Chapter 10: Wang Liu's Little Maneuvers

Yan Ze saw his daughter's grave expression, so he smiled and said to Chun Feng, "Let us discuss this."

Chun Feng left with great tact.

Yan Ning's family of three began to lower their voices to hold a small meeting.

Yan Ning asked, "Dad, Mom, what do you think? Should we run away and be wanted everywhere, or go to Lingnan to develop in obscurity?"

Yan Ze and Ji Lan both said, "Ningning, what do you think?"

Yan Ning then voiced her own thoughts: "I had only heard before that the miasma and the snakes, insects, rats, and ants were dangerous, but I didn't expect it to be this dangerous. A dozen people who were well-prepared tried to come out, and only three remained... but I still think Lingnan is more suitable."

"In what way is it suitable?"

Yan Ning continued: "First of all, Lingnan is easy to defend and hard to attack. Looking at it, it is all mountains. It is more worthwhile than us running away, and it is very suitable for secretly recruiting troops and buying horses."

"But if we just run away, the Gou Huangdi will definitely put out a wanted notice for us all over the world. We would only be able to flee everywhere, which is too troublesome, and we would live in fear every day. It would be better to go to Lingnan. We will take the waterway there; it should be much safer."

Ji Lan was a bit surprised: "Recruiting troops and buying horses... Ningning, are you thinking of fighting back?"

Yan Ning said indignantly, "Of course! The Crown Prince and the Gou Huangdi teamed up to deal with our family. Can you swallow this anger?"

Ji Lan: "Of course not. I could have been a couch potato in Jingdu just fine. Who knew the Gou Huangdi and the Crown Prince would team up to send us to Lingnan?"

Yan Ning: "So, we go to Lingnan, first bribe the guards in charge, then recruit troops and buy horses. We don't need many people; each person gets a Cannon, and we kill every one of the Crown Prince's men who comes. Once we have developed well, we will march straight to Jingdu!"

Yan Ze also said the same, "It is only when one has military strength in one's own hands that one can feel at ease."

What Yan Ning and her family lacked the least was money and supplies.

Previously, they had emptied the storehouses of several families, and even the national treasury had been emptied. If it weren't for the lack of more storage space, Yan Ning would have wanted to carry away all the granaries.

However, it was not a big problem. She now had Gold Ingots and Silver Ingots piled up like mountains; money can make the devil turn the millstone.

The next morning, Wang Liu waited for an hour before Yan Ning's family finally woke up. As the escorting bailiff, he should have been urging them to hurry up and leave for the next city at this moment.

But Yan Ning's arrogant words yesterday were something even a second-rank high official could hardly handle.

Wang Liu lost his nerve.

He could only wait at the door.

As a result, after waiting and waiting, they still wouldn't leave, saying they wanted to eat breakfast.

After breakfast, the few of them dawdled again, and Yan Ning even went to find Chun Feng.

Yan Ning said to Chun Feng, "We are still planning to go to Lingnan, but is there any other medicine we need to prepare?"

Chun Feng sighed, opened a drawer, and took out a small box from the very back, "This is an ointment for treating snake, insect, rat, and ant bites, and these are pills to take to resist the miasma."

There wasn't much, but Chun Feng let her take it all.

Yan Ning had given her truly too much, and she didn't want anything to happen to Yan Ning's family either.

With such a small amount of ointment and pills, and fifteen of them, it would certainly not be enough. Once they reached Feng'an City, they would let a few skilled old doctors prepare some more.

Because of this, they would have to stay in Feng'an City for a longer time.

Seeing that Yan Ning was finished, Wang Liu felt ten thousand levels of impatience in his heart, but he couldn't show a sour face to this ancestor, Yan Ning.

Otherwise, he worried he would end up even worse than Master Wei.

But Wang Liu held a breath of anger in his heart; it would be best if the few of them were finished off by bandits or the assassins sent by the Crown Prince.

While Yan Ning was dawdling in the morning, he and the other bailiff discussed the route ahead with Yan Ze.

Wang Liu had a good memory. Although the map remained with Li Shun, he had memorized the place names they were going to. He only needed to send a message by carrier pigeon, and the Crown Prince would arrange for people to wait in the city in advance. Was there any fear that these few people couldn't be killed?

He released the pigeon and turned to leave, completely unaware that a stone had knocked the pigeon down, and a person dressed in guard attire had retrieved the pigeon's carcass.

Zhuo Heng took the pigeon, rode his horse to Yan Ning's carriage, and knocked on it.

Yan Ning immediately put away her iPad and earphones, lifted the curtain, and asked, "What is it?"

The next moment, Zhuo Heng handed the pigeon to Yan Ning. Who would have thought she would actually say, "Dad, Mom, we can have an extra meal today."

Zhuo Heng glanced at Wang Liu, who was riding a horse at the front, and lowered his voice, "This is a trained carrier pigeon with a note tied to its leg."

Yan Ning took off the note and saw that it contained quite a few place names, all of which were the routes they had agreed upon that morning.

Yan Ning frowned and asked, "Where did this come from?"

Zhuo Heng then said, "It was likely Wang Liu's doing. He just used the excuse of going to the latrine. Not long after he left, I noticed this pigeon... come to think of it, this isn't the first time I've seen this pigeon, which is why I kept an eye on it."

Yan Ning was silent for a good while, then took out a Gold Yuanbao and stuffed it into his hand, whispering, "Have the guards surround him."

Afterwards, she shouted loudly, "Stop, everyone stop."

Wang Liu started to get impatient again, "Little ancestor, what is it this time?"

Yan Ning shouted, "Seize him!"

Six guards drew their swords and stood guard around Yan Ning's carriage, while four guards went up to deal with Wang Liu.

Li Shun was so frightened he couldn't move; let alone saving anyone, even after Wang Liu was dragged away, he was still dazed and had no reaction.

Afterwards, he immediately knelt and said to Yan Ning, "This little one was only following orders. This little one obeyed the Empress Dowager's command not to put shackles or leg irons on you, and this little one has certainly made things convenient for you within his ability... could you spare our lives?"

It was clear that Li Shun was truly panicked.

Yan Ning smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? Wang Liu sent our itinerary to the Crown Prince by carrier pigeon. If you behave yourself, we naturally won't lay a hand on you."

Li Shun only felt that this smile was terrifying. He kowtowed a few more times and hurriedly pledged his loyalty, "This little one certainly won't dare to act recklessly and will definitely behave."

Yan Ning then let him get up.

After getting off the carriage, Yan Ning frowned and whispered to her dad, "Should this person be killed? I have never killed anyone before..."

Yan Ze was also a bit hesitant, "If we don't kill him, should we take him with us?"

Ji Lan, who was to the side, said, "Murdering an official bailiff is no small crime..."

Yan Ning thought for a moment, "How about we tie him to a tree? There will likely be wild beasts coming out in this forest at night, and then it won't be us who killed him."

Yan Ze and Ji Lan nodded, "That is indeed not bad."

Wang Liu was currently tied to a tree by Zhuo Heng, panicking uncontrollably.

Yan Ning was still saying, "Tie him tight, don't let him run away!"

Wang Liu said in a panic, "I am a bailiff after all; if I am killed by you, you will have no way to answer to the Emperor!"

Yan Ning turned her gaze toward Li Shun.

Li Shun very sensibly turned his back to them and squatted down, covering his ears, "I didn't see anything!"

Wang Liu panicked.

Seeing that Yan Ning and the others were truly going to tie him up and feed him to the wild beasts, Wang Liu hurriedly shouted, "Don't kill me, don't kill me, I know how to deal with the miasma and those snakes, insects, rats, and ants; my family has an ancestral recipe!"