Carrying the little lucky star, leading the villain on the road to exile

Chapter 190. Untitled
The next day, they encountered several more obstacles. Some of them, seeing so many of them, quietly withdrew.

Some people mustered up their courage and stepped forward to block his way. Liu Pingkang would simply give them some benefits and then resolve the matter.

Some people are puzzled: why give away money for nothing when there are so few people on the other side and it would be a one-time solution?

Guo Baozhu asked Liu Pingkang, "Boss, why don't you deal with them?" They were government officials; how could they coexist peacefully with these bandits?

"After dealing with them this time, will you no longer take this route?" Liu Pingkang felt a pang of regret as he thought about the few taels of silver he had just given away.

“But this will only embolden them, and from now on, every passerby will have to pay them money.”

Do you know why there are so many bandits on this road?

"That's because the higher-ups aren't doing their job. We've encountered several waves of this along the way."

"Let me put it this way, you're not on the official road right now..."

"So what the boss means is that they built these roads, so it's perfectly legitimate for them to block the road and demand money."

"If you repair the road, would you selflessly contribute it?"

Guo Baozhu said, "But this wasn't land they bought..."

"How do you know these lands are unclaimed?"

Guo Baozhu's eyes widened. "Boss, you mean officials and bandits..."

Liu Pingkang flicked him on the forehead, "What are you thinking about all day long?"

Those blocking the way are probably mostly villagers from the surrounding area. If they weren't struggling to make ends meet, they wouldn't be taking such a risk.

And besides yesterday, look at these people, who has actually gotten the hang of it?

Guo Baozhu scratched his head. It seemed that was indeed the case. These people were forming a human wall to stop the procession from moving forward, but they were allowed to pass after they paid money.

No, that's not what I meant. "But aren't we just encouraging their arrogance? From now on, they can just collect money here every day and not have to do anything else. It's no wonder there are so many teams doing this kind of risk-free business."

I think we should report this to higher authorities and get the troops here. I don't believe they'll dare to act like this again.

Liu Pingkang sneered, "The officers and soldiers can't just stay here year after year, can they?"
Sometimes, having these people guard this place is better than having officers and soldiers guard it.

Guo Baozhu didn't understand at first, but after thinking about it carefully, his expression changed drastically. "So you're saying that all of this was tacitly approved by you and the passing merchants?"

Liu Pingkang almost laughed out of anger at his words, "Don't slander me, I just want to save myself the trouble of bringing you out safely, and then bringing you out healthy as well."

"You ungrateful brat, get out of my way and go patrol!"

He certainly heard some complaints from the team, but so what?

They were merely guards escorting prisoners, not soldiers suppressing bandits; they wouldn't risk their lives to protect their property.

Although each household was given a small amount of silver, the fact that the procession could pass through safely was enough for him.

As for what those prisoners are thinking or what they're saying behind their backs, that's none of his business. If they really have the guts, they can deal with them themselves.

If they had known this would happen, they wouldn't have been so scheming and corrupt in the court. Instead, they would have worked together to wipe out these bandits, or at least governed the country well so that the people could live a good life.

But it's clearly them who are doing inhumane things, leaving these people living in misery. Otherwise, why would anyone choose to become a bandit or outlaw? He got tired of staying in the carriage and went for a walk, only to overhear someone muttering, "That Liu guy is such a coward. With so many men, can't he handle a few bandits?"
Do you think they might collude with us? They might give us money on the surface, but secretly try to take a share from us too.

Liu Pingkang lashed out with his whip, sending the boastful man spouting nonsense sprawling on the ground. "You're quite the talker, aren't you? Looks like you're all tough guys."

He turned to Guo Baozhu and instructed, "How can such talents be buried in the ranks? You brothers should negotiate and put them at the front. If they encounter any more obstacles, give each of them a knife and make sure they don't lose any more money."

Upon hearing this, the person who had been rolling around seemed to be put on pause. Enduring the pain, he struggled to raise his head and said, "My lord, I was wrong."

Walking in front at this time would be the death of them.

Ahead of the procession, they had to clear a snowy path for everyone. Not only was the path difficult to walk on, but they also risked stepping into traps set by the bandits.

“No, you’re right. Your suspicions are all reasonable.” Liu Pingkang said with a kind smile. “If you can drive these robbers away, I’ll have everyone raise money for you as your reward.”

The man was so frightened that he quickly waved his hand and said he dared not.

His family members also knelt down and begged for forgiveness, some elders even patted him on the back, saying, "I told you to stop talking nonsense and spouting rubbish..."

Liu Pingkang ignored their farce and didn't want to see these annoying people, so he stood by the roadside and watched the procession move forward.

When he saw the escort agency's team, his smile became much more genuine.

I must say, traveling with two escort agencies had a significant deterrent effect; even the usually troublesome bandits passed through easily this time.

"Hey Chief Liu, I have a pot of good wine. Let's invite Chief Xu over and have a couple of drinks tonight."

“That’s great,” Liu, the head镖师, jumped off the car and stood next to him. “I brought some braised meat, so we can add a dish later.”

"It's too cold. If the snow continues, it will be difficult for us to walk. Maybe we should walk a little more each day."

Liu Pingkang had no objection. "I can do it, but I'm afraid their stamina won't be up to par."

He pointed to the people ahead who were not able to make it, and it wasn't that every exiled person could receive sponsorship from relatives and friends.

Several households here live on the daily rations they are given.

"That's true. It must have been hard for you to travel with all these people."

Although they are all prisoners, there are quite a few trivial matters involved.

"There's nothing we can do. We're stuck with this job, and good opportunities never come our way."

"But you must have made a good profit on this trip, right? The Bai family is very generous."

Liu, the head镖师, originally wanted to ask about the Bai family, but when he remembered that the mistress of his employer seemed to be surnamed Bai, he nodded in agreement, "They are indeed very generous, otherwise we would not have been willing to come out and travel so far in this cold weather."

"It's good that I can spend this winter in Lingnan; thinking about it that way, it makes things a bit more balanced."

“That’s right, that way we can travel together on our return trip,” Liu Pingkang extended an invitation.

Chief镖头 Liu hesitated, "Lord Liu, I dare not answer you now."

You know we're all deliverymen, traveling all over the country. Nobody knows where the next job will take us, but if it's heading this way and our timing is right, then of course it's the best.”