Chapter 13: Desert Inn
Even though the levies were increased year after year, they were first used on the front lines and to suppress internal unrest. This resulted in less important government offices not receiving sufficient budgets.

The post station was naturally of the "unimportant" type, and it was also heard that Wang Hongyuan seemed to intend to close the post station.

Now, we can take out so many white flour steamed buns to give to the soldiers, which has already been emptied out of our savings.

Wang An did not embarrass the postmaster, but pointed at the food on the tray and said amiably: "Thank you for your kindness, postmaster, but I don't like special treatment. Let's share these dishes with everyone."

"This..." The postmaster was suddenly a little embarrassed.

Chen Huaian refused directly, "Your Highness is of royal blood, how can you compare yourself to a coarse person like me? I appreciate your kindness, but I cannot accept the wine and food!"

Wang An's face was stern, and he did not allow for rejection: "No matter how noble I am, I am still a human being. There is no reason why I cannot eat what you can eat!"

He stood up and said to the hundreds of Black Armor Guards: "You are all the famous Black Armor Guards. Although I know that it is not your intention to join my guards, but it is all because of the order of Governor Cao, I still want to thank you for following my example!"

"You have all been loyal to me, so how can I be heartless? I can assure you that no matter what happens in the future, as long as you follow me sincerely, I will never let you down!"

After saying that, he took the tray from the postman and distributed all the dishes to the soldiers.

"Eat quickly, what are you doing standing there?" Wang An pointed at the dishes being distributed and said, "Do you think I'm being polite to you?"

"Anyway, from now on, whenever I have something to eat, you guys will definitely be there!"

The soldiers looked at each other, and finally someone hesitantly reached out his chopsticks to the dish.

Wang An showed no sign of displeasure until he put the food into his mouth. Then everyone was sure that the Prince Xin, who could have inherited the throne, was not acting, but really wanted to eat the same meal as everyone else.

There was excitement in their eyes.

Although the Black Armor Guards are Cao Meng's trump card, they are all of common people origin.

At this time, everyone could actually eat and sit with Prince Xin, and an inexplicable sense of vanity arose spontaneously.

This may be the closest they will ever be to the royal family in their lives.

Being able to eat the same food as a prince would be enough for them to brag about even when they are old.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Wang An sat down very satisfied.

Although these black-armored guards may not seem like much now, they are still Cao Meng's subordinates after all. If he cannot win their hearts and minds, he will always have concerns when using them.

Because you never know whether they will betray you one day because of Cao Meng's orders.

And today is Wang An’s first step to win the hearts of the people.

Of course, it is wishful thinking to buy off these Black Armor Guards with such small favors, but people's hearts are always won over bit by bit through various small things, and it is by no means something that can be achieved overnight.

After breakfast, the group set off again.

They were still a long way from Jizhou and had to hurry.

In this way, they marched for about half a month and were finally about to enter Jizhou.

However, what they didn't know was that a group of people had also been following them for half a month.

Seven or eight people in black gathered together on a hillside somewhere in the middle of the night. Someone said anxiously, "Sister, if we don't take action now, our mission will be considered a failure after they enter Jizhou. The organization has already sent pigeons to urge us several times."

The one who was called Senior Sister was the leader who appeared outside the Shilipu Post Station that day. At this moment, the leader frowned and said nothing. After a long time, he said, "I thought the target would reveal a flaw eventually. I didn't expect that I had been too cautious after following him for half a month."

"We are walking on the official road, staying at the post station, and there are elite guards around us. We have no chance at all if we want to find an opportunity."

The leader was silent for a while, then suddenly said, "But our chance is coming. There is only one inn within a hundred miles ahead, and there is no post station for us to rest. We should get ahead of them, seize the inn, pretend to be a store owner, and start secretly!"

…………

The next day, evening.

When Wang An and his party were about to enter Jizhou, the sky gradually darkened.

Chen Huaian came to ask for instructions: "Your Highness, we can reach Jizhou in half a day. Should we travel overnight?"

Wang An looked back and saw that the soldiers who had been traveling for half a month all looked exhausted. So he shook his head and asked, "How long will it take to get to the post station?"

Chen Huaian said without thinking: "There is no post station ahead, but there is an inn."

Wang An nodded and said, "Then tell everyone to hurry up and take a rest after arriving at the inn."

Hearing that they could rest, the black-armored guards suddenly burst out with infinite strength. In just a short time, they arrived at the inn ten miles away.

The group entered the inn in a mighty procession and were immediately greeted by a waiter.

"Gentlemen, would you like to have a quick meal or stay in the hotel?"

The waiter who spoke was a young man in his twenties, with a fair face and no beard. He had a handsome face and was very likable.

Chen Huaian stepped forward to negotiate, "We're both staying here for the night and staying at the hotel. Please make arrangements for the more than 100 of us."

The waiter happily agreed and led everyone to sit down one by one.

Except for a small team responsible for guarding, the rest of the people were all seated.

I don't know when, a few waiters came out from the back hall, serving tea and water so slowly that they couldn't even keep their feet on the ground.

But Wang An always felt that something was wrong. He stared at the waiters for a long time before he suddenly realized it.

The reason why I feel something is wrong is that all these waiters are very young and very handsome. How can there be so many handsome waiters in such a remote place? Isn't this too strange?
However, perhaps because Chen Huaian and others had been in the army for too long, they did not notice anything wrong.

But after the food was served, Wang An used the excuse of going to the toilet and took some of the food and water brought by the waiter with him.

Next to the toilet was the stable. Wang An quietly brought the food to the backyard. After making sure that no one was paying attention to him, he fed the food to the horse.

Then he went into the toilet to avoid being seen.

After waiting for a while, he came out of the toilet and saw that there was nothing wrong with the horse, so he felt relieved.

Just after finishing his meal, Wang An was about to go back to his room to rest when a waiter came up to him stealthily and said to him mysteriously, "Sir, do you want a girl? She's beautiful, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

Wang An’s eyes widened immediately. This inn sounded like a very fancy place to stay!
(End of this chapter)