Chapter 132 Wrongfully Accused of Stealing Money, Officials Arrive at the Door
Bai Zilin didn't think much of it and figured it wouldn't hurt to go and take a look: "Alright, I'll go back to the house and tell Liu Ye. Village Chief Wu, you go first, I'll be there shortly."
Village Chief Wu turned and left with a happy expression. Bai Zilin closed the door, returned to the house, and looked at Liu Ye sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) and said, "It's Village Chief Wu. He said Wu Changgui wants to see me. I'll go see what's going on and I'll be back in a bit."
Liu Ye sensed something was amiss. Something was definitely fishy about this unusual situation. She said with a worried expression, "I think Village Chief Wu has ulterior motives. You can go, but you must be careful. Make an excuse to come back as soon as you arrive. Don't eat their food or drink their water."
Bai Zilin nodded: "I understand, then I'll go."
Bai Zilin came to Village Chief Wu's house after leaving his home. Village Chief Wu led him to Wu Changgui's room. Wu Changgui was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), his whole body was so thin that he was skin and bones, his face was so thin that he looked unrecognizable, and his two big eyes bulged out, staring straight at Bai Zilin who came in, which looked a bit creepy.
"Changgui, Bai Zilin has come back to see you." As he spoke, Village Chief Wu helped Wu Changgui up from the kang and made him sit against the wall: "You two have a good chat, I won't disturb you here."
"Zilin, please make yourself at home. I'll head out now."
Bai Zilin nodded indifferently. After Village Chief Wu left, he sat down on a chair and got straight to the point: "I heard from Village Chief Wu that you wanted to see me."
Wu Changgui nodded with a venomous look on his face: "Yes, it was me who wanted to see you. What, you don't want to see me? Don't you want to see how miserable I am? You stole my job, and now my leg is broken and I'm crippled. You must be very proud of yourself. You took everything that belonged to me. You must be very proud of yourself!"
Bai Zilin raised an eyebrow sarcastically: "You're overthinking it. You've lost your job, and your broken leg is your own fault. It has nothing to do with me. It wasn't me who asked you to take Young Master Zhao's knife for me, and it wasn't me who asked the bandits to cut your leg. Don't you find your resentment towards me quite ridiculous?"
Wu Changgui stared wide-eyed, gritting his teeth, and said, "Ridiculous! If it weren't for your appearance, would I have become so ridiculous? Humph! I accompanied the young master to the south five times before, and every time I returned safely. But this time, because of you, the caravan started to suffer. You've brought me bad luck. I was punished and scolded by the young master, and even had my leg cut off by bandits. I'm being cursed by you, and you still dare to deny it!"
Bai Zilin found it amusing: "Hehe, you really can't let go of your grievances. You were punished and scolded by the young master because you targeted me at every turn, were stingy with my food, and even instigated others to isolate me and cause me trouble in every way. That's why the young master punished you. What does it have to do with me!"
"As for your leg being cut off by the bandits, that's none of my business. As the old saying goes, you don't punish the greedy or the lazy, you only punish the blind. Who told you to be so blind as to run under the bandits' blades? Who else would they kill if not you!"
"And I didn't steal your job, humph! You pushed Young Master Zhao out to take the fall, it's already a favor that he didn't kill you, you didn't tell your father the truth, did you?"
Wu Changgui, feeling guilty, pointed at Bai Zilin and said, "Get out of here! You're the one who ruined my life! Get out of here! I don't want to see you!"
Bai Zilin stood up from the stool with a cold face: "Likewise, I'll take my leave then."
After Bai Zilin finished speaking, he turned and left Wu Changgui's house, but was stopped by Wu Xincao, who was hiding at the door. Wu Xincao was carrying a bag and acting very suspiciously. She lowered her voice and whispered, "Brother Bai, my father has already gone to the town to report to the authorities. He and my brother want to frame you for stealing silver. The officials were bribed by my father beforehand. You can't explain yourself."
“Brother Bai, I like you. Take me away with you. I’m willing to suffer with you. Take me with you. I have some silver, but not much…”
Bai Zilin was shocked when he heard this. It turned out that Village Chief Wu had called him to his house to frame him. He didn't even glance at Wu Xincao, walked past her quickly out of Village Chief Wu's house, and hurried home.
Wu Xincao jogged to the front gate: "Brother Bai, Brother Bai!" Seeing that Bai Zilin didn't even turn his head, Wu Xincao stomped her foot in anger: "You ungrateful wretch, you deserve to be unlucky!"
Bai Zilin returned home, locked the front door behind him, and hurried to Liu Ye's room. Liu Ye was sewing a bag on the kang (a heated brick bed). She wanted to make a bag for Bai Zilin as well: "You're back so soon? What did Wu Changgui want with you?"
Bai Zilin sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and said angrily, "I've been tricked. Village Chief Wu is trying to frame me for stealing silver, and he's already gone to report it to the authorities."
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye exclaimed, "What?! Is Village Chief Wu tired of living?" She quickly pressed for an answer, "What's going on?"
Bai Zilin briefly recounted what happened: "That's what Wu Xincao told me, and I guess it's true. I don't know what to do now. Wu Xincao said that the officials and her father are in cahoots, and no matter whether I stole the silver or not, the officials will definitely arrest me. Should we run away?"
Liu Ye shook her head disapprovingly: "No need to run. Why should we run? You didn't steal any silver. If Village Chief Wu wants to frame you for stealing silver, he will definitely bring the officials to our house to search for silver. At that time, he will definitely take the opportunity to hide the silver in our house. I already have a plan. Brother Bai, don't worry, we'll just wait for them to come."
She threw her bag onto the kang (a heated brick bed), put on her shoes, and got out of bed: "Brother Bai, could you go out for a moment? I need to set things up in the room."
Bai Zilin obediently went to the doorway, nervously listening to the sounds coming from inside.
Liu Ye, who was inside the room, put a bag of copper coins from the cabinet into her spatial storage. She then came to Bai Zilin's room, moved the cabinet on the kang (a heated brick bed) forward, and created a hiding place. Of course, she couldn't actually hide there.
She leaned against the window and whispered outside, "Brother Bai, I'm hiding. When the officers come, let them come in and search the house as they please. I have a way to deal with them."
Bai Zilin went to the window and whispered, "I know." He didn't know why, but he just trusted Liu Ye. Even if something terrible happened, he believed she would have a solution and be able to turn misfortune into good fortune.
A moment later, the outer door was pounded on loudly: "Open the door! We are government officials on a case! Open the door!"
Upon hearing that the officials had arrived, Liu Ye hurriedly went behind the cabinet and slipped into the space.
Bai Zilin nervously opened the gate. Besides Village Chief Wu, there were more than a dozen government officials at the door. The leader of these officials was a man with a knife in his hand and a fierce look on his face. He pushed Bai Zilin aside and led the officials into the courtyard, with Village Chief Wu following closely behind.
He looked at Bai Zilin with feigned concern and said, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry, Zilin. After you left, the 50 taels of silver that Master Changgui gave him went missing. I was so worried that I reported it to the authorities. But don't worry, the officials won't just search your house; I'll take them to search other houses too. Today, you're the only outsider at my house, so we came to yours first..."
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