After nightfall, Zhang Quan led the caravan directly into the dense forest of Shangmang Mountain.
The Chu family's caravan has only about a hundred people, and its ability to resist the bandits is not strong. However, Zhang Quan and the others are also old men in this caravan. They have rich experience. If you can't resist, just hide. Shangmang Mountain is so big, with them
With my experience, I can completely bypass those bandits, completely wipe out the traces behind me, and leave this Shangmang Mountain safely.
Even if they were unlucky and were discovered by bandits, Zhang Quan and the others would decisively drop the goods and run away.
Although those bandits were ruthless in ruthlessly stealing money and killing people, stealing money is the most important thing compared with killing people. So once this happens, those bandits will definitely seize the goods they left behind first, and Zhang Quan and the others will also
You can escape easily.
It is inevitable for a caravan to encounter this kind of thing. As long as it doesn't happen often, the Chu family won't blame it, and the losses will be recovered after a few more trips.
Looking up at the sky, Zhang Quan whispered to the people in the caravan: "We will walk a little further and there will be a large cave ahead. Let's go there to rest."
But at this moment, a voice came with a loud laugh: "No need to go, if you want to rest today, just rest here!"
As this voice came, torches were raised one by one, the clang of weapons being unsheathed was heard, and densely packed bandits appeared in front of them.
Zhang Quan's expression suddenly changed, what on earth is going on?
He had only recently planned to take this road, and there were no bandits' strongholds nearby.
The most important thing is that even if he was really unlucky and accidentally met the bandits, he would still be able to detect a trace of movement, and these bandits clearly seemed to know their caravan route and were waiting for them here specially!
"run!"
Zhang Quan shouted loudly, urged his horse to turn around and run away. The rest of the stewards and caravan members did the same, and they had no time to think about it.
However, it was different from what they expected. The quality of these bandits was almost comparable to that of the officers and soldiers. Facing the goods they left behind, these bandits didn't even look at them and went straight to kill them.
Moreover, the ones with stronger martial arts skills among these bandits were focused on killing the caravan stewards, but they turned a blind eye to the ordinary warriors of the caravan.
Seeing that all the stewards in their caravan were caught up by the bandits and killed one by one, Zhang Quan couldn't help but feel anxious.
He gritted his teeth, pulled out a dagger, and pierced the horse's butt. The horse groaned in pain and sped up.
But at this moment, a heavy sword flew from a distance and hit Zhang Quan directly.
Although Zhang Quan is in charge of the caravan, he has only practiced some rudimentary boxing and kicking skills. His ability to take charge of the caravan over the years has been based on his own methods, not martial arts.
When the heavy sword hit him, he subconsciously turned around and raised his arms to block it, but his arms were shattered by the impact. He spat out a mouthful of blood and fell off his horse.
Behind him, Ma Kuo walked over slowly, picked up Zhang Quan who was on the ground with a look of horror on his face, and whispered in his ear: "Zhang Quan, right? Mr. Chu Xiu asked me to bring you a message.
, Manager Zhang, have a good trip!"
The moment he heard these words, Zhang Quan's eyes were filled with horror.
Understood, he understood everything. The second son of the Chu family actually colluded with bandits to rob and kill his caravan!
But at this time, Zhang Quan had no time to feel resentful or regretful, because Ma Kuo had already taken out a dagger, stabbed it into Zhang Quan's chest, and twisted it as hard as he could, finally pulling Zhang Quan out of breath.
It was all thrown to the ground.
Ma Kuo shook off the blood on his dagger, waved his hand to the other bandits and said, "Go, open the goods and see what the meeting gift Mr. Chu gave us is like."
Early the next morning, news came from inside the Chu family's mansion that the Chu family's caravan had been robbed and killed!
There were over a hundred people in the entire caravan. Not only all the goods were lost, but also more than twenty people were lost. The most important thing is that not one of these twenty people, including three caravan stewards, escaped.
The Chu family has been doing business for so many years, and only in the beginning did they suffer great losses because they were not familiar with the trails in Shangmang Mountain. But in recent years, nothing like this has ever happened.
In the second lady's courtyard, Chu Sheng had a gloomy look on his face: "Mother, do you think this matter has anything to do with Chu Xiu? Manager Zhang and the others just offended Chu Xiu, and something happened here.
matter."
The second lady also looked gloomy and said: "I don't know. Logically speaking, Chu Xiu shouldn't be so courageous. If I let the master know about this matter, even if he is the master's biological son, the master will destroy him."
Besides, even if he has the courage, he doesn't have all the energy. The bandits on Beishang Mang Mountain are so unruly, how can they listen to him? Last time I hired out a low-quality small village, I spent ten thousand taels of silver, Chu Xiu
Where does that much money come from?
Before you have evidence, don't go out and talk about this matter, otherwise you will make the master unhappy."
Chu Sheng nodded, but then he suddenly said: "How about we dig out Chu Xiu's servants and ask them if they know any clues?"
The second lady snorted coldly and said: "Chu Xiu has become a lot more cautious after returning from the Nanshan Mining Area. His previous servants were sent to the Nanshan Mining Area by him after returning to the Chu family. Now they are not at all
He couldn't find anyone, and the only one with him was Gao Bei.
But that person is his confidant, and since Chu Xiu keeps him by his side, he won't be afraid of us coming to dig him out."
There was a hint of unwillingness on Chu Sheng's face. His opponent had always been Chu Kai, the boss of the Chu family, but he didn't expect that Chu Xiu would suddenly show up, causing him considerable losses.
The second lady waved her hands and said, "Okay, stop complaining. The master will let you discuss the matter later. Say what you should say and don't say what you shouldn't."
Chu Sheng nodded, turned around and walked out.
The incident involving the caravan was neither a big deal nor a small matter, but because such a thing had not happened for several years, Chu Zongguang was alarmed and some of the stewards and Chu Xiu's sons were summoned to listen.
one time.
In the meeting hall, Chu Xiu was sitting there with no expression on his face, but Chu Sheng occasionally glanced at Chu Xiu, wondering what he was thinking.
Below, several caravan members who had narrowly escaped death were still describing what happened that night with horrified expressions on their faces, but unfortunately there was nothing of value.
They didn't even know each other's bandit names and didn't see their faces. The bandits killed people on sight. They just wanted to escape, so how could they care about this?
Chu Zongguang waved his hands slightly irritably and said: "Okay, okay, I will remember the lessons learned this time. Be more careful next time. Let's break up. I'll go back to retreat."
At this time, Chu Xiu suddenly stood up and said: "Father, the caravan is leaderless right now. I am willing to lead the caravan through Shangmang Mountain again."
As soon as these words came out, everyone present was stunned, including the three Chu Xiu brothers.
Since the establishment of the Chu family in Tongzhou Prefecture, apart from some overt and covert fights with other family forces, the number of people who have died in the caravan has been the second largest.
Just like this time, if you are unlucky enough to foresee the robbers, then whether you can survive or not depends on luck.
Therefore, even if Chu Sheng and others manage the caravan, they will never go with the caravan. At most, they are responsible for arranging the goods of the caravan and so on.
Chu Zongguang frowned and said, "Why are you causing trouble? How can you lead a caravan without any experience?"
Chu Xiu said in a deep voice: "Right now, the caravan is in a state of panic. If there is no one of sufficient importance to lead them, when will they be able to start again?
We can delay other things, but our Chu family pharmacy cannot be delayed. Some medicines in the pharmacy will be out of stock if we don’t purchase them back.
As a direct descendant of the Chu family, the child should be a pioneer and inspire people, so I ask for your father's permission."
Chu Zongguang frowned. He didn't seem to expect Chu Xiu's awareness to be so high.
But after thinking about it, he still said: "Then go ahead and be careful."
Chu Xiu cupped his hands and walked out amidst the puzzled looks of others.
The other three Chu Xiu brothers didn't care about him. They wouldn't do such a thankless and even dangerous thing if it was given to them for free.
Previously, people from the caravan were gathered in a small courtyard. Dozens of people looked downcast and were pointed at by people from the Chu family who came and went.
It can be said that they were indeed cowards this time. They were robbed as soon as they entered the mountain, their belongings were not saved, and many people died. Some people even became fearful and did not dare to go on the caravan again.
Chu Xiu separated from the crowd and walked in. The group was also listless. Only a few people stood up, cupped their hands in front of Chu Xiu and said, "I've seen the second young master."
Looking at everyone, Chu Xiu said: "Everyone pack up and the caravan sets off again, heading to the Kingdom of Yan."
Upon hearing this, those people suddenly became anxious, and someone immediately said: "Second Young Master, something happened to us just now, so we need to recover for a while and think of a countermeasure before leaving? What if we go into the mountain and are robbed again?
Was it robbed?"
People from other caravans also agreed, they were really scared out of their wits.