novelnext Chapter 124 I'll run you over!
Chapter 124 I'll run you over!
After leaving the dilapidated temple, Jiang Yueming headed north along the official road. After the battle of Dinghai, he understood a principle: to defeat the enemy, first cut off their head.
Since Bermay is unwilling to negotiate with him, he has no right to negotiate with him anymore.
Instead, we should turn our attention to the British plenipotentiary, Elliot, and talk to him directly, bypassing Bermay.
If this war were to repeat itself as described in the textbooks of the previous life, then the plenipotentiary representative of the Yingquan tribe would certainly be in the waters near Yanjing at this moment. Yilu's trip to Yanjing was to deliver the "Letter from Palmerston to the Prime Minister of China" to persuade the Celestial Empire to grant their trade requests.
He might be able to get involved in this matter. If the negotiations are successful, the war could be avoided. Otherwise, if war breaks out again, the weak fighting power of the Holy Dragon Emperor's forces will be exposed more thoroughly, and the Yingquan Clan can increase their bargaining power for peace talks through repeated victories.
This is clearly extremely disadvantageous to the Holy Dragon Empire. In addition to this reason, there is another important reason for taking the official route this time.
Looking for a caravan!
With the fall of Dinghai, many wealthy merchants must have fled, taking with them a great deal of jewelry and wealth. Hiring a security escort agency to protect these valuables would be the most suitable option, especially since war in the region easily breeds thieves.
For their own safety, wealthy businessmen wouldn't just rely on their servants for protection; they would rely on professionals for specialized tasks.
However, Jiang Yueming was not looking for the escort team for herself, but for Ye Mo.
With his flying magic, the Golden Eagle Wings, he wasn't afraid of bandits or robbers on the ground. However, Ye Mo was currently injured, so he decided to have a caravan escort her to Yanjing City... or return to Kezhao, so that he could feel at ease.
As for whether anyone might take advantage of her along the way, he had already thought of a way to deal with that.
He would personally instruct the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) to take special care of Ye Mo. Furthermore, since she had already been given the flying spirit technique, and given her talent for mastering immortal arts, learning this mere high-grade Xuan-level spirit technique should not be difficult for her.
If she needs a flying spell at a critical moment, it can help her escape.
"Hiss... Damn it!" Jiang Yueming suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach as she walked, and her face turned slightly pale.
He didn't eat breakfast this morning, and that damn stomach ailment is starting to act up again.
Previously, he could hunt for food whenever he wanted in the illusion, and he didn't stay in the Jiang family for long after leaving the illusion.
Although the Jiang family didn't treat him very well, they still provided him with leftovers and he didn't have much to worry about in terms of meals. His diet was relatively good.
Then he met Ye Mo, and from then on his eating became unusually regular, and she would remind him to eat on time from time to time.
Although he always resisted that deadly poisonous vegetable...
"Sigh, she must be very sad," Jiang Yueming rubbed her stomach, a bitter smile on her face.
He said she was just a cook, which was very impolite and even insulting to her.
Jiang Yueming felt very guilty about this. If he could do it all over again, he would definitely find a different way to stop Ye Mo from following him and would never say such chilling words.
But life never offers "what ifs"...
"Never mind, it's a good thing to keep her away from danger." Jiang Yueming took a deep breath, shook off all the distracting thoughts in her mind, and continued on her way.
A quarter of an hour later, he suddenly saw dozens of figures slowly emerge in the distance, and he couldn't help but beam with joy. After walking for so long, he finally encountered some people.
If you see a shadowy figure, you might run into a caravan, since the people around Dinghai are all rushing to escape the war, and caravans play an indispensable role in this.
The figures in the distance were clear, and the number of figures increased from dozens to hundreds, and even thousands, with one figure after another hurrying along the way.
They had no formation and carried inconsistent items, mostly clothing, food, and light farm tools.
The clothes they wore were just different names; the better ones were ordinary cotton clothes, but most of them were rough cloth clothes and straw sandals.
It was clear that they were not a caravan, but rather groups of civilians fleeing from disaster.
Jiang Yueming looked at their faces covered in dust, their bodies thin and withered, their eyes showing nothing but helplessness and hardship in the face of life's hardships, and her heart ached for no reason.
He knew that the people fleeing before him were from Dinghai City, displaced by the war.
At that moment, he suddenly realized that there was no greater suffering in the world than this. His eyes were devoid of light, his life held no hope, and even his right to speak was uncertain.
And all of this is because of that damned war! Those damned invaders!
Glug!
Suddenly, a dirty black steamed bun rolled down at Jiang Yueming's feet. The bun was no longer fresh, and a faint odor could be smelled. As she reached out and bent down, her fingers just touched the bun.
Suddenly, a dark figure snatched the steamed bun away. He looked up and saw a homeless child of about six or seven years old.
The child was thin and weak, his face covered in black dust, holding a steamed bun in his hand, but his eyes were full of terror.
"Hey! Don't eat anything too dirty..." Before Jiang Yueming could finish speaking, the child had already stuffed the whole steamed bun into his mouth, seemingly afraid of having it snatched away, and covered his mouth tightly with both hands.
Seeing this, Jiang Yueming fell silent, his fingers clenched tightly in his sleeves, his white knuckles cracking loudly.
"Make way, make way, go!" Jiang Yueming suddenly heard the coachman's voice and looked over, and was immediately delighted.
A black flag flew high, behind which strong red-maned horses pulled the carriage, kicking up dust as it sped along. On both sides of the carriage were a dozen armed guards, their eyes fixed on the surroundings to prevent any accidents from happening along the way.
Jiang Yueming stared at the high-flying escort flag, quietly watching the massive caravan gradually emerge. It was an escort team with approximately dozens of carriages and, at first glance, about a dozen bodyguards.
Compared to the ordinary people on the roadside, this caravan was worlds apart.
What puzzled Jiang Yueming was the extraordinary speed of this caravan. Although it was supposedly to escape, he felt something was off.
Tread
As the sound of horses' hooves grew closer, the civilians fleeing on both sides of the road consciously made way, forming two rows along the roadside.
Jiang Yueming walked calmly to the center of the road, as if waiting for the carriage to run him over.
The refugees on both sides looked on in astonishment at Jiang Yueming's suicidal act. Some of the children even had their eyes covered by their parents to prevent them from seeing the bloody scene.
"Get out of the way!"
Upon seeing Jiang Yueming, the driver of the first carriage flew into a rage, raised the reins, and whipped the horse to make it accelerate, intending to run Jiang Yueming over.
Since everyone was trying to escape anyway, killing one person was no big deal; the magistrate of Dinghai County didn't have the power to bring soldiers to arrest him anyway.
"Heh, speeding up? Well, that's fine, let me see what kind of character your镖头 (bodyguard/escort) has."
Jiang Yueming stood in the middle of the road to test the character of the caravan leader, since caravans are known for their strong sense of trust and loyalty.
If the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort) doesn't stop the coachman in time, it means he's not trustworthy, so he'll have to use other means to ensure Ye Mo's safety while accompanying the镖师.
After all, she's incredibly naive; she could even get scammed buying a map...
"Giddy up! Giddy up! You're not getting out of the way, are you? I'll run you over!"