Chapter 127 A mere merchant woman, I can smash her as I please!
Inside the embroidery building.
Lu Zhaoruo just told everyone to rest today.
Two heavy, carved wooden doors were violently kicked open from the outside...
Li Nian'er, dressed in brocade, stepped across the threshold, her gaze sweeping across the hall before finally settling on Lu Zhaoruo.
Behind her, a dozen or so constables, armed with fire and water sticks and carrying broadswords, surged in like a tide, filling the spacious hall in an instant.
The faces of everyone in the hall changed drastically. The embroiderers instinctively cried out in alarm, then hurriedly covered their mouths, trembling and huddling together.
The men stood on end, watching with a mixture of shock and anger, completely unaware of what had happened.
Li Nian'er offered no explanation, only parting her red lips to utter three words: "Search for me."
Upon receiving the order, the constables sprang into action, scattering like wolves and tigers.
"stop!"
Sun Jing reacted quickly, taking a step forward and blocking the way for the constables.
Stone Mill quickly blocked the other side of the yamen runners, his eyes wide with anger, and shouted, "Let's see who dares to search!"
Lu Zhaoruo strode forward, shielding everyone behind her, her voice calm: "Young Master Li, Chief Peng! What is the meaning of this? My Lu Family Embroidery Shop is law-abiding, why is it being attacked like this?"
The leader, Peng, had a cold and hard expression. He pulled out an official document from his pocket, unfolded it with a swish, and said loudly, "By order of the County Magistrate! Your embroidery workshop is found to be privately weaving and selling unauthorized items, violating the law! We are here to search and collect evidence! You all must get out of the way immediately and not obstruct official business!"
Wan Wanning's face was pale. She subconsciously shrank behind Dong Rou, her fingers tightly gripping the hem of Dong Rou's clothes, not daring to even breathe.
Dong Rou trembled with rage and said, "We have never done anything so presumptuous! This is clearly a fabrication and slander!"
Greenie, who was always timid and cowardly and spoke in a soft voice, suddenly found a surge of courage and took half a step forward, her lips trembling: "You...you...this is just slander!"
Upon hearing this, Li Nian'er was not annoyed. Instead, she casually glanced at everyone and said in a mocking tone, "Whether it's slander or not, it's hard to say without evidence. We'd have to search and investigate thoroughly to find out, wouldn't we?"
An impatient constable reached out to shove aside Steward Chen, who was clinging tightly to the embroidery frame...
"stop!"
Sun Jing suddenly shifted his body and struck out with lightning speed, deflecting the constable's arm.
He was agile and strong. The constable was caught off guard and was pushed so hard that he staggered several steps and fell to the ground!
Seeing this, Li Nian'er had even more reason to speak, and shouted loudly, "Outrageous! Lu Zhaoruo! How dare you condone your servants beating up a constable and openly defy the law! I am enforcing the law on behalf of the imperial court! Do you know what the punishment is for beating a government official?"
After she finished speaking, Peng, the squad leader beside her, shouted sternly, "How dare you! Seize this madman who resists the law! The rest of you, search him!"
Lu Zhaoruo's heart tightened, knowing that she absolutely could not confront the officials head-on at this moment.
She shook her head at Sun Jing.
Sun Jingqiang suppressed his anger and did not resist anymore, allowing several constables to rush forward, twist his arms behind his back, and hold him tightly.
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared intently at Li Nian'er and the group of constables.
Peng Ban Tou gave the order: "Search!"
The constables scattered like wolves and tigers, and the so-called "search" instantly turned into rampant destruction.
A constable rushed to the wall, swung his fire-and-water stick, and with a few "sizzles," poked several holes in the beautifully framed large embroidered paintings, instantly tearing the peacock tail feathers and peonies on the paintings to shreds.
Another man kicked a sandalwood screen embroidered with "Fairy Gathering at Yaochi" so hard it crashed to the ground! The screen collapsed with a thud, its frame breaking. He then stomped on it a few more times, the grime from his shoes completely soiling the exquisitely embroidered fairy robes on it.
"Splash!"
A yamen runner smashed the glass cover of a display cabinet with his knife, reached inside and grabbed out small, exquisite double-sided embroidered fans and sachets, then threw them on the ground without even looking at them, leaving them for later visitors to trample on.
The yamen runner in charge of the sample area even overturned the central table!
The heavy pattern books, the densely packed silk thread sample boards, and the fabric samples scattered like petals from a fairy showering flowers, covering the ground.
Someone deliberately trampled heavily on those smooth satin samples, leaving dirty footprints.
And the yamen runners started chopping at the cabinet against the wall! The lock fell off with a thud, and the cabinet door was roughly pulled open.
Rolls of smooth, lustrous, and valuable soft satin brocade were haphazardly pulled out and dragged on the ground; a box of glittering gold and silver threads was overturned and carelessly kicked apart.
In an instant, the once elegant and tidy lobby was transformed into a living hell.
Silk threads, scraps of cloth, torn embroidery, broken porcelain, and overturned furniture covered the floor, leaving almost no room to step.
Everyone in the boudoir looked heartbroken, their eyes red with tears…
Lu Zhaoruo stood there, coldly watching the valuable items being destroyed one by one, but her eyes were unusually calm as she silently noted: "A bolt of top-grade silk, worth twenty-two taels of silver at the time."
His gaze shifted slightly and landed on another constable—who was kicking over a double-sided embroidered screen with the inscription "Fish Leaping Over the Dragon Gate." The screen frame broke and the embroidery was torn.
"A double-sided embroidered screen with a rosewood base, costing a total of one hundred and thirty taels of silver in materials and labor."
One more, and another...
"Five mace of red gold twisted thread, equivalent to forty-five taels of silver."
"A pair of kesi (silk tapestry) mirror cases, eighteen taels."
"Seven jadeite bead embroidery pieces were damaged, resulting in a loss of thirty-five taels of silver."
Li Nian'er strolled leisurely, appreciating everything, especially when she saw Lu Zhaoruo's helpless and restrained expression, she felt extremely pleased.
She spoke in a light tone to Chief Peng, "Chief Peng, now that the main hall has been searched, the embroidery workshop and storeroom inside should also be searched. What if they have hidden those unauthorized items in even more secluded places?"
Upon hearing this, Yunniang rushed forward, spreading her arms wide to block the passageway leading to the back workshop and storeroom: "You can't go in! You absolutely can't search there! We've never embroidered anything out of line! You've clearly come here today to smash things and ruin our livelihood!"
She protested, "What kind of officials are you? How are you any different from bandits who burn, kill, and plunder?"
Li Nian'er's eyes suddenly turned cold. She took a few steps forward, and without saying a word, she raised her foot and kicked Yun Niang hard in the abdomen with the toe of her shoe inlaid with hard beads!
"ah……"
Caught off guard, Yunniang let out a painful scream and fell heavily to the ground, the pain so intense that she could hardly breathe.
"Yunniang!"
"In charge!"
The embroiderers let out a horrified scream, and Dongrou, Lü'er, and the others immediately rushed forward, frantically trying to help her up.
Wan Wanning turned pale with fright, cried out, and shrank back behind the overturned display case, trembling all over, too scared to look any further.
Li Nian'er withdrew her foot, stood proudly in place, straightened her slightly wrinkled skirt, and said in a cold and contemptuous voice: "How dare a lowly woman like you obstruct the work of officials? You even dare to publicly humiliate officials and slander the imperial court? You really don't know what's good for you!"
"Anyone who dares to obstruct us again will be punished as an accomplice and arrested along with us!"
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