After Wang Gang got involved with the bandits, he immediately noticed something was wrong.
This group of people had obviously received professional training and were skilled in their skills. They did not look like ordinary gangsters who fell into the trap.
Secondly, bandits generally do not kill people when they want money. Especially since Wang Gang and his party are not merchants, and there are no female dependents in the team, the bandits will gain more than they lose by killing.
In the end, Wang Gang and Master Liao were very measured in their actions and almost did not kill anyone. However, after these people lost their fighting ability, they immediately chose to commit suicide.
Bandits choose to become bandits because they don't want to die. They will never commit suicide after failure.
This group of people are obviously the dead soldiers being raised by someone.
Wang Gang could see it, and so could Master Liao.
He squatted next to the body and after examining it carefully, his face became darker and darker.
"This group of people is obviously coming for the Sheng family, and they have crossbow arrows on them."
Master Liao took out a crossbow gun and handed it to Wang Gang to see.
Crossbows are military controlled items, and are more strictly controlled than armor. These people have crossbows on them, so their status must be extraordinary.
"They have crossbows, why didn't they use them just now?" Wang Gang asked strangely.
Anyone who has fought in a war knows that crossbows are much more powerful than swords and guns, and can be called a battlefield meat grinder.
If this group of people had used crossbows just now, Wang Gang and Master Liao might not have escaped unscathed.
"There is only one explanation for having it but not using it. They want to arrest you alive." Master Liao frowned.
Wang Gang suddenly realized that this group of people were coming for him and Sheng Changbai and wanted to capture them alive. Just now, he had charged ahead, but the other party had thrown rat weapons and did not dare to use crossbows.
"Could the other party be sent by my father's political enemy?" Wang Gang guessed.
He and Sheng Changbai are just children, there is no way they can have enemies.
The only explanation is that the other party came for Sheng Hong and wanted to arrest his son and threaten him.
Although Sheng Hongguan was young, he was only a sixth-rank general magistrate of Yangzhou, but the place where he served as an official was really good.
Yangzhou has been a fertile land since ancient times. It is not an empty talk to ride a crane to Yangzhou with a hundred thousand gold in your pocket.
Sheng Hong was able to serve as an official in Yangzhou for many years, so it was impossible for no one to be jealous of him.
However, Sheng Hong's greatest advantage is that he is very arrogant, he likes to play both sides, and he doesn't offend anyone.
On the contrary, no one is offended, in fact, everyone is offended.
If Sheng Hong had a strong background, it would be fine, but his biggest supporter, Mrs. Wang, passed away. It would not be easy for him to be a good official in Yangzhou.
In the original work, Sheng Hong was transferred to Bianjing within a few years. He was promoted and demoted secretly. He took a non-trivial position and was not promoted for a long time.
"Master, what should we do next?" Wang Gang looked at the corpses on the ground and had a headache.
Master Liao said: "First bury the dead servants of the Sheng family, and then we will discuss whether to go or return."
Only one servant of the Sheng family died this time, and no one else was even injured. Everyone worked together to dig a hole and bury the person. As for the bandits, they did not dare to move.
Wang Gang asked people to gather all the corpses of the bandits together and pile them on the roadside.
Sheng Changbai had never seen these before, and he vomited on the spot.
"Third brother, death is a big deal, how about we bury those bandits too?" Sheng Changbai suggested.
Wang Gang shook his head and said: "These people cannot be buried."
"Why?" Sheng Changbai was puzzled.
Master Liao explained: "The third young master wants to use these corpses to scare other people."
Sheng Changbai exclaimed in surprise: "Are there other gangsters?"
Wang Gang looked into the distance with a gloomy face and said, "Who knows."
"In this case, let's return to Yangzhou quickly!" Sheng Changbai said with some fear.
Wang Gang shook his head and said: "We have been out for two days, and we are already far away from Yangzhou. On the contrary, we are less than a day away from Jinling, so we can only move forward and cannot look back."
Sheng Changbai said anxiously: "Didn't you say there is still danger ahead?"
Wang Gang said: "The most dangerous place is also the safest. I'm afraid the bad guys won't even think of it. If we don't turn back, we will move forward."
Master Liao nodded and said: "You are right. It is too dangerous to return now. It is better to go all the way to the dark side."
Wang Gang thought for a while and said: "We still have to make preparations. I plan to divide the troops into two groups and let some servants pull the empty carriage to continue on the official road.
Let's put on our servant clothes and take the small road to Jinling."
When Master Liao heard this, he couldn't help but look at Wang Gang one more time.
Master Liao is very satisfied with Wang Gang, a student who is calm in times of crisis, decisive in situations, and able to think of solutions calmly.
As for Sheng Changbai, he is still too young and not experienced enough, so now he can only listen to Wang Gang's arrangements.
According to Wang Gang's arrangement, he first found two servants of similar stature, changed into their clothes, and then asked everyone to bring the empty carriage and continue on the official road in a dignified manner.
After Wang Gang and Sheng Changbai changed their clothes, under the protection of Master Liao, they took the winding path to Jinling.
However, before setting off, Wang Gang took some silver and distributed it among his servants. He also told him that if he encountered any thieves again, he could just run away to save his life. They met at the Jinling Yamen.
The Sheng family's servants' deeds of sale were all in Sheng Hong's hands, and they did not dare to disobey Wang Gang.
Watching the servants pulling the empty carriage away, Master Liao also asked Wang Gang and Sheng Changbai to get on their way.
"We are less than a day's journey from Jinling, but taking the trail will waste some time, and we will have to climb mountains and ridges during the process. You must be prepared."
Of course there is nothing wrong with Wang Gang, he just suffered a lot from Sheng Changbai. He has been raised in the house all year round. He has never suffered like this.
However, for the safety of his life, Sheng Changbai had to endure no matter how hard it was. Besides, as a younger brother, Wang Gang didn't complain about suffering or tiredness, so Sheng Changbai was embarrassed.
The road conditions in this era were very poor. The official roads were better, spacious and flat enough, but the wild roads were not good. Not only were the roads muddy, but they were also twists and turns. Sheng Changbai couldn't stand it after walking for a while.
Fortunately, Master Liao took the two of them for an hour and then stopped. The three of them arrived at a pier.
Sheng Changbai saw the boat not far away and asked in confusion: "Master Liao, didn't we take the trail to Jinling? Why did we go around to the pier?"
Wang Gang smiled and said: "I told the servants to take the trail on purpose. In fact, we entered Jinling by water."
When Sheng Changbai heard this, he understood that Wang Gang was playing a trick to trick Chen Cang. He even deceived his own servants, and it was even less possible for the real villains to find them.
Master Liao came forward, found a merchant ship, asked the ship's boss to hide them in the cabin, and then secretly entered Jinling.
Jinling is close to the Yangtze River, so traveling by water is faster than traveling by land. It only takes half a day to reach Jinling City.
After Wang Gang and the others got off the boat, they went straight to the Jinling Mansion Office and prepared to report to the official.
They were the family members of the imperial officials, and they could enter the government office directly by giving Sheng Hong's name. No matter how rampant the gangsters were, they would not be able to commit murder in the government office.
Soon an official came out to receive them. It was Ma Guowei, the magistrate of Jiangning Prefecture.
"Nephew Shengxian, are you okay? The thieves are so rampant now that they dare to attack the families of officials."
As soon as Ma Guowei arrived, he showed great indignation and said that he would send people from the Yamen to investigate the matter thoroughly.
"Master Ma, we separated from the servants halfway. Have they come to the Yamen?" Wang Gang asked Ma Guowei with clasped fists.
Ma Guowei sighed and said, "All my nephew's servants were in trouble. Their bodies are placed in Yizhuang, and the murderer has not been caught yet."
Sheng Changbai stood up excitedly when he heard this. He didn't expect that those servants were really in trouble!
"Master Ma, has the identity of the murderer been found?" Wang Gang asked again.
"Those people come like rain and go like wind. Their identities are mysterious. I'm afraid it's not easy to find out!" Ma Guowei sighed:
"I have sent someone to inform your father that he should come to Jinling to join you soon."
Wang Gang squinted his eyes, and his look at Ma Guowei began to change.
"You will stay in the Yamen these two days. If you need anything, just ask and I will send someone to help you prepare." Ma Guowei said, patting his chest.
"Don't dare bother Mr. Ma, my father has booked a hotel for us." Wang Gang said politely.
Ma Guowei smiled and said: "Your father and I were officials in the same dynasty, and we belong to the same Jiangnan road. You two nephews don't need to be polite to me."
Sheng Changbai looked at Wang Gang in confusion. Didn't they agree to stay in the Yamen for two days just in case?
Wang Gang said: "Master Ma, after all, we are not from the Yamen. Living here will easily lead to gossip. It is better to live out. The hotel is also close to the Yamen. If my father comes, please inform Master Ma."
Seeing that Wang Gang was determined to leave, Ma Guowei couldn't persuade him to stay, so he sent someone to escort him out of the Yamen in person before going back to work.
As soon as Wang left the yamen, he immediately took Sheng Changbai's arm and left quickly.
"Third brother, the hotel is over there, we went to the wrong place."
Wang Gang said hurriedly: "We have to leave Jinling immediately, and we can't delay for a moment."
Sheng Changbai was shocked and puzzled: "Why!"
Wang Gang said seriously: "There is something wrong with Mr. Ma. He may be the real culprit behind the scenes."