"The same thing goes for you."
Yingbao used all her strength to tighten his neck, not caring that his nails dug deep into her arms, and the blade in his hand penetrated half an inch deeper.
The boy felt pain and dared not to use more force, but just held the girl's arm tightly.
When Yingbao saw that her father, second cousin, and aunt had come running over, she immediately asked them to tie up the boy's hands and feet and take him to the carriage, called back Xiao Hei, and then drove away.
The group of people followed him and chased him madly, "Put him down! Put him down!"
Seeing that these people were about to seize the carriage, Yingbao threw the apples and melons on the carriage at them one by one.
The robbers were stunned, and some of them couldn't help but bend down to pick up the items.
Two of them got the cantaloupe, smelled its tempting melon aroma, and started eating it on the spot.
God knows how long it has been since they last had food, especially this kind of sweet melon, they can’t stop eating it once they start.
Just like that, only two people were left chasing the carriage.
Yingbao threw the last two apples over and threw the empty basket at them.
I don’t know if the two of them were tired or what, and they didn’t catch up.
The carriage sped along and soon went a long way.
I didn't know how many miles I ran before I saw a post station in front of me.
Yingbao felt relieved and asked Jiang Quan to release the boy.
The boy was pushed off the carriage and fell to the side of the road, but he staggered to his feet, covered his neck and ran back.
The carriage was still galloping. Jiang Sanlang asked, "Shall we go and report to the authorities?"
Yingbao nodded: "We need to report it to the police!"
This group of people stopped at the intersection to rob people, and I don't know how many people they harmed. I was lucky to escape, so of course I had to report it to the police.
Jiang Quan was puzzled: "Since you want to report to the police, why did you let the little robber go?"
Yingbao: "Just in case." If she didn't keep her promise and sent the teenage boy to the post station, if one of the boy's family members escaped, they would definitely find ways to retaliate.
Her family's carriage often traveled between the county town and the countryside, so there was no guarantee that it would not be intercepted by these people again.
By then, it will not just be about intercepting people and extorting money.
Jiang Sanlang and Jiang Yunniang also understood what Yingbao meant and didn't say anything.
The carriage arrived at the entrance of the post station, and Jiang Sanlang got off and reported what had happened to the postman.
The postman went to report to the postmaster, who immediately gathered a dozen soldiers and rode out on horseback to chase after him.
Of course, Jiang Sanlang was also taken away for identification.
At this time, it was almost dark.
Yingbao didn't have much hope of catching the robbers, but she still waited quietly in the carriage for news and cleaned Xiaohei's wounds.
My aunt and second cousin were not seriously injured. They were only hit on their arms and bodies with sticks, and their cotton coats were cut in a few places.
Fortunately, their cotton-padded clothes were thick, and the cuts only scratched the clothes but did not hurt their skin.
But Xiao Hei was seriously injured.
Because when Xiao Hei pounced on people and bit them, he was also attacked by those people's sticks and sickles.
At this moment, there were not only lumps on its body left by being hit with sticks, but also several bloody knife wounds.
As it gradually darkened, the postmen finally returned, but they did not find the robbers.
Jiang Sanlang was a little dejected and told Jiang Quan to drive the carriage away.
Before leaving, the postman kindly gave them two torches and asked them to be careful on the road.
Fortunately, there was still snow in the fields, so everyone was not completely in the dark.
Jiang Sanlang drove the carriage carefully and remained silent all the way.
Yingbao fed everyone a pill to refresh themselves, and then quietly took out two leaves of Wudingzhi and stuffed them into Xiaohei's mouth.
Xiao Hei finished eating obediently and licked his master's face with his tongue.
After driving for another hour, they saw a carriage coming from the opposite direction in the distance with torches burning on it.
Yingbao recognized it as her own carriage and shouted in surprise. "Uncle! Second uncle!"
Jiang Dalang and Jiang Erlang were also very happy to see their third brother and quickly turned the carriage around.
When the two cars met, Uncle Jiang couldn't help but ask, "Why is it at this time?"
Jiang Sanlang did not hide anything and told the whole story in general: "We encountered a few robbers on the way, which delayed us for a while."
"Did you encounter robbers? Are you not hurt?" Jiang Erlang asked hurriedly.
"It's okay." Jiang Sanlang shook his head, and he was scared when he thought about it. "It's also because we came back late." If we had left earlier, perhaps we wouldn't have encountered these things.
Jiang Quan glanced at his uncle with a bit of guilt and whispered, "It's all my fault." If he hadn't insisted on doing the Guanpu business, his cousin and uncle wouldn't have waited until the afternoon to rush back.
"I'm glad you're okay. Let's go back quickly. The whole family is waiting for you to have New Year's Eve dinner." Jiang Erlang said.
The two cars drove back one after the other, carefully guarding the surroundings.
Yingbao was relieved at this time. With the help of her uncle and second uncle, she was not afraid even if another wave of robbers came.
It’s a pity that my hedgehog was kept in the cave for so long, and now it was lost like this.
As soon as the carriage arrived at the entrance of the village, we saw Old Man Jiang standing under a soapberry tree holding a lantern, waiting anxiously.
He was relieved to see his children and grandchildren all back. "Why are you so late?"
Jiang Sanlang recounted what happened on the road, and at the end he said, "I think those people look like refugees fleeing famine, and I don't know where they came from. We must be extra careful. I will go and tell the villagers about this later."
There is something very wrong that during the New Year's Day, a group of refugees are wandering around Qinchuan County and robbing people on the road.
"I want to tell everyone that if we encounter banditry like the one we saw two years ago, it will be terrible." Old Man Jiang said, "Even if we don't, it's good to warn people who are traveling."
On the second day of the Chinese New Year, many people go out to visit relatives and friends. If you encounter them, it will not be fun.
After returning home, Yingbao took Xiaohei to the kitchen and made a nest for it with old cotton wool behind the stove.
He took out the catgut and sewing needle, sewed up the cut on Xiao Hei's body, and then applied medicine powder.
Xiao Hei was shaking with pain all over, but he didn't move, allowing his master to stitch him up and apply medicine to him.
Yingbao rubbed its head and stuffed two pills into its mouth.
Dahuang also came to join in the fun, and pushed his head forward as hard as he could. Finally, after getting a pat on the head from his little master, his tail shook like a fire wheel.
…
January always passes quickly. While people are eating, drinking and having fun, February is soon here.
That day, the head of the village suddenly came to the door with a dozen villagers and handed the list to Jiang Sanlang to look at.
"The imperial court is recruiting soldiers this spring, and your village must send a total of ten people."
These lists are issued by the household registration office of the county government, and they clearly record which family is supposed to send a male offspring.
Jiang Dalang has two men in his family, Jiang Da and his second son Jiang Quan, so one of them must go to the war.
The situation of the clan leader's eldest son's family was basically the same as that of Jiang Dalang's family, and one person was also conscripted.
Even Chen Sanyou's eldest son had to send a man to the army.
"Why... why are we conscripting soldiers again?" The people are being harvested wave after wave like leeks, and they cannot live a few years of peace.
Sun Lizheng closed the roster and said, "The governor of Yizhou has rebelled, and the Liao bandits are causing chaos. This year, the prefecture is recruiting soldiers from all counties. Just from our township, we have to send 200 people to join the expedition. Alas."
There are two hundred young and strong men going on this expedition, and I don’t know how many of them will come back in the end.
Jiang Sanlang took the list and looked through it, and couldn't help but frown, because he found that more than 2,000 people from Qinchuan County were going to the war.
What does this mean? It means that there were heavy casualties on the front line, and a large number of soldiers needed to be drawn from various counties to fill the vacancies.
"Can I buy a night watchman this time?" Jiang Sanlang asked.
Sun Lizheng glanced at him and said earnestly, "I know your village is rich, but it is precisely because of this that I have to remind you that no matter what, no one from our village can be left behind."