Chapter 55: Surrounded
The next day they continued their journey, and the bandits surrounded them.
They weren’t the burly, healthy-looking bandits most people had imagined them to be, but scrawny, malnourished people with thin arms.
"What do you think you are doing there?!" An Imperial guard shouted. "Get out of the way. Don’t block us!"
There were a dozen people standing in the road, blocking the imperial guards riding the horses. Behind them, there were Ye Shichang and other male servants, pulling the wagon cart.
They would exchange places once in a while as soon as one of them felt tired.
At this moment, the dozens of dirty-looking and malnourished people’s greedy gazes were directed at the several wagon carts.
"Are you deaf? Don’t you hear what we said?!" The imperial guards shouted at them with warning, cracking their whips.
The bandits were startled and they couldn’t help but take a few steps back, avoiding the whips slashed at them.
Still, they weren’t running away.
The people clenched their fists as though they had made a hard decision, and then they gestured to each other. They stared at the exile convoy again, this time with more determination.
A few whistling sounds reverberated, filling in the surroundings around the road.
Commander Leng already sensed something wrong. He was one of the few people who rode at the front of the exile convoy.
"Since you all don’t want to get out of the way," he turned to the imperial guards under him. "Make them stop blocking the road."
However...
Upon hearing the whistling sounds of the bandits, more people began to emerge, from the bushes, the back of a tree, and other hiding spots.
They all poured into the road, each wearing a determined expression.
The imperial guards and the Ye family members were stunned. These people clearly outnumbered them by a lot.
"Let’s not hurt each other, shall we?" The leader of the bandit was unexpectedly a burly man with a bushy beard.
He seemed healthy and strong, unlike most of his malnourished subordinates. He stroked his beard and continued, "Just give us your supplies and we will let you pass by here."
Commander Leng’s expression hardened. He also had seen how these people were looking at the horses covetously. It was easy to guess what these people were thinking about.
At this time, Commander Leng did realize that the thief’s warning about bandits really came true. Alas, they hadn’t taken it seriously.
Now that they had arrived there, they had no choice but to fight against these bandits. It was impossible for them to give up the supplies.
"Charge forward!" Commander Leng ordered.
The bandits on the other side also ordered his subordinates to attack. These bandits were obviously ruthless and inhumane.
Ye Lingyue could see that only the bandit leader and his closest lackeys were plump and healthy; they looked like they didn’t live suffering from famine at all.
And the ones charging forward were the malnourished, sickly people.
They scrambled forward, trying to grab the horses’ reins from the imperial guards, but they ended up getting stomped by the horses. Some fell down groaning in pain after the imperial guards struck them with whips.
Luckily, Ye Zhiqiu was smart enough to fetch their father, Ye Chengde, from the wagon cart into the carriage.
Compared to the imperial guards, the Ye family members and the servants were mostly as weak as chickens, so they either hid inside the carriage or desperately tried to fight back against these bandits.
The latter was also feasible since most of the ones swarming around them were weaker.
"Second Brother, use the hallucinogen and paralyzing powder once they get close to us." Ye Lingrui reminded his second brother.
Meanwhile, Ye Zhiqiu was holding a dagger Ye Lanxi had given him. Ye Lingyue had made sure that they wouldn’t know the source of the dagger was her.
Ye Lanxi nodded.
At this moment, Shen Jingyi and him were standing outside the carriage, protecting the horses and the carriage.
The number of the bandits made it impossible for them to deal against every one of them, which made it unfortunate that they managed to steal some wagon carts.
They didn’t only eye the wagon carts filled with supplies, but also the horses.
The twins’ hallucinogen and paralyzing powder were quite effective. Ye Lanxi only needed to throw it to a large crowd and most of them would fall under hallucinogens, where a dazed look would appear on their faces or dropped into the ground, paralyzed.
After Ye Lingyue finished dealing with the bandits trying to rob their carriage, she went to Ye Lanxi’s side. "Tie them with this."
Some servants led by Xiumei and Xiulan actually went over to help them tie the bandits. Ye Lingyue could see that they were shaking. Still, a look of appreciation flashed in her eyes.
If she remembered correctly, this Xiulan was actually her personal maidservant before the Ye family was exiled.
She secretly used this chance to analyze each servant, which ones were loyal and obedient, and the rest, rebellious ones.
On the imperial guards’ side, they were also more ruthless because they had no choice.
"You think you can escape this by faking an imperial order?!" The bandit leader put his hand on his hips, not believing Yan Luo’s words at all.
Yan Luo gritted his teeth. Now he understood why Commander Leng didn’t mention they were carrying the Emperor’s order.
It was useless.
These people were too desperate, wanting to get a little food to live.
Someone from a noble household like him surely wouldn’t understand such a thing.
"It’s not a fake imperial order!" Yan Luo gritted his teeth.
"As if we would believe you!" The bandit leader sneered, but he kept on retreating.
He actually believed it, especially when he saw Commander Leng’s armor. However, he just couldn’t let these people stop.
They wouldn’t have another opportunity to rob people again because most merchant caravans had avoided the spot they had been lurking at.
At this moment, the bandit leader didn’t realize someone was behind him...
By the time he realized it, he was too late.
Ye Lanxi was already behind him, smirking with undisguised glee as he punched the burly man.
The bandit leader was sent staggering a few steps back. His lackeys immediately jumped on Ye Lanxi, attacking him.
However, before they could get close, Ye Lanxi scattered something in the air. They all became dazed, their movement turning sluggish.
Ye Lanxi didn’t hesitate to kick each of them into sprawling on the ground, and then he ordered Ye Lingrui who had been waiting beside them, picking a rather safe spot.
"Lingrui, tie all of them, quick!" He pointed to the bandits and ordered his third brother arrogantly.
Ye Lingrui didn’t seem to care about his tone. He crouched down. His hands deftly tied every bandit skillfully.
"Where did Lingyue get these ropes, huh? I didn’t see her grab anything from the wagon earlier," Ye Lanxi muttered in a slight confusion. He turned to Ye Lingrui for an answer. "Do you know?"
Ye Lanxi didn’t get the answer he wanted. Instead, Ye Lingrui pointed behind him.
He became alert, and as expected, there was danger.
The bandit leader had gotten up, currently attacking Ye Lanxi with his longsword. Ye Lingrui carefully retreated; it wasn’t the kind of fight he was willing to participate in unless he didn’t want his life anymore.
Commander Leng was also dealing with the bandits’ cannon-fodder swarming around him.
He knew that in order to stop the attack, he needed to capture the leader first. Slowly, as he dealt with them, he moved toward the direction where the bandit leader and Ye Lanxi were engaged in a fierce fight.
In order to stop the losses...
Ye Lanxi jumped away the moment Commander Leng arrived, and the latter’s eyelids twitched.
This brat! He cursed inside his heart.
However, soon, his attention was taken away by the bandit leader slashing his longsword against him.
"Haha, die!" He laughed maniacally.
Commander Leng evaded in time.
"You, the imperial family dogs are no better than them!" The bandit leader sneered.
"So, you are actually aware that we are acting under the imperial family," Commander Leng said flatly as he also slashed his sword at the bandit leader.
"Does it matter?" The bandit leader shot at him angrily. "You all leave all of us to die!"
Commander Leng raised his eyebrows. "Isn’t that such a self-righteous words for someone who sacrificed his people for his own gain? You don’t look like someone who’s about to die soon. Look at your belly..."
The bandit leader subconsciously looked down. His mind continued Commander Leng’s words just like that...
His belly was.. fat.
Unlike these malnourished people who were so thin that they almost could see bones in them.
As the word to describe his belly appeared in his mind, he could hear some people snickering at their conversation.
He became angry out of embarrassment and slashed at Commander Leng again, explaining self-righteously. "As if you wouldn’t do the same if you were in my place. You will only be more ruthless than me in order to survive!"
"All of you people in the Capital are like this after all!" He sneered.
It was probably the anger and intense hatred toward the nobles in the Capital that clouded his judgement.
He made a mistake. A terrible one.
As Commander Leng evaded him from the side, he slashed his sword at the bandit leader.
It wounded the bandit leader’s arm in an instant, forming a deep laceration. However, Commander Leng didn’t just stop there. He also slashed at the stunned bandit leader’s feet, earning a groan of pain.
Blood poured, making a small river of red in the ground.
Not long after, the bandit leader fell down, groaning in extreme pain.
Commander Leng kicked the bandit leader’s longsword away and put his sword on his throat.
His voice thundered across the battlefield. "I have your leader. Do you want to continue to fight?"
All eyes turned toward him and the bandit leader who was coughing madly. The latter finally had fear flashed in his eyes.
Before the latter passed out due to pain, he caught the words Commander Leng mouthed at him.
"I was also sent to deal with you."
Originally, Commander Leng wanted to send the Ye family members to the destination first, since he didn’t want them to get hurt in the process.
He didn’t expect that the bandit leader was someone he was assigned to capture, so might as well deal with him.
Upon seeing the bandit leader and his closest subordinates captured and tied, the people were stunned.
They glanced at each other, immediately stopped fighting upon seeing that most of the people on their sides had fallen, scrambling to run away.
Ye Lingrui glanced at the bandit leader briefly and recognized him.
"It’s the person who killed one of the Emperor’s concubines," he muttered.
Raising her eyebrows, Ye Lingrui tilted her head and said, "The same crime as our family?"
He nodded. "But his fate won’t end that well."
After all, that concubine was the Emperor’s favorite at that time. When love just blossomed, the object of his love was gone just like that. Who wouldn’t get angry at the culprit?!
Slowly, all the bandits were gone, except for the tied ones and the severely wounded.
The surroundings were similar to a shipwreck.
"Commander, a total of four wagon carts are gone..." Lin Su reported to Commander Leng, glancing at the bleeding bandit leader briefly.
Commander Leng’s eyebrows knitted together. "Which wagons are these?"
Before they went through this place, they had prepared a few additional wagon carts to bring supplies.
"The Ye family’s wagon carts... then some supplies."
At this moment, Old Madam Ye and Zheng Huizhen were also making trouble at the second branch’s place.
Old Madam Ye pointed to Shen Jingyi tremblingly and accusingly. "You are all so vicious, so vicious!"
She slapped her own thigh in anger, turning to Ye Chengde. "Don’t you care about your brothers at all? Why did you let your brothers’ wagon carts be stolen away?!"