Chapter 5 Punishing the Unruly Servants
Li Qinglu stayed in an ordinary side room.
Although no outsiders would dare to barge in, if she made any noise, she only needed to shout a few times, and the Taoist priests would hear her very quickly.
Before long, the room was filled with young Taoist priests.
Upon seeing this scene, the servants of the general's mansion, who had just been so aggressive, now stood silently in place, looking at each other without making a sound.
"Fellow benefactors, why are you coming to my Qingsong Temple and making such a big fuss to kidnap people? Do you think we Taoists and Qingsong Temple are nothing to you?"
An older Taoist priest with a long beard walked through the crowd and came to the front.
He was Ling Fengzi, the senior uncle of this group of young Taoist priests, and also the Taoist friend with whom Li Qingluo had recently been hoeing the fields and planting vegetables.
Seeing Li Qingluo, who was tightly bound and gagged, Ling Fengzi frowned slightly.
That's absolutely outrageous!
This is hardly a matter of hiring someone.
This is clearly a kidnapping!
Ling Fengzi's eyes instantly sharpened as he looked at the group of fierce servants. An old woman stepped forward, trembling.
"This, this Taoist priest, we are here on the orders of our patriarch to take our second young lady, who has been late in returning home, back home. If we have disturbed you, please forgive us. We will leave immediately and give you Taoist priests some peace and quiet!"
The old woman waved to lead the people away, but before she could even lift the person up, Cui'er rushed towards Li Qingluo, then clung tightly to her leg, crying out, "No! She's lying! Esteemed Taoist priests, please save my young lady! They just came up and started binding her; it's not like they're asking for help at all. Besides, they didn't produce any identification from the General's Mansion. If my young lady is taken away like this, her chances of survival are slim!"
Li Qingluo looked at Cui'er in surprise.
She never expected that at this moment, this maid would actually run out to protect her.
She was someone close to the Qu family, so even after being reborn, he never intended to win her over.
Moreover, during his time at Qingsong Temple, although he had been busy and fulfilled every day and hadn't paid much attention to Cui'er, he was still wary of her.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, she would actually protect her half-master.
However, even if Cui'er didn't step forward, Li Qingluo wasn't worried that she would actually be taken away by these people.
Besides being friends with these Taoist priests these past few days, she believes her grandmother has also been secretly observing her.
Given his grandmother's temperament, she would certainly not sit idly by and ignore the matter after returning the calligraphy copybook to him.
So Grandma should be arriving soon too.
As expected, Ling Fengzi refused to give way, and Li Qingluo was held tightly by Cui'er, resulting in a stalemate.
However, at that moment, Granny Zhang arrived in a flurry with a group of people.
"What are you doing?! How dare you treat the daughter of the General's Mansion like this! You're asking for it! Men, tie up these insolent scoundrels!"
"Fellow Daoists, please do me a favor!"
With a wave of her hand, Zhang Mama immediately called forward several rough-looking women behind her, each holding a stick. The Taoist priests, having been 'invited' by Zhang Mama, were not about to stand on ceremony.
They all rushed forward and quickly pinned all the servants of the general's mansion to the ground, including the servant who had driven Li Qingluo's carriage earlier; they were all tied up tightly.
Li Qingluo was quickly untied, and Zhang Mama looked her over with concern, "Miss, are you alright?"
Li Qingluo: "Thank you, Granny Zhang. Luckily, everyone arrived in time. I'm fine."
Although Li Qingluo was somewhat disheveled and looked slightly frightened, she remained relatively calm.
She bowed slightly to Granny Zhang and the group of Taoist priests, and sincerely said, "Thank you all for your help, Grannies and Taoist priests."
"They said they were from the General's Mansion, but I haven't met my grandmother yet, and I don't dare to believe them rashly, which is why this chaos happened. Please help me get justice, Granny."
The old woman from the general's mansion, however, started to shout in protest.
"We are from the General's Mansion, and we are here on the orders of the patriarch. You had better release us immediately! Otherwise, once we report back to our master, we will surely interrogate you and this Green Pine Temple!"
Granny Zhang gave a wink to the old woman beside her, and the old woman immediately stepped forward and slapped Granny Zhang hard across the face.
"Shut up! You idiot, what kind of things have you done?!"
“Cui’er said she didn’t see you take out any identification tokens, you didn’t invite anyone when you came up, and you didn’t even pay your respects to the old lady. You even tied the young lady up! What are you if not madmen and kidnappers?”
Ling Fengzi followed closely behind, sneering and saying, "Oh, what a show of official power! A few servants from the General's Mansion, and you dare to question my Qingsong Temple? Heh, my Qingsong Temple has been supported by Old Madam Pei all these years, it has nothing to do with your General's Mansion, not even a copper coin. You want to question us, do you even have the right?"
"Even if General Li himself came today, this wouldn't be fair!"
Li Qinglu managed to suppress her laughter.
Ling Fengzi and Qingsong Temple are quite enlightened.
They treat their grandmother with such high regard; no wonder they've been able to get along peacefully all these years. Their grandmother is happy to stay here; she's truly relaxed and at ease.
Granny Zhang was also furious.
He immediately ordered that each of these unruly servants be given ten strokes of the cane.
The general's mansion brought eight servants and old women on this trip. They thought that taking only one young lady would be too much trouble.
But to their utter surprise, the old lady who had always been indifferent and uninvolved not only stepped forward this time, but these Taoist priests also dared to interfere.
Before long, the servants were being beaten until they cried out in pain and begged for mercy.
The Taoist priests had all left, and there was no one else around. Granny Zhang asked Li Qingluo, "Miss, the old lady asked me to ask you, since this matter concerns you, how do you intend to handle it?"
Li Qingluo: "Granny, I want to report this to the authorities."
Granny Zhang, thinking she didn't understand the intricacies of life in a wealthy family, whispered a reminder: "Report to the authorities? Miss, you should think carefully. Although they act recklessly, they seem to be truly from the General's Mansion. If you report to the authorities, what will happen when you return home..."
Li Qinglu frowned: "If they really are from the General's Mansion, would my father and mother really treat me like this? They didn't even ask my wishes before they kidnapped me. Am I a runaway slave, or a daughter of the Li family? If that's the case, even if I go back to that home, how can I possibly have a good life? It's better not to go back at all!"
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