No wonder the county magistrate didn't arrest him immediately.
Instead, they chose to investigate him from behind the scenes, probably hoping to uncover more cases and punish him for multiple crimes. Unfortunately, Zuo Li found nothing.
Yan Xia felt she had figured it out. Since the shopkeeper dared to attack Yuanshan, he must have attacked others as well. She decided to set a trap and pin the shopkeeper to the wall.
This kind of scum should be executed; he shouldn't be given any chance.
Yan Xia told Zuo Li her thoughts.
He agreed.
So the group that was originally going to Zhang's Grain Shop together split into two groups and went one after the other.
"You brat, looking for trouble at our shop again? Didn't you get enough of a beating yesterday?"
Wang Yuanshan stood alone at the entrance of Zhang's Grain Shop, and within two seconds, he was scolded by the shop's clerk.
Four or five people surrounded him.
They were all porters carrying sacks, all with muscular builds.
"In broad daylight, you think you can beat me up in the street? Come on, do you think I'm afraid of you? Give me my wages right now!"
Yan Xia watched from the side, while Zuo Li and the others hid on the opposite side.
Wang Yuanshan was not afraid at all.
His arrogant demeanor intimidated the shop assistants. No matter how powerful they were, they wouldn't dare to beat someone in the street. If a passerby reported them to the authorities, the shopkeeper would be in serious trouble.
This is Shuangqiao Town, not the place where the shopkeeper collects grain.
The magistrate of Jiashu County did not accept the shopkeeper's tribute money.
"Is this a sign of weakness? Huh? What happened to how fiercely you beat me yesterday? Pay me back, hurry up—"
Yan Xia gave Wang Yuanshan a task: to provoke them and force them to take action.
After Wang Yuanshan's constant reckless antics, Zhang Furen, the manager of Zhang's Grain Shop, finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Since he asked to be beaten, what are you waiting for? Drag him into the alley and give him a good beating."
Perhaps it was because he had gotten away with killing someone six months ago, or perhaps his inflated ego had made him increasingly audacious.
Zhang Furen leaned against the shop and spat out a mouthful of phlegm.
He gave the order with a fierce look in his eyes.
"Yes, shopkeeper—"
The group prepared to use drastic measures.
Just as they were dragging Wang Yuanshan into the alley, Yan Xia stepped forward.
"stop--"
Four or five men turned to look at her.
Today, Yan Xia wore a lotus-root-colored long dress with a cardigan over it, embroidered with many patterns in silver thread. The whole outfit cost twenty taels of silver. Her hair was styled in a bun, adorned with two fine jade hairpins and other small ornaments. Her earrings were also carved from warm white jade into peach blossoms, with a hint of pink in the stamens, giving them an ethereal look. These earrings cost nearly eighty taels of silver and were Yan Xia's most expensive pieces of jewelry.
She carried it with her almost every day.
She also wore two openwork gold bracelets on each wrist.
It exudes an air of wealth and luxury.
Zhang Furen frequently traveled between the two counties, so he didn't know much about Yan Xia. He had heard of Yan's Pastry Shop, but had never met Yan Xia in person.
I thought she was the wife of some wealthy family.
"Who gave you permission to hit my nephew! This is outrageous! In broad daylight, how dare you be so arrogant! Yuanshan, come quickly to your aunt! Poor thing, look at the injuries on your face. So these are the people who beat you yesterday! I asked you, but you wouldn't tell me. You silly child, come here! What are you standing there for? They're about to punch you in the face!"
Yan Xia's voice was extremely loud.
Passersby stopped and stared at them.
"You vile woman, what nonsense are you spouting? Who hit him?"
Zhang Furen, of course, would not admit it.
"Heh, everyone come and take a look! Zhang's Grain Shop is hiring casual laborers but not paying them. My poor nephew was brutally beaten by these employees for trying to get his wages. Look at the injuries on his face. My nephew is too shy to accept my help and insisted on earning his own money. Now look what happened, he didn't earn any money and got beaten up. What gives Zhang's Shop the right to beat people up? Where does your confidence come from?"
Yan Xia's voice grew louder and louder.
The area was surrounded by people.
Zhang Furen panicked a little. Seeing that Yan Xia wanted to make a big scene, he gave a wink to his employees.
The group immediately understood and walked up to Yan Xia, intending to carry the two away.
But as soon as he touched Yan Xia's arm, her shout made him take several steps back.
"Help!"
"In broad daylight, Zhang Ji Grain Shop is trying to beat someone up! They even tried to have some of their employees drag me into the alley! Look at them, they're starting to pull me out of the way! Ouch, my arm hurts so much! Help! Someone help us!"
Yan Xia cried out in an exaggerated manner.
Many passersby recognized her.
"Oh my, isn't this Manager Yan?"
"Yes, Manager Yan, what are you doing here? Should I go and report this to the authorities for you?"
"This is outrageous! What right do you have to bully Manager Yan!"
“This is Zhang Ji’s old habit. I’ve seen it several times. They’re always beating people in that alley. It’s really terrible. The people who come here to do odd jobs are farmers from nearby villages. They’re already pitiful enough. They still bully them like this. Aren’t they afraid of being struck by lightning?”
"Why is Manager Yan's nephew dressed so poorly?"
“My son was also beaten. Just because he bought moldy rice, they insisted that my son deliberately framed them. They punched him several times and threatened to kill our whole family if he reported it to the authorities.”
"What? That's too arrogant."
“My dad came here to do odd jobs, and after half a month, he hasn’t been paid a single penny! But when he politely asked for a few words, the shopkeeper immediately slapped him twice across the face. My dad is almost fifty years old. That son of a bitch, if my dad hadn’t stopped me, I would have definitely settled the score with him!”
“Zhang Furen is no good. A few years ago, when there was a flood, he raised the price of grain many times over. A pound of fine rice was sold for two taels of silver, which caused a lot of grain shops in the town to raise their prices. How many people died? If the magistrate hadn’t posted a notice and he hadn’t been scared and lowered the price, thousands of people would probably have starved to death.”
“.......
Almost everyone in the crowd recognized Zhang Furen.
He never utters a kind word; one can only imagine how many bad things he has done.
Yan Xia picked up the conversation and cried out again.
“Look at this, everyone! My poor nephew worked for him for three days for nothing and didn’t get a single copper coin. Yesterday he was beaten like this, and he wouldn’t say anything when I asked him why. If I hadn’t secretly followed him today, I probably would never have seen my nephew again. Just now, this shopkeeper actually told some of the employees that he was going to drag my nephew into the alley and beat him to death. Tell me, how black-hearted can this man be? This is a human life! In your eyes, is he not even worth as much as an ant?”
Yan Xia pretended to wipe away her tears.
Several people immediately stepped forward, saying that they had also been beaten.
Yan Xia clenched her right fist, then released it, repeating this motion twice to complete the hand gesture.
Zuo Li emerged from the shadows.
"What happened? Someone reported to the authorities that the manager of Zhang's Grain Shop assaulted someone? Is it true or false? Who is Zhang Furen?"
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