Chapter 31: You Are Not In Exile You Are Clearly Traveling!
Chapter 31: Seizing Supplies (Happy New Year)
"Officials, officials, let's talk!"
Chen Yuan became anxious. Setting aside whether they could win against these bailiffs in a fight, even if they did, they would end up dead.
After all, the bailiff was right. Attacking a government official's envoy was a serious crime among the exiled group, and they had the authority to execute offenders.
Moreover, they had also been accused of attempting escape.
Either way, these bailiffs had the right to kill them without consequences!
However, unless they offended these bailiffs to death, they wouldn't just kill them for no reason. After all, the bailiffs had quotas to fulfill.
The exiled group had to ensure that eighty to ninety percent of the people reached their destination. If too many died, the bailiffs would also be punished.
So, in general, these bailiffs were mainly interested in extortion and coercion and wouldn't resort to killing.
Except for cases like Zhao Guang's.
But now, these bailiffs were suddenly getting physical, making Chen Xue and the others very uneasy.
They definitely hadn't offended these bailiffs, so the probability was high that it was Guo Qiang who failed with Zhao Guang and instructed others to act.
If that was the case, things would be difficult.
If it were just a normal conflict, it could be resolved through bribery, but their irreconcilable enmity with Guo Qiang made that impossible.
"This matter can still be negotiated!" The head bailiff suddenly changed his tune.
Chen Xue and Chen Yuan exchanged glances, seeing both joy and confusion in each other's eyes.
So, Chen Yuan stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Please enlighten us, officials."
"Hand over the supplies on the carriage behind you!" The bailiffs finally revealed their purpose. They never intended to kill from the start.
After all, there were too many prisoners around. Even if they used the excuse of the Chen family trying to escape to kill them, the surrounding prisoners might not believe it.
If any rumors leaked out or if someone investigated thoroughly, they would be doomed.
Besides, their initial goal was the supplies on the Chen family's carriage.
"Supplies?"
Chen Xue and Chen Yuan suddenly realized. So, that was their aim. In that case, they weren't associated with Guo Qiang.
They breathed a sigh of relief. If they weren't Guo Qiang's people, then their lives weren't in danger.
However, targeting the supplies on the carriage posed a problem.
Firstly, many of the supplies on the carriage had already been stored in Chen Xue's space. If they opened them, they would find that the supplies were missing.
Secondly, if they took away the supplies on the carriage, what would they use?
Although Chen Xue had a space, many things couldn't be openly taken out and used.
If the supplies on the carriage were taken away, suspicion would arise the next time they ate meat or enjoyed any luxuries.
How could they have meat if the supplies were taken away?
"What? Don't want to?"
The bailiff sneered, "I'm already giving you a chance to use the supplies to save your lives. Don't be ungrateful."
He didn't say it explicitly, but Chen Xue and the others understood. If they killed them, they could take the supplies for themselves.
Chen Xue and Chen Yuan looked very unpleasant. It was impossible to confront these bailiffs head-on, and it was impossible to give them the supplies either.
It was quite a predicament!
If they didn't hand over the supplies and angered them, they might actually resort to violence.
Moreover, Zhao Guang and Xu Tian couldn't come to their rescue, so they had to find a solution themselves.
"Officials... if you want the supplies, we are willing to give them up." Chen Xue suddenly looked pitiful, as if she was about to cry, "But, the official gave us only a small amount of supplies after taking our money... it's probably not enough for the officials."
The bailiffs were somewhat puzzled by Chen Xue's sudden change in attitude, but they only wanted the supplies, "Whether it's enough or not, that's for us to decide."
"Then please follow us, officials." Chen Xue led the way, looking aggrieved, "Officials should know that our Chen family is poor and cannot afford to buy supplies... "
"Sob, sob, sob, we finally saved enough money to give to the official, but the official only gave us empty boxes. Please, official, help us!"
The bailiffs heard this and suddenly realized. They hadn't been there at the time, so they didn't know the situation.
In the morning, when they saw the stationmaster actually send supplies to the Chen family and even say a lot of things, it seemed strange.
But now, hearing Chen Xue's words, it made sense. They had bought supplies from the stationmaster with money, which explained why the magistrate had been so kind to them.
However, they didn't believe Chen Xue's claim that they had been deceived by the magistrate and only received a small amount of supplies.
"Officials, our family is in dire straits. We finally managed to scrape together some silver, but... please, officials, help us..."
"That's enough!"
The head bailiff interrupted Chen Xue. They were here to seize the supplies, not to arbitrate disputes.
What did it matter if their family was in dire straits?
Chen Xue saw that the bailiff was getting impatient and stopped talking. After all, she had already hinted very clearly.
She led the bailiffs to the old carriage and asked the servants to step aside, letting the bailiffs handle it themselves.
The head bailiff signaled, and soon a bailiff climbed onto the carriage, opened the curtain, and opened the boxes inside.
However, upon opening them, he found that the huge boxes contained very little, leaving him dumbfounded.
He instinctively opened the other boxes, only to find the same thing. Huge boxes contained only a few cabbages, some even empty.
This made the bailiff very displeased. He quickly climbed down and reported to the head bailiff.
"What?"
"Empty?"
The head bailiff's face changed drastically, and the bailiff quickly explained, "Brother Qian, it's not all empty, just very few things."
What's the difference?
The head bailiff pushed him aside and climbed onto the carriage himself, opening the boxes. Sure enough, he found that the boxes, which could hold over ten kilograms of silver, contained only a few cabbages.
It was a waste of space to put just a few cabbages in such huge boxes.
The head bailiff was not convinced. He opened the other boxes and found the same thing—only a few kilograms of rice, not even filling half the box.
Then, he turned to look at the stack of boxes at the back of the carriage. He quickly moved them and opened them, only to find them empty.
"Get over here!"
The head bailiff was angry. He quickly jumped down from the carriage and called other bailiffs over, "Get all the boxes out for me."
Watching the bailiffs move all the boxes, Chen Xue couldn't help but show a mocking smile.
After the magistrate sent the supplies onto the carriage, she immediately stored them away, leaving only a tiny bit of supplies.
Firstly, it was safer to keep them in her space. Secondly, if one horse pulled two carriages, one full of people and the other full of supplies, it would eventually tire out the horse. So, they had to reduce the weight.
So, Chen Xue stored the supplies away and left a few boxes with a small amount of supplies as a cover-up.
Now, it seemed like a wise decision. These bailiffs were here to seize the supplies, right? Did they want the empty boxes too?
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