Chapter 609: The Fox Using the Tiger's Power to Bully People
A dark light flashed in the guard's eyes. He pinched the box and said, "Open it. Who knows if there is evidence of collusion with the assassin inside?"
Bai Jilang was furious, "How could a student like me collude with assassins?"
He took out the key and opened the box with a snap. Inside was all his belongings, mostly silver and a small amount of copper coins.
He glanced at the guards, then closed the box and tried to hold it in his arms. However, the guards held it down and refused to let go. He said with an unsure expression, "I want to take this box away and check if there is any interlayer."
Manbao and Bai Shanbao heard the quarrel in the room and rushed in. After hearing what the guard said, Manbao immediately took out a piece of clothing from the cabinet beside him and spread it on the bed. Bai Shanbao then opened the box again and took out all the money inside. He handed the box to the guard very generously, "Here, take it away and check it."
A dark light flashed in the guard's eyes. He looked at the three boys and girls intently, closed the box and handed it to the person behind him.
Zhou Silang ran in and saw his face, and knew that something was wrong. From the moment they started smashing things in the kitchen with their rough hands and feet, he knew that these people were not easy to deal with.
He walked forward anxiously and felt around, but couldn't find any money. Without caring about anything else, he reached out and grabbed the silver on his clothes and was about to stuff some into the guard's hand as a bribe.
But Manbao held his hand down, and Bai Shanbao also shook his head at him.
The guard narrowed his eyes and the atmosphere in the room became strange.
Zhou Silang couldn't help but look at Daji. He felt that they were the only two mature people in the room who could take on responsibilities.
Daji was silent for a moment and shook his head slightly at Zhou Silang.
Zhou Silang's hand froze. He glanced at his youngest sister, then slowly withdrew his hand from the silver. He looked at the silent guards and others, not knowing what to do.
The leading guard sneered and waved his hand, saying, "Continue searching, search more carefully!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a guard swept his hand and the vase that Bai Shanbao had placed on the wooden shelf fell to the ground and shattered with a snap.
Bai Jilang's eyes widened.
The guards rolled up their sleeves and started rummaging through the room, throwing quilts and other things on the ground, roughly moving tables and chairs away, opening wardrobes and boxes, and throwing clothes and toys everywhere.
Not finding anything, the leading guard waved his hand and went to other rooms.
Bai Shanbao kept his temper under control, holding Manbao with one hand and Bai Erlang with the other to prevent them from getting angry.
Arriving at the courtyard, the guards immediately spotted the main house and were about to approach with their men. This time, even Bai Shanbao couldn't help but stepped forward to stop them, "This is my husband's room and study..."
The guard sneered, "Everyone's room will be searched, get out of the way!"
"Bai Shan," Mr. Zhuang said, standing in the corridor, motioning him to move aside and smiling faintly, "Let them check."
The guards then saw a man standing in the corridor, but it was too dark at night and they only had one lamp on in the room, so they didn't see him for a while.
When I looked carefully, I found that Mr. Zhuang was standing in the corridor, with the cook and Zhou Lijun standing behind him.
Zhou Lijun trotted up, grabbed his aunt's hand and shook his head at her.
Mr. Zhuang took a step forward, looked at the guards with a smile and said, "Please check carefully so that we can sleep more peacefully."
The yamen runner who led the way looked at Mr. Zhuang, then at the guard, and couldn't help but step forward and whisper to the guard, "Sir, this family has a somewhat unusual background. They are acquainted with our Lord Tang and seem to be old friends."
The guard's heart skipped a beat. Tang He was from the Jinyang Tang family, his old friend...
The guard was a little more polite, but he still took his men to search the other rooms, but he didn't dare to break anything again.
Bai Shanbao and the others just kept looking at him coldly, neither scolding nor trying to please him. After Mr. Zhuang sat down behind the desk, Bai Shan went to the kitchen and brought a pot of boiling water to make tea for him.
Seeing that the three younger ones were so calm, and Mr. Zhuang was sitting leisurely drinking tea, the leading guard became even more hesitant to be too presumptuous.
He secretly glared at the yamen runner. If he had a background, why didn't he say it earlier?
The bailiff lowered his eyes to avoid his gaze.
Zhou Silang looked around, feeling a little uncertain.
He really wanted to take out some money to bribe the guards, but after looking at the faces of Manbao and the others, he didn't dare.
So he could only bow and escort the searched group out, waving his hand ingratiatingly and saying, "Officials, take care. Take care."
After the people walked away, Zhou Silang straightened his back, curled his lips secretly, turned around and went back to close the door.
He ran to the study, where Manbao and the others were packing up.
Although they didn't break anything when they searched the study, they did make a mess of it, and some calligraphy and paintings were even damaged, which all needed to be cleaned up again.
Zhou Silang went straight to Mr. Zhuang and said, "Mr. Zhuang, won't we offend the officials if we do this? I think those guards are quite arrogant. If they come to trouble us later..."
Before Mr. Zhuang could say anything, Manbao on the side spoke first, "Fourth brother, it's useless to give money to such people. They're enemies now, and they need to be suppressed by force."
"That's right. If he took Bai Er's money box, he would have looted countless treasures from other rooms later," Bai Shanbao said. "But we've already withheld the money. If you give him the silver, he'll still be furious. Not only will he continue to smash things, but he won't let us go afterward."
"They're searching for the assassin. At this critical moment, if they say anything about us being connected to the assassin, we'll all be implicated and have no chance of getting away with it." Bai Shanbao said, "So, either Bai Er should let him take the money box from the beginning, and then we can spend the money to avoid disaster. Once he leaves this room, he'll have nothing to do with us anymore."
"Otherwise, we can only counter power with power after the fact." Bai Shanbao said, "The worst thing to do is to bribe in the middle of the process. That would be a complete loss of both the wife and the army, with no benefit at all."
Mr. Zhuang nodded and said approvingly, "Yes, this man is a mean man, so he must be treated like this."
Zhou Silang sighed, "I don't know what that officer just said, but their attitude softened all of a sudden. I hope they won't come to trouble us again later."
Mr. Zhuang thought for a moment, then stood up, went back to his room, and brought out a bag of money, which he handed to Zhou Silang. He said, "Let's buy some things tomorrow and go to the county government office to express our gratitude. In a few days, when County Magistrate Tang is less busy, we'll treat him to a meal. We'll thank him for this favor."
Zhou Silang blinked, then realized belatedly, "It's because of County Magistrate Tang."
Bai Erlang said angrily, "These people are too evil. What's the difference between them and bandits?"
Manbao asked, "Our family can still rely on the power of others to bully others, but what would other ordinary families do if they encountered this?"
The next chapter will be around 6 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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