“Brian Walker must have offended someone at court to be exiled to Tangzhou, but Gregory Dean could have just avoided getting close to Brian Walker and that would be the end of it—there’s no need to go out of his way to avoid him! Something’s really off about this! Besides, the gangs at Tiger Head Ridge and Xie Ma Mountain have been pretty well-behaved these past few years. They usually get offerings from the nearby villages in secret, so they shouldn’t target an inconspicuous, shabby carriage—if it were horse bandits from elsewhere eyeing a fat sheep, they wouldn’t wait until they were near Yingzi Mouth to make a move, would they?”

Hearing James Smith mutter his analysis of today’s events, Henry Smith looked at him in surprise.

He had always been muddle-headed before, only knowing people around him on a superficial level, but he hadn’t expected that his usually rough Seventeenth Uncle James Smith, who seemed fearless in front of Brian Walker and the others just now, had actually already noticed many suspicious points.

“If it wasn’t horse bandits after money, could it really be assassins chasing down that old man Brian Walker? Seventeenth Uncle, I think you’re just overthinking it.” Andrew Smith said carelessly.

“Me, overthinking?” James Smith raised his hand to smack Andrew Smith, saying, “According to the rules, the patrol inspector is supposed to personally lead the armed guards every month to inspect all the villages under his jurisdiction, to prevent banditry from taking root. But that bastard Gregory Dean has been in office for over two years now, and except for the first two or three months when he was still diligent, after that he’s done nothing but stay in the garrison drinking, or go to the market to brag and nap with Miss Hua. What proper work has he done?”

Andrew Smith asked, “Seventeenth Uncle, if you put it that way, there is something fishy about this. But Old Master Wang is already staying at the post station, and before Mr. Dean left, he told you to go greet them. Should we still go over?”

“Mr. Dean, Mr. Dean, you brat, waving a chicken feather like it’s an official token—are you interested in the Wang family’s young lady? Why don’t you take a piss and look at your own face,” James Smith laughed and kicked Andrew Smith on the butt, cursing, “Gregory Dean ran off in a hurry, so why should we go join the fun for no reason?”

“Then what about escorting them tomorrow?” Andrew Smith asked.

“Go to the market and find out which horse caravans are heading to the county tomorrow. You and Henry Smith go along with them, escort them to the county, and then come back that night—don’t delay…” James Smith instructed Andrew Smith.

“Alright!” Andrew Smith replied.

“Oh, right, go find Samuel Smith and the others, and tell them to keep their mouths shut. Don’t go blabbing about what happened today—no matter how strange this is, the fact that there were horse bandits near Yingzi Mouth is a crime that can be big or small, and if word gets to the county, it won’t be good. Don’t go looking for trouble for no reason.” James Smith added.

“Got it, I understand all that! As for Mr. Dean, I can’t make any promises!” Andrew Smith said.

“Does Mr. Dean need an idiot like you to worry about him? Why can’t you learn from Henry Smith and just keep your mouth shut and do your work without all the whining?” James Smith glared at him.

“He can’t even fart out a sound after three beatings. Seventeenth Uncle, don’t you get bored keeping him by your side?” The things James Smith was instructing required a quick mind, and Andrew Smith felt only he was up to the task, so he agreed to everything.

Henry Smith was happy to be idle. Just then, he heard Olivia calling him from behind, so he ran over to get something to eat.

“Here! Eat up, look how skinny you’ve gotten, you’ve lost even more weight these past two days!” Olivia saw Henry Smith run over and shoved a bowl of freshly heated coarse grain rice into his hands, adding a pickled cucumber for him.

Henry Smith poked around the bottom of the bowl with his chopsticks and found a big piece of fragrant cured meat, and immediately felt the hunger in his belly awaken, screaming: I want meat.

There was a dining table in the kitchen, but the room was too dark, so he just squatted in front of the porch, eating while thinking things over.

Henry Smith had been muddle-headed in the past, so people rarely told him much, but now that his mind was clear, he saw and heard everything around him, and realized that things in Tongbai Mountain had never really been peaceful.

There have always been criminals in this world, and with the government and powerful clans squeezing the people, it’s no surprise that desperate villagers would turn to banditry.

The most dangerous and remote parts of Tongbai Mountain are the easiest places for filth to hide.

So, banditry has long been a problem plaguing Tongbai Mountain; when it was at its worst, all trade routes were cut off.

When the patrol office was first established in Huaiyuan Town thirty years ago, their efforts to suppress bandits weren’t very effective, mainly because the main force of the patrol office was made up of rotating imperial guards, who, once stationed locally, only knew how to extort and take bribes. Whenever there was bandit trouble, the big clans had to donate money and grain to support the troops.

At first, the powerful clans didn’t dare to fully cooperate with the patrol office, fearing that if the suppression failed, they’d be the ones to suffer bandit retaliation.

Later, Tangzhou reformed its military administration, and the Huaiyuan patrol office was allowed to recruit local soldiers.

With everyone’s interests tied together, the big clans finally gave their full support to suppressing the bandits, fought several tough battles, and captured many notorious criminals for exile or conscription.

Even though criminals are still hard to eradicate these days, and there are always a few stubborn bandit gangs hiding in the most remote parts of Tongbai Mountain, they no longer dare to retaliate against the big clans so easily; even going out to rob takes a huge risk.

Gradually, both sides settled into an uneasy truce.

Of course, the price for the bandit strongholds not raiding villages at will anymore is that every so often, they come down to the nearby villages to extort food and valuables.