"Bang--"
The thugs closed the Wang family's gate from the inside.
The neighbors around peeked out, but no one reported it to the authorities. Nobody wanted to offend the people from the gambling den, who were all desperate criminals. Besides, the gambling den paid so much silver to the county magistrate every year that even if someone was killed, the magistrate wouldn't care.
They didn't want to get into trouble.
"Boss, we didn't find anything valuable, just five taels of silver and some old jewelry. We can sell it for forty taels at most."
"Search these women and see if they're wearing any jewelry."
The burly man at the head of the group spoke.
Several henchmen surrounded Yu Nian'er first, groping her until they were satisfied before starting to search her body. Yu Nian'er blushed with embarrassment. The large gold bracelet on her wrist, the jade hairpin in her hair, and the long silver beaded necklace were all pulled off. Even the gold peach blossom earrings on her ears were not kept.
These pieces of jewelry originally belonged to Wang Shufang.
Ever since Yu Nian'er got married, she has taken everything away from them.
Next, the thugs searched Wang Chenshi. She had a large gold bracelet on her left wrist, a silver bracelet on her right wrist, and a pair of gold earrings on her ears. However, the gold earrings were stuck very tightly, and the thugs could not remove them.
One of them was particularly ruthless; he yanked Wang Chenshi's earlobe open, leaving two cuts.
The gold earring was ripped off so fast that no blood was spilled on it.
"ah--"
The incident happened so suddenly that Wang Chenshi screamed in agony after she came to her senses. Blood began to seep from her earlobes, dripping onto her shoulders.
Next was Wang Shufang.
The group searched high and low but found nothing; the most valuable thing they had was the broken hairpin in her hair.
It's so broken I don't even want it anymore.
I doubt they'll sell any of them.
"Boss, that's all. It only adds up to about sixty or seventy taels, which is far from two hundred taels."
The leader of the thugs frowned as he listened.
"Wang Guangyao, I'm giving you one incense stick's time. If you can't hand over the remaining silver, I'll break your legs and sell your wife and your own sister!"
Wang Guangyao was almost scared to death.
He leaned against the corner of the wall, trembling. "I have no money, I have no silver. Don't hit me, sell them to me, sell them to whomever you want, as long as you don't hit me."
These words angered Yu Nian'er.
“You beast! I am your wife! How could you let them sell me? Are you even human? I want a divorce! Brother, I've already divorced him. Please don't sell me. I have a relative who works as an official in the county government. You can ask him if you don't believe me. Please let me go. You took my jewelry too. Let me go home. I've already divorced this beast.”
Upon hearing the words "officers," the thugs' expressions changed slightly. "Who knows if you're going to report to the authorities!"
"I won't report this to the authorities. I can read a few words, and I can write a divorce agreement in public. As long as you let me leave, I don't want to live with this beast!"
So, not wanting to cause a big fuss, the henchman made Yu Nian'er write a divorce agreement on the spot, and then had Wang Guangyao sign it before letting Yu Nian'er go.
"Boss, this old woman won't fetch much money. Brothels won't even take her. And this old hag is so old she's practically toothless. Who's going to serve whom if we sell her? Even a fool wouldn't buy her."
"Forget about the old woman. As for this old lady, I have someone else in mind. Didn't our master's brokerage firm have a widower who wanted to buy a wife? He thought she was too pretty and too young for the price. I think she's just right. One tael of silver will do. One tael is still money, and it's better than nothing. Also, break Wang Guangyao's legs. Consider it compensation for the rest of the money. Remember, don't let him scream and disturb the neighbors. If it gets out of hand, the county magistrate will come after our master, and he'll have to pay a large sum of money to appease the magistrate. Then we'll both be in trouble!"
The thug leader glared at him.
He said fiercely.
"Yes, boss."
The group picked up the firewood sticks from the ground and walked over to Wang Guangyao.
One person grabbed his arm, and another took off his sock and stuffed it into his mouth.
Of the remaining three, two lifted Wang Guangyao's legs, while the other raised a stick of firewood and struck him hard on the knee.
"Thump—"
"Waaaaahh ...
The thugs were all muscular, and when they struck Wang Guangyao with their clubs, his left kneecap shattered. Because his mouth was gagged, he could only whimper in pain and couldn't make a sound.
Wang Chenshi had already fainted from fright.
Wang Shufang lay on the ground, trembling like a rabbit, not daring to lift her head, let alone look.
"Thump—"
"Thump—"
Because the first blow wasn't strong enough, the thug had to hit Wang Guangyao's right knee with a second blow to shatter it.
A broken kneecap is more serious than a broken leg.
One might be able to recover, while the other might not be completely curable even in modern times.
This shows just how ruthless these thugs are.
After the matter was settled, Wang Guangyao was thrown to the ground like a dead dog. He was in excruciating pain and rolled around on the ground.
“Remember my words. If you dare tell anyone about this, we will be fine, but you will lose your lives. Do you understand? If you want to die sooner, then go ahead and report us. Ma Zi, Wu Zi, take this mother and son to the outskirts of the city on a cart and never let them enter the city again. If I see them, I will beat them to death and throw them into the mass grave. Meng Liu, drag this old woman back to the brokerage firm and sell her tomorrow.”
"It's the boss."
Several people responded in unison.
Besides Wang Chenshi, who had fainted, Wang Guangyao and Wang Shufang were both knocked unconscious.
The Wang family finally quieted down.
An hour later, Wang Guangyao and Wang Chenshi were left in a deserted thicket outside the city. Beside them was a bundle containing their clothes, a few gray steamed buns, and ten copper coins.
The gambling den's thugs did not drive them to their deaths.
They believe that one should always leave room for others to survive; if you make it impossible for others to live, it will eventually backfire on you.
At this very moment, Yan Xia is sitting in a jewelry shop, holding a glass of chilled sour juice and picking out bracelets.
She visited several shops and bought a longevity lock and a pair of gold bracelets for her future granddaughter, all engraved with auspicious words, blessings for peace and good health.
She only hopes that her future granddaughter can grow up safely.
She also bought the best snacks in Jiangnan County for her daughters and her youngest daughter-in-law.
The only thing she couldn't find a suitable gift for was Xiaohe.
Xiaohe has fair skin, and looks good in gold or jade.
But she already had gold and jade bracelets, and since she hadn't found anything particularly eye-catching, she could only continue browsing.
"Shopkeeper, stop bringing out those common items, bring me the store's prized possessions!" Yan Xia had finished her juice and hadn't even looked at a single item, so she directly made a harsh statement.
"Alright, I'll go get it for you right away." The white-bearded shopkeeper smiled, his face full of wrinkles. He thought Yan Xia must be a wealthy person.
"Welcome, esteemed guest. These three items are the treasures of our shop: a white jade open bracelet inlaid with gold wire, a twisted wire and beaded openwork bracelet, and a pair of gold bracelets with eight auspicious symbols depicting children playing."
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