Lu Chao was jolted awake. When the bandit pressed a sweat-soaked cloth over his face, he held his breath. Perhaps due to inhaling only a little and being shoved to the edge of the carriage, the violent bumps of the wagon made his forehead slam repeatedly against the wooden frame, jolting him awake from the pain.
He wanted to rub his forehead but found his hands bound, leaving him no choice but to twist his body, searching for a more comfortable position.
As he squirmed, his eyes suddenly caught sight of—Lu Yuanyi! At least they were in the same carriage, sparing him the trouble of searching for the reckless boy.
Beneath the blanket lay several other children, likely drugged into unconsciousness, motionless. Lu Chao couldn’t worry about them now. He wriggled his body inch by inch, slowly inching closer to Lu Yuanyi.
"Whoa!"
Bam! The carriage jerked to a sudden stop, nearly flinging Lu Chao out.
Lu Chao: Damn it!
"Sixth! You're back!" A rough voice called out. Lu Chao quickly shut his eyes.
"Ahhh! Third Brother! What do we do?!" The driver, Sixth, leaped down from the wagon at the sight of his companions and let out a panicked cry.
"What happened?! Spit it out!" The man called Third Brother glared, grabbing Sixth by the collar and lifting him effortlessly like a scrawny chicken.
"I took the ‘piglets’ past the city gates first, but then I heard the order to shut the gates! The rest of our brothers didn’t make it out! I was afraid of getting caught, so I brought the piglets straight to you!" Sixth’s eyes were red with desperation.
"Third Brother, have we been exposed? What about Big Brother and Second Brother?!"
Third Brother’s thick beard obscured most of his face, leaving only his furrowed brows visible, knotted with tension.
"Did you slip up somewhere? The officers wouldn’t have caught on so fast. We’ve moved smoothly across several prefectures—this shouldn’t have happened."
After a moment of thought, he gritted his teeth and glanced back at the carriage.
"We’ll retreat to the mountains first. If word really got out, the officials will come hunting sooner or later!"
Hearing this, Lu Chao finally exhaled in relief. Thank heavens.
If the bandit leader wanted to save his comrades, they’d likely be used as bargaining chips. But what if they didn’t?
Back in the city, the Lu Family Academy was in chaos.
Lady Lu wept until her handkerchief was soaked, clutching her chest as she begged to go search for her son.
Lord Lu stood with his hands hanging limply, speaking in hushed tones with Yingchuan City’s Prefect, Meng Ziyuan.
"Your Honor, everyone who saw my son today has been brought in! Inspector Yang is already arresting those merchants from the Western Regions. I’m certain it was those scoundrels who took advantage of the chaos to kidnap my boy. In broad daylight, this is nothing short of a challenge to your authority! Why not just interrogate them under torture—"
Prefect Meng raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Vice Magistrate Lu, I understand your distress, but don’t forget the lesson from Shanyang County. Torturing suspects without evidence is a violation of the law. Shutting the city gates is already the extent of what I can do. As for extracting confessions, leave that to Magistrate Meng."
Magistrate Meng clasped his fists. "Rest assured, Vice Magistrate Lu. We have experience in interrogating suspects. We’ll bring your nephews back unharmed."
Father Lu knew exactly what Prefect Meng meant. He could only nod in agreement, turning to look at his pale-faced wife, his heart as bitter as swallowing coptis root.
"My lord, is this enough?" The steward stared at the chest overflowing with gold and silver, barely suppressing the urge to curse the heavens.
"It’ll have to do. Send it over."
Father Lu flicked his sleeve, gesturing for the steward to hurry.
His chest felt clogged with a suffocating weight—neither rising nor sinking. He didn’t know whether it was grief for his missing son or despair for himself.
A sixth-rank vice magistrate, all he wanted was to recover his child and capture the criminals. Yet now, he had to offer a chest of silver just to get things moving. What was the point of being an official? What had Yuanzhao’s downfall been for? For a moment, he was utterly lost.
Outside the city gates, a crowd of commoners had gathered.
"Why’d they suddenly close the gates?"
"Who knows? Heard they’re after some fugitive."
"Will we even get home tonight?"
...
"Sir, you must recognize me—I’m no criminal! My wife’s about to give birth. Can’t you make an exception and let me in?" A young man pleaded anxiously, slipping a money pouch into the guard’s hand.
"You’re that liquor seller, right? Our magistrate praised your brew!" The guard weighed the pouch in his palm.
"It’s an honor to serve His Honor. Later, I’ll have my boy deliver some to the gates for you all to enjoy." The young man bowed repeatedly.
"Fine. Don’t be late. Go on in."
...
Up on the city wall, an officer in a red-tasseled helmet grinned. "Hah! Gotta admit, shutting the gates now and then really fattens our purses."
"Heh, Prefect Meng’s a wise man!" His companion chuckled, raising his hands in a mock salute toward the magistrate’s office.
Unaware of the chaos in the city, Lu Chao and the others had been hauled up the mountain by Sixth and Third Brother, then locked inside a wooden hut.
Lu Yuanyi and the others still hadn’t woken. Lu Chao grew uneasy—he’d heard that too much of the drug could turn a person simple-minded. What if his brother ended up drooling and babbling nonsense forever?
