northernbook Chapter 292 Xiao Yue Leads People to the Villa
Chapter 292 Xiao Yue Leads People to the Villa
When the servant sent by the mountain villa to report back to the city arrived at the yamen, Prince Xiao Yue of Jin had just come out of the palace and had only recently returned to the yamen.
Upon learning that nearly forty bandits had been captured, he immediately organized a team to escort them back to the manor.
Due to the large number of bandits, it was impossible to transport them in prison carts.
To ensure that no accidents occur on the road, the number of people organized to go is also sufficient.
The distance between the imperial city and the mountain villa is quite far; if you walk, it may take two or three hours one way.
The return journey requires escorting the bandits, so walking will definitely be slower than riding a horse. If we set off now, we probably won't get back to the city until dark.
The number of horses in the government office was limited, only about twenty, and some of them were ridden away by other constables on their duties.
Now, only twenty horses remain in the government office.
Xiao Yue organized twenty constables, each of whom was given two pairs of handcuffs and shackles.
Riding a horse is much faster than riding a carriage. Xiao Yue had his men untie the two horses from his carriage, giving one to each of his guards, Lan Yu and Lan Feng. Lan Feng usually rode his own horse.
The group of twenty-three people mounted their horses and left the city one after another.
Because of snow on the road, it took them until late afternoon to arrive at the mountain resort, even though they set off at noon.
Nangong Ming and Yang Jing went out to greet Xiao Yue and his party.
Nangong Ming stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Nangong Ming greets Your Highness, Prince Jin."
Yang Jing stepped forward, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Your subject Yang Jing pays respects to Your Highness, the Prince of Jin."
"No need for such formalities, gentlemen." Xiao Yue gently raised his hand in greeting. "I wonder where the bandits are being held. I would be grateful if Young Master Nangong and Young General Yang could take us there."
"Your Highness, please follow me..." Nangong Ming gestured for him to come.
Nangong Ming led Xiao Yue and the others to the courtyard, where the constables took out the handcuffs and shackles they had prepared and handcuffed the bandits one by one.
Nangong Ming said, "Your Highness must be tired from your journey. Why don't you come inside with me for a cup of hot tea and rest for a while before continuing your journey..."
"No need," Xiao Yue said solemnly, declining the offer. "Thank you for your kindness, Young Master Nangong."
There was a lot of snow on the way here, and the road conditions were not very good, but it was easier to travel on horseback.
However, on their return journey, these bandits would have to walk, which would likely take a considerable amount of time, and they probably wouldn't be able to get back to the city before dark.
Putting aside the fact that walking on mountain roads in the dark is unsafe, I'm afraid that bandits on the road will also cause trouble.
Judging from their appearance, they seemed to have been freezing in the courtyard for quite some time, and there were faint signs of injury on their bodies. It was unclear whether they could continue walking for another two or three hours.
Therefore, he wanted to return as soon as possible and did not want to waste too much time here.
Nangong Ming looked at Liu Yu beside him and instructed, "Send someone to prepare some hot tea and bring it to the courtyard so that all the officials can warm themselves up."
“Yes…” Liu Yu nodded in agreement.
Upon hearing Nangong Ming's instructions, Xiao Yue thanked him, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Young Master Nangong."
After riding horses for more than an hour in the cold wind, everyone's hands and feet were a bit frozen, so a cup of hot tea would warm them up.
"Your Highness is too kind..."
"No wonder these bandits were all captured; it turns out the young general and Young Master Nangong were here." Xiao Yue looked at Yang Jing and said, "These bandits just happened to choose the time when you two came to the manor to commit their crimes. You could say they were just incredibly unlucky!"
Yang Jing said, "It's quite a coincidence. We only arrived at the manor yesterday, and we were just drinking at the dinner table tonight when someone came to report that bandits had broken into the manor."
"We'd only drunk half of the wine when they all ran off to catch the bandits."
“It’s fortunate that you two are here,” Xiao Yue said. “Otherwise, these bandits would have run away with the money, and even if they reported it to the authorities, the government would have had to go through a lot of trouble to investigate.”
"If they run back into the mountains, they'll be really hard to track down."
“It wasn’t just the two of us,” Nangong Ming explained, “but also my cousin and His Highness Prince Qin and several others helped us capture all the bandits.”
"Seventh brother?"
Seventh Brother has also come to the manor?
Seventh Brother is here, then... is Miss Long also in the manor?
Xiao Yue asked, "Is my royal brother also in the manor?"
Yang Jing shook his head and replied, "His Highness Prince Qin came with us yesterday, but he left the manor early this morning to go to the military camp."
Xiao Yue pondered: If it were just his seventh brother alone, given his personality, he wouldn't come out to play with them.
He must have come here to accompany Miss Long.
He went to the military camp now, so Miss Long probably didn't go with him.
I wonder if Miss Long is still in the manor?
Liu Yu and several waiters came over with hot tea, as well as some steamed buns, dumplings, and biscuits.
Thinking that they must not have had lunch when they left the city, and that they would have to rush back soon, the journey was long, and they couldn't go hungry.
"Your Highness," Liu Yu handed a cup of hot tea to Xiao Yue, "Please have a cup of hot tea to warm yourself up."
Xiao Yue accepted the teacup and nodded his thanks.
"Your Highness, we have brought out some food here. Would you like to let the officials have some to eat first, so they can continue their journey later?"
The constables had already handcuffed and shackled all the thieves.
"You've thought of everything, thank you." Xiao Yue instructed Lan Yu beside him: "Pass the word down, tell them to have a cup of hot tea and something to eat first, and then prepare to return to the city after a short rest."
“Yes…” Lan Yu replied, then turned to greet the others.
Now that the government officials have arrived, the handover can be considered complete.
I think they should prepare to return to the city.
“Liu Yu…” Nangong Ming called out.
Liu Yu: "Young Master's orders..."
"Have you seen Xiaoyi and Miss Long? Go and tell them that we should head back to the city soon."
Liu Yu thought for two seconds: "They're over at the hot spring pool. They should be coming out soon. I'll send a maid in to let them know."
Nangong Ming: "Okay, go ahead..."
Xiao Yue: Miss Long is indeed still in the manor. It's been quite a while since I've seen her.
Just as he had thought, his seventh brother had come with Miss Long.
After lunch, when the officials still hadn't arrived, Long Chuqing and Yang Yi went for a hot spring bath.
"After taking a bath, I feel much more relaxed," Yang Yi said with a smile.
Long Chuqing nodded: "Yes! My body feels warm now."
The two women had already come out when the maid came to inform them.
Long Chuqing said with a smile, "The timing is just right!"
“Who says otherwise!” Yang Yi raised an eyebrow. “However, the government officials arrived quite quickly. I reckon they won’t arrive until late afternoon at the earliest!”
“The journey isn’t short,” Long Chuqing guessed. “They must have thought that the sooner they came, the sooner they could go back.”
Yang Yi nodded: "Perhaps! After all, it's not easy to walk in the mountains after it has snowed."
Qingshan had been squatting outside waiting. When he saw the two of them come out, he stood up and greeted them: "Miss Long, Miss Yang."
“Hmm…” Long Chuqing replied, “Qingshan, the people from the government office have arrived. We’ll be heading back soon.”
Aoyama: "Great... The people from the government office arrived pretty quickly."