He knew this cousin Zhang San; he was the one he had previously inquired about.
The group arrived at Boss Ye's room. Boss Ye was already sitting in his original spot, holding a cup of tea that had long since gone cold. He took a sip with an air of importance.
Pei Yao immediately spotted Manager Qian, who was tied up in the corner. Manager Qian was looking pale and had his head down. Pei Yao was quite far away from him and wasn't sure if he was alright, but she didn't dare to make any rash moves.
Niu Qingshan immediately called out to Manager Qian, "Uncle Qian, are you alright?"
Upon hearing his shout, Wu Laosan immediately grabbed a stick and rushed over to warn Niu Qingshan. Just as the stick was about to hit Niu Qingshan, Ye Laoda, who had been silent until now, spoke up hypocritically.
“Hey, third brother, I always tell you to be more composed... Look at you, quickly put the stick away, don’t be rough with the guests.”
Although Old Master Ye said those words, he did not mean to criticize Old Master Wu at all.
Wu Laosan stopped what he was doing and glared fiercely at Niu Qingshan. However, at only 1.5 meters tall, he didn't look very imposing in front of Niu Qingshan, who was nearly 1.8 meters tall.
He looked more like a clown, in a fit of rage.
Manager Qian had just been feeling unwell from Ye Laoda's stench, but he had finally recovered and looked up to see Pei Yao and the others.
"Da Niu, I'm fine."
Niu Qingshan is a typical good kid who embodies the virtues of respecting the elderly and caring for the young to the fullest extent, and Manager Qian happens to be an elder she respects.
So when he saw him tied to the chair like this, he couldn't stand it anymore and glared angrily at Boss Ye who was sitting there.
Pei Yao noticed Niu Qingshan's mood. As the saying goes, the common people can't fight with officials. Although they were just a few minor officials, Pei Yao still understood the principle that troublesome underlings are hard to deal with.
So she planned to quietly block Niu Qingshan's way, but before she could even move, Zhang San had already moved in front of Niu Qingshan and blocked his glare at Boss Ye.
Pei Yao walked over and patted Niu Qingshan on the shoulder, whispering to him, "It's alright, I think Uncle Qian should be fine."
Although Niu Qingshan was angry, he wasn't completely brainless. At this moment, he could only lower his eyes and clench his fists weakly.
Pei Yao looked at Boss Ye, who was sitting at the top of the table. Zhang San nodded and whispered, "That's Boss Ye."
Pei Yao forced a polite smile and spoke in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Boss Ye, the purpose of our visit this time is to ransom people."
Boss Ye glanced at Pei Yao with disdain. Judging from the poor clothes of the three of them, they obviously had no money: "Oh? Is that so? Do you have enough silver?"
Pei Yao didn't speak, but asked, "How many do you want?"
Pei Yao needs to know the amount they want before deciding how to negotiate.
"Who are you?" Boss Ye asked Pei Yao, seemingly unrelated to her question.
“Pei Yao, Pei Wen and Pei Ze, who were injured earlier, are my relatives.”
Boss Ye snorted coldly: "Are you related to those two surnamed Pei?"
Pei Yao replied, "Mm."
"Then you must have been exiled from Kyoto as well." Boss Ye wasn't asking, but rather speaking with absolute certainty. She had investigated these people before, and the Pei family was exiled along with nine generations of their clan. So if Pei Yao was a relative of the Pei family, then she must also be an exiled criminal.
Pei Yao nodded: "Yes."
"Then the officials who escorted you must have told you when you entered Lingnan that if you wanted to ransom people, it would cost one hundred taels of silver per person."
Pei Yao recalled that when they were first sent to the vicinity of Shangtang County, it seemed that some officials had indeed said something like that.
"So you want to save the two people from the Pei family and the two people from the Shen family?"
Pei Yao nodded noncommittally.
"Young lady, four people would cost four hundred taels of silver."
Old Master Ye looked at them greedily, as if these people were the very four hundred taels he coveted.
Pei Yao felt uncomfortable under his gaze, but she still forced a smile and looked at Boss Ye, saying each word with a forced smile.
"But Boss Ye, one hundred taels per person is the price for a whole person. Right now, my relatives and the Shen family father and son have been tortured to the point of being half-dead by you at the mine. Even the doctor from Tongrentang said that they might not survive tonight."
Moreover, because you didn't take the second son of the Pei family and the youngest son of the Shen family to a clinic in time, they will be unable to walk for the rest of their lives. We might consider giving each of them one hundred taels of silver if they were healthy, but now that they are in this state, we are sorry, we simply cannot afford four hundred taels of silver to save them.”
Ye Laoda's heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to refute Pei Yao, Pei Yao continued, "Ye Laoda, my relatives and the Shen family father and son were initially sent to work in the salt field. But why were they suddenly sent to work in your dangerous mine? You must know the reason better than anyone else."
Pei Yao stared at Boss Ye and spoke each word with icy coldness. Her gaze made Boss Ye's heart tremble. In the end, he was just a small fry in charge of the mine. He was good at putting on a show, but he really didn't dare to do anything.
"Don't try to fool me, you woman! You are just lowly exiles. Even if you were transferred here from the salt fields and died, no one would care."
At this point, Boss Ye finally regained some confidence. Yes! They were just lowly exiles, so it wouldn't matter if he killed them.
Pei Yao sneered: "Boss Ye, are you really so sure that no one will care? Although we are exiled prisoners by the court now, there are also criminals who have been exonerated and returned to the capital over the years. Just like Manager Qian of Deyun Restaurant in front of you, his boss was originally a criminal exiled from the capital, but he was exonerated and returned to the capital."
Pei Yao glanced at Boss Ye, who hadn't spoken. It seemed that Zhang San was right; these people were still somewhat wary. After all, even a starved camel is bigger than a bird. That's why they had checked everyone's information beforehand when they were selecting people to come to the mine.
Those who originally held high-ranking official positions are rejected; those who manage to rise to the top are definitely not simple people. Therefore, there is a fear that they might be exonerated and regain their former glory. This kind of thing has happened before.
We don't want people who aren't exiled along with their entire families. These people might still have relatives and friends in the court. If those big shots stomp their feet, these little minions will tremble.
Pei Yao continued in a deep voice, "Shen Jing of the Shen family was once the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, a first-rank official. He was only sentenced to exile because he was framed by villains. But can you guarantee that the Crown Prince won't remember Grand Tutor Shen one day? If the Crown Prince really remembers his mentor and sends people to look for him, and then finds out that you were the ones who killed him, then the crime will be enormous!"
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