A moment later, Meng Anzhi, Qing He, the bandit leader, and his henchman sat on the oxcart, locked in a stalemate.
Meng Anzhi, "Big brother, trust me and come with me."
The bandit leader looked at his underling, whose face darkened with malice. "No, no, no..."
The bandit leader understood and turned to Meng Anzhi, shouting, "I'm not going..."
"No, no, no tricks allowed..."
The bandit leader looked at his underling in disbelief, "You mean go?"
"Go! Go! Go..."
The bandit leader understood immediately and roared at Meng Anzhi, "Go away... I'm not afraid of you!"
The underling glanced at the bandit leader, thinking that their unspoken understanding meant knowing what the other was going to say with just a look. He wanted to say, "Don't try anything funny, go to hell..."
They looked at each other in silence... The younger brother was completely disheartened. "How about we dissolve this business? It's turned out like this; there's no future for it."
Before the word "solo" could be uttered, the bandit leader said with a look of gratitude, "You're a lone wolf, you're going to act alone..."
Destroy it all... Let this world be destroyed... I, the living, am dead, speechless as I gaze at the sky.
The bandit leader looked up at the sky with his henchman, and after a moment understood what he meant: 'It's a dark and windy night, perfect for murder and robbery. Taking the money isn't a good idea either.'
So he waved his hand and said, "Let's go to the Anzhi Hall to get the money." Then he grabbed his underling and plopped down next to Dahuang. "I'm telling you, no tricks allowed."
Meng Anzhi smiled and said, "Don't worry, there's only one man in my family, and he's only seven years old."
The bandit leader chuckled... "I know even if you don't say it. The employer has already told me all your family information, and said your aunt is a fortune teller, always talking nonsense."
Meng Anzhi smiled, "Big brother, judging from your accent, you're not a local."
"The bandit leader from Jing'an Prefecture..." he sighed, "If it weren't for the pressure of making a living, who would take on this job?"
Meng Anzhi nodded in agreement, "I understand, after all, no one in Qingzhou Prefecture dares to take on this job..."
"Why is no one willing to take the job? The employer said it's easier to get things done with strangers. Your child is still too young. How old are you this year? Twelve or thirteen?"
"Nine years old..."
"What? You've grown so much in nine years? What have you been eating? Silver ingots every day?" The bandit leader moved closer to Meng Anzhi, "... I heard your Anzhi Hall is making a fortune through dishonest means."
Meng Anzhi couldn't help but laugh out loud, "That's what the employer said too."
"Yeah, they say during the plague, all the medicinal herbs in Qingzhou Prefecture were supplied by the Anzhi Hall, which caused them to lose everything."
Meng Anzhi raised an eyebrow and nodded. The younger brother tried to speak several times but couldn't get a word in edgewise. He kept giving the bandit leader meaningful glances, but it was dark and difficult to see his face clearly, let alone give him meaningful glances.
Upon reaching the back door of the Anzhi Hall, the bandit leader pushed Qing He to open it. Qing He pounded on the door, "Master, open the door! I'm back..."
Qing Yang paused upon hearing this, a bad premonition creeping over her. "Didn't you say you weren't coming back tonight?"
"What, you want me to stay away so you can curry favor with your master?"
The bandit leader pointed at Qing He and whispered, "I knew you weren't a good person... They're all servants, why can't you let them perform?"
Qing He twisted her body, dodging the bandit leader's finger. The bandit leader was displeased and turned his finger to point at Qing He's nose again. Qing He dodged, but he continued to point.
Finally, the courtyard gate was opened from the inside.
Jin Shanyao looked at the four people with a deep gaze and asked Qing He, "Who are these two?"
Before Qing He could reply, she was shoved inside by a strong force. The henchman drew his broadsword and brandished it at Jin Shanyao, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"Stop hitting him, let's go inside..." Meng Anzhi said calmly as she passed by him.
The young man stood alone outside the courtyard, silently crying out... "Robbery..."
In the study, Meng Anci was sitting on the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed) reading when two fierce-looking men entered.
His gaze swept over the two of them and landed on Meng Anzhi.
Meng Anzhi sat down, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and looked at the bandit standing in the center of the ground, carrying two large machetes.
He chuckled, "Auntie, I encountered some robbers on the road, and I promised to give them two hundred and fifty taels of silver."
The bandit leader subconsciously looked at Meng Anzhi. "It's not that you're not imposing, but your voice must be loud when you're robbing someone." He then looked at Jin Shanyao, about to shout, when he heard her say, "Okay."
good???
They agreed to it so easily, without even asking why they were given 250 taels? It's all ill-gotten money; they spend it without a second thought.
Jin Shanyao handed over two hundred and fifty taels of silver notes, a smile playing on her lips as she sat down to the side. The bandit leader, clutching the notes, looked dazed. "Give it to me like that? Is it really that easy?"
"Well, it's nothing, we'll be going now..." The two walked out, turning back every few steps. Just as they reached the door, Meng Anzhi spoke up, "I have fifty taels here. Let's play a game; whoever wins can have it all."
The bandit leader brandished his broadsword, about to speak, when his arm was grabbed by one of his underlings, who cried out anxiously, "Go! Go! Go!"
The bandit leader gave him a reassuring look, "Don't worry, brother, I'm not a coward... Tell me, what game do you want to play?"
Meng Anzhi placed the fifty-tael silver note on the table, with a piece of paper on top of it. "Don't touch the paper. Take the silver note, and the money is yours."
The bandit leader and his henchman exchanged a glance and began scratching their heads around the silver notes, wanting to reach for them but not being allowed, and wanting to use the calligraphy brush to hold them but not being allowed.
He roared angrily, "Impossible! Show me a piece of paper without touching it!"
Meng Anzhi's lips curled up. "Put fifty taels of silver on the table, and I'll do it for you."
The bandit leader slammed a fifty-tael silver note on the table, and his underling cried out, "Up! Up! Up!"
"I know, I'm going now, aren't I?"
The younger brother stamped his foot, and Meng Anzhi gently blew on the paper on the silver note. The paper fluttered down, and the fifty taels of silver note was in his hand.
The two bandits stared in shock. The bandit leader felt his intelligence had been mocked, so he took out fifty taels of silver, slammed it on the table, and then placed a book on top of it.
Pointing at the book, he said, "Don't touch the book, take the silver note away, the silver note is..." Before he could finish speaking, Meng Anzhi grabbed a corner of the silver note and swiftly pulled it out.
The younger brother, enraged, shoved the bandit leader, yelling, "Go! Go! Go!"
"Don't worry, brother. I'm not one to back down. Even if it costs us both our lives, I'll teach this little brat a lesson."
He took out a hundred taels of silver, stuffed it under the book, and then pressed it down again to make sure not a single tael leaked out.
Pointing at the book, he shouted, "Don't touch the book, take the silver notes away!"
Meng Anzhi circled her hand over the book and said, "Take it."
The bandit leader shouted, "Impossible..."
Meng Anzhi opened her hand, and there was a hundred taels of silver notes in her hand. The bandit leader didn't believe it and lifted the book to check. The moment he opened it, Meng Anzhi snatched the silver notes away.
Enraged, the bandit leader slammed his hat to the ground. His gleaming head, faintly shining under the oil lamp, pressed down the last fifty taels of silver notes.
The underling grabbed the bandit leader's arm, sweat beading on his forehead, "Go! Go! Go!"
"I'm already fighting her to the death, how can I go on..." He then looked at Meng Anzhi, "Let's begin."
Meng Anzhi pursed her lips and said, "Big brother, how about we call it quits and stop playing?"
"No... we have to play..." The bandit leader put one foot on the chair and one hand on the table. He refused to believe that they couldn't even handle a child.
Meng Anzhi, "I'm really not playing anymore."
Seeing her serious expression, which didn't seem fake, the bandit leader couldn't help but feel smug. He pointed at Meng Anzhi and said to his underlings, "See? She chickened out..."
After saying this, he took a stack of books away. Just then, Meng Anzhi casually took fifty taels of silver notes.
It trembled in the air... The bandit leader was completely dumbfounded and plopped down in a chair, while his underlings were still shouting, "Go! Go! Go!"
The bandit leader exclaimed, "What's the point of betting anymore? I've lost everything!"
After hesitating for a long time, I finally managed to blurt out, "I've been tricked..."
Jin Shanyao couldn't help but laugh out loud. She stood up, took two hundred and fifty taels of silver notes from Meng Anzhi's hand, and handed them to the bandit leader.
"I, Anzhi Hall, keep my word. Now that you have told me who is behind this, we will naturally not go back on our word."
What I just wanted to tell you is that if you have money, live it well and don't gamble... It's easy for people to go astray once they suddenly become rich, and I don't think you're all heinous people.
This must be their first robbery. Take the money and get away... live a good life.
The bandit leader suddenly realized, "That's right, why did they gamble? The money they risked their lives to steal was swindled away by the little girl in the blink of an eye."
The bandit leader gave Jin Shanyao a deep look. Such a magnanimous person deserved to be rich... Before leaving, he sincerely gave Jin Shanyao a piece of advice.
"Can you even be a decent human being...?" No one else could possibly offend every single medicine merchant in Qingzhou Prefecture.
Jin Shanyao and smiled, "Thank you both for your guidance. I've been learning how to be a good person."
Bandit leader, underlings...