Nianxue grabbed the man's arm and said angrily, "Give me back my money right now."
More and more people gathered around. Seeing that he had nowhere to escape, the man suddenly said, "You two lunatics! I didn't take your money at all! Let me go!"
The man suddenly flung Nianxue's arm away, slamming her to the ground. Nianxue felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. He then grabbed his braid at the back of his head and said menacingly to Lanqin, "Let go of me now, or I'll get rough with you."
Lanqin grabbed his braid and said in an even more "fierce" tone, "Fine, I'll see how you treat me rudely!"
The man spotted Lanqin and her maid at the sweet rice porridge stall. They were dressed in fine clothes and their headdresses were quite expensive. When he saw the maid take out her purse and see it bulging, he immediately had a thieving idea.
Taking advantage of the crowd, the man crept up to Nianxue and secretly stole her purse, but was discovered by those behind him. The man fled for his life, but the two women behind him gave chase. He was almost too exhausted to run anymore, and when he saw that the two delicate-looking women were still following him, shouting "Thief!" as he ran, someone finally knocked him down with something. The two women caught up and grabbed his braid.
"You'd better not regret this!" The man thought to himself that he had a bad day and had run into these two lovely girls, only to be defeated here. He was filled with malice and pulled out a dagger from his pocket, brandishing it!
Everyone was so frightened by the dagger that they took a step back. Lanqin felt a chill run down her spine as she looked at the dagger that gleamed with a fierce light, while Nianxue was so frightened that her legs went weak.
"Princess, let him go! Don't let him get hurt over that little bit of money." Nianxue mustered her courage and rushed to Lanqin's side, but she trembled with fear at the sight of the gleaming dagger.
Most of the people around were just watching the spectacle. When they saw the man reveal his weapon, they all retreated. A few of the bolder ones, though still standing there, did not dare to go up and stop him.
Lanqin looked around, then shouted at the top of her lungs, "Whoever can help me subdue this thief, I will reward them handsomely! He's committing a crime in the street. Just think about it, if someone like that gets away with it, will anyone dare to step forward and do the right thing in the future?"
When Fourth Master saw this, he was about to make a move, but as soon as Lanqin said this, the men who were still hesitant suddenly picked up stones from the ground and slowly surrounded her.
"What...what do you want to do?" The thief was starting to panic. He hadn't expected the woman who had grabbed his braid to be so eloquent, and he hated Lanqin even more now!
"Put down the dagger and hand over this young lady's silver!" Several men slowly approached, causing the thief to gradually panic. With a clatter, the dagger fell to the ground. The men immediately surrounded him and pinned him to the ground.
Nianxue stepped forward, took her own purse from his pocket, and said to everyone, "Look, this is the purse he stole from me! He was denying it just now!"
Lanqin took the money bag from Nianxue, took out all the silver inside, and said to the burly men, "Take these first, and please take this man to the yamen." Then, Lanqin took off a gold bracelet from her hand and said to Nianxue, "Go and pawn it. I said I would reward those who came out to help."
“Young lady, you mustn’t! Stealing is despicable. We came out to help, just as you said, to protect our own peace. If no one stands up this time, I’m afraid no one will dare to do it again,” one of them said.
Lanqin smiled, nodded to the man, and said, "Thieves should be universally condemned; that's how they'll be afraid. Thank you all. Please take that little bit of silver and use it to buy some wine; it's just a small token of my appreciation."
"Since you're promising a generous reward, how can you make a promise and then not keep it!" A man's voice suddenly rang out from the crowd. "What you gentlemen say is true, but since Miss Lanqin has already promised a great reward, you should keep your promise!"
Lanqin knew it was Fourth Master without even turning around when she heard the voice, but Nianxue couldn't help but search for the voice in the crowd. She saw Fourth Master slowly walking out of the crowd.
"Nianxue, distribute these to them! Consider it my way of thanking them on behalf of your princess." Fourth Master held a silver note in his hand, and when Nianxue went over and took it, she saw that it was worth three hundred taels.
"Young master, who are you to this young lady, that you would help her fulfill her promise! Since we don't want to accept this young lady's reward, we naturally won't accept yours either!" said the man.
Upon hearing this, Lanqin glanced at Fourth Master but remained silent.
Fourth Master stared at Lanqin for a long time before finally speaking up: "She is my wife. Do you think I have the right to fulfill my promise on her behalf?"
Hearing Fourth Master say these words, Lanqin finally felt a little better. Ever since the day Fourth Master suspected her, the wound in her heart had been aching. She thought she could pretend nothing had happened and continue to joke and laugh with Fourth Master as usual, and that would fool him. But she couldn't. Lanqin knew that she still harbored resentment towards Fourth Master's suspicions.
The burly man then fell silent, but refused the silver notes that Nianxue offered.
Lanqin said, "Everyone, please accept this money. If you accept this money, more people will be willing to lend a helping hand when others are in trouble."
The burly men looked at each other, and in the end, the man who had spoken up accepted the money.
Everyone looked on with envy, but when they were asked to step forward and stop the attack, how many of them dared to do so?
After several strong men tied up the thief and carried him to the yamen, the crowd dispersed, leaving only Fourth Master and Lanqin behind.
"You went to see the Emperor without even telling me. Do you still care about me?" Fourth Prince said coldly, his face stern.
"It was my fault that I couldn't find you, Fourth Master, and didn't leave a message. Please forgive me!" Lanqin said with a cold face.
Nianxue and Su Peisheng, standing behind Fourth Master, watched anxiously as the two men stood on the street, neither moving closer nor further apart. They stared at each other in the bustling street until Fourth Master finally couldn't help but ask, "Still angry with me?"
Lanqin's eyes flashed, and she said aggrievedly, "Shouldn't I be angry with you, Master?"
Looking at the little princess's stubborn appearance, the Fourth Prince sighed inwardly: She's been spoiled by me. Even though I've admitted my mistake, she still won't let it go!
"Then I'll apologize to you, and you can forgive me, right?" Fourth Master said patiently, still with a stern face.
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