Rebirth and Rewriting Fate

Yun Chu pondered to herself that one hundred taels was no small sum, especially since she had already purchased a lot of goods. She probably couldn't come up with that much money now. It seemed she would have to find another way.

"Good sir, we don't have that much silver on us. We hope you'll be lenient." Yun Chu could only try to negotiate.

The man opposite paused for a moment, then said, “Alright, give me fifty taels and I’ll let the three of you go.” He pointed to Yun Chu’s carriage.

"What about the rest?" Yun Chu asked, frowning.

"That's none of your business. Whether you live or die is none of your concern," the other party said with a sinister smile.

"No!" Yun Chu refused decisively. "I brought them here, and I must bring them back safely, without losing a single one." She said firmly.

Originally, the bodyguards were uneasy and even began to feel anxious and fearful after hearing the bandits' words. After all, who would want to die if they could live? But when they heard Yun Chu's words, they were all moved and turned their gazes to Yun Chu.

"Hahaha. You little lady, you overestimate yourself and talk big. Look at the people around me, where did they come from?" the person opposite laughed.

Looking around, most of these people were in their twenties or thirties, carrying weapons and dressed plainly. Their eyes were filled with numbness, as if they had lost faith and hope in life. It was likely that a large portion of them had been abandoned by their families or employers and forced into becoming robbers. After all, it's better to live a miserable life than to die; who would want to live like this if they could?

She couldn't save everyone, but she had to bring those six bodyguards back with her. Yun Chu made up her mind.

"To catch the thief, first catch the king," Yun Chu gestured to Mo Han, who understood her meaning and nodded slightly.

Yun Chu turned around and went back into the car, taking out a package. "There are one hundred taels in here. Come and take it," she said, feigning reluctance.

The other person looked at Yun Chu cautiously, "Throw it over here."

Yun Chu raised her hand and threw it, but it didn't go very far. "I'm sorry, I'm not very strong, and the silver is too heavy. I hope you will forgive me, sir."

"Tsk." The other man made a disgusted sound, stepped out of the fence, and headed towards the package. Just as he bent down to pick it up, in a flash, Mo Hanqing stepped forward, grabbed the leader, and held a gleaming dagger to his neck. "Don't move!"

"You dare to mess with me!" the other party roared, but because he was restrained by Mo Han, he dared not make any rash moves.

"Let go of our leader!" In an instant, another wave of people surged out from all around, even from behind the cliff. There were even elderly people, women, and children. Some children rushed out of the fence in a hurry, but were quickly pulled back by the adults.

The sudden appearance of the person stunned Yun Chu, and the scene became somewhat chaotic for a moment.

Fortunately, she quickly regained her composure. "We have no intention of being your enemy; we only ask for peace. If you let us go, we will not harm you," she said, glancing around at the crowd. There were elderly people and children among them; bandits who could take in the elderly and children were probably not extremely wicked.

"Release them!" Mo Han shouted coldly, her dagger moving up slightly to press against the leader's throat.

"We'll release them, just don't hurt our boss," said an old man who appeared to be over fifty years old, leaning on a cane as he stepped forward from the crowd.

"Uncle Yan!" the leader called out.

"Ah Jie, money can be found again, but once a person is gone, there's really no one left," the old man said earnestly, and hurriedly directed everyone to remove the roadblocks, clear the road, and make way. "Alright, alright, you can go now."

Yun Chu glanced at the cleared path and called out, "Liu Da, you guys go first!"

"Master, you go first, we'll cover the rear," Liu Da hurriedly replied. The other bodyguards looked at each other, bewildered.

"Miss, please go first," Xu Li said hurriedly.

"Stop talking nonsense and let's go!" Yun Chu said sternly.

Upon receiving the order, Liu Da and the others swung their whips and passed through the fence first.

The leader, who was being held hostage, seemed to be affected by the scene and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Seeing that the others had already gone far away, Yun Chu signaled to Mo Han to release the hostage.

Mo Han released the hostage, pushed the leader into the crowd, and jumped onto the carriage.

Upon seeing that their leader had been released, the old man and the children rushed forward to support him.

"I am truly sorry for resorting to this desperate measure, everyone," Yun Chu said, clasping her hands in a fist salute.

Seeing that the leader hadn't been taken hostage, someone quickly surrounded the fence again. Mo Han's face instantly turned cold, and her next move was to rush over and destroy the fence.

"Take it away!" This time, it was actually the leader who spoke up.

Yun Chu looked at the head of the household.

The head of the household clasped his hands and said, "My name is Yan Jie. Young lady, you are no ordinary person. I have to think highly of you. I have been blocking the road here for three years and I have never seen a master let his servants go first. Most of the time, they abandon their servants and run away to save their own lives. Young lady, you are loyal and righteous. I admire you."

As soon as the words were spoken, many people in the crowd lowered their heads, perhaps thinking of something sad.

"You flatter me, Master." Yun Chu thought for a moment, then turned and entered the carriage. She then carried two large bags of things down from the carriage, and Mo Han hurriedly followed.

Yun Chu walked up to Yan Jie and put the things down. "These two bags contain some dry food, enough to fill your stomach. I really don't have the hundred taels you asked for." She took out a money pouch and put it on top as well. "This contains some silver; I hope it will be of use to you."

Yan Jie looked at Yun Chu without saying a word, and no one around them spoke either; it was very quiet.

"I want to see those books," the child beside Yan Jie whispered, pointing to the carriage. Yan Jie quickly pulled him behind him.

Yun Chu looked in the direction he pointed. The mountain breeze lifted the carriage curtain, and several books were scattered near the carriage door—travelogues and stories that Yun Chu used to pass the time. Yun Chu walked to the carriage, took the books down, and returned to the child.

She reached out and handed them over. "You mean these books? These are travelogues and geographical records of the Great Jin Kingdom. They describe many places. When you grow up, you can go and see this different world." She said gently.

The child looked at Yun Chu, then at Yan Zhi, and dared not reach out.

"Take it," Yun Chu said, and pushed it forward a little further.

Yan Zhi patted the child on the shoulder, and the child took the book, carefully hugged it to his chest, his eyes filled with gratitude.

"Farewell," Yun Chu said, turning and getting into the carriage.

"Girl!" Yan Zhi called out, tossing up a sign, which Mo Han caught.

“Next time you pass by this place, please hang this sign on the front of your carriage. We will remove all the traps to avoid accidental injury,” Yan Zhi explained.

"Thank you!" Yun Chu said.

With a flick of the whip, the carriage resumed its journey.

Yun Chu, inside the carriage, could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The composure she had been maintaining finally crumbled at this moment, and she still felt a chill when she thought about it.