Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 667 - 620 Rectifying the Borderlands (1)

The carriages were piled with sacks full of goods.

The people driving the carriages were dressed like local men, led by a tall, middle-aged man on horseback.

The middle-aged man wore a straw hat, his eyes cautiously scanning his surroundings.

Behind him followed two guards dressed in short clothes.

At the end of the mule carriage, two young men dressed as guards followed.

In the grass, someone whispered to the Second-in-command, "Second-in-command, those goods on the carriages are not light; look, the deep marks left by the wheels on the muddy ground indicate the intelligence was accurate."

The Second-in-command nodded, squinting, and said, "Wait for the right time to act."

"Yes!"

Once the group passed through the circle near the Second-in-command, he stood up and suddenly shouted, "Brothers, go up!"

He brandished his knife and charged forward first.

The ambushing Southern Yue people in the grass across the road also brandished their knives and charged onto the road.

The two groups together amounted to over fifty people.

While those driving the carriages and their guards numbered only fifteen.

Fifty against fifteen, a complete crush.

The Second-in-command and his accomplices were very confident about this robbery.

"Drop the grain! Leave immediately and spare your lives, or else..." The Second-in-command waved his knife in front of the leading straw hat-wearing tall man. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The Southern Yue people also excitedly jeered around the carriages.

The tall man smiled, pointed at the Second-in-command, and said to the Southern Yue people, "You’ve fallen into our trap!"

The Southern Yue people were puzzled, not yet understanding what was happening, when suddenly a number of horsemen appeared from both ends of the main road.

These people were uniformly dressed, all in armor.

Their numbers totaled about a hundred, doubling the combined forces of the Southern Yue and the Second-in-command and his group.

"Bad, they’re Zhao Country soldiers! Everyone, run!" The Southern Yue people were frightened and turned to flee.

The Second-in-command’s group was also scared and scrambled into the grass.

Who would have thought there were also people hidden in the grass, blocking their escape routes.

Effectively, they were surrounded from all sides.

The Second-in-command and the Southern Yue people were tightly encircled, with no way out.

"Thank you, Second-in-command, for leading the Southern Yue enemies here! The magistrate will certainly reward Shi Baoming handsomely." The straw hat man laughed loudly.

The Southern Yue people glared fiercely at the Second-in-command, "Shi Baoming! You treacherous scoundrel!"

The Second-in-command pleaded, "No, Tie Shuo, I’ve been duped too!"

The two began to argue and fight.

The straw hat man shouted, "Arrest them all, take them back for interrogation!"

"Yes, sir!"

The ambushers were none other than the Vice Envoy of the Guard General stationed by the Prefect of Zhen’an.

Although they only captured twenty or so Southern Yue people.

But after a series of severe interrogations, they confessed all their collaborating villages for robberies.

Much like Feihu Village, several villages had informants colluding with the Southern Yue people.

The vice envoy ordered to list down all the names and report to Prefect Lou.

This was an excellent piece of information.

Prefect Lou ordered the entire city to hunt down those listed.

Those who surrendered voluntarily within ten days would be pardoned.

Those who surrendered and exposed their village’s crimes would be rewarded.

Those who did not surrender would face doubled punishment.

The wanted posters were plastered across the valleys, villages, and marketplaces of the county city.

Soon, all the villages in the borderlands were in panic.

Previously, when they robbed, they always hid their identities, made a fortune, then returned to their village to live, or went to the city to buy a house and run a small business.

But now their names, ages, height, weight, appearance, and all physical traits were known; escape was no longer easy.

Some people, emboldened, dared to surrender and even exposed others colluding with the Southern Yue people.

The government office kept its word; those who surrendered were not convicted and received clothes, five pounds of rice, and five hundred coins as benefits.

Although the rewards were not abundant, the value lay in the fact that those who surrendered were not convicted.

One person took the lead unscathed, and soon many began to follow suit.

Within ten days, over a hundred people surrendered to the garrison.

These people received the same treatment as the first, gaining clothes, five pounds of rice, and five hundred coins.

As word spread, several villages specializing in robbery nearly emptied out.

Upon receiving the news on Li Xingsheng’s side, Ling Yuezi even actively persuaded everyone to return to normal life.

However, Feihu Village differed from other villages.

The Big Master of Feihu Village knew how to make money and led the villagers to open gambling dens and escort services. Although the money was earned through risky ventures, it was quick, fostering a habit of looking down on ordinary life.

To farm, work, and live by hunting? Eat one meal without guaranteeing the next?

They stubbornly refused to do so.

Each one clung to the village, unwilling to leave.

Every day, people would flock to Ling Yuezi’s courtyard, shouting that in life they were Ling Yuezi’s people, and in death, they would be her ghosts.

No matter how Ling Yuezi tried to persuade, they refused to leave.

Ling Yuezi no longer wanted the fighting and killing lifestyle of the village; she said to everyone, "I’m getting married and won’t live in the village permanently in the future. Following me is pointless, as my husband can’t support so many of you."

"Where Miss Ling goes, we’ll follow!"

"Miss Ling, when the Big Master brought us into the village, he said that as long as he lived, we wouldn’t go hungry. Where the Big Master is, we are! Miss Ling can’t drive us away!"

"Yes, we’re not leaving!"

The crowd surrounded Ling Yuezi, clamoring vehemently.

Ling Yuezi didn’t know what to say for a moment, turned and went inside, letting Ah Qing and Ah Lan deal with them.

Li Xingsheng glanced towards the direction of the commotion and asked Ling Yuezi, "Mistress, have you thought about how to settle them?"

"I haven’t thought of a good idea yet," Ling Yuezi shook her head. "These people have followed my adoptive father for years, accustomed to good food and drink, unwilling to leave the village and suffer."

Li Xingsheng listened to the noise outside and said, "From their words, it doesn’t sound like they’re afraid of hardship after leaving the village."

Ling Yuezi listened carefully for a while and pointed outside, "Listen, they’re saying they won’t find a way to survive outside the village, which means starving them... Another says, no fields, no house, no money, doesn’t know how to live, isn’t it fear of hardship?"

Li Xingsheng said, "They’re saying no way to survive, meaning no way to earn money. What if we tell them how to earn money?"

Ling Yuezi lifted her head and looked at Li Xingsheng, "Do you have a good idea?"

This scholar picked up halfway by her maid—how much could he possibly accomplish?

Li Xingsheng pointed surround the village, smiling, "With mountains, trees, and rivers around this village, how could they starve? As long as used properly, they won’t starve."

Ling Yuezi sighed, "But they don’t know how to utilize these."

The people of the village were originally idlers, gathered by the Big Master for their strength and cleverness, specializing in daring ventures and earning risky fortunes.