Chapter 132: Encountered Bandits as Bold as Myself

Chapter 132: Chapter 132: Encountered Bandits as Bold as Myself

Pei Shaoqing didn’t bring many people with him on his return to the Capital City.

But he had a full six carriages.

Aside from the one for passengers, the other five were mainly loaded with supplies: the four women’s clothes and jewelry, lingerie intended as gifts to break into the market, and provisions like dried fish and mouse crisps to reward the Mao Camp spies.

Clad in his Golden Armor, General Li lay atop one of the carriages, his legs casually kicked up. He swayed with the jolts, squinting his eyes in comfort and contentment.

Beside him was his own personal bundle.

"Here, kitty. Want a bite?" Shen Zhen rode up beside the carriage, offering General Li a piece of meat jerky.

Everyone else watched on with a smile.

They all knew General Li was extremely intelligent. Whenever they ran into him on duty in the city, they would try to tease him, but the cat had never paid them much mind.

But the more General Li ignored them...

...the more shamelessly they tried to get his attention.

General Li shot Shen Zhen a disdainful glance, opened his bundle, and grabbed an exquisite pastry to pop in his mouth. He then held another one out to Shen Zhen.

’This general only eats this kind of stuff!’

’Who would eat the rations of you stinking grunts?’

Shen Zhen froze.

Seeing this, the Jing’an Guards erupted in laughter.

"HAHAHA! Shen, General Li carries the best Chen’s Pastries from Tongzhou with him. He wouldn’t be caught dead with your old meat jerky," Wang Peng teased.

"Well, I’ve just been snubbed by a cat." Shen Zhen shrugged and put away his jerky. Grinning, he accepted the pastry from General Li and said, "This humble one thanks the General for his generous reward."

"What about me, General Li? I want one too! You can’t play favorites!" Wang Peng immediately sidled up.

"And me! My lord General, spare one for me."

"Me too! I swear to follow you to the death, General!"

A whole crowd of Jing’an Guards chimed in, begging for a share.

The startled General Li scrambled up, quickly tied his bundle, hung it around his neck, and took off.

’So many of them! If I give one to each of you, this General will have nothing left! Not a chance!’

Watching him flee in a panic...

...the men once again burst into laughter.

’Damn it! How dare they laugh at this General! If it weren’t for the Master’s sake, I’d bite them all to death!’

General Li couldn’t resist the urge to hiss.

Meanwhile, having left the others behind, Pei Shaoqing and Xie Qingwu were galloping wildly on General Hei.

"Hya! Hya! Hya!"

On horseback, Xie Qingwu’s dress fluttered in the wind. Her hands gripped the saddle tightly, her face was flushed, and she panted in a rushed, excited voice, "Faster! Go faster!"

She wasn’t urging General Hei to go faster.

She was urging on Pei Shaoqing, who was behind her.

With each jolt, their bodies rose and fell. The hem of Xie Qingwu’s simple white dress flew high, offering a fleeting glimpse of her perfectly rounded bottom. The two of them were joined as one.

Ever since Pei Shaoqing had coaxed her into role-playing as a Fox Demon, Xie Qingwu’s boundaries in this area had expanded considerably. As long as no one could see them, she was willing to try almost anything. Of course, truly shocking acts were still off the table.

Upon reaching the posthouse ahead, the two of them, having finished their business, identified themselves and requested a room to bathe while they waited for the main party to arrive.

After his bath, feeling a bit hungry from his recent exertions, Pei Shaoqing left the room to ask the Posthouse Minister to prepare a meal.

While eating, he spotted an orange cat lounging asleep in the main hall and guessed it was a soldier from his Mao Camp.

So he asked the Posthouse Minister, "Do you own that cat?"

"Lord Pingyang," the Posthouse Minister began with a helpless expression, "last month, two stray cats showed up out of nowhere. They chased away the cat we used to keep for mousing, so we just ended up keeping them instead."

Pei Shaoqing thought, ’Well now, General Li’s subordinates are a wild bunch.’ He asked, "Do they catch mice?"

"They do not," the Posthouse Minister replied, shaking his head.

A look of doubt crossed Pei Shaoqing’s face. ’If they don’t catch mice, why are you still feeding them?’

In this day and age, there was no concept of a "pet cat" outside of wealthy households; cats were kept to catch mice.

The Posthouse Minister’s expression grew odd. "These two cats are a bit strange. When we feed them, they don’t catch mice themselves, but they also stop beating up our old mouser. That lets our original cat do its job.

But if we *don’t* feed them, they spend all day chasing and beating up our mouser. It gets so scared it won’t even come back, and the whole posthouse gets overrun with mice.

Anyway, two cats don’t eat much. We just give them some leftovers, so it barely costs us any grain. We might as well keep them for the entertainment."

Pei Shaoqing: "..."

’General Li’s subordinates truly are a talented bunch of felines!’

He wouldn’t judge the cats’ methods. As long as they could relay intelligence to the next posthouse in a timely manner, it was fine by him.

Liu Yuheng and the others didn’t arrive until dusk.

They would rest at the posthouse for the night and set out again the next morning.

In the dead of night, General Li, clad in his Golden Armor and a red cape, climbed onto the roof with his bundle on his back and let out a few calls.

"Meow~"

The two orange cats leaped onto the roof, one from the left and one from the right. They prostrated themselves before General Li, bending all four legs in a formal bow.

"You have done well. Keep up the good work. This is a reward from your king." General Li held his head high as he lifted his bundle and tossed it in front of the two cats. "And remember who fills your bowls."

He did this at every posthouse he visited.

"Meow~" The two orange cats were extremely respectful.

The next morning, after breakfast, the group set off again. The two orange cats stood on the roof, watching them go.

Because they flew the banner of Lord Pingyang and the guards wore the official uniforms of the Jing’an Guard, the first three days of their journey were peaceful, with no encounters with mountain bandits.

They were still three days away from the Capital City.

...

"Hya! Hya!"

Two Jing’an Guard scouts galloped back, kicking up a cloud of dust. They dismounted, knelt, and called out to Pei Shaoqing in his carriage, "My lord! There’s a group of bandits robbing travelers five li ahead! Should we detour?"

"A detour?" Pei Shaoqing swept aside the curtain and leaped from the carriage, declaring with righteous indignation, "Should I, an official of the Court, change my route for a mere group of bandits? When one sees injustice, one must draw their sword. How can I stand idly by while these thugs harm the good people of the Great Zhou?"

Without another word, he vaulted onto General Hei and pulled the reins. "Aunt Liu! Banner Leader Wang! Bring some men and follow me. We’re going to take care of those bandits."

If Aunt Liu hadn’t been with them, he would have just ignored the whole thing. But to maintain his positive image in her eyes, he had to step up.

’Besides, it’s on the way.’

"Hya!" "Hya!"

By the time Pei Shaoqing and his men arrived, several bodies already lay on the ground. It seemed the bandits had the upper hand. Through the window of a carriage, he could vaguely make out the figures of women.

"Boss! Look! It’s the Jing’an Guard!"

The bandits blanched at the sight of Pei Shaoqing and his men.

They immediately ceased their attack and clustered around their leader.

At the same time, a few men dressed as guards moved to protect the carriage, from which a woman poked her head out and yelled, "Help me! My sister is Noble Consort Wan!"

Pei Shaoqing instinctively turned his gaze toward the voice.

In her desperation, the woman leaned halfway out of the carriage window. Her bustier dress squeezed her full, pale bosom, threatening to spill its contents. Her pretty, lightly powdered face was exquisitely delicate, and a coquettish charm lingered in her features.

’Noble Consort Wan’s sister is this beautiful?’

’No wonder her sister was able to captivate the Emperor.’

"What are you gaping at? Kill those bandits!" Jiang Yuechan commanded imperiously. "When I tell my sister about this, she will reward you handsomely."

Seeing her entitled, condescending expression as she ordered him around, Pei Shaoqing was instantly turned off.

’But... Noble Consort Wan’s sister doesn’t recognize me?’

Just then, the bandit leader stepped forward, cupped his fist, and asked, "Am I in the presence of Lord Pingyang?"

"You know me?" Pei Shaoqing immediately tore his gaze away from Jiang Yuechan and looked at the bandit chief.

Jiang Yuechan was completely dumbfounded.

She opened her mouth, then quickly pulled her head back inside.

She, too, was aware of the enmity between Pei Shaoqing and her family.

A dreadful fear seized her.

’He’s not going to conspire with the bandits to kill me, is he?’

The bandit chief lowered his fist. "So young, leading the Jing’an Guard, and riding a prized Dragon’s Blood steed. It could only be Lord Pingyang. I was just making a bold guess."

"You’re quite bold, robbing people from the Pingxi Marquis’s Mansion," Pei Shaoqing said, intrigued.

Xie Qingwu always said there were no bandits in the world as audacious as him. Well, here was one.

The bandit chief fell silent for a moment before replying with a helpless tone, "You might find this laughable, my lord, but my men are illiterate. They didn’t recognize the banner of the Pingxi Marquis’s Mansion. By the time I arrived, it was too late. The noble lady in the carriage was already screaming about reporting us to the Noble Consort to have us all executed. I had no choice but to commit to the mistake and silence them permanently."

Even through his mask, his despair was palpable.

"Hah. What an idiot," Pei Shaoqing cursed bluntly, glancing at the carriage where the curtain had been drawn.

Peeking through a crack in the curtain, Jiang Yuechan grew livid. She clenched her small fists but remained silent.

Pei Shaoqing glanced at the bodies scattered on the ground and asked the bandit chief, "What is your cultivation level?"

"Early Stage Wandering Dragon," the chief replied.

Pei Shaoqing was stunned. "A master of the Wandering Dragon Realm?" he asked in confusion. "Someone like you wouldn’t be short on gold or silver even if you just took jobs as a caravan guard. Why stoop to banditry?"

’Has the bandit business really gotten that competitive?’

’Back in the day, with my meager strength, I managed to build the leading bandit enterprise in all of Tongzhou!’

"The past is a painful memory," was all the bandit chief said, clearly unwilling to elaborate.

Pei Shaoqing asked again, "Frankly, I’m no fan of the Pingxi Marquis’s Mansion, and I have little patience for brainless fools. But now that I’m here, I can’t just look the other way. What’s your plan?"

Although he was an enemy of the Pingxi Marquis’s Mansion.

And wished more members of the Zheng Family would die.

But right now, he was counting on the Emperor to temporarily mediate the conflict between himself and Noble Consort Wan. Therefore, he couldn’t possibly let her sister die on his watch.

"Your reputation precedes you, Lord Pingyang, and I am filled with admiration," the bandit chief said, cupping his fist again. "So, for your sake, I am willing to spare her."

Inside the carriage, Jiang Yuechan breathed a sigh of relief.

Her gaze toward Pei Shaoqing became somewhat different.

She hadn’t expected that such a fierce bandit, who wasn’t intimidated by the names of her father or sister, would willingly back down and spare her life for Pei Shaoqing.

Pei Shaoqing chuckled. "Since you’ve given me face today, I shall naturally return the favor. I’ll do my best to convince the idiot in the carriage not to retaliate. But just to be safe, you should probably find a new mountain to be a bandit on."

"Thank you, Lord Pingyang! I will remember this kindness and repay it in the future," the bandit chief said, letting out a sincere sigh of relief. This was precisely the outcome he’d hoped for by offering to back down.

Pei Shaoqing found the man interesting—brave and resourceful. He asked, "What’s your name?"

"I am but a humble mountain bandit and wouldn’t dare pollute your ears with my worthless name. I have been an outlaw for several years, and in the Jianghu, I am known as Shi Potian," the chief answered, his voice firm.

"That’s quite a name." Pei Shaoqing nodded. "I’ll remember it. Until we meet again."

"Farewell!" Shi Potian vaulted onto his horse and shouted, "Take the bodies of our brothers! Back to the mountain."

"Hya!" "Hya!"

The band of bandits mounted their horses and thundered away.