Lin Songhao's voice grew softer and softer until it was almost a whisper. Lin Daowei's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.
"This..." Lin Daowei hesitated for a moment, quite concerned about this method.
He couldn't do anything about Ren Chuanhu, so how could he dare to ask the Prime Minister for help?
Seeing this, Lin Songhao quickly added, "Third Uncle, if you don't do as I say, the people from the Duke's Mansion will definitely not let you off the hook, and you'll be in big trouble then. If you don't believe me, just look outside." As he spoke, he pointed outside.
Lin Daowei looked in the direction he was pointing, and his face instantly turned pale.
Not far away, a large guard from the Duke's mansion stood guard outside, staring at him menacingly, his eyes seeming as if he wanted to devour him alive.
Lin Songhao said no more, turned around and ran away as fast as a rabbit, leaving Lin Daowei alone on the spot, his brows furrowed as he fell into deep thought.
Lin Daowei glanced at everyone, silently weighing the situation in his mind, and realized that he could not escape his current predicament no matter what.
After a moment's thought, he decided to do as his nephew suggested, and said, "Gentlemen, I've received intelligence and have some leads. I'm going to lead men to capture Ren Chuanhu. But before that, I need to capture his accomplice at the Silver Cancan Shop and interrogate him to find out his whereabouts."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the guards of the Duke's mansion shouted, "You can take your men, but we have to come with you!"
The guards of the Duke's mansion did not doubt Lin Daowei's words, because everyone knew one thing: Ren Chuanhu had always protected Yin Cancan's shop and prevented the local bullies from collecting protection money from it.
Lin Daowei readily nodded in agreement with the guards of the Duke's mansion: "Alright, then we'll go together." With that, he waved his arm and shouted to the constables behind him: "Brothers, follow me, let's arrest them!"
"Yes, Constable!" With a unified response, a team of constables sprang into action, closely following Lin Daowei like a pack of well-trained hunting dogs, ready to pounce on their prey at any moment.
Lin Daowei led a group of people, marching menacingly straight towards Yin Cancan's shop. At this time, Yin Cancan's shop was nearly deserted, with very few customers.
Ms. Ma was standing behind the counter, busily packing things into a wooden box.
As she packed, she muttered to herself, "Put more in there, so my daughter's dowry will be bigger." She only picked out the glittering jewelry, showing no interest in the other items.
Seeing Ma's greed, Duan Dayi couldn't help but whisper a reminder: "Don't take too much, or you'll be in big trouble if the Lin family finds out."
Ma rolled her eyes dismissively and retorted, "What's wrong with that? Our family has earned so much money for them, so it's only right that we take half of the shop's wealth."
She pursed her lips and said, "What right do they have to own this shop? This shop will belong to the Prime Minister. We will also become slaves of the Prime Minister's mansion, with a bright future ahead of us."
Duan Gang echoed Madam Ma's words, laughing as he said, "That's right. The Prime Minister's steward said that as long as we can persuade the Prime Minister to step in and take over this shop, it will belong to..." Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by someone coming in.
"Take them down!" With Lin Daowei's order, he rushed into the house like a whirlwind, followed closely by a group of fierce-looking officers.
Duan Dayi and Duan Gang stared in astonishment at the officials who had suddenly barged in, their faces filled with disbelief. Madam Ma, however, seemed oblivious to the approaching danger. Smiling, she turned around and asked warmly, "Gentlemen, what would you like to buy?"
Lin Daowei's gaze was as sharp as a hawk's. He scanned the room, finally settling on the wooden crate on the floor. Pointing at the crate, he demanded sharply, "Where did you put all that stuff?"
Instead of being alarmed, Madam Ma smiled smugly and replied proudly, "This is my daughter's dowry. She is marrying the son of the Prime Minister's steward..."
Before Ma could finish speaking, a contemptuous sneer appeared on Lin Daowei's lips.
He waved his arm, ruthlessly interrupting Madam Ma, and said sternly, "Caught red-handed, still dare to deny it! Seize her and interrogate her thoroughly!"
The officers moved at the command, swarming forward like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey, pinning Duan Dayi, Duan Gang, and Ma Shi to the ground. They skillfully bound the three tightly with hemp rope, as if they were defenseless lambs.
Looking at the three people who had been subdued, Lin Daowei turned to the guards from the Duke's mansion who had followed him and said, "Gentlemen, we need to interrogate these people. Please wait a moment."
The guards of the Duke's mansion nodded expressionlessly and replied in unison, "Do as you please." Then, they stood outside the shop, silently waiting like statues for Lin Daowei and the other officials to come out.
Lin Daowei's face was ashen. He closed the shop door, strode into the hall, and plopped down in the chair in the center. His gaze, sharp as a hawk's, swept over the three people below, finally settling on Duan Gang.
Beside Lin Daowei stood a constable, holding a pen in his hand, preparing to record the proceedings of the interrogation.
Lin Daowei stared at Duan Gang and asked, "Tell me, how much silver did you embezzle from this shop? How much jewelry did you take? And who did you give all of these things to?"
Duan Gang was so intimidated by Lin Daowei's imposing manner that he was momentarily stunned, and it took him a while to come to his senses.
He knelt down with a thud, trembling as he said, "Sir, we really didn't steal anything, nor did we take any jewelry..."
Before he could finish speaking, two sharp "slaps" rang out, and an officer suddenly reached out and slapped Duan Gang hard across the face twice. The blows were extremely severe, and blood immediately seeped from the corners of Duan Gang's mouth.
Lin Daowei stared coldly at Duan Gang and said sternly, "Don't think I don't know what you've been up to! You raised the prices, pocketed all the money, and even gave ten sets of jewelry to your son-in-law! If you don't want your legs broken, you'd better confess right now!"
When Duan Gang saw that the constable knew how many sets of jewelry they had taken, he was terrified by this sudden turn of events. He covered his face and cried out, "My lord, spare us! We know we were wrong. This is what happened..." Duan Gang backed down and confessed everything, explaining how Xiao San had taken the jewelry from the shop.
Seeing this, Duan Dayi was also terrified. He immediately knelt down and begged, "My lord, spare our lives! We will return all the money right away. Please, my lord, have mercy!"
Having said that, Duan Dayi shakily pulled a wad of silver from his pocket and placed it on the ground. Then, he turned to his son and wife and shouted, "You two, quickly take out your silver too!"
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