Chapter 46: The boy looked at her carefully from her eyebrows to her mouth...

The big boss took two people and Lu Yi to the demolition house, and the young man named Lu Ge'er also followed.

The two people in the woodshed were tied up, their eyes were blindfolded, and their mouths were stuffed with cloth, making them unable to speak.

Even so, he could recognize the people Shen Yunshu married at a glance. One of them was Pei Huaian, and the other should be his attendant.

Seeing Lu Yi nod, the eldest boss couldn't help but laugh heartily and ordered his men, "Send another letter to the Pei family tomorrow, saying that their youngest grandson is also in my hands, and the ransom will be increased by another 100,000 taels."

"Another hundred thousand taels?" Lu Yi hadn't expected him to ask for another hundred thousand taels. He worriedly said, "Boss, even if the Pei family is rich, I'm afraid it won't be able to come up with that much right away, right?"

"If you can't come up with it, we can only redeem one person," the eldest boss glanced at him with a half-smile. "Anyway, whether it's 100,000 or 200,000 taels, we're only planning on returning one person, right?"

He didn't mind saying this in front of Pei Huaian. Naturally, the fish on the chopping board could only be handled by them.

When Pei Huaian heard this, he immediately struggled and made a whimpering sound, obviously wanting to say something.

The boss was in a good mood today. He waved his hand to let Lu Yi leave first, and then asked someone to pull the cloth out of Pei Huaian's mouth, giving him a chance to speak.

Pei Huaian's eyes were still covered, so he could only rely on the sound to turn to the person opposite him: "Boss, where is my wife?"

The eldest boss jokingly said, "How should I know where your wife is?"

"I followed you here. I saw with my own eyes that you kidnapped her..."

Pei Huaian specially asked for half an hour's leave from his teacher this afternoon, took Qing Wu out of the house to buy some supplements, and then went to Yong'anfang.

The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and there were fewer and fewer cars on the road. Just after turning into an alley, Qing Wu saw the Pei family's carriage coming towards him, and waved to them to stop.

The coachman opposite had his face covered. Qingwu initially thought he was doing it to shield himself from the wind and snow, but when the carriage got closer, Qingwu realized something was wrong.

The wind blew open a corner of the carriage curtain, and Qing Wu clearly saw a person wearing a crane cloak lying limply in the carriage.

Qing Wu turned around and told Pei Huaian what he had seen, and Pei Huaian asked him to turn around and chase after him.

The carriage in front stopped halfway, and Pei Huaian saw with his own eyes that they carried a person off the carriage, stuffed him into another carriage, and drove away.

He and Qingwu chased all the way until they were out of the city gate and into a forest, where they were stopped by several knife-wielding bandits.

The bandits were going to kill them on the spot, but in order to save his life, he had no choice but to introduce himself. After hearing his identity, the other party withdrew the knife from his neck, tied him up and took him into the mountains.

I just heard from the boss that the ransom needs to be increased by another 100,000 taels, which means that they did kidnap Shen Yunshu before him.

"The boss must have known that my father was rich, so he kidnapped us. Not to mention 100,000 or 200,000 taels, even 300,000 taels would be enough if he were given time. I beg the boss to let us go..."

The eldest boss laughed and said, "Little brother, I just told you that I don't know where your wife is. How come you don't understand what I'm saying?"

Pei Huaian suddenly remembered that Shen Youran also often wore the crane cloak. Could it be...

"The person you kidnapped...is You Ran?"

"So that's the young lady's name," the boss looked at the young man beside him and patted his shoulder, "Did you hear that? This is your wife's name..."

"You Ran..." The young man was stunned for a moment, with a hint of doubt and confusion in his eyes.

Leisurely, leisurely...

"Don't hurt her!" Pei Huaian begged, "You can ask for any ransom, please don't hurt her..."

"She's not your wife, why are you so anxious?" The boss ignored him, covered his mouth again, and then walked out with his arm around his son's shoulders.

Seeing his son's silly look, he couldn't help but shake it: "You kid, are you happy and stupid?"

The young man came back to his senses from his daze, looked at the old man beside him, and pulled up the corners of his mouth, revealing a big smile: "Yes, old man, I can't wait..."

"Let's go, eat first. I'll ask your second father to teach you something good later..."

Late at night, the mountains are covered with snow, and the fields are silver-white.

The main room was filled with the strong smell of wine and meat. Except for a few guards and the injured, everyone else looked drunk.

They took turns toasting the young man next to the boss, but the young man didn't drink much, and most of it was drunk by the boss for him.

The Second Master was injured and could only drink tea instead of wine. Seeing that it was getting late, he asked someone to prepare a bath for the Young Master. Then he hooked his arm around the boy's shoulder and led him to his room. He stuffed a book into his hand and looked at him teasingly: "Read it carefully, so you don't have to stare blankly when you enter the bridal chamber later..."

Shen Youran was carried to another room.

She opened her eyes and looked around. Although this room was simple, it was much better than the mud house she had been in before. The walls were smooth, and various swords and bows were hung on the walls. There was a complete set of tables and stools, and a wooden cabinet half the height of a person. The bed beneath her was made of the fur of an unknown animal. It was not soft and had a slight fishy smell...

This is obviously not an ordinary bandit's room. The other party must be at least a small leader to have his own separate room.

She was carried here in the middle of the night, and one can imagine the other party's intentions.

Shen Youran didn't know whether her life could be saved, but she knew that her innocence was about to be lost.

In the past, when she encountered terrible things, she could hide in her father's arms. Later, when her elder sister came to the capital, she had someone she could rely on wholeheartedly. Then came Pei Huaijin. Although he always liked to lecture others with a stern face and liked to take advantage of her, she actually didn't hate him that much anymore...

But now they were not by her side, there was no one for her to rely on, and no one would come to save her even if she cried. Instead, she could not cry.

Suddenly, she remembered what Pei Huaian had said to her: It's okay, just think of it as a dog bite...

It's okay, just treat it as a dog bite...

But she didn't want to be bitten by other dogs, she only wanted Pei Huaijin to bite her...

There were no tears in my eyes, but my heart was filled with despair.

There was a commotion outside the door, mixed with ambiguous laughter, which gradually approached.

The door was pushed open, and Shen Youran shrank to the innermost side of the bed, closing his eyes in despair.

Some drunks offered congratulations in frivolous tones, along with some random obscene remarks, before finally culminating in a lewd voice: "Alright, let's all go back and rest early. Don't delay our young master's wedding night..."

After a flurry of footsteps, there was the sound of a door closing, and the room became temporarily quiet.

There was only the sound of a pair of footsteps, gradually approaching the bed.

There was a brazier in the room, burning ordinary black charcoal, which kept making crackling sounds. The man walked to the bed with unsteady steps and began to take off his clothes rustlingly. The smell of alcohol wafted over with his movements.

Shen Youran leaned against the wall, unable to retreat.

The bed sank and the smell of alcohol became stronger.

Shen Youran frantically muttered in his heart: Just treat it as a dog, just treat it as a dog...

However, when her body was turned over, she couldn't bear it anymore and screamed: "Don't touch me, don't touch me..."

The other person tore off her cloak, and a strange breath came over her.

"Please don't, don't do this..."

A sharp, broken, desperate sound came through the shabby little window, causing the person eavesdropping outside to laugh softly.

After just these two shouts, her voice became hoarse, and her throat felt like it was bleeding. Every time she shouted after that, her throat hurt as if it was cut by a sharp knife.

The action of tearing clothes did not continue for too long. Instead, the big hand came to her wrist and untied the rope on her wrist.

"Sister Youran..."

A very soft voice sounded in her ears, with a soothing tone, which made her feel that it was familiar for no reason.

Only then did Shen Youran dare to open his eyes. What he saw was a pair of sharp eyes, with the wildness of an eagle, and the clarity unique to a young man. He also had neat eyebrows, a chafed and red face, and a stubble at the corner of his mouth...

"you……"

"Shh..."

I was about to speak, but he interrupted me with a hiss.

He glanced up at the window and whispered to her, "Speak softly, they are eavesdropping..."

Shen Youran gradually recovered from her fright. Although she didn't know what the young man in front of her was going to do, at least it seemed that he had no intention of bullying her.

"Then what should we do?"

"You've been married before, haven't you?" he said. "You should know more about acting than I do."

"I..." Shen Youran was also in trouble at this time. She and Pei Huaijin had not yet reached the stage of consummating their marriage, so how could she know how to act?

Seeing that she couldn't explain it clearly, the young man thought for a moment and said, "Then call out twice more..."

"What do you mean?"

"Like just now..."

Like what he did just now, making people outside think he was forcing her.

Shen Youran understood what he meant, opened his mouth awkwardly, and called out a few more times.

Because she screamed too hysterically just now, her throat was injured. Now, after just a few screams, her voice was shaking.

There were some obscene laughs outside the window, and then I heard them walking away.

The boy held up his arms and hung above her until he was sure that anyone eavesdropping outside had left. Then he withdrew and sat up.

"I'll help you untie the ropes on your feet, but you have to promise me not to run away..."

Shen Youran knew that he couldn't escape even if he ran, so he could only nod obediently.

He untied the rope around her ankles, and Shen Youran immediately shrank to the corner of the bed, hugged her knees, and curled up, looking at him defensively.

She had just heard those people calling him "Young Master", so he was the son of the gang leader.

Then why did he call her "Sister Youran"?

Before she could ask, he spoke first: "Your name is You Ran?"

She nodded: Didn’t he just call her name? Why was he asking again?

"Do you know me?"

This question was so strange that Shen Youran couldn't wrap his head around it for a moment: "I don't know you. This is the first time I see you today..."

Although it was the first time I saw him, I always felt an indescribable sense of familiarity when I met his eyes.

"This is the first time I've seen you, but I feel like I've heard your name before," the young man said, also feeling strange. "When I heard your name was Youran just now, I felt strangely familiar with it, as if I've known your name for a long, long time."

Not only does he know her name, he also knows how to call her sister.

The young man looked at the frightened girl, examining her carefully from her eyebrows to her mouth.

Such a look made Shen Youran's heart, which had not yet settled down, hang in the air again. She pursed her trembling lips, suppressed her fear, and looked at him silently.

The other party moved closer to her, and Shen Youran hugged him tighter.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you," he said. "I just think we should know each other. Do you have a playmate who you played with very well when you were little but then disappeared?"

Shen Youran shook her head: "I didn't have many playmates when I was a child. I only played with my older sister and brother..." Now they are all fine, one is by her side, and the other is studying in Quanzhou.

The boy was a little disappointed and fell silent.

Shen Youran, who usually didn't like to think, felt her head spinning like smoke at this moment. She tried hard to distinguish and piece together the few words he had just said, and finally understood the intention behind his abnormal behavior: "You...were you lost from your family when you were a child and were kidnapped by them?"

"They didn't kidnap me, they picked me up. They picked me up."

"No wonder..." No wonder although he is full of wildness, his facial features are clear and regular. If his skin is whiter, the stubble at the corners of his mouth is shaved more cleanly, and the sharpness in his eyes is less sharp, he should be a young man as beautiful as jade and bamboo.

"It's just that I've completely forgotten everything about my childhood. Today, when I suddenly heard your name, it reminded me that I seemed to have a sister named Youran..."

"So you want to find your real relatives?"

"Of course I do."

Shen Youran seemed to see hope of escaping: "Then let me go. After I go back, I will ask my father to find your relatives for you. My father is the Minister of Rites. He knows a lot of people and will definitely be able to help you find your real family..."

The young man scratched his head and said in embarrassment: "You can't leave. Daddy and Daddy don't want to let you go. They raised me and I can't betray them..."

"So you don't want to find your family?"

"Actually, they told me that all my family members died in a fire. Maybe what they said is true. It's not that important whether I find my family or not..."

The hope that had just been ignited was extinguished by him. Shen Youran hugged his knees and lowered his eyes in despair.

Seeing her sorrowful face but no tears, the young man felt pity. "I know it's hard for you to accept this, but being able to stay alive is already a blessing. They are not kind people. If they hadn't given you to me as my wife, you'd probably be living a life worse than death right now."

Shen Youran raised her eyes to look at him: "Are you a good person?"

The boy didn't hide it: "I was raised by them, how can I be a good person?"

There was a hint of fear in Shen Youran's eyes.

"But I won't do anything to hurt you for now, and don't expect me to let you go. I'm soft-hearted towards you because of your name, but it's absolutely impossible for me to let you go..."

"Then why did you kidnap me?" Although there was no hope of escape, Shen Youran still wanted to figure out the matter. Was it just bad luck for her, or was it someone who deliberately planned this?

Especially before this young man, there was another person who came to see her and wiped her face gently, but left angrily after seeing her face clearly.

Who is that person?

The place where she had the accident was in Yong'anfang, not far from the Lu Mansion. Is this matter related to Lu Yi?

But she only passed by there on a whim to send Liang Qingluo home, and those people had clearly set an ambush...

"Of course, they're seeking money," the young man said, not mentioning Lu Yi. "They demanded a ransom of 100,000 taels from your family."

"One hundred thousand taels?" That much? Could the Pei family afford it? Even if they could, would they be willing to spend so much silver to redeem her? After all, they didn't like her...

"Also, the seventh son of the Pei family foolishly followed us here and was kidnapped by our people. Big Daddy wants another 100,000 taels of ransom..."

"Pei Huaian is here too?"

"Well, a ransom of two hundred thousand. I estimate that even if the Pei family is rich, it will be difficult to come up with it for the time being. Therefore, they will definitely redeem their own son first, and we will leave here after receiving the ransom. As for you, you will definitely not be able to go back. Just stay by my side and be my wife..."

They had no intention of letting her go back, and the Pei family would definitely redeem Pei Huaian first. Thinking that she would have to flee with a bandit in the future, Shen Youran couldn't help feeling sad and angry.

But she couldn't let her temper run wild at this moment. At least the young man in front of her didn't look like a vicious person. If she tried to please him and let him let down his guard, perhaps she would still have a chance to escape in the future.

So she could only suppress her sorrow and soften her attitude: "I am willing to be your wife. Can you give me some more time to accept this fact..."

"Okay." The young man agreed readily. Although his second father had shown him some messy books at that time, he did not have any improper thoughts when facing her.

"It's late, go to bed."

The young man took off the hairpins on her head one by one and threw them on the ground to prevent her from poking him or herself with them in the middle of the night. Then he pulled over the animal skin quilt and lay down beside her.

After a moment, he suddenly sat up and began to take off his clothes.

He had already taken off several pieces of clothing and was now only wearing a cotton shirt. After taking it off, most of his shoulders were exposed.

Shen Youran covered her eyes in fear and trembled, "Didn't you just promise to give me more time..."

"I just suddenly remembered that they said I had a birthmark on my back," the boy said, turning his back. "Look at that birthmark. Does it remind you of anything?"

Shen Youran parted his fingers and took a quick glance, then covered his eyes tightly again: "I can't remember, I can't remember anything."

"Forget it." The boy gathered his clothes and fell asleep.

Shen Youran wrapped himself in a cloak, huddled in the corner of the bed, and spent the night in fear and hunger.

*

Pei Mansion.

The lights in Chunxuan Hall were on all night, and I waited all night, but Pei Huaian didn't come back.

The next morning, Shen Tingyu, who learned that his "eldest daughter" had been abducted, and Shen Yunshu's stepfather Lu Zhun also rushed to the Pei family to discuss the matter.

Along with them came a letter saying that Pei Huaian was also in their hands and that the ransom would be increased by another 100,000 taels. Three days later, the money would be handed over in exchange for the person.

Mrs. Pei covered her chest with her hands, her heart was pounding so much that she almost fainted.

The three families calculated that even if they combined the financial resources of the Pei, Chen, and Lu families, they would not be able to raise 200,000 taels within three days.

Unless the third master of the Pei family can bring back a large sum of money from Quanzhou.

Although someone had been sent to Quanzhou as quickly as possible to inform the Third Master of the Pei family, even if Third Master Pei brought the banknotes back immediately after learning the news, it would take at least five or six days, but the robbers only gave them three days.

In three days, they could only barely scrape together a little over 100,000 taels, which was not enough to redeem two people.

Now we can only redeem one person first, and then negotiate with the robbers to give them a few days to collect the other 100,000 taels.

As for who to redeem first...

The eldest and second uncles of the Pei family wanted to redeem Pei Huaian first. After all, he was the only son of the third branch. If something happened to him, the third branch would probably be extinct.

Shen Tingyu disagreed and insisted on redeeming the eldest daughter first. She was a girl, staying in such a den of tigers and wolves. If she was redeemed two days later, she would probably have been eaten to the bone.

Lu Zhan was caught in the middle and didn't know who to redeem first or later. He just kept calculating how much silver the Lu family could come up with.

Mrs. Pei drank a cup of ginseng tea and slowly recovered. She held her forehead and pondered for a long time before making a difficult decision: "Since they are targeting our Pei family, if the girl from the Shen family had not married into our Pei family, we wouldn't have encountered this. Well, let's redeem Brother An's daughter-in-law first..."

In fact, they knew in their hearts that the bandits would not necessarily give them a second chance to redeem their victims.

*

Dali Temple.

The person in charge of keeping an eye on the Lu family came back to report that Lu Yi had returned early this morning.

Xiao Ci had evidence of Lu Yi's previous collusion with the gangsters, and the official seal for his arrest had already been affixed. Capturing Lu Yi and putting him in jail for interrogation was the most direct and effective method, but this method might alert the enemy...

"What did Lu Yi do after he came back?" Shen Yunshu asked the person who was following him.

"Not long after he returned, he brought a few servants with him, pretending to look for someone..."

Shen Yunshu immediately came up with an idea: "Since we can't take him back to the government office, I'll lead him somewhere else and interrogate him privately..."

Xiao Ci looked at her in astonishment: "Miss Shen, using lynching is illegal..."

"I can't care less." Shen Yunshu thought he was unwilling to agree, so she turned her gaze to Pei Huaijin, "Brother, are you willing to help me?"

Pei Huaijin's clear eyes, which hadn't slept all night, were now bloodshot, and a dark shadow hung beneath his brows. His throat, dry and tight from not getting a drop of water, said, "I have the same idea."

Xiao Ci looked at the two of them and sighed, "You can't break the law knowingly. Well, I'll go with you. I know a way to force a confession that won't leave any traces..."

After everything was ready, they left the Dali Temple and soon found Lu Yi wandering on the street.

Pei Huaijin pointed to an inn not far away and said, "That inn is also our Pei family's property. You will lead them there later. Xiao Ci and I will wait for you in Room No. 1..."

"good."

After reaching an agreement, they went their separate ways.

Shen Yunshu was still wearing the crane cloak from yesterday, and easily attracted Lu Yi's attention.

On the bustling and noisy street, when the other party saw her, his eyes flashed with disbelief.

Shen Yunshu took the initiative to approach him, lowered her eyes to show him weakness, and her voice was filled with tears: "You Ran was kidnapped. I know you did it. Can you let her go? As long as you are willing to let her go, I will do anything you ask me to do..."

Lu Yi was stunned for a moment, obviously not going to believe her easily. He said innocently, "Ah Shu, what are you talking about? I heard that you were kidnapped, and I'm bringing people out to look for you. I'm so glad you're okay..."

"Brother," Shen Yunshu suppressed her disgust and took his hand in order to let him down his guard. "You know what's going on, so there's no need to act. I admit defeat, brother. I will divorce Pei Jia Qilang and I will never run away again..."

Perhaps it was the red at the corners of her eyes that made her sorrow more realistic, or perhaps it was the helplessness in her tone that made him think she had really compromised. The expression on his face gradually changed, and his eyes were no longer pretending to be innocent, but instead stained with a hint of pride: "A Shu, have you really figured it out?"

"If you don't believe me, I'm willing to prove it to you..."

"How do you prove it?"

She took his hand and placed it on her cheek, her eyes shimmering with water, causing his breathing to suddenly become heavier.

So naturally, she brought him to the door of Room No. 1 in the inn.

Lu Yi's heart was filled with excitement, and he let her push him into the room...