In less than half an hour, the room door was pushed open by Qingshuang.
"County Princess, Wang Er has spoken. He is an informant for the Qingfeng Stronghold on Longtou Mountain."
Song Qiming, who had been resting on the floor, suddenly sat up. "Qingfeng Stronghold? Isn't that the bandit lair the innkeeper mentioned?"
Qingshuang nodded.
"Whenever merchants stay overnight at the inn, Wang Er rushes to Qingfeng Stronghold overnight to deliver the news. If they successfully ambush them on the road, he gets a reward. His peeping earlier was also for this purpose."
The sound of their voices woke up Song Anhao. He had just opened his eyes and mumbled a few words before Song Shixue coaxed him back to sleep.
"Sleep well, we have to wake up early tomorrow."
Drowsy, Song Anhao turned over, buried his head in the quilt, and went back to sleep.
Song Jinzhao signaled to Song Qiming with her eyes to step outside together. Seeing this, Song Shixue moved closer to her youngest brother.
The southwest was a chaotic mix of good and bad people. If they were already encountering bandits who dared to target them right at the beginning, the rest of the journey would definitely not be peaceful.
After leaving the room and stopping in the courtyard, Song Qiming bit his lip and said to Song Jinzhao, "There are nearly two hundred bandits on Longtou Mountain. Charging in directly will definitely result in casualties. It would be best if we could outsmart them. Sister, I think Wang Er is our best opportunity."
Song Jinzhao smiled faintly and raised her eyebrows. "What do you think we should do?"
Song Qiming swiped his hand across his neck.
"Have Wang Er lead the way. We can launch a night raid on Qingfeng Stronghold and completely take down this group of bandits."
Song Jinzhao said, "There must be lookout posts on the way to Qingfeng Stronghold. A large group going up the mountain will easily be discovered, and the stronghold is their territory. It would be best to lure them out to an open area."
Song Qiming thought for a moment and looked toward the woodshed.
"Perhaps we can use Wang Er to pass fake news to the bandits, but I'm afraid he won't be obedient."
Song Jinzhao gently curled the corners of her lips, not thinking this would be a difficult task at all.
Walking into the woodshed and seeing that the knife cuts were all concentrated on Wang Er's chest and shoulders, while his face remained perfectly clean, Song Jinzhao felt even more satisfied.
Once bandaged up, no one would likely notice.
When Wang Er saw Song Jinzhao enter, he quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed for mercy.
"I've said everything I was supposed to say. I beg you, Miss, spare my life." His wounded throat ached with every word he spoke.
Song Jinzhao's smile did not reach her eyes. "I can spare your life, but you must do something for me."
Wang Er's face stiffened. He was both relieved and terrified. "What is it?"
Song Qiming forcefully pinched Wang Er's chin.
"Go up the mountain and report to Qingfeng Stronghold. Tell them we are few in number but have a lot of money, and trick them all into coming down the mountain."
Wang Er swallowed in horror, his heart leaping into his throat.
"You want to deal with the bandits?"
After speaking, he subconsciously shook his head, his face full of disagreement.
"The bandits on Longtou Mountain are extremely vicious and evil. They have thousands of lives on their hands. You definitely can't beat them."
"There are bandit lookouts on both sides of the official road. As long as you let me go, I will help you leave."
Song Qiming stood up with a dark face. "If the soft approach doesn't work, we'll use the hard one. Sister, you do it."
Since they had run into them, they definitely had to wipe out this group of bandits; otherwise, they would continue to rob and kill commoners on the road, and more people would die.
Song Jinzhao took out a medicine bottle and handed it to Qingshuang.
The latter quickly pulled out the stopper and poured out a black pill.
Seeing this, Wang Er was so frightened that he backed away repeatedly. He looked at the pill as if it were a death warrant; eating it meant death.
He cried out in fear, the word poison being the only thing left in his mind.
"I'm willing to deliver the message! I'll say whatever you want! I don't want to die, please spare me!"
Seeing Qingshuang reach out to him, Wang Er immediately shut his mouth tightly, shaking his head and dodging.
Lanxi pointed her sword at him and spoke coldly, "If you don't want me to pry your mouth open with my sword, then open it."
Choking back sobs, Wang Er opened his mouth, his face covered in snot and tears.
"I've never killed a single person. I just earn a little reward money. I'm a good person."
The pill was stuffed into his mouth. Not daring to spit it out, he could only let it melt and slide down his throat along with his saliva.
Song Jinzhao said, "As long as you do as I say, I will give you the antidote once the matter is settled."
If you were a good person, there would be no bad people in the world.
Not having blood on your hands doesn't mean you haven't killed anyone. Passing information about passing merchants to the bandits in advance is no different from killing them with your own hands.
