Dong Tingzhen intermittently interjected with a few playful remarks, filling the corridor with laughter and a joyful atmosphere.
Dong Changlan watched Bai Qingyan, who walked leisurely beside him, and asked about the bandit suppression: "On the way here, I heard that these bandits are becoming more audacious, daring to kidnap children in broad daylight, lawless and unruly."
"Indeed!" Bai Qingyan responded. Walking alongside Dong Changlan, she added in a soft voice, "So, after my mother's birthday, I plan to take the new soldiers up the mountain to suppress the bandits."
"Changlan is willing to assist Cousin!" Dong Changlan clasped his fists and spoke solemnly, "This time, the sixty-three men escorting me to Shuoyang are all elite troops from the Dengzhou Army."
Dengzhou bordered the now fragmented territory of Nanrong, where the people were fierce. Thus, the Dengzhou soldiers had to be highly skilled to control the Rong.