After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

In fact, Qian Sijin's Imperial Guards were quite professional, and their arrangements along the way were very well-organized.

When you first leave the city, the plains on both sides are mostly open and wide, so the chance of being ambushed is very small.

The ten of them then rode their horses and stood guard beside the carriage.

After crossing the Xiaobai River, the trees on both sides began to grow more densely.

Qian Sijin then called out four men, two to a team, to act as scouts and advance into the woods on either side.

The scouts were deployed more than a mile away, and once they encountered enemy activity, they would sound the alarm.

Especially after arriving at Shili Gorge, where they had previously ambushed Xiao Chun, everyone was now somewhat apprehensive.

Although the government sent people to clear the area, they only moved the stones to the sides and cleared the main road.

The traces of the explosion remain. The shattered stones are black, and the air still smells of burning. Some of the broken walls even have a brownish tinge from blood seeping through, making them look gruesome.

Ning Nan also frowned.

He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he felt like he could smell blood.

When passing through this section of the road, the two scout teams went over from above on both sides of the canyon to prevent anyone from following their trick and turning around to ambush them.

Fortunately, the journey was safe and uneventful.

But they had only been out of Shili Gorge for a short time.

The two teams of scouts on the north and south sides blew their whistles almost at the same time.

"Beep beep—beep—"

The whistles from both sides were one long and one short.

One long character represents ten people, and one short character represents less than ten people.

This means that there were about ten people lying in ambush on each side, totaling about thirty people.

Qian Sijin ordered two Imperial Guards to escort the carriage away first, while he led the rest of the men on horseback.

"Big Brother!" San Zhuang lifted the curtain with burning eyes.

"Okay," Ning Nan nodded and said to him, "Go ahead."

"If you can't beat them, run away."

"Alright!" San Zhuang chuckled in response, picked up a bronze hammer from the carriage, let one of the Imperial Guards get on the carriage, and then rode over the other man's horse and charged forward.

Uncle Ping, the coachman, nervously cracked his whip and spurred the carriage back.

Ning Nan exhaled, opened the hidden compartment of the carriage, installed the musket inside, and hid the flintlock pistol in his sleeve.

Before the carriage had gone very far back, a member of the Imperial Guard caught up with it.

The Imperial Guard, his face covered in blood, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Ning Nan and said, "Reporting to Mr. Ning, we have captured all the bandits, including their leader!"

"Ha," Ning Nan paused for a moment, then tucked his hands into his sleeves and laughed, "Good...well done!"

There were a total of twenty-five thieves. Four were killed, five escaped, and sixteen were captured.

Qian Sijin and his men had handcuffed the thieves one by one behind their backs and tied them together with rope.

San Zhuang had just smashed a thief's head and was wiping his copper hammer with dirt and leaves.

The bandit leader, who had been shouting the loudest, was then tied up in front of Ning Nan.

"Kneel down." Qian Sijin kicked the man's calf.

thump!

The bandit leader bent his knees and knelt before Ning Nan.

"Hey, it really is you, Ning Huolong!" Bandit leader Zhang Darui spat out a mouthful of blood and glared fiercely at Ning Nandao. "Come on! I am Zhang Darui of Tianlang Village, one of the nine villages and eighty-two strongholds of Yunhu! Come on! Summon your fire dragon! Eat me!" Zhang Darui shouted.

Ning Huolong… Ning Nan frowned. What did this bandit leader, Zhang Darui, mean by that name?

Qian Sijin explained somewhat embarrassedly that the garrison soldiers of the three counties and some surviving bandits had spread some rumors that the reason why the government troops were able to break through Black Tiger Mountain so quickly was because Mr. Ning rode a fire dragon and smashed open the gate of Black Tiger Mountain.

"Oh..." Ning Nan nodded.

Superstition at play… He stared at Zhang Darui with interest and laughed, “Darui, how did you know my whereabouts and what I look like?”

The fact that the other party set up an ambush here means they knew his whereabouts.

The other person just glanced at him and said "as expected," which means that the other person not only knew his whereabouts, but also knew what he looked like... That's strange.

"Pah!" Zhang Darui spat, his voice vicious. "You scoundrel! My nickname is 'Heavenly Star,' and my bones are as hard as iron! If you can get even half a word out of your grandpa Zhang today, I'll never be a Zhang again!"

Ning Nan pulled out a one-hundred-tael silver note from his pocket, waved it in front of Zhang Darui, and said with a smile, "Darui, I have some influence in the Qinhuai River area. If you just say so, not only will I give you this silver note, but I'll also host a banquet at Yanchun Pavilion."

"Summon eighteen young ladies, all dressed scantily, to stand in a row before you, lift their skirts, and you can choose whichever you like, shall we?"

Ning Nan bent over and stared into his eyes.

"However... Da Rui, listen carefully, you can only choose one."

"Can I only choose one?" Zhang Darui exclaimed.

Ning Nan straightened up.

Zhang Darui scoffed, "You thief! Don't try that, don't underestimate your father! If you have the guts, order your men to chop off my head and hang it alongside Chief Meng's. If I even blink, I'm no hero!..."

Ning Nan handed Qian Sijin a hundred taels of silver and said with a smile, "Please treat your wounds and have some drinks, brothers. Don't make things difficult for me... You saved my life."

Several Imperial Guards were injured, but fortunately they were all superficial wounds. We'll go to Li Family Village later, distill some clean water to wash them, and then bandage them with boiled gauze. They should be fine then.

Qian Sijin accepted the silver note, flattered and grateful... This money from Young Master Ning is fair, after all, the brothers really did put in the effort... But inwardly he sighed, Mr. Ning is too generous... too generous to the point of being excessive... He hopes that next time it will be his banner protecting Mr. Ning...

Zhang Darui, lying on the ground, was sweating profusely and still yelling incoherently. His cursing became even more vulgar after he watched helplessly as the hundred-tael silver note ended up in someone else's hands.

But Ning Nan was too lazy to listen anymore.

"He's a spineless coward," he said, pointing at Zhang Darui. "Use the torture with confidence... but don't rush to ask questions. Wait until he cries before asking."

"Yes." Qian Sijin's eyes sharpened.

Zhang Darui's cursing stopped abruptly. "Damn it!..." he muttered one last time, his eyes bulging, as Qian Sijin lifted him up.

Not long after.

The cries of someone begging for mercy echoed through the woods.

Zhang Darui burst into tears when his first fingernail was ripped off, and he confessed everything like a floodgate of beans.

But just in case, Qian Sijin still peeled off three of his fingernails and pinched his bloody fingers tightly, saying, "The remaining seven fingernails are for later to verify what you said. Don't say anything wrong... please don't say anything wrong."

The pain was so intense that sweat and tears mingled together. He bit his lip and swore repeatedly, saying that if he said even the slightest thing wrong, he was no hero!

Ning Nan sat in the carriage, listening to Qian Sijin's report, and slowly nodded.

This isn't a big deal. After Black Tiger Stronghold was destroyed, the bandits on Cloud Lake went mad. They've been fighting each other non-stop these days, trying to grow stronger so they can gather their forces, seize Black Tiger Mountain, become kings, and raise a new banner.

Zhang Darui was also one of the bandits with dreams, but he was too weak to go out and fight with others.

Seven days ago, someone approached him and offered advice, saying that the most important thing for a bandit is reputation, because as long as you have a reputation, your name will shine wherever you go.

Zhang Darui thought about it and realized that it made sense. The man then told him that fighting bandits and water bandits, and fighting among themselves, made them no heroes.

At this time of year, whoever eliminates the fire bandits who have destroyed Black Tiger Mountain and avenges Chief Meng will have a resounding reputation! With the fire bandits' heads in hand, who on Cloud Lake would dare to disobey?

Compared to fighting a hundred villages in a fierce battle, the former is certain to die, while the latter obviously requires little effort... Zhang Darui slapped the armrest of his chair and said that he, Zhang the Great Chief, was determined to kill this bandit.

The day before yesterday, that man gave Zhang Darui a portrait of Mr. Ning, saying that Mr. Ning would pass by here today. He also gave Zhang Darui fifty taels of silver, saying that if Zhang Darui could really destroy the fire bandits, he would bring his whole family and the whole village to surrender and serve Zhang Darui as their master. The fifty taels of silver was a token of his goodwill... With this additional offer, Zhang Darui made up his mind completely.

"If the Imperial Guards hadn't discovered us, he wouldn't have dared to attack us given our size. He intended to let us pass and find another opportunity later... after all, we had ten horses,"

Qian Sijin smiled and said.

"But now that he's been discovered, if we don't take a hard line, his position as the leader won't be secure."