Chapter 1227: Traveling Together

Little Treasure and Little Bear quickly bought enough goods to fill up two carts. On the day Ogedei prepared to leave the inn, they also asked their guards to pack up and leave.

When the two teams bumped into each other at the entrance of the inn, Little Treasure looked at Ogedei and the others in surprise. “What a coincidence. Are you guys leaving today too?”

Although Ogedei wanted to work with the two youths, he did not want to complicate matters at this time, so he only nodded with an aloof expression.

Not minding it, Little Treasure glanced at their convoy and smiled. “It’s a pity that we’re going different ways. Otherwise, not only would it be safer to travel together, but I could also pick up some riding skills from Uncle Naji.”

Ogedei’s heart skipped a beat. “Where are you heading?”

“We’re done purchasing goods, so we’re going back to Jiangnan.”

“There are many paths back to Jiangnan. Which one are you taking?”

Little Treasure said matter-of-factly, “Of course we’re going west via Taiyuan. The roads there are well-laid, and there are fewer bandits.”

From here to Taiyuan, one had to pass through Weizhou, and the gold and silver mines Ogedei was heading were near Weizhou. Coincidentally, he was going the same way as these two youths.

The paranoid Ogedei couldn’t help but suspect this coincidence, so he didn’t tell the two youths that he was also going to go to Weizhou.

Little Treasure didn’t ask him either. He merely cupped his fists and bade farewell to Ogedei before leading his subordinates towards the city gate.

Since Yuan Qing said that Ogedei was going to Weizhou with the road pass, that meant Ogedei would be taking the same path as them. Little Treasure didn’t mind waiting for Ogedei at the city gate in advance.

Ogedei had used the cover of an itinerant merchant and spent a large amount of money to obtain a road pass, so his convoy carried a lot of fur and medicinal herbs.

There were many goods, so naturally, there were many people in the team which slowed them down. After Little Treasure and the others had traveled far away, Ogedei’s team had yet to set off.

When Ogedei saw the youths’ convoy disappear, the doubts that had just arisen in his heart were relieved. Perhaps everything was a mere coincidence.

Then, at the city gate, he saw the youths who had set off nearly 15 minutes earlier than them.

Little Treasure seemed to be highly astonished as well, as though he didn’t expect to meet Ogedei again. So he rode his horse forward and smiled. “Uncle Naji is also leaving via this city gate?”

Ogedei’s lips twitched. What else could he do other than nod?

“That’s great. Considering this city gate only has one path which leads to Taiyuan, are you guys going to Taiyuan too?”

“No,” Ogedei said in a deep voice. “We’re going to Weizhou first. Whether we can go to Taiyuan or not depends on whether we can get a road pass. We Great Yuan people have to obtain a road pass every time we arrive at a new place.”

“Even then, we’ll be traveling on the same path for a period of time. I wonder if Uncle Naji will be traveling with us. There are other trade caravans that are traveling with us.”

Ogedei glanced over and was slightly surprised to see four to five trade caravans. “So many people are going to Taiyuan?”

“Some are going to the pass, some are returning to Jiangnan like me, and some are going further south. In any case, they are all passing through Taiyuan. Because this path is not very safe, trade caravans are used to traveling together so that they can take care of each other on the way. Uncle Naji, are you coming with us?”

Smiling, Ogedei said, “Considering I’m from Great Yuan, I’m afraid the other trade caravans won’t be willing to travel with me.”

However, Little Treasure smiled and said, “Businessmen don’t care about such things. Besides, we’re all here to trade with the people of Great Yuan, so the businessmen clearly don’t mind. In the eyes of businessmen, they only distinguish between those they can cooperate with and those they can’t.”

“Oh?” Ogedei looked into Little Treasure’s eyes and asked, “Then I wonder if I’m someone you can cooperate with or someone you can’t?”

Little Treasure touched his horse and said, “Those who can bring me benefits are naturally people with whom I can cooperate.”

The two of them looked at each other and smiled without batting an eyelid. Little Bear, who was behind Little Treasure, had a headache as he thought, ‘Just say that you want to collude with each other. Why do you have to probe so much?’

Ogedei did want to collude with Little Treasure, but Little Treasure did not want to. Hence, he glanced at Little Bear and returned to his trade caravan proudly.

In the end, Ogedei did not travel with them and only followed them from a distance. Because he had secrets, he did not want to hang out with a group of Han Chinese.

Little Treasure didn’t mind since they wouldn’t be far away from each other anyway. He was very patient and was very willing to wait for the other party to take action.

As they couldn’t make it to the accommodation in the evening, they could only sleep in the wild.

Little Treasure and Little Bear weren’t people who allowed themselves to suffer. Even if they were sleeping out in the wilderness, they could hunt for fresh prey.

Of course, Little Bear and the guards were in charge of hunting while Little Treasure was in charge of eating.

Seeing that Ogedei’s team didn’t dare to leave the convoy and Ogedei, he couldn’t help but chuckle at Little Bear. “I’m afraid he won’t be able to sleep well before we reach Weizhou…”

With his head buried in the roasted chicken, Little Bear asked, “Have you thought of what to do?”

“Let’s see what Father thinks.” Because they were outside, Little Treasure spoke very carefully. “I’ve already sent a letter to ask for his opinion last night. I should be able to get a reply soon.”

This time, because it was a confidential matter, Yuan Qing sent an urgent message.

Little Bear looked up and blinked. “What’s your opinion?”

Little Treasure lowered his head and chuckled. “Naturally the same as yours.”

Little Bear chuckled and rubbed his fists, then lowered his voice and said, “I believe my martial arts aren’t inferior to his.”

Unaware that he was being watched, Ogedei whispered to his advisor, “Tell everyone to be careful and make sure not to arouse the suspicion of the Han people. Try to slow down tomorrow and let them walk further away to widen the distance between us.”

With a group of Han people in front of him, Ogedei couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Nahe agreed.

However, things didn’t go as planned. The next day, they distanced themselves, but on the third day, they “caught up” again…

The warriors of Great Yuan: “My lord, we swear on our lives that we’ve tried to be as slow as possible along the way. Who knew that we would still catch up? Are the other party turtles?”

The warriors came to the conclusion that the Han people were all slowpokes!

Seeing that Ogedei’s expression was a little ugly, Nahe took the initiative to talk to Little Treasure. Only then did he find out the reason for their slow speed. He quickly returned and reported to Ogedei, “My lord, a trade caravan had a conflict with the innkeeper of the inn they were staying in, so they were delayed for half a day. That was why we ‘caught up’.”

Ogedei frowned. “There’s nothing fishy? Businesses generally prize harmony since harmony generates wealth. Trade caravans also abide by the principle that it’s better to avoid trouble. Why would there be a conflict?”

“It was indeed an accident.” Helpless against his master’s paranoia, Nahe explained, “A guest at the inn stole some goods from a trade caravan. Because there were not many things missing, the trade caravan was unlikely to have noticed it. However, it just so happened that there was something wrong with the axle of that cart. When they were repairing it, they had to move the goods down and that was when they realized something was amiss. As they did not know who had stolen them, the trade caravan asked the inn to compensate them. In the end, the inn reported it to the authorities. The authorities searched the inn before finding out the whole story, so the trade caravan only set off after noon.”

Therefore, although Ogedei’s team deliberately slowed down, they still encountered the other party.

Nahe looked at Ogedei and could not help but ask in a low voice, “My lord, if you’re worried about these Han people, why don’t we take another path? Even if the path isn’t as smooth as the official road, there are fewer people, which means the probability of exposing ourselves is lower.”

Ogedei fell deep in thought.