronghold; a place that size must have at least a hundred people inside!"
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