RWNEFE -Chapter 79 Hijacking the Birthday Tribute Convoy!

When the yamen runners and prisoners saw Liu Yanhui get smacked by the giant eagle’s wing, they were so frightened they nearly stopped breathing.

Thankfully, scholars really are quick-witted—they even know how to flatter an eagle. No wonder he came from an official background. They couldn’t even flatter people properly, let alone an eagle.

Comparing people to people—there’s no choice but to admit defeat.

…

Yuezhou lay on the outer edge of the Third Princess’s fiefdom. Every year, its birthday tribute had to be sent a full month earlier than other regions. In previous years, grain and treasures would fill more than ten carts. But this year, the drought had also affected Yuezhou; the local people were practically ready to flee as refugees. Where would there be any surplus wealth to offer as tribute?

The local officials racked their brains for half a month before finally coming up with a solution. They might not have money or grain—but people? They could grab as many as they wanted!

Every year, there were always officials who sent handsome men to the Third Princess, and she kept them all. If others could do it, so could they!

From afar, Shen Lanxi and the others saw a convoy approaching. There was no gold or silver, no grain—only a cart full of young men.

Each man had a handsome face. Some were more ordinary-looking, but well-built. Every one of them was dressed like a noble young master. Anyone who didn’t know better would think they were students from some academy out on an outing!

“The target has appeared! Ten escorting soldiers, seven men on the cart—seventeen people total. Two carriages in all. Only ten soldiers are armed, with broadswords, spears, and the like. The lead carriage bears the Yuezhou banner!” A Wei family scout ran over at top speed to report.

Shen Lanxi looked at Wei Dongzhuo. “How many people can you deploy?”

Wei Dongzhuo replied, “Twelve.”

“And their combat strength?”

“All of them can take on a hundred men each.”

Shen Lanxi said, “I only need ten—one for each soldier.”

Wei Dongzhuo asked, “What about the people in the front carriage?”

Shen Lanxi replied calmly, “They’re the tribute.”

Wei Dongzhuo: “…”

As the carriages drew near, Shen Lanxi raised her hand. The Wei family troops who had long been lying in ambush on both sides leapt out—one slash, one kill.

The Yuezhou soldiers didn’t even have time to react before they were dead on the spot!

The “tribute” on the carriage stared straight in Shen Lanxi’s direction.

“There’s no need to panic,” Shen Lanxi said. “As long as you behave, we guarantee you’ll be taken to Jinmen to eat and drink in comfort.”

One of the men on the carriage spoke up. “Alright. We’ll listen to you.”

Shen Lanxi curled her lips into a smile and gestured. “Collect the spoils, change clothes, and clean up the scene.”

The Wei family soldiers immediately followed the plan they had discussed earlier—stripping the Yuezhou soldiers of their uniforms and putting them on, then searching out the travel documents and passes.

Moments later, they had completely transformed into Yuezhou troops.

The documents recorded the number of soldiers and the number of people in the birthday tribute. Shen Lanxi added a stroke of her brush, increasing the count by ten.

“Chunxue, bring the pastries. I’ll go distribute them—and casually ask about Yuezhou’s situation.”

Chunxue was puzzled—she could ask about that too! But since Miss said so, there must be a reason.

Carrying the pastries, Shen Lanxi leapt onto the carriage. She casually made up an excuse to send the Wei family soldier driving the cart away. Just as she was about to take the reins from him, someone else stepped in faster.

“I’ll do it. I know how to drive.”

Shen Lanxi naturally yielded and stepped inside, sitting on the carriage board.

“Fifth Senior Brother, why are you here?” Her cold demeanor vanished as she warmly greeted the handsome man seated beside her.

The man subconsciously touched his mouth—but felt nothing. He snorted unhappily. “If Third Senior Brother hadn’t sent word, we wouldn’t even know the Shen family had fallen into trouble! Little Ninth, you’re really treating us like outsiders.”

Shen Lanxi’s eyes reddened. She quickly restrained her emotions and said with a faint nasal tone, “Fifth Senior Brother, I’ve been drifting all this way. Even I didn’t know where my next destination would be. Even if I wanted to send you a message, you wouldn’t have known where to find me.”

Hearing this explanation, Feng Wu’s expression finally softened.

“After I reached An Town, I happened to run into the Medicine King’s birthday. I figured that on such a big occasion, people from Ghost Valley would definitely be there. If it were any other time, it wouldn’t have been so easy to get in touch with Third Senior Brother.”

Feng Wu nodded. Under normal circumstances, their people wouldn’t stay in An Town so regularly.

“You were lucky.”

Shen Lanxi immediately smiled. “Fifth Senior Brother, how is Master? And everyone in the Valley—are they all well?”

Feng Wu nodded. “They’re all very worried about you. They all want to come and take you back to Ghost Valley.” That was also the purpose of his trip.

Shen Lanxi’s gaze hardened with resolve. “Fifth Senior Brother, I won’t return to Ghost Valley for now. I need to escort the Shen family to Dongchuan first, then uncover the truth behind the theft of the Wei family army’s provisions—to clear the Shen family’s name.” And to give herself justice!

Feng Wu frowned, clearly unconvinced. “Great Zhou is on the brink of chaos. Even if the Shen family reaches Dongchuan safely, they won’t be able to live in peace.”

Shen Lanxi replied, “Fifth Senior Brother, I have my own plans.”

Feng Wu studied her for a moment. Seeing her unwavering eyes and her whole being like a sharpened blade, he knew her resolve would not be shaken.

“Master often says that although you’re young, your mind is the sharpest among all of us. Given time, you’ll surely achieve great things. It seems Master was right.”

Shen Lanxi felt a pang of guilt. If she truly were as Master said, she wouldn’t have met such an end in her previous life.

Fortunately, what she hadn’t learned in Ghost Valley—after dying once, she had learned it all.

“I brought you six helpers. From now on, they’ll all follow your command.”

As Feng Wu finished speaking, the other six men on the carriage all clasped their fists toward Shen Lanxi. If the carriage weren’t so cramped, they would have knelt to pledge allegiance.

Though Fifth Senior Brother looked refined and scholarly, he was actually in charge of training Ghost Valley’s guards. These guards were divided into open guards and shadow guards.

When idle, they took on bounties or assassination jobs—partly for money, partly to gather information.

These men were silent and reserved at a glance—clearly shadow guards.

“Fifth Senior Brother, thank you.”

Feng Wu frowned, looking displeased. “When fellow disciples are in trouble, it’s only right for a Ghost Valley disciple to protect our own!”

Shen Lanxi said, “I was thanking you for your beard. Thank you, Senior Brother, for shaving off the treasured beard you’d kept for over ten years just to come protect me. You must be heartbroken, right?”

Feng Wu froze, his eyes instantly bulging like bronze bells.

“Fifth Senior Brother, I don’t want to expose Ghost Valley’s identity for now. In front of outsiders, I’ll just call you Fifth Brother.”

“I’ll be going first. We’ll talk again when we have the chance~”

Watching his junior sister’s graceful retreating figure, Feng Wu would have had his beard bristling in anger—if it hadn’t already been shaved off.

That Little Ninth—still as mischievous as she was when she was young!

Along the way, they passed a relay station and swapped the mules for tall, powerful horses. The group spurred their mounts and raced toward Beiheng Town.

This time, they didn’t rest at all, galloping wildly until the second half of the night.

“There are people ahead!” Several campfires were clearly visible in the darkness.