Chapter 82 Encountering a Black Shop
The Great Elder said: "Everyone, listen to me. The bandits know how to recruit soldiers and horses, and we will not sit idly by and wait for death. In this world, we have guns and cannons, and this is it."
He gave a thumbs-up.
"We have to let these bandits know that we in Fengde Village are no pushovers. Right now, the most powerful person in the surrounding villages is Yang Haoling. As long as we have him as our backer and his protection, we won't be afraid of those bandits anymore."
Everyone was talking about it.
"It's a good idea, but the problem is that you say they are powerful people. How can they look down on us villagers from a remote village? Why should they help us?"
The elder jingled his cane again.
"Everyone, listen to us. You may not know this, but it is said that Daiqing, the most favored concubine in his family, used to be from our village. Let's explain the matter to Yang Haoling first. If he refuses to help, we can go find Daiqing and ask her to plead for us."
"Great Elder, are you getting senile? Although Dai Qing was indeed from our village, she later ran away to the city and became a prostitute. We no longer acknowledge her. Can she speak for us? Besides, she only caught the eye of Young Master Yang after becoming the top courtesan. How could a concubine who used to be a prostitute be favored? I don't believe she can convince Yang Haoling to contribute money and effort to help us eradicate those bandit gangs."
The Great Elder said: "Don't try to save your life. Do you want to watch your money and your woman being taken away by those bandits?"
"Then, Great Elder, who do you think is the best person to talk to them about this?"
"Lin Tonghai (the head of the Lin family and Lin Sisi's father), your family used to be related to Daiqing's family. After her family died out, your family was the only one that interacted with her. The Second Miss and her used to be like sisters. It would be best if you came forward to discuss this matter."
"Great Elder, you also said that this happened in the past. How can our family continue to associate with such a woman who is immoral? What if she corrupts my daughter?"
"Now it's a life-or-death emergency. There's no time to care about dignity and etiquette. In order to stay alive, we have to kneel down and beg for mercy." After saying that, the elder knelt down in front of Lin Tonghai with a plop.
"I can't bear it, I can't bear it. Why are you doing this, Great Elder? Aren't you destroying my fortune? Please get up quickly." Lin Tonghai hurriedly helped the Great Elder up.
The great elder's eyes were filled with tears: "Old Lin, it's not that I want to force you. I also want to go in your place, but I have no right to do so. I really have no other choice. The lives of hundreds of people in the village, young and old, depend on you. I kneel down to you." Lin Tonghai was really pestered by him and had no choice but to agree.
When he got home, he told his family what happened.
Lin Tonghai: "Sisi, I don't want to involve you in this turmoil. Bandits are too rampant now. You should go to your grandmother's house in Jiangsu with your mother, brother and sister-in-law to take shelter!"
Sisi: "Dad, how can I let you go on the road alone?"
Lin Tonghai: "Then do you have any better ideas?"
Sisi: "Just let me and the tailor accompany you to find that Yang Haoling."
Lin Tonghai: "This..."
Lin Ran (Sisi's brother Junlan's grandfather): "A son-in-law is half a son, so let him fulfill his filial duty on our behalf and go with you. That way we can feel at ease."
Lin Tonghai: "Since you all said so, I will listen to you."
The next day, Lin Tonghai hired a carriage, took Sisi and the little tailor and headed for the city.
It was already dark when they finally arrived in the city, so they stayed in a small inn.
Because they didn't have much silver on them, the three of them could only squeeze into a small room to rest. The bed was left for Sisi, while Lin Tonghai and the young tailor slept on the floor.
As they slowly fell asleep, they had no idea that a pair of dark hands were slowly reaching out to them from behind.
The waiter said, "Boss, you can tell from the first sight that these three are poor. They wouldn't be worth much if we sold them by the pound, and there wouldn't be much profit to be made from slaughtering them."
The shopkeeper said, "Are you blind? Of course I know they are poor. I'm attracted to the girl from their family. She looks like a virgin and is as beautiful as a flower. Once we verify her identity, we can sell her to a brothel and make a fortune."
Waiter: "The shopkeeper is indeed very thoughtful. I will start now!"
Then the master and servant sneaked into the room. The shopkeeper first controlled Lin Sisi. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the hideous shopkeeper waving a cold and shiny knife in front of her.
She screamed in fear: "What do you want to do?"
The scream also woke up Lin Tonghai and the young tailor, and suddenly they felt a knife pressing against their backs.
Lin Tonghai: "You...what do you want to do..."
Waiter: "What are you doing? Do I even need to ask? Robbery! Oh, don't blame us for being so cruel and picking on you. We used to be good people, and this was once an honest inn. We can only blame the bad times and the corrupt people. In order to survive, we, the shopkeeper, can only do some shady business."
The shopkeeper said, "As long as the man doesn't kill anyone, I'll take this young lady with me. The waiter will ask you two to walk to Shilipo later. From now on, we will each take one side of the main road. Please don't come into the city again."
The little tailor said: "You black-hearted beasts are targeting us country folks from outside the country. You are not worthy of being human. Return Sisi to me, or I won't go anywhere, and I will haunt you even after I die and become a ghost."
The waiter said, "Since you want to be a ghost so much, I will help you." After saying that, he stuffed rags into the mouths of Lin Tonghai and the young tailor, and then tied them up to a pillar.
Seeing this, Lin Sisi was about to scream, but suddenly a wet cloth covered her mouth and she lost consciousness in a short while.
The shopkeeper said, "We'll come back later and take them to Shilipo to kill them, so they don't dirty our shop."
The young tailor watched helplessly as Sisi was stuffed into a large sack and carried away.
Fortunately, the waiter was a novice and he did not tie the young tailor tightly. After struggling for a while, the tailor untied himself.
He quickly ran to the street to ask passers-by for help, but it was the middle of the night and there was no one on the road. There was no village or shop nearby, and he couldn't find anyone who could help him.
At this moment, a carriage suddenly whizzed past him.
He quickly chased after her, shouting, "Save me, please save me, please..."
He chased for a long time, and saw the carriage going farther and farther away, and his hope became slimmer and slimmer, but he still did not give up, and continued to chase it. After an unknown amount of time, he finally heard a "whoosh" sound, and the carriage slowly stopped.
He walked to the carriage and said, "Good man, please save us!"
A pair of hands reached out from the carriage: "Come up and talk."
As soon as the tailor stepped into the carriage, he immediately told the person inside everything that had just happened. This should be the first meeting between Yang Ning and Nangong!
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