About four or five miles after leaving Yanjin, Zhou Kao saw large mulberry forests planted on both sides of the road, but there was not even a single mulberry leaf on the branches of these mulberry trees. Through the sparse branches, Zhou Kao could see many people gathered around the bend ahead. At this time, there were not even a few pedestrians on this road, which made him a little suspicious, and he thought: This group of people gathered on the side of the road, I don't know what they are doing?

When he turned the corner, he saw that it was more than a dozen men standing next to an ox cart. These people are different in height, fat and thin, and they are all silent when they see Zhou Kao and his party coming. Looking at the direction where they stood, it seemed that they had formed an encirclement of the ox cart.

Zhou Kao recognized one of them as the middle-aged man who had hired a car in Yanjindu yesterday, and he and his son were standing side by side in front of the car at the moment, and his wife and daughter were still sitting in the car. When Zhou Kao passed by the ox cart, no one in this family of four said a word. The more Zhou Kao looked at them, the more strange he felt, and he thought: Isn't this family in trouble? But they didn't ask me for help, so wouldn't it be a bit presumptuous for me to intervene for no reason?

The carriage in which Wan Xi and Zhou Fa were riding was behind Zhou Kao, and they also drove by the ox cart right after. Wan Xi hadn't noticed the situation on the road, but she accidentally glanced at the mother and daughter sitting on the ox cart and noticed that they both had frightened and worried looks on their faces. Only at this moment, Wan Xi immediately became alert and shouted, "Cousin, stop!" ”

Zhou Kao heard Wanxi's call, and then stopped the horse. Wan Xi jumped out of the carriage and asked loudly, "What are you doing here?" ”

The group of men saw that Wanxi was just a young girl, and they all felt a little contemptuous, and one of the men with black letters tattooed on his forehead said: "Where did the yellow-haired girl come from, and she dared to take care of the uncle's affairs?" What do we have to do with you here? ”

Where would Wan Ji believe him? She asked the woman in the car, "Auntie, do you know these people?" The woman shook her head slightly, and Wan Xi's heart suddenly brightened, and she said to the tattooed man, "You and this aunt have never known each other, what do you need to discuss?" It is clear that you rats are bullying the weak and intent on plundering property. If you are interested, let me get away as soon as possible, and let me see it again, and I will not be spared! ”

Wan Xi guessed correctly, these men around the ox cart were all ruffians from nearby villages, and often robbed passing merchants here. If there are many retinues of a rich man like Jiaojiao, they dare not provoke it; But a family of four like this, both old and young, is the easiest target for them. Therefore, they waited here early in the morning, expecting to get a vote easily, but they were unexpectedly ruined by Wanxi. The tattooed man was unwilling, and glared at Wan Xi viciously: "You, don't think that we are easy to bully because of the large number of people, uncle, I am the king of the mountain here, wait for me to go back to the cottage to call hundreds of brothers, and you little lady will be arrested together to be the lady of the village!" ”

Wan Xi heard it and felt funny, and said in her heart: This person is very similar to Zhuxu, and they are all used to swaggering and deceiving. Knowing this, I really shouldn't have brought it, so that he would meet this colleague for a while. She pretended to be surprised and asked, "But this area is all plains, and there are no mountains, and you mountain king are only afraid that some people are not worthy of their name." ”

The tattooed man said angrily: "What do you know about this little girl? The original name of this place is Hutougang, and there used to be a mountain. It's just that 20 years ago, in order to build the city wall of Chaoge, the king of Shang sent people to this Hutougang to get soil and dug up the entire mountain. Later, the people of our village planted this mulberry forest here......"

Wan Xi heard the flaws in his words and interrupted him: "Oh! The people of your village! It turns out that you are just a villager from a nearby village, but you are talking nonsense to me, claiming to be the king of the mountain, what a shame! ”

The tattooed man knew that he had missed his mouth, and he was immediately annoyed and angry, and he was about to step forward and make a move. Zhou Kao hurriedly dismounted and blocked in front of Wan Xi, Wan Ji had Zhou Kao's support, and she was even more fearless, and made a shaved gesture at the man to humiliate him. Although the tattooed man's face was crooked, he knew that his cadre was by no means the opponent of the Zhou guards, so he was helpless against Wanxi.

The bears were afraid of delaying the trip, but they didn't have the patience to let Wanxi continue to fight. He shouted, "Why don't you guys get out of here?" Are you really tired of living? His roar was like thunder, how could a few country scoundrels have ever encountered such a majestic character? Immediately frightened, they scattered and fled.

The middle-aged man next to the ox cart was busy thanking Zhou Kao and the others at this time: "Thank you for your help, the villain is really beyond retribution." ”

Zhou Kao hurriedly returned the courtesy: "Sir, you don't have to be polite, this is just a gesture." In the next week's exam, he is the son of Zhou Hou; This Miss Wanxi is the grandson of the Marquis of Xin, and she is also the cousin of the next. Dare to ask who is Mr. And what should I call it? ”

The middle-aged man didn't dare to raise his head, but replied: "The villain is just a commoner, and he has no surname. The cheap name is even more inadequate, and I dare not ask about Lao Gongzi. ”

Zhou Kao couldn't help frowning, thinking: This person is so rude, my cousin and I just saved his family, but he didn't even want to tell his name. So he said, "In that case, please take care of your husband, and we will leave it at that." ”

Unexpectedly, Wan Xi said: "No, as soon as we leave, it is difficult to guarantee that those scoundrels just now will not come to you for trouble again, so won't all our hard work just now be in vain?" Cousin, let's save people to the end, let's escort them for another ride. ”

Zhou Kao was still hesitating, but he heard Mane Bear say: "The eldest prince, he is a big family, he can neither ride a horse nor a carriage, if he walks with them, it will inevitably drag us down, and we will definitely not be able to go to the song today." I think we'd better hurry as soon as possible and leave these irrelevant things alone. ”

Zhou Kao thought that Mane Xiong's words were reasonable, and he was about to persuade Wan Xi, but he heard Wan Xi say, "Huh? It's weird. Where's the driver who drove your car? ”

The middle-aged man replied: "When the gang of strongmen appeared before, the coachman was so frightened that he fled, and it is estimated that he must be hiding somewhere at this moment." ”

Wan Xi frowned and said, "No, these scoundrels dare to block the road and cut the path in broad daylight, how can they let the coachman go?" An ox cart is almost all the net worth for an ordinary farmer, so how can a coachman casually abandon it? I think that eighty percent of the coachman and the robbers are in good communication with these robbers, maybe he told the robbers in advance to ambush here, just wait for him to carry your family here, then he can do it. ”

The middle-aged man woke up like a dream and said, "That's right! After you said this, I remembered: Yesterday, when I hired a car, I asked several people in a row, and they all thought that I had bid too little; Only this coachman agreed without even paying the price, and arrived at the gate of the reverse brigade early this morning to wait. I thought I had met a good person, but now that I think about it, he was afraid that I would run away! ”

Wan Xi couldn't hold back a laugh, and said to him again: "Sir, these robbers will definitely come back to look for this ox cart, and they know that you are dragging your family and carrying so much luggage, you will definitely not be able to go fast, and maybe they will want to catch up with you." You'd better go with us to be safer. ”

The middle-aged man said gratefully, "Thank you so much!" Seeing this, Zhou Kao hurriedly pulled Wan Xi aside and said to her, "Cousin, don't you think something is suspicious?" If those people really wanted to rob him of his belongings, why didn't their family cry out for help when they saw us? Moreover, he refused to tell the truth even by name, perhaps deliberately concealing it. For such people of unknown origin, it is better not to get too close. ”

Wan Xi smiled lightly and said, "Cousin, you don't have to worry. If a person intends to do bad things, how can he have a reason to take his wife and children with him? He didn't ask us for help because he wasn't sure if we would help. If the call for help fails, it will attract the revenge of the robbers. As for his refusal to report his home, maybe there is something unspeakable, which is also human nature. Anyway, everyone is on the way, and they just walk slower, at most they are a day late, and they can't miss anything. ”