It wasn't anything unexpected; it was just that Lu Baichuan and his wife were preparing to take a group of kids to suppress bandits.
The robbers I encountered on my way home for the Chinese New Year, but I hadn't taken them with me yet.
He Jiuniang and Lu Baichuan had discussed it and decided that this bandit suppression would be handled entirely by a group of kids. The two of them could either sit on the sidelines eating melon seeds and watching the battle, or they could search the bandits' lair to see if there were any good things left from before.
Since we're going into the mountains this time, and it's freezing cold, it won't be convenient with a large group, we don't plan to bring Old Man Lu and his wife, or anyone else. So we'll let them go to the prefectural city first.
Lu Baichuan has two residences in the prefectural city. Besides Xishuiyuan, there is another vacant residence that can be used by these clansmen. Lu Baichuan asked Lou Chong to take them to make arrangements.
Lou Chong originally wanted to join in the fun, but he was assigned work and had to go take care of his business first.
Liu Yuexiang and Zhang Lanxiang came out to join in the fun when everyone stopped to discuss. They were already scared when they heard that they were going to suppress bandits. They never expected that Lu Baichuan and his wife would actually send Lu Xiaoyang and the other younger generation to capture bandits. It was unheard of, and they were instantly frightened.
No wonder the younger generation of the Lu family are all so outstanding. Even a four- or five-year-old puppy is willing to charge into battle. How could they not be outstanding?
Looking at the expressions of Lu Baichuan and his wife, they seemed not worried about their young son's safety at all, and even showed a hint of excitement. Is this normal?
The others thought the same way, especially Boss Lu. He originally planned to bring more people along, since they were all desperate criminals and the kids might suffer if a fight broke out. But Lu Baichuan refused to agree, and Lei Zi also said there was no need for that. More people would only become a burden to them.
He looked anxiously at his parents, but to his surprise, the old couple said, "You would be a burden if you went, so you should come with us to the prefectural city first, so as not to delay things!"
Boss Lu: ...
Logically speaking, the elderly couple should love their children the most, so how could they bear to let them take risks?
But now the old couple actually agreed, and seemed to have a lot of confidence in the children. Lu Laoda couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. What had happened to the children during the time they were apart, and what had they, as parents, missed?
He was eager to go to the prefectural city to do business and reunite with his children as soon as possible.
In the end, Boss Lu was still pulled away by Old Man Lu, leaving only Fang Da to drive the carriage. They only left the largest carriage behind, traveling light, and headed to the bandits' den.
The kids were very excited. The previous incident had given them a better understanding of their abilities. In addition, they hadn't been idle during the Spring Festival because Lu Baichuan had nothing to do and personally supervised and corrected them every day.
Oh right, Lu Baichuan said he would teach them a new sword technique after returning from the capital. They've already learned a few moves, and we can practice them later to see their power.
"I'll personally deal with that bandit leader in a bit; I've been wanting to get rid of him for ages!"
"Then I'll go deal with that second-in-command!"
"No way, I'll leave that boss to him! I'll beat him to a pulp!"
...
A group of children chattered and argued incessantly, while He Jiuniang leaned against Lu Baichuan to sleep, occasionally pointing in a direction.
Once they entered the mountains, the road became difficult to navigate, the wheels kept slipping, and the horses neighed in pain. The group decided to get out and walk, leaving Fang Da to watch the car.
Fang Da felt another pang of regret. He had thought he was the lucky one who would get to watch the whole thing, but he ended up only being able to stay at the foot of the mountain.
Watching the group walk away, Fang sighed. Oh well, I'll go back to the carriage and sleep. Once I'm asleep, I won't be envious anymore.
As they ascended the mountain, the medicinal fragrance left by He Jiuniang grew stronger. Others couldn't smell it, but judging from He Jiuniang's reaction, they knew they were close. If nothing unexpected happened, this mountain was where the bandits were hiding, but they didn't know exactly where.
However, they were not in a hurry at all, since their third uncle and aunt were with them and they were sure they could find it before dark.
However, they were too young and didn't realize that He Jiuniang's goal wasn't to find the bandits' hideout before dark, but to take care of everyone before nightfall, go down the mountain and return directly to the prefectural city, and get a good night's sleep.
This year was arguably the most miserable one for the bandits in history. They had little stock left and planned to rob some, but they ran into the Lu family and were robbed instead. They then tried to rob others to make up for it, but a large number of government soldiers arrived. They looked very powerful and hid in the mountains for the entire New Year, not daring to show their faces for fear of being discovered.
"Boss, we can't go on like this for even a day longer. I've lost so much weight over the New Year. If the people from other mountain strongholds find out about our situation, where will we put our faces?"
The second-in-command had a bitter expression on his face. In this freezing weather, all their supplies were used up, and they couldn't hunt anything in the mountains. They could only starve like this, and if things continued like this, they would die.
"Yeah, compared to other bandits, we don't kill or set fires, so we're pretty good people, right? How come we're still so unlucky?"
"Maybe this is what they mean by good people not living long. Who exactly are those people? Those soldiers must have been brought here by them!"
"Those soldiers aren't ordinary soldiers; their attire and fighting skills are quite extraordinary. They're trying to kill us!"
"Waaaaah, those people are so mean! They could at least have left us something! They took everything! Waaaaah..."
"I've lost so much weight from starvation, sob sob..."
The bandits, who were discussing what to do, suddenly broke down in tears.
Each one is more tragic than the last.
Just then, a hurried report came from outside: "Something terrible has happened! Someone has attacked!"
Although everyone was hungry, they still left some people on guard to prevent being found by the soldiers. However, because they were hungry and didn't have much energy to keep an eye on their surroundings, they secretly took a nap. When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves surrounded by a group of young men and women.
Not far away, there was a very good-looking couple who asked with great concern, "Are you alright?"
The bandit on guard, who thought he had starved to death and was now in paradise, grinned and said, "N-nothing..."
So the young woman tossed him a paper packet and laughed, "Eat some plums when you have nothing to do! Here, this is for you. Go and inform them that someone has attacked your mountain stronghold."
"ah?"
The bandit stared wide-eyed in disbelief, then received a slap from He Jiu Niang: "What are you 'ah' about? Hurry up and go report! With such poor skills, how did your stronghold manage to survive this long? No wonder it's so desolate even during the New Year!"
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