"Tu'erpo is different from other water bandits..."
When Qin Ming said this, he suddenly stopped talking. Instead, he raised his head and secretly glanced at the Ninth Princess.
"Oh, how is it different?"
Princess Ninth asked.
But instead of asking Qin Ming, he looked at the squad leader: "Do you know about the Tu'erpo water bandits?"
"Of course I know," the squad leader said proudly: "Sir, we were asked to guard the waterway. I specifically inquired about various water bandits along the way."
"Can the strong man tell me something?"
"What can't you do? My name is Niu Ben. Your Highness, don't call me a strong man. Just like the brothers, you can call me Daniu or Da Ben."
The squad leader said: "Tu'erpo was originally a fishing village and belonged to the same clan. Later, because the taxes were too heavy and they couldn't pay them, the whole village turned into bandits..."
When Qin'er heard this, she immediately understood why Qin Ming stopped mid-sentence just now.
Saying that taxes are too heavy in front of the Ninth Princess is not scolding the court, isn't it?
Thinking of this, Qin'er quickly winked at the squad leader and signaled him to stop talking.
But the squad leader is just a real fool, how can he understand Qin'er's eyes?
When he saw her winking at him, he thought Qin'er thought that what he said was good.
So he got even more excited, dancing and saying: "Speaking of the water bandits in Turupo, they are really not ordinary water bandits. They never rob fishermen, they only rob merchant ships such as salt merchants. After robbing money, they will also provide some relief."
For those who can’t survive, Mr. said..."
"Okay, stop talking!"
Qin'er saw that her winks were useless, and the squad leader's words became more and more outrageous, so she directly stopped her.
"Why didn't you say anything?" The squad leader scratched his head in confusion.
"That's right, why didn't you say it?" Ninth Princess asked, "What did your husband say?"
"Sir, he said that the Tu'erpo water bandits are different from other water bandits. They are forced to become water bandits. If we encounter them, we should not embarrass them too much, just drive them away."
The squad leader sighed: "Actually, the Tuerpo water bandits have been avoiding us. We haven't met them before, but I didn't expect that we finally met them."
The Ninth Princess had completely regained her usual composure. There was no emotion or anger on her face. She just nodded slightly and then asked, "Can you tell me who instigated them to assassinate me?"
"I asked. One of the two people Miss Qin'er arrested just now is a bandit. They kidnapped the family members of the Tu'erpo water bandits and forced them to assassinate them. They followed the water bandits here to supervise the battle."
Qin Ming replied: "According to this person's account, he took orders from a man named Feng Sheng."
"Feng Sheng?" The Ninth Princess thought for a moment and confirmed that she had never heard of such a person before. She frowned slightly and asked, "Who is Feng Sheng and why did he assassinate me?"
"Feng Sheng is a local bandit leader in Jinchuan..."
The first squad leader told the Ninth Princess the origin of Mr. Feng, and then said: "As for why he wanted to assassinate His Highness, I don't know."
"You just said that Mr. Feng besieged Mu Lan somewhere not long ago?"
When the ministers of the court spoke, each one was more oblique and indirect than the other. After reading too many memorials of the Ninth Princess, he had long been accustomed to focusing on the key points.
As soon as the squad leader finished speaking, she immediately found the most suspicious place.
"Yes, but please don't worry, Your Highness. I heard from Brother Zhuzhu this morning that the gentleman has personally gone out to rescue Miss Mu Lan with the soldiers from Guangyuan."
The squad leader said: "With Sir's ability, Miss Mu Lan will be fine."
"Mr. Jin took away Guangyuan's soldiers?..."
The Ninth Princess looked thoughtful, and then asked: "Daniu, how long does it take to get to Jinchuan Ferry from here?"
The lifeboat has drifted to nowhere. Now they cannot board the cargo ship and can only go to the ferry by land.
"The rain has stopped now. If you walk faster, you can get there in an hour or two." The squad leader replied.
"How many ways are there to the ferry?"
"There are few roads in the mountains, but only one official road."
"Is there a trail?"
"Yes, there is, but it's not easy to walk..."
"Let's take the side road!"
Princess Ninth made her decision before the squad leader finished speaking.
"Your Highness, the path is not much closer than the official road, and you have to go into the mountains."
The squad leader said: "The heavy rain has not stopped recently, and there must be water in the mountains. It is too dangerous to enter the mountains at this time."
"Take the mountain road!" Princess Ninth said again.
Qin Ming was grateful to the squad leader for rescuing him ashore just now. Seeing that he didn't understand yet, he asked: "Your Highness, did you discover anything?"
"No, I just feel something is wrong."
The Ninth Princess shook her head and said: "Judging from Daniel's description, Feng Sheng is quite scheming. Such people tend to do things step by step, and they might ambush him on official roads."
"It makes sense!" Qin Ming nodded slightly.
Now there are only four people left in their guard team, and their armor is gone. If they encounter a large group of bandits, it will be very dangerous indeed.
"Your Highness, all the bandits in Jinchuan have been eliminated. Now that we have entered the boundary of Jinchuan, no one will dare to ambush us!"
The squad leader didn't take it seriously.
"His Highness said to take the small road, then take the small road!"
Qin'er glared at the monitor: "If you keep nagging me, will I cut off your tongue and feed it to the fish?"
"Just take the small road. Why is it so dangerous?"
The squad leader murmured and led the escort to lead the way.
I have to say that Princess Ninth's intuition is very accurate.
Beside the official road from the accident site to Jinchuan Ferry, there was really a large group of bandits ambushing in the mountains and forests.
Today in Jinchuan, such a large bandit gang is no longer seen. They took a boat down the Jialing River to avoid being discovered by the local people.
A bandit wearing a raincoat went into the woods and found the bandit leader.
"Master Four, there are a lot of broken logs on the river, and there are people lying on the logs floating down!"
The bandit was responsible for monitoring the riverside. When he saw someone floating down the river, he quickly came over to report it.
"Then the Tu'erpo water bandits must have succeeded. Brothers, be prepared, the fat sheep should be here soon."
The bandit leader said: "Especially the archers, kill the women first!"
"The fourth leader of the family, and women can't shoot, why waste arrow shafts?" asked a bandit.
"Don't worry about why, Mr. Feng said so, we just need to obey!"
The leader said: "If we do this well, everyone will be rewarded, but I will also say something ugly in front of you. If anyone makes a mistake, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
"yes!"
The bandits all braced themselves and stared closely at the official road outside the woods.
But they had been waiting for more than half an hour, and the official road was still quiet.
The fat sheep they were looking for had already entered the mountain from the path.
The mountain road was difficult to travel, but a group of elders lived by the Jialing River and were familiar with the area. They walked until mid-afternoon without encountering any danger.
"Your Highness, walk through this forest for half an hour and you will reach the ferry."
The first squad leader pointed to the forest in front and said: "The road behind is easy to walk on, so there is no need to climb mountains."
The Ninth Princess was about to speak when she saw Qin'er suddenly ducked and stood in front of her.