"Why did you stop?" It's not even noon yet.
"Auntie, let's stop and eat something before we go," Song Tantan said in a low voice as she walked over. "The road ahead is not easy to travel, let the caravan go first."
Song Zhuiyan paused slightly, then nodded knowingly and got off the carriage with Shuang'er in her arms.
"I want to get off too!" Heng'er panicked instantly. Why didn't you carry him off the carriage first?
"What's the rush? Do you think I won't let you down?" Song Tantan chuckled as she took him from Caiqing's arms and carried him to the side.
"Get down, I want to get down." Getting off the carriage wasn't enough; he wanted to run on the ground as well.
"That won't do. You have to listen to me and wait until everyone is far away before you go down." Otherwise, this little guy might jump under the hooves of the horses.
Baby Zhong Jingheng was about to struggle again when he saw Ye Moxun walking over. A guilty look flashed across his face, and then he became obedient, blinking his big, dark grape-like eyes.
She stretched out her hands toward Ye Moxun and said in a childish voice, "Brother, hug me, hug Heng'er."
Ye Moxun chuckled softly, reached out and picked him up, then sat down on a rock under the shade of a nearby tree, and had Caiqing take out a small toy from her cloth bag for him to play with.
"No, I want to eat cake." Heng'er waved her hand, refusing the small toy, and smacked her lips, wanting to eat.
"You're already so fat, and you're still eating." Ye Moxun pinched his chubby cheeks.
"Heng'er is handsome and beautiful." The little guy doesn't like it when people say he's fat, so he immediately retorts, making everyone else laugh.
Shuang'er thought for a moment, then tilted her head and said, "Shuang'er is pretty, Shuang'er is thin."
She wasn't actually thin; her face was quite chubby. However, compared to her brother, she was thinner, so she always thought she was prettier than him.
"Master Zhu, what should we do? It seems those people want us to go ahead and scout the way." Master Zhu was the middle-aged man in brocade robes in the caravan. The person he was speaking to was the caravan leader, who enjoyed Master Zhu's deep trust.
"Who says otherwise? Very cunning indeed." Master Zhu's smile grew even more gentle, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
At this moment, Master Zhu rode his horse at the head of the caravan. He slowed down, and the caravan naturally followed suit. He calmly observed Ye Moxun and his group.
They discovered it was a family with children. The young man holding the baby was tall and extremely handsome, wearing a light blue robe that made him look even more refined and fair-skinned.
The two women looked about 70% alike and appeared to be sisters. The elder sister was gentle and dignified, but her eyes and brows carried a hint of indifference and aloofness.
The younger sister has more delicate features, with particularly bright and lively eyes. When she smiles, her eyes crinkle with a mischievous and playful charm, suggesting she might be a bit willful.
Upon closer inspection, the two little figures in their arms, resembling New Year picture dolls, bore a striking resemblance and were actually twins—a truly blessed pair.
The two maids were pretty and served diligently, so there was nothing to pay attention to. But the four guards were very distinctive.
Two of them were fairly good-looking, but the other two were missing half an ear and had a black birthmark covering half of their face.
This family is truly remarkable. How could they have chosen such an ugly guard to keep by their side? It would be so embarrassing to take him out.
After seemingly casually glancing around, Master Zhu lowered his eyes, lost in thought.
"Master Zhu, what do you think?" His confidant asked in a low voice, seeking his opinion.
"Let's walk another mile, then let everyone stop and rest for a while," Master Zhu decided.
The confidant's expression relaxed, and he respectfully said, "Yes, I will inform the others right away."
Just as Song Tantan was having Tian Qi gather firewood to start a fire and cook, she saw Shang Chu in front of her also stop to rest.
Song Tantan: "..."
"Ah Xun, they're not leaving. They're going to wait it out with us and see who can wait longer?"
“If our carriages weren’t so big that we could only take this official road, we could have taken a detour. It wouldn’t have mattered if we had been delayed for a few more days, but the caravan couldn’t afford to wait.”
With so many wagons carrying goods, caravans had no choice but to take detours. That's how isolated transportation was in ancient times; there were hardly any good roads to travel on.
The official road wasn't easy to travel. Although it was wider and smoother than other roads, it was still full of potholes and couldn't compare to a cement road at all.
If it rains, it becomes even more difficult to travel. The so-called official road is actually only 1.5 meters wide, and the widest is only 2 meters, just wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass.
This is why Ye Moxun and the others insisted on taking this route. Considering the comfort of the two children sitting in the carriage, they customized a carriage that was twice as spacious as a regular carriage.
So there are advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it is comfortable to sit on, and you can even lie down when you get tired. The disadvantage is that you have to take the wide official road, as other roads are too narrow to travel on.
The official road is relatively safe, but there are exceptions. For example, the area around Xifeng is sparsely populated, and towns and villages may not be seen for many days.
Even on official roads, bandits might lurk in such places. If they didn't encounter any caravans, Ye Moxun would lead his men to investigate and then cross the canyon directly.
But since there were caravans, he didn't want to lead the way.
So he had Tian Qi and Gui Yuan and the others start setting up tents, making it seem like they were going to stay for a few days before leaving.
Master Zhu: Tsk, these people are being too calculating. They're clearly just trying to waste his time.
On the canyon side, the two henchmen observed the situation for a while, then quickly ran back to report to their leaders.
"Boss, Second Boss, the caravan and those two carriages have stopped moving. The carriage owner even had his servants set up tents. It seems they don't intend to cross the canyon today," the henchman said angrily.
The leader was a burly man with a thick beard, carrying a large knife and exuding a menacing aura. He was clearly a ruthless character with blood on his hands, who killed without blinking an eye.
"Damn it, these two groups of people are really cunning. Hmph, if they don't leave by 5 PM, we'll just go and slaughter them." The leader said.
"Brother, these people are so cautious. I think we should not underestimate them or act rashly. It would be better to send a few people to test the waters first."
The second-in-command wore a scholar's hat and a gray robe. He had a thin and refined face and was dressed like a scholar. Who would have thought that he was actually a bandit leader?
He held a folding fan in his hand, and liked to open it and gently shake it when he spoke, which gave him a somewhat pedantic, scholarly air.
The leader must have some brains to become the boss, and the second-in-command is his strategist. After hearing what he said, he immediately pondered for a moment.
"In that case, let's follow Second Brother's plan and move out ahead of schedule. When they've finished cooking lunch, our men will rush over and catch them off guard," the chief leader said.
Looking at the bubbling meat porridge in the earthenware pot, Ye Moxun seemed lost in thought. He had a bad feeling, as if something was about to happen.
"Be on guard. If we all stay here, the bandits might lose patience and come to kill us."
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard the system chattering in his mind, "Host, you guessed right. The bandit leader sent more than twenty men to launch a sneak attack, planning to make a move while you're eating."
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