Chapter 222 Unearned Merit

Chapter 222 Unearned Merit

Neither lawless bandits who revel in evil nor Wei soldiers who are hostile to the Tatars will submit to or fear her simply because she is a Tatar princess.

The bandits were attracted to her and her maid's youth and beauty, as well as their horses, weapons, clothing, and accessories.

As for her claim that she was a Tatar princess, the bandits who were trying to kill men and kidnap women simply took it as a joke.

In their view, if this woman were truly a Tatar princess, then even if she had lost her mind and had nothing better to do than wander aimlessly along the border between the Tatar and Great Wei territories, she should at least have made a grand entrance and brought a full retinue of guards.

Someone like her, who only brought a few kittens and ran into such a sensitive area, even if she really was of Tatar noble birth, must have a family with limited power.

Even if they kidnap a delicate young girl raised in such a family, as long as they do it cleanly enough, the kidnapper will never be able to find them by following any clues.

Even if the other party gets incredibly lucky and manages to find them by following the slightest clue, they wouldn't care.

These bandits have always been in a life of danger, and if they were afraid of the so-called powerful and wealthy, they wouldn't risk their lives to do this deadly business.

The bandits, who only wanted to live each day to the fullest, tacitly chose to ignore the princess's angry shouts.

When the princess realized that they didn't believe she was a Tatar princess at all, she had no choice but to bring up the caravan that was not far from them.

That caravan had many skilled guards; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to travel such a long distance to do business in a foreign land.

The princess's plan was sound; she believed that the small group of bandits would definitely be afraid of the large caravan.

And that was indeed the case, but the bandits' attitude toward "fear" was completely different from what the princess had imagined.

Instead of retreating out of fear, they shouted at each other, preparing for a swift victory.

Jiang Yuan appeared at this moment. Unlike the bandits, Jiang Yuan, who had been secretly observing from behind cover for a while, relying on his keen senses, felt that this young girl was most likely a Tatar princess.

As the main enemy of the northern border army, the Tatars had their royal family members, important nobles, and all border army generals, including Jiang Yuan, thoroughly investigated in advance.

Jiang Yuan and the others knew each of them by heart what they looked like and what their personalities were like.

Therefore, although it was the first time he had met this Tatar princess, he still tended to believe that she was a real Tatar princess.

Relying on their superior numbers and the fact that their individual combat strength was much higher than that of the bandits, Jiang Yuan led his troops to charge directly into battle, annihilating the bandits and capturing the princess and others alive.

When the princess first saw them killing the bandits, she thought that she and her companions were about to escape danger. However, one of her guards realized that Jiang Yuan and his group did not have any good intentions towards them either.

He quietly reminded the princess that all the newcomers were border troops of the Great Wei, and they must not fall into enemy hands.

Princess Wang belatedly realized what was happening. She gently nudged her horse's flank, intending to take advantage of Jiang Yuan and his men's battle with the bandits to quietly escape with her guards and maids.

Unfortunately, the soldiers Jiang Yuan brought never relaxed their encirclement and surveillance of these few Tatars.

The Tatar princess's escape attempt failed, and she was bound hand and foot by Jiang Yuan and his men and taken back to Zijing Pass.

As for the caravan of foreign merchants who had brought her all the way from the Tatar royal court to Zijing Pass, they initially thought that the princess would return on her own with her guards and maids at mealtimes, as usual.

However, they waited and waited, but the familiar sound of approaching hooves never came.

As time went by, the caravan members gradually became uneasy.

This unease instantly transformed into genuine panic and fear when Jiang Yuan bound the princess tightly and sent her back to Zijing Pass, and then brought even more men to "invite" the Hu merchant group to "visit" Zijing Pass.

Jiang Yuan and the others' attitude told them that the soldiers of Wei had already learned of their attempt to bring the Tatar princess, disguised and concealing her identity, into the territory of Wei.

Thinking of the princess and the others who had not yet returned, the Hu merchant leader immediately realized that his ancestor had most likely run straight into the hands of the Wei soldiers.

Thinking of her previous arrogant and domineering manner, the Hu merchant leader wondered if she would be so stupid as to shout in front of the Wei soldiers that she was a Tatar princess.

Believe it or not, this time the Hu merchant leader really wronged the young girl. If the princess had been facing Wei soldiers instead of bandits, she would never have revealed her identity in an attempt to intimidate them.

Although she was pampered since childhood, she was still well aware of the relationship between the Tatars and the Great Wei.

It can only be said that if she had kept the saying "walls have ears" firmly in mind, she wouldn't have been caught before even entering the country.

Unable to fight, nor able to defeat, the Hu merchant group of the Great Wei soldiers, with mixed feelings, followed Jiang Yuan and the others to Zijing Pass.

When Jiang Yuan led his men to "invite" those Hu merchants, Chang Yao, the commander of Zijing Pass, had already ordered his men to interrogate the princess and her subordinates separately.

Her guards were all handpicked by her father; they were not only highly skilled in combat but also extremely tight-lipped. However, she and her maids were easily tricked by the seasoned interrogators into revealing all the information they knew.

With a breakthrough, especially since that breakthrough came from their princess, it became relatively easy for those in charge of interrogation to pry open the mouths of other Tatars.

Once Jiang Yuan brought all the Hu merchants back, Chang Yao, who had already obtained a thick stack of confessions, immediately arranged for more people to interrogate everyone in the Hu merchant group.

The leader of the Hu merchant group had privately instructed his trusted confidants to cooperate fully with the Wei soldiers and not to deliberately conceal or fabricate anything.

Now that things have developed to this point, the question this Hu merchant leader needs to consider is no longer whether his family's trade routes can continue, but whether he and his men will be able to return alive.

On the way to the military camp, he racked his brains to come up with many ways to resolve the matter smoothly without offending either side.

Their exceptional cooperation saved Chang Yao's subordinates, who were in charge of the interrogation, a lot of trouble. They quickly compiled the testimonies of everyone in the Hu merchant group, then summarized the important information and had their leader take it to Chang Yao for review.