Chapter 535 Encounter with Bandits
Bai Yuhan couldn't understand what the thugs were saying, but Jiang Fenghua did. She spoke directly in the southern language, "Don't hurt her. Do you want money? We'll give you money, and you can release this girl."
She knew that the thugs opposite her were capable of killing a little girl and even ruthlessly slaughtering civilians; they must be a group of vicious people. If she angered them, Bai Yuhan could have her throat slit at any moment.
Jiang Fenghua knew the man had a lot of money on him, and said to him, "Take out the money to save my friend."
The man said, "I have no money left."
Jiang Fenghua said coldly, "Why show off when you're broke? Weren't you quite extravagant when you bought that broken stone?"
The man was speechless. "I'm catching a swindler, and that's considered showing off?"
Jiang Fenghua didn't bother with his nonsense, and only heard Bai Yuhan say, "Aruan, save me."
At this point, the gangster boss had been restrained by the man with shackles, and the two sides had stopped fighting. The man's men had arrested many people, and the gangsters also had many civilians in their hands.
Lin Yu had just stepped out of the inn when she saw the street in complete chaos. She led her people to Jiang Fenghua and asked, "Aruan, are you alright?"
Jiang Fenghua said softly, "No, Miss Bai has been taken hostage by them. We need to find a way to rescue her."
At the same time, the man spoke to the thugs, "Release the people, and I will give them a lighter punishment; otherwise, I will punish them severely."
Immediately afterwards, the man held a knife to the boss's neck, saying, "You're their leader, Yang Guaizi, right? Tell them to release the people."
"Oh, so all the officials of your Southern Kingdom have heard of my name? I'm not afraid of you. Kill me if you want. The people of the Southern Kingdom will accompany me in death. I won't be alone on the road to the Yellow Springs. I admit defeat in your hands today."
Yang Guaizi was neither from the South nor from the Great Zhou Dynasty, but a bandit from the common people who committed all sorts of evil deeds, including swindling, cheating, burning, killing, and robbing.
"You..." The man's name was Shen Yao. He was ordered by the Prince of Nan to hunt down this fraud gang. He had spent the whole morning dealing with them and finally managed to lure out the gang leader, Yang Guaizi.
Yang Guaizi had Shen Yao completely under his control, and was extremely arrogant and domineering. "Release me, and I guarantee that the people of the South will be safe and sound."
Shen Yao's men suddenly spoke in Mandarin, "Sir, we can't let him go. We finally managed to capture Yang Guaizi." They meant that even if it meant sacrificing the people, they couldn't let him go, otherwise capturing him again would be incredibly difficult.
Shen Yao pondered for a moment, and was about to shout, "Kill...no mercy," but he didn't utter the last two words.
Suddenly, Jiang Fenghua swiftly snatched the knife from Shen Yao's hand and held it to Shen Yao's neck, coldly ordering his men, "Tell your men to step back." These officials are willing to abandon the lives of ordinary people.
Shen Yao was dumbfounded. What was this person? Had he just saved him, or was he also one of the thugs?
The other thugs were dumbfounded. The man who had just shouted was full of mockery in his eyes. "What's going on? Are you Southerners having infighting?"
Jiang Fenghua stared at Bai Yuhan, hoping she could calm down, otherwise she would lose her life if she really angered these people.
Jiang Fenghua adopted an attitude of not meddling in the affairs of both sides and said calmly to the thugs, "I am not from the Southern Kingdom, but a merchant from the Great Zhou Kingdom. We are just new to the Southern Kingdom to do business, so I will not help any of you, nor will I care about any entanglements between the Southern Kingdom and you. However, the woman in your hands is my friend. I will exchange this Southern Kingdom official with you. You release my friend. We are all businessmen, and I think you can all do the math!"
Seeing this, Yang Guaizi laughed, "I told you long ago that you can't kill me."
He said to the soldiers from the South, "Hurry up and release me, your superiors also have knives to their necks."
The soldier was also in a dilemma, "Sir."
“We can’t let him go.” Shen Yao said to Jiang Fenghua, “Since you are a citizen of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and I have no grudge against you, why are you trying to harm me like this? Swords have no eyes, be careful…”
Jiang Fenghua said, "I only want to save my sister, please forgive me, sir."
Lin Yu understood Jiang Fenghua's meaning. She drew her sword and pressed it against Yang Guaizi's neck. "If we release you, what will happen to my sister if your people don't release her? My young master said we will not be enemies with either of you, but you must release my sister before we can hand over this lord from the Southern Kingdom to your people. What you do after that is none of our business."
With a knife and a sword around his neck and his hands still shackled, Yang Guaizi quickly made a judgment: it was better to capture the official leader than a commoner.
He shouted to his subordinates, "Ma San, first take control of this lord from the South, then release the woman."
Ma San said, "Send him over to exchange for your sister."
Jiang Fenghua held the knife tightly against Shen Yao's neck. "Please, sir!"
Shen Yao was furious. Feeling the coldness on his neck, he said, "You saved your sister, but you can't escape the Southern Kingdom. Yang Guaizi and his gang have done all sorts of bad things. Even if you help them kill me, they won't let you off the hook."
“All I know is that my sister is in their hands, and the people of the South are also in their hands. Yet you and your men are going to abandon them. Handing you over to Yang Guaizi's men would at least save the lives of the people.” She said to Yang Guaizi, “Am I right?”
Yang Guaizi was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "You're right. We're only after money and have no intention of taking lives. As long as the magistrate of the Southern Kingdom is willing to release us, we won't harm the people of the Southern Kingdom in the slightest." This was a lie that couldn't be more blatant. They only cared about profit and didn't care about people's lives.
"Don't trust them," Shen Yao said coldly. "Don't try to be honest with robbers; they have no integrity whatsoever."
Jiang Fenghua forced him to slowly move closer to the thug, and said coldly to Ma San, "If you dare to cheat, Yang Guaizi's head will be chopped off."
Ma San was intimidated by the fierce look in her eyes. He brought Bai Yuhan forward and said, "Let's switch people together."
The next second, just as Jiang Fenghua took Bai Yuhan, she suddenly released the sword that was pressed against Shen Yao's neck. Shen Yao also acted quickly and subdued Ma San in no time.
Jiang Fenghua raised an eyebrow at Shen Yao, "Not too stupid."
Shen Yao's eyes revealed his appreciation for her. After subduing Ma San, he went to capture other bandits.
Jiang Fenghua said to Bai Yuhan, "Let's go quickly."
Bai Yuhan hurriedly ran towards Lin Yu. She was terrified when she saw this group of vicious villains. She thought she was going to die, but luckily Jiang Fenghua saved her.
Lin Yu didn't dare to delay and rushed over to help Jiang Fenghua.
Meanwhile, Jiang Fenghua, as agile as an eel, joined the fight against the thugs and saved some people from the southern country.
Upon seeing this, Yang Guaizi was furious. "You're from the South?"
Jiang Fenghua said, "No, I just can't stand you using people's lives as leverage. Even thieves have their code of honor, don't you understand? Even robbers have to have a bottom line. What kind of hero kills children?"
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