The spring breeze gently hurried the horses’ hooves, the red sun still bidding farewell to the familiar hometown voices.
Since leaving the Qian family, they had continued onward toward Chao Ge.
Along the way—at least within Liuhe County—as Qian Zhongyi had said, nothing had gone wrong.
The journey had been smooth, and after resting for half a day inside Liuhe County, they hurriedly resumed their travel.
Neither Li Yuer nor Xu Ping’an had much thought for sightseeing.
One was a worried father, preoccupied with the affairs of the Imperial Court, his mind filled with how to bring order back to the chaotic government.
The other kept occasionally recalling the feeling of having his beloved Xiao Jiaoqi by his side, to the point that he had no other thoughts.
But trouble found them as soon as their carriage passed out of Liuhe County.
The carriage had just passed the county marker when a group of bandits appeared ahead.
“This tree I planted, this road I opened. If you want to pass, pay the toll!”
Xu Ping’an shivered as if hearing a familiar dialect and quickly leaned out the window.
What he saw, however, were just over a dozen burly men blocking the road with tree branches—making it impossible for the carriage to break through.
Each of these men brandished steel blades, their faces fierce and threatening.
“People in the carriage, listen up. We only rob valuables, no lives will be harmed. Hand over anything worth money, or don’t blame us!”
“Big brother, why waste words with them? Just go up and take what you want!” one bandit scoffed.
Xu Ping’an frowned as he eyed the group, hesitating briefly before speaking.
“Gentlemen, may I ask—does anyone here know this phrase?”
The leader stepped forward among the dozen or so men.
“Oh? Which dialect might that be from?” he asked.
Xu Ping’an said nothing else, only the five words:
“Qi bian ou bu bian?”
The leader’s face turned blank, and the others exchanged confused glances.
Seeing this, Xu Ping’an realized that he had simply overthought things.
These men were definitely not from his hometown.
“Hey… Zhao brother, Zhou brother, I’ll leave these people to you,” he said, a bit bored, pulling back into the carriage and sitting down.
At that moment, Li Yuer looked at Xu Ping’an curiously.
“Sir, that phrase you said earlier… does it have any special meaning?”
“No special meaning. Just… reminded me of some old memories. Nothing important, so I won’t explain.” Since they couldn’t answer, it meant these men weren’t his compatriots.
Naturally, there was nothing more to say.
Honestly, Xu Ping’an didn’t even know how he would react if he actually encountered someone from his hometown.
Perhaps the most likely outcome was that he would strike decisively.
Others might not understand, but coming from the same world, he deeply understood one thing.
There weren’t many like him—patient, reclusive, and not stirring up trouble.
Even if someone was good-natured, it wouldn’t help.
This era had cultivators, and the domestic situation was chaotic.
Plus, given the temperament of his hometown fellows, if they found out about this world, who knew what kind of earth-shaking incidents they might cause.
It was like a phrase once spread on the internet:
“If given one hundred thousand elite troops to rule the world, what would you do?”
Ordinary people or foreigners might blankly ask, “Why rule the world?”
But his compatriots would think differently—almost everyone, male or female, would wonder whether the troops were enough, rather than question why they would want to rule the world.
“What are you thinking about, sir? You seem heavy-hearted.”
“No, nothing…”
Xu Ping’an was startled, but then the clear clashing of swords and blades sounded outside.
About two or three minutes later, the breathing of Zhou Liang came hurriedly from outside the carriage window.
“Miss, sir, it’s handled. Those…” “Just leave them there.”
There were only five people, men and women, so they didn’t have the strength to bury all the dozen bandits. Besides throwing them by the roadside, what else could they do?
Li Yuer didn’t comment on the matter—after all, Xu Ping’an’s handling was the best option at the moment.
But she did furrow her brows slightly, a cold gleam flashing through her peach blossom eyes.
“Who would have thought, just after leaving Liuhe County, we’d encounter bandits. And this is already within Jinling Prefecture… What exactly is going on there? How could they allow such things?”
Jinling was the seat of the Southern Prefecture’s government, basically the provincial capital.
By all rights, Jinling should be the most stable and prosperous place in all of Southern Prefecture.
Yet bandits appeared here?
This was nothing less than a slap in the face of the Duke of the Southern Border’s Residence.
And right in front of her beloved, it was a harsh blow to the prestige of the Duke’s Residence.
Although the Princes didn’t directly interfere in political affairs, local governance was inevitably linked to them.
The prosperity of Jinling Prefecture was closely tied to the Princes.
Now, with bandits rampant inside Jinling, it was deeply embarrassing for Li Yuer, the Shunnan King’s Heir.
“No need to take it to heart. In these times, there will always be people who can’t survive.”
Xu Ping’an was not surprised by such incidents—he had roamed this world for many years.
Having traveled through most of Great Qi, he understood the situation well.
Such occurrences were nothing unusual.
“Sir…”
Li Yuer pursed her lips and said no more.
The rest of the journey was silent.
The carriage continued on.
By the fourth day, they finally reached Jinling Prefecture.
However, Li Yuer had no time to stay.
She hurried back to the Duke of the Southern Border’s Residence to gather some belongings, then took a hundred or so people and switched to another carriage.
This time, Xu Ping’an didn’t have to squeeze in with Li Yuer and Xiao Jing’er; Li Yuer had prepared a separate carriage just for him.
With guards in tow, they set out directly from Jinling, heading straight for Chao Ge.
Though one might say nothing major happened, there were over ten assassination attempts, dozens of bandit encounters, and several frustrating run-ins with incompetent officials along the way.
Still, none of it stopped their advance.
At last, after relentless travel, on the first day of June, they finally reached the borders of Chao Ge.
The city walls rose a hundred feet high, weathered and marked by history.
Looking out, the walls stretched nearly twenty kilometers long and about forty meters tall—like a giant beast lying low, dormant, towering on the land.
Banners fluttered, rolling in the wind.
Armored soldiers stood atop the battlements.
Below, thousands of civilians entered through the southern gate.
When the towering walls appeared before his eyes, Xu Ping’an knew—
They had arrived at Chao Ge.
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