Chapter 61: Even More Criminals Added
When Yu Luo’s words came out, the two guards who were playing with the silver in their hands suddenly stiffened. They couldn’t help but size her up from head to toe.
“Oh, I didn’t expect that! The Yu family really does have some good-looking ones. I’ve seen those two chicks before, but I didn’t know there was an even better one hiding here.
So, what is it? Trying to seduce our commander to make the journey easier for you and your family?”
Hearing the guards’ filthy words, Yu Luo took a deep breath to calm herself down.
They could say whatever they wanted—no matter how ugly their words were, it wouldn’t take a piece of flesh off her.
Meanwhile, Ye Jiamei and Yu Haojie, seeing the way the guards were looking at their daughter, had already moved to stand protectively beside Yu Luo.
“No, sirs, you’ve got it wrong.”
“Hah, we’ve seen your kind of women a lot. If you’re sensible, you’ll suffer less on the way. If not, don’t blame us if you die with no one to bury you.”
With that, the two guards turned to leave.
“Come on, then.”
Seeing this, Yu Luo hurried to follow, but Ye Jiamei quickly grabbed her arm.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“We need to bribe them. We can’t wear those shackles. If we do, we’ll really be like lambs waiting for slaughter.”
“I’ll go.”
How could he let his daughter walk into the tiger’s den alone?
Even though Yu Luo’s hair was a mess and she was wearing dirty prisoner’s clothes, Yu Haojie would never let her go alone to face those beasts.
The two guards, seeing that it was Yu Haojie following them, didn’t stop him. They had already taken the bribe and couldn’t care less.
In the main hall of the post station, a man in armor with a long sword at his waist looked over in the direction indicated by the guards. Yu Haojie quickly hunched over, approached, and cupped his hands respectfully.
“You want to see me?”
The commander who took over escorting them was about forty years old, with thick eyebrows, phoenix eyes, a bulbous nose, and thin lips—clearly not someone easy to deal with.
“My lord, it’s going to be a tough journey for you. I know that we’ve never really suffered before, so… this is just a little something to show my respect. It’s winter, after all, so please, have a few drinks to warm yourself up.”
Looking down at the thick stack of silver notes in his hand—just one of which could buy them enough wine to get drunk for days—the icy expression on Liang Chao’s face gradually softened.
“Hah, since you’re so sensible, I won’t make things difficult. As long as you behave and reach the wilderness within a month, I can make things easier for you.”
“Thank you very much, my lord! It’s just that… my family, and the second and third branches of the Yu family—we don’t know any martial arts. My lord, could you… perhaps reconsider the shackles?”
“Oh, that’s easy enough. Before I took over, I naturally learned all about you people. Right, what’s your name again?”
“Your humble servant is Yu Haojie.”
Liang Chao nodded. “Ah, the second son of the Marquis’s family, huh? Got it. You can go back now; we’ll be setting off soon.”
Hearing this, Yu Haojie thanked him profusely, almost unable to believe how smoothly it had gone.
As he returned to the common room, Liang Chao’s lips curled into a smirk. He casually pulled two silver notes from the stack and handed them to the two guards beside him.
“Looks like the Yu family really are fat sheep. After all this way, that second son still has such a thick stack of notes. I bet the legitimate branch has even more goodies.”
“Absolutely! Even if we can’t go home for New Year’s, this job turned out to be quite the lucrative one. Thanks for the bonus, boss!”
The two guards took the silver notes, and when they glanced at the denominations, their grins widened.
“Go, take the shackles and chains to the legitimate branch’s room. See if you can’t squeeze a bit more out of them.”
Following Liang Chao’s orders, the two guards marched off with the shackles.
When they came back out, though, their faces were as dark as the bottom of a pot, cursing up a storm. Seeing their expressions, Liang Chao knew immediately that they hadn’t gotten anything out of the legitimate branch.
“Boss, those stingy bastards wouldn’t give up a single coin. We gave them a few dozen lashes to teach them a lesson. Hmph, we’ll deal with them on the road.”
Liang Chao nodded. “Do what you need to. I’m sure that aside from what they have on them, Yu Zhengqing must have more hidden away somewhere. Don’t beat him to death—just leave him breathing enough to spit out what he’s got.”
“Yes, boss, you’re brilliant! We didn’t even think of that!”
When the guards took away the shackles and handed out three black buns each, Yu Qiang and his family were stunned.
“What… what’s going on? Didn’t Commander Wu say these guys were hard to deal with?”
“Dad, it’s obvious that Second Brother bribed them. Didn’t you see how those two guards kicked me to the ground earlier? With a change like this, it could only be because of silver!”
Hearing Yu Yongcai’s explanation, everyone turned to look at Yu Haojie.
“That makes sense. If we wear the shackles, our wives and children really would be lambs to the slaughter. Spending a bit to avoid disaster is only reasonable, considering the situation we’re in.”
“Thank you. We really owe you a lot on this journey.”
Yu Qiang and his family bowed deeply to Yu Haojie and his family.
Meanwhile, the dazed Yu Shanhai and his family, who happened to be assigned to the same room as Yu Luo’s family, were also spared the suffering of wearing shackles.
Though they were free from shackles, the iron chains on their feet were still there. They lined up in two rows and set off northward.
Only when the Yu family stepped outside did they realize that their group had grown significantly larger.
Yu Zhengqing looked at the other prisoners—old acquaintances dressed in prisoner’s clothes—with a complicated expression.
On horseback at the front, Liang Chao shouted an order, and everyone hurried forward, dragging their chains with them.
“Why don’t they have to wear shackles?! Why only us?!”
Running along, Yu Yingying couldn’t hold back her tears and started to wail.
Back when Wu Dahai was escorting them, they had walked the entire way—never had they been forced to run like this.
