Lin Yan was extremely anxious and wanted to rush to the government office immediately. Yue Ge'er advised him, "Boss, go slowly and watch your stomach."
Although Lin Yan did not tell them that she was pregnant, Widow Liu could see it and guessed that she was the one who told Yue Ge'er.
Lin Yan couldn't slow down, so the two of them hurried and finally arrived at the government office. There was a yamen runner guarding the gate, and Lin Yan rushed over, grabbed the runner's hand, and shouted, "Officer, my brother has been kidnapped! Please save him!"
The yamen runner was startled by Lin Yan's sudden action. He shook his hand off and glared at him, "What are you doing? How disrespectful! Let's talk things over nicely."
Lin Yan was nearly pushed down by the yamen runner, but luckily Yue Ge'er helped him up from behind. Lin Yan quickly calmed himself down, took a deep breath and said, "Sir, my brother has been kidnapped by his second uncle. His life is at stake. Please help find him and save him."
The yamen runner looked Lin Yan up and down and said, "Wait at the door for a moment. I'll go get the captain of the police."
Lin Yan nodded hurriedly, and while the yamen runner went to call people, Lin Yan said to Yue Ge'er, "Yue Ge'er, go to my mother on West Street and tell her the whole story. Ask her to go back to the village and tell my mother-in-law and others." Yue Ge'er hurriedly agreed and disappeared in a short while.
Lin Yan continued to wait anxiously outside the government office. Fortunately, the captain of the police came out soon. The captain looked righteous. He walked up to Lin Yan and asked, "But you reported the case? Tell me the details." Lin Yan hurriedly recounted the whole story, from Zhao Shiyun being threatened by his second uncle to Yu Ge'er being forcibly abducted today. His words were sincere, and his eyes were full of panic and worry.
After hearing this, the captain frowned and said, "Do you have any evidence to prove that it was your second uncle who kidnapped your brother?" Lin Yan was stunned and said in a panic, "Sir, I have a witness, but he took my husband to chase someone, and they went west. Human life is at stake, so please send someone to look for them first." The captain pondered for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll take a few yamen runners with you to Zhuye Lane to check out the situation, and then make a decision." Lin Yan nodded and thanked him.
The captain's surname was Fang. He and two yamen runners followed Lin Yan to Zhuye Lane. Along the way, Lin Yan continued to add some details. The captain lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said, "If what you said is true, it's not impossible that your second uncle kidnapped and sold your nephew to pay off his gambling debts."
Lin Yan was so frightened that his eyes widened and his heart beat like a drum. He twisted his hands anxiously, hoping to reach Zhuye Lane as soon as possible.
Half a minute later, they arrived at Zhuye Lane, where the bailiffs found traces of dragging. The head constable immediately led the bailiffs westward in pursuit, instructing Lin Yan as they left: "Go back and wait for news. Don't run around."
Lin Yan watched them run away, knowing he couldn't help much at the moment, so he turned and walked back to the shop. He had to wait in the shop for his father and mother to come.
＊
Outside a dilapidated house in the west of the city, a carriage slowly stopped. Zhao Qide jumped down from the carriage, looked around, and seeing that there was no one else, he spat on the ground, turned around and asked his accomplices to carry Yu Ge'er down. He secretly opened a house that had been vacant for a long time, and several people carried Yu Ge'er into the house. One of his accomplices came out again, jumped on the carriage, and prepared to drive the carriage to another place.
Zhao Qide followed behind, looked around, and made sure there was no one around before closing the door.
Yang Xu peeked around the corner and saw they had closed the door. He crept forward and peered through the crack, but saw nothing. Zhao Qide had blocked the doorway with wooden planks, just in case. Yang Xu could only circle the house, looking for any openings. He kept looking back, fearing the man who had taken the carriage would return.
[I wonder if my brother delivered the letter.] Yang Xu knew he was alone and had no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation. He searched for a long time but couldn't find the cave entrance. He was anxious, worried that if he delayed any further, the thieves would move Yu Ge'er away. He hurried back to the gate, hoping to find a secluded place to hide.
The gate faced an alley, and inside the alley were the gates of other houses. There were two large vats at the gates, but unfortunately, they were filled with water. Yang Xu walked in further. It seemed that no one lived here. After a long while, he found a pile of weeds in the corner. On a whim, he moved the weeds behind the water vat and squatted down to cover it with the weeds. Although the cover was not complete, it would not be easily discovered from the thief's perspective.
He had just hidden himself, and wondering if the thieves would do anything to Yu Ge'er, panicked and wanted to get out. With a creak, the door opposite opened, and Zhao Qide and his accomplices stood at the door. They said, "I'm going to get Wang Po now. You stay here and watch. Don't do anything tricky. They want the unharmed little brother. They can sell him for a good price."
"I know, I know. Go ahead and get a pot of wine and a roast chicken. I'm hungry."
"You won't starve to death. There's some dry food on the table. Eat it first. Once we get the money, we'll go to the restaurant for a meal."
The accomplice waved him off, telling him to hurry up. Zhao Qide gave him a few more instructions before turning and leaving. The accomplice closed the door, probably thinking Zhao Qide hadn't been there long, so he didn't barricade it. Yang Xu brushed off the weeds on his body and quietly crept to the door to look inside. He saw Yu Ge'er lying unconscious under the eaves, while the accomplice sat in the yard, eating peanuts.
Yang Xu wanted to find help, but he was afraid that they would sell Yu Ge'er soon, so he was in a dilemma.
Meanwhile, Captain Fang and the yamen runners were racing, thinking they couldn't catch up with Zhao Shiyun and his companions. Unexpectedly, half an hour later, they encountered three people on the west side of the city. Zhao Shiyun looked at the yamen runners, guessing they must have arrived after Lin Yan reported the matter to the authorities. He quickly jumped out of the car and bowed to the runners. "Excuse me, sir, are you here looking for my kidnapped brother?"
Captain Fang asked, "You are that young man's husband, right? What happened to you?"
It turned out that they had followed the carriage's tracks to the west of the city, but the donkey cart had gotten stuck in a pit. Luckily, it had rained a bit the previous night, so they could still follow the tracks, otherwise they would have been really lost.
Captain Fang searched around. This thief was quite clever. Starting from this point, there were axle marks on both sides. Two yamen runners helped Zhao Shiyun and the others lift the donkey cart. Captain Fang finished his investigation and told the others the results. "Now we will split up. This woman and the young man will stay here with the donkey cart. This brother and I will go this way, and you two will go that way."
"yes!"
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