Chapter 1244: Safe

Little Treasure and the others walked on the unobstructed official road with the farm produce. Although they were slow due to the fact that they were now traveling on foot, fortunately, there were no longer assassins suddenly jumping out to assassinate them.

When Little Treasure saw a scholar carrying a briefcase on his back, he quickly gave a look to the guard beside him. The guard immediately chased after the scholar with a smile on his face.

Not long after, the scholar in front stopped and took out a piece of paper, envelope, brush, and ink from his basket…

The scholar wrote the name of the recipient on the envelope, then raised his head and asked gently: “Uncle, what content would you like to include in this letter?”

The guard almost couldn’t help but touch his face. Thinking that there was no mistake in calling him uncle with his current image, he hurriedly said, “There’s no need to write anything. My eldest nephew said that if I were to seek refuge with him, just tell the servant at the door that it’s someone from his hometown. Hand him a blank letter and he’ll know that I’m here.”

The scholar put the letter into the envelope and smiled: “Your nephew is quite interesting.”

The guard gave him a few copper coins as compensation and returned with the envelope.

At night, Little Treasure took out the Crown Prince’s seal and stamped it on the empty letter paper.

There were many people rushing to Jinan like Little Treasure and his group, so after dark, someone suggested that everyone rest by the official road and look out for each other at night.

It was common for people to help each other when they were outside, so Little Treasure, Little Bear, and the others also stopped and leaned against each other in twos and threes.

The villagers had given them dry rations, so they leaned against each other to sleep after eating dry rations like the others.

Little Bear rubbed Little Treasure’s leg under the cover of the night and asked, “Are your legs cramping up?”

Little Treasure straightened his legs and snorted softly. “I learned martial arts too…”

However, he could not compare to Little Bear and the guards after all. He was indeed exhausted today. After all, this was the first time he had walked so quickly for an entire day.

Little Bear used his internal energy to rub his calf and said in a low voice, “You should be fine after sleeping for a night.”

Little Treasure nodded. As he laid on the ground, he looked at the twinkling stars in the sky. “Fortunately, it’s summer…”

Although it was hot during the day, it was more comfortable at night. If it was a cold day, they would probably freeze to death.

Little Bear nodded in agreement. Just as he was about to say something, he turned around and saw that Little Treasure had already fallen asleep. Smiling, he was about to lie down to sleep when he suddenly straightened his body and looked sharply at the road.

The guards gradually became vigilant. They, too, had heard the sound of horse hooves.

Thinking of their current image, Little Bear swept his gaze across the crowd. Seeing that the others were also sitting or lying down, he slightly pressed down his palm. The guards slowly lay down, but they were on the alert. Having buried their weapons,they were defenseless and would be at a disadvantage if they had to fight the assassins.

Unless their disguise could fool the assassins’ eyes.

Little Bear gently shook Little Treasure awake and whispered into his ear, “If they see through our disguise, I’ll snatch the horses. Let’s leave first.”

Little Treasure looked at the guards and nodded slightly when he saw their determined gazes.

The sound of horse hooves gradually approached. The others also heard the sound and got up one after another. As they looked at each other, they wondered out loud, “Could it be bandits?”

“No, it can’t be. Didn’t General Yuan and King Rong slay all the bandits?”

“That might not be the case. After all, our territory was just taken back last year. There will always be some fish that slip through the net.”

“Should we go into the woods, then?”

Before everyone could come up with a solution, a group of men in black arrived on horses. Everyone huddled together in fear and looked at them warily.

One of the bolder ones shouted in a trembling voice, “You, you, you, who are you? Don’t do anything outrageous in broad daylight…”

The man in black ignored him and swept his gaze across the crowd. Seeing that his target wasn’t in the crowd, he turned around and left.

Everyone waited for the sound of horse hooves to fade away before heaving a sigh of relief.

It was really too terrifying. They’d thought that they would lose their lives.

Little Treasure and Little Bear looked at each other and decided to set off early tomorrow to look for Zhao Yong at the Shandong station as soon as possible.

The men in black never returned. The next day, before dawn, the two of them were woken up by the guards. After eating dry rations, they set off.

The Shandong garrison camp was outside Jinan City, just less than ten miles away from the official road.

By the time the group arrived outside the military camp, the sun had already set in the west. The guard took the sealed letter and pleaded when he approached the soldier, “I’m Zhao Yong’s second uncle. His father asked me to bring my brothers and nephews to seek refuge with him. We came all the way from Jiangnan. Pal, please help us to pass this letter along. It’s from his father.”

The soldier guarding the gate opened his mouth wide and looked at the 20 burly men carrying chickens and baskets while wearing clothes full of patches behind him. He asked, “Did you come from Jiangnan?”

Everyone nodded in unison and said with tears in their eyes, “It hasn’t been an easy journey.”

The soldier shut his mouth, understanding that it was not easy to walk with local specialties. “Wait for me. I’ll go in and report now.”

Hence, Zhao Yong, who was eating dinner, received a handwritten letter from his father. He cursed, “Bullsh*t. My second uncle came here to seek refuge with me?…”

Zhao Yong’s voice stopped abruptly. When he saw the red stamp on the paper, his eyes almost popped out.

Zhao Yong quickly put the letter away and stuffed it into his arms. He shouted, “This isn’t my second uncle. This is my ancestor. Where is he? Hurry up and bring me to him.”

When the guards saw Zhao Yong, tears almost welled up in their eyes. They had finally found their organization and family.

The guard who was pretending to be Zhao Yong’s second uncle went forward and hugged him. He cried, “Yong, we finally got to meet you. We’ve had a narrow escape on our way here!”

Zhao Yong forced a smile and said, “I know, I know. Then, Second Uncle, where is His—I mean, my nephew?”

He really couldn’t tell who was the Crown Prince and who was Prince Rong.

Little Treasure and Little Bear went forward to greet him. “Greetings, Big Brother.”

Zhao Yong almost knelt on the ground, but he didn’t dare to reveal his emotions lest he exposed their identities. He could only turn around and say enthusiastically, “Come, come, Uncle, Brothers, let’s talk inside.”

After entering Great Qi’s military camp, it’d be much safer.

When they arrived at Zhao Yong’s tent, Little Treasure and Little Bear sat at the head of the table and said, “General Zhao, the assassins who ambushed us should still be camping at the entrance of the official road. Also, there should be men in black on the way to Jinan and Dongping. Please send your men to capture them.”

Little Bear added, “They’re all professional killers, so they’re highly-skilled in martial arts. However, no matter how skilled they are, they’re still not a match for an army. There are a total of three groups of people. Just leave two men alive from each group. If the others can be captured alive, then capture them alive. If not, kill them.”

To be able to gain his father’s recognition and be sent to Shandong, and to be able to gain a foothold in the Yuan family army’s northern territory, Zhao Yong was not an insignificant person. Therefore, Little Bear only gave him an objective. How he achieved it was Zhao Yong’s own business.