Chapter 19: Ransom

Prefect Yang's smile stiffened for a moment.

What did she say?

Ransom?

Prefect Yang opened his mouth, "What, what ransom?"

Yan Ning pointed at Yang Weizhao: "He came to cause us trouble. If you want to take him back, pay the ransom."

Yan Ning was not short on money, but that did not mean she would let Yang Weizhao off lightly, lest people think she was a soft persimmon when she went to other cities later.

Prefect Yang's brain spun rapidly; what kind of mess was all this!

How much ransom should he pay, and how much was left in his silver vault? After all, he was his own flesh and blood; he could not just leave him be.

Prefect Yang thought for a moment and hurriedly said: "This official will go prepare it immediately. It is my fault for not teaching my son well."

Saying this, Prefect Yang left immediately.

Yan Ning prepared to leave and had the others tied up and brought to their room; the room was large, and stuffing a dozen people inside was no problem.

Wang Liu, in the next room, watched them being taken away, and he was the only one left again.

Wang Liu shouted with all his might, but only managed a few "woo-woo-woo" sounds; the people outside could not hear him at all.

Looking at the few bound people in the room, Yan Ze asked: "How much ransom do you intend to collect from each person?"

Yan Ning smiled with her eyes curved like crescent moons, "The more, the better, of course."

Yang Weizhao had his mouth gagged, but his eyes were not idle, looking as if he hated evil with a passion.

Yan Ning just acted as if she did not see it, waiting for his father to come and pay the ransom.

After a good while, Yan Ning looked at the sun outside; Prefect Yang was too slow. If he came any later, they would have to stay another night.

Yan Ning had played enough and wanted to set off for the next place quickly; arriving at the Nanyang Wang Mansion early was the most important thing.

Yan Ning was losing her patience.

Soon, Prefect Yang brought people over, carrying several chests filled with silks and satins, and also sent a chest of Yuanqi ornaments, all of which were items of great value.

That was not all; Prefect Yang brought out a chest of silver ingots, estimated to be over two thousand taels.

Prefect Yang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and asked Yan Ning: "Princess, do you think this ransom is enough?"

Prefect Yang also skimmed off the top, but not much. With nearly ten thousand taels of goods in total, he did not know if it would satisfy Yan Ning.

Prefect Yang even said considerately: "The journey to Lingnan is long. Why not let me send you another carriage? It is just that time is tight and it is too late to prepare one, so why not use the carriage from my Wangfu? It is a bit old, but otherwise it is fine."

Yan Ning nodded: "That works. Move the items into the carriage, we are leaving now."

With an extra carriage, they felt much more relaxed. These chests could be placed in one carriage, and Lan Xin and Qian Ruofang could sit in another without it being too crowded.

In short, Prefect Yang was still quite sensible.

After Prefect Yang paid the money, he felt as if the sky were collapsing.

Looking at his own son, he felt a bit stifled.

On the other side, Lu Yuanshan stood on the city gate tower, watching the carriage of Yan Ning's family drive out of the city gate, and only then did he let out a long sigh of relief.

Very good, no need to lose wealth.

Lu Yuanshan also resumed his "Cold-Faced Yama" persona.

He hoped Yan Ning's family would not come to their Xiadong City again.

When Yan Ning left, Wang Liu was still tied up. Wang Liu was "woo-woo-woo"-ing to speak, but Yan Ning glanced at him: "Stop calling. No one will come even if you scream until your throat breaks. Just wait; when the Xiao Shi discovers you, he will naturally untie you."

Saying this, Yan Ning left.

Wang Liu would definitely cause trouble, so Yan Ning left him here; she estimated that by evening, the Xiao Shi would be able to discover Wang Liu.

At this time, he was penniless and had been locked up for so long, so he definitely would not have the energy to cause trouble.

Yan Ning left with them, feeling at ease.

After passing Xiadong City, they would soon reach the territory of the Nanyang Wang. If they traveled slowly like this, they would probably arrive in half a month.

Yan Ze asked: "Will it be too slow to take half a month?"

Yan Ning shook her head: "Not at all. We saved so much time by taking a boat, so what does it matter if we are delayed on the road for a few more days? Even if we galloped at full speed, it would still take ten days to arrive. We definitely couldn't stand sitting in a carriage every day for those ten days."

What Yan Ning said made sense.

Yan Ze simply stopped worrying about the time.

The carriage moved slowly forward, and Li Shun hurried over to say: "If we want to reach the next town, we must speed up, lest we fail to make it and have to sleep in the wilderness again."

Yan Ning hurriedly said: "Then let's speed up a bit."

She did not want to sleep in the open; the accommodation conditions outside were truly too poor, the floor was hard, and there were bugs. She wanted to sleep in an inn!

The team began to move forward quickly. Yan Ning started to feel a bit bumpy; she felt dizzy looking at the Tablet, so she turned it off. Sure enough, one could not sit in a carriage for a long time.

One would feel like their bones were falling apart.

As they walked, Yan Ning became drowsy.

Suddenly, the carriage braked sharply, almost throwing Yan Ning out.

Yan Ning lifted the curtain and asked: "What happened?"

Li Shun hurriedly said: "There are people in front who suddenly appeared and gave me a fright."

Outside, someone was cursing: "Can't you see there are so many of us? You just ride a horse and dash around blindly."

Li Shun also said: "Clearly you did it on purpose. Can't you see such a long caravan?"

Yan Ning frowned and lifted the curtain: "What is it? Why are you still arguing? Didn't you say we wouldn't make it in time?"

Li Shun immediately turned his head, "Miss, don't worry, they are gone, we can leave soon."

Yan Ning glanced at the person in front and was quite surprised: "This, is this Grand Tutor?!"

Yan Ning did not care whether they could reach the town by nightfall; she immediately jumped out of the carriage. Looking at the dirty, somewhat haggard old man in front of her, she did not dare to recognize him for a moment.

But the government runners escorting him were wearing special uniforms, and at a glance, they were bailiffs sent to exile people.

What Yan Ning never expected was that even the Grand Tutor, an old man of such an age that he could soon die a natural death, would not be spared.

The old man had actually traveled such a long distance!

That Gou Huangdi is truly not a human being!

Chen Yuan raised his head and saw Yan Ning, "Little Highness, why are you here?!"

Yan Ning said with a smile, "We are also being exiled, and I am no longer a Princess now, so Grand Tutor Grandpa should just call me by my name."

Hearing the commotion outside, Yan Ze also came out.

He found it hard to believe; the Grand Tutor was so devoted to the country, yet Gou Huangdi was so heartless.

"Grand Tutor, where are you being exiled to?"

Chen Yuan sighed, "To Lingnan."

Yan Ning pulled on Chen Yuan's sleeve, "Grand Tutor Grandpa, let's go together; the carriage in the middle still has room for people."

At this moment, the bailiffs escorting Chen Yuan became dissatisfied, "We already said this is an exile, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Yan Ning shouted, "Zhuo Heng!"

Zhuo Heng immediately led his men to surround the two bailiffs, and several of them were holding blades in their hands.

Yan Ning looked at these two, "Either you follow us properly, or I will tie you up and bring you over together."

"Lingnan is treacherous, it would be too simple for a bailiff or two to die there."