She Rebuilt Her Fallen Country With Storage Space-Chapter 204: Fighting Bandits! Xiang Ying on the Road

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Fighting Bandits! Xiang Ying on the Road

Just as Jie Chen had anticipated, Xiang Ying took the official road and walked through the night with the children.

By daytime, she led the children to a nearby town.

After settling them down, Xiang Ying excused herself to go buy a carriage and left the room.

Though she said she was going to buy one, she actually just strolled around the market.

She pawned some pearl jewelry and exchanged them all for broken silver, which would be more convenient to use on the road later.

Then Xiang Ying went to sit in a teahouse for a while.

Here, people of all sorts came and went, and she wanted to see if she could overhear any useful information. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

For example, whether Jie Chen would set up checkpoints or arrange a large force to capture her.

However, she gained nothing.

It was so quiet on Jie Chen’s end that it seemed as if he didn’t even know she had escaped.

Instead, she overheard two traveling merchants discussing the fact that the city gate now required an additional payment in silver.

"Nowadays, everyone has it tough, and those city garrison officials have gone mad for money, charging five taels of silver per person, only after payment can one leave the city."

"I have more than twenty people in my merchant group, and we paid more than we earned. This trip was practically made for nothing, sigh!"

"Not long ago, a group of ferocious bandits raided Bai City, looted official grain and provisions, the court was enraged and insisted on capturing these criminals. But these bandits wore masks and hid in the deep mountains, how could they possibly be found? We common folks suffer as they collect silver from us to compensate for the loss, how can we go on living like this?"

Hearing this, Xiang Ying’s eyes lit up.

She stood up, carrying the teapot she had just ordered, and sat down next to the two men.

The two merchants paused and looked at the woman beside them.

She possessed a heroic beauty, dressed in inconspicuous ordinary clothes, her hair done up, her face slightly pale.

"Who are you?"

Before leaving, Xiang Ying deliberately made herself look less attractive to avoid drawing attention.

She bowed her hands: "Brothers, I’m from Mei City behind here. We can’t find food there anymore, I originally wanted to go with my family to Bai City ahead to make a living, but I just heard you guys talking about having to pay at each city exit, and also something about bandits, what exactly is going on?"

Just then, a waiter passed by, Xiang Ying grabbed him and took out a piece of broken silver, asking him to serve a plate of peanut cakes for the table.

Seeing her generosity, the two merchants didn’t hide anything and explained everything.

"Now one must pay to leave the city, it’s the same everywhere, unless you cross the mountains, but you’ll definitely encounter those bandits."

"Those people are so agile like monkeys in the mountains and also in large numbers, if you take the mountain path, you’re definitely doomed!"

Xiang Ying asked for the specific location, pretending to be shocked: "Thank you both for the information, I’ll go back and inform my family right away."

Saying so, she bid farewell and memorized the route where she might encounter the bandits.

Yuanxiao would be leading the Exile Team through those parts, bound to encounter the bandits, and therefore they must be taken care of.

Of course, Xiang Ying admitted, she was particularly tempted when she heard that the bandits had a whole city’s supplies in their hands.

Stockpiling goods and feeding her cartoon characters was her joy!

Xiang Ying returned to the inn, handed some clothes to Tao Xue, asking them to change and then for Xiang Xiuxiu to wear them.

Seeing the clothes, Tao Xue exclaimed, "These are men’s clothes... Your Highness, are we going to dress as men?"

Xiang Ying nodded: "Yes, change into these clothes, and we will leave the city straight away and head to Yulin Town next."

Finished speaking, she began to draw a map.

Marking the locations of the bandits as mentioned by the two merchants.

Xiang Xiuxiu covered her mouth with her tiny hands in excitement: "Wow, the clothes mother gave me fit perfectly."

Of course, these clothes weren’t bought by Xiang Ying, but were prepared in her private space long ago.

Before departing, Xiang Ying went downstairs and stored goods in the carriage.

Fearing checks while leaving the city, she only kept some travel provisions and water sacks.

At this moment, Aren ran over shouting, "Sister, Sister!"

He excitedly handed the item in his hand to Xiang Ying.

It was actually a road guide.

Xiang Ying was surprised: "Where did this come from?"

Aren was somewhat smug: "Just now downstairs, I encountered a group of rich merchants, and I discreetly took it from one of them. With the road guide, we can leave the city, so..."

"Return it!" Xiang Ying decisively said, "Each road guide is recorded. Once they report it to the official, it will be troublesome if it’s traced back to us."

Aren was stunned, feeling somewhat guilty: "Sorry, sister, I just wanted to help you."

Xiang Ying ruffled his hair: "I know, I don’t blame you, but next time ask me first."

Seeing that she wasn’t angry, Aren finally breathed a sigh of relief and ran back with the road guide.

This kid is very clever.

He rushed into the inn, holding up the road guide and shouting: "Someone dropped a road guide here, who does it belong to?"

The merchant was searching everywhere for the lost road guide. Hearing this, he hurriedly came over, confirmed it was his, and was extremely grateful to Aren.

He even gave Aren a silver ingot as a token of thanks.

Xiang Ying withdrew her gaze and continued organizing the items in the carriage.

Aren must have grown up fending for himself; he doesn’t have a clear sense of order in his heart, but he still retains a child’s conscience.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have changed his behavior immediately after a word from Xiang Ying.

He is still teachable.

Xiang Ying set off with her family, with Qi Fengyi in charge of driving the carriage, who, when silent, resembled a stern guard.

Inside the carriage, Xiang Ying used black eyebrow powder to darken Tao Xue’s face, along with the skin tones of Tao Xue and the little ones.

Xiang Yuanshuo mumbled in dissent: "Why deliberately make ourselves look ugly?"

Xiang Yuanlang glanced at him: "Big brother is so silly. This way we won’t attract attention."

Xiang Yuanshuo pointed at Tao Xue: "But she clearly looks like a woman, so what’s the point of her dressing as a man?"

Everyone looked towards Tao Xue at the same time.

You could see Tao Xue subconsciously raising her pinky finger, gently stroking her clothes’ hem, and she had also hidden her collected trinkets at her chest.

After being glared at by Xiang Ying, Tao Xue quickly put down her hand, coughed lightly, and tried to disguise her voice in a rough, coarse tone.

"Your Highness... no, I mean master, rest assured, your servant... wait, no, once off the carriage, I will be careful."

Xiang Ying, however, shook her head: "Take out the things hidden in your chest, you can’t keep them there, I’d rather you tie them around your hips."

The three kids immediately burst into laughter inside the carriage, and Tao Xue, blushing, had no choice but to obey Xiang Ying’s command.

To pass as a man, one mustn’t have curves, Xiang Ying had long wrapped her chest tightly.

She also told Tao Xue not to address her as Your Highness when outside.

Xiang Ying concocted an identity for herself as a man traveling with three children, Aren was her brother, and Qi Fengyi and Tao Xue were her attendants.

When they were leaving the city, the city guards indeed lifted the curtain to check the passengers.

After counting, they demanded thirty-five taels from Xiang Ying.

Xiang Ying was prepared to pay, but Aren handed over his own silver ingot instead.

In front of the City Garrison, he said to Xiang Ying: "Brother, this was given to me by that rich merchant, just enough for us to leave the city."

The city guard glanced at them, seeing only some frail men with little silver.

He simply waved his hand and let them pass.

Xiang Ying’s carriage took the official road heading straight for Yulin Town.

However, Xiang Ying misjudged the distance as she had never been there before.

When it was nearing midnight, they were still a distance from Yulin Town.

Surrounded by wilderness, Xiang Ying originally planned for everyone to squeeze inside the carriage and spend the night.

But, Qi Fengyi suddenly pointed ahead and said: "Master, there’s an inn ahead!"