"The landlord is an upright man who has lived here for decades. During festivals, he will buy rice, flour, fish and meat to visit a few lonely elderly people in the city, but he will not try to curry favor with the powerful."
Meng Jinxin was different; he had connections with everyone in Fengzhou City, from the clerks and constables in the yamen to the street ruffians.
Ever since the owner refused to sell the inn to him, the inn has been haunted.
In the past two years, I don't know how many guests have been scared away. The news that the inn is haunted has spread. Later, even if unsuspecting guests check in, as long as they find out, the inn will definitely be haunted that night.
They knew perfectly well that this was the work of someone surnamed Meng, but they just couldn't find any real evidence. It wasn't that they hadn't reported it to the authorities, and the yamen had even sent people to stake out the area. When the yamen people were there, everything was calm and peaceful.
But we can't expect the government officials to stay at the inn all year round!
The innkeeper's men tried to catch the 'ghost,' but instead of catching it, they were stuffed in a sack and beaten.
The owner is getting old, and business isn't going well anyway. The inn isn't busy either, so I let him stay home and recuperate.
Now, the inn is just stuck in a stalemate with that guy surnamed Meng.
Fortunately, this inn wasn't a rented shop, so we didn't need to pay wages. Several of the other staff members went out to do odd jobs to earn a little money to support themselves. Relying on the owner's savings, we could keep going like this for a few more years.
However, if this continues for a long time, we are worried about the employer's health and whether he can withstand it.
"Sigh, they say good people get good rewards, sigh." He Ning explained in more detail because of her guilt, and sighed in frustration at the end.
The red bean tea was also delivered, along with pastries and dried fruit. After placing them on the table, they retreated behind the counter and looked out at the heavy rain.
After hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo tapped her fingers lightly on the table: "You mean, you let that Meng guy bully us for so long just because you couldn't find any evidence? Well, now that I've caught him, will I be able to use him?"
"It's possible, but I'm afraid he won't confess in court, and that advisor is on good terms with the man surnamed Meng." Manager He didn't finish his sentence, but Hong Xiaoduo understood his concerns.
“You don’t need to worry about that. He won’t deny it. If he doesn’t, I’ll report to the authorities that a priceless luminous pearl has been lost,” Hong Xiaoduo said.
Huh? You can do that? Isn't that a false accusation?
Manager He never knew that good people could do bad things!
But it seems to work.
The person was caught inside the inn. If you're not here to scare people in the middle of the night, then you must be here to steal money.
"What, are you afraid of getting into trouble by doing this? Then forget it, I'll let him go." Seeing that Manager He didn't respond, Hong Xiaoduo said.
"No, no, we've been in trouble for a long time, so there's no question of being afraid. I'm just worried that it might cause you trouble. After all, you're just passing through, and it wouldn't be good if your journey was delayed because you were helping us," Manager He hurriedly said.
Seeing Manager He's attitude, Hong Xiaoduo felt it was even more necessary to intervene: "We are not afraid of trouble, and we don't have any urgent business that requires us to travel. As long as you are not afraid of trouble and dare to report to the authorities, that's fine."
"I dare, I'll go right now." Manager He stood up abruptly and was about to walk out.
"Don't rush, shopkeeper, I have something else to say." Hong Xiaoduo quickly called out to the other party, glancing at the shop assistant who had already reached out to take the raincoat off the wall.
Manager He quickly sat down again, sitting upright and looking at Xiang Hong and Xiao Duo.
"Don't rush to report it to the authorities. He can't escape anyway. Wait until after dawn, around 7 AM, after Meng Jinxin has come over, then you can report it to the authorities." Hong Xiaoduo told her earnestly, then got up to go back to her room upstairs to rest. After thinking for a moment, she reached out and took away the plates of snacks and dried fruit on the table.
Watching Hong Xiaoduo walk up the stairs, Xiaodouzi quickly ran to Manager He's side, unable to hide her excitement, and whispered, "Manager, is the person they caught really surnamed Meng? Can we really report this to the authorities?"
Manager He nodded, rubbing his hands together, unable to hide his excitement and nervousness, wondering whether he should tell his boss about this.
"You stay here and keep watch, I'll go and fetch the master." Manager He got up, took off his raincoat, gave instructions, and walked into the rain.
Since the matter has been reported to the authorities, the owner will inevitably have to appear in court.
After Hong Xiaoduo went upstairs, she took the snacks and dried fruit she was carrying into Quan Jinghuai's room. She saw that Tian Shu and the others had not gone back to their rooms to lie down, but were all sitting in their master's room.
"All arranged?" Quan Jinghuai looked at her in a good mood and felt that something was going on, or was a good thing, that he didn't know about.
Hong Xiaoduo put down what she was holding and gestured for the children at the table to eat. When she heard Quan Jinghuai ask a question, she looked up and said, "Yes, they will report to the authorities tomorrow."
After saying that, he walked over to the person lying on the ground who looked much more relaxed after hearing the report to the authorities, and squatted down next to him: "Did you think that by sending you to the authorities, you would be safe?"
Haha, you're overthinking it. Tomorrow, after we hand you over to the authorities, you'll only be safe if you confess and tell the truth. After all, you only pretended to be a ghost to scare the guests; you didn't steal anything or kill anyone.
But if you don't acknowledge what this inn has done, and think that the guy surnamed Jin behind you can get you out of here with some money and connections, then you're really in trouble.
Because I disagree, I won't let you off the hook.
I can tell you, we are very free and bored.
So, when you arrive at the government office tomorrow, you'll have time to carefully consider what to say and do. I've said everything I needed to say; whether you believe it or not is up to you.
After saying that, Hong Xiaoduo smiled and got up to leave.
"If I were you, I'd better take her warning seriously." After Quan Jinghuai finished speaking, he kicked the man's side. The broken ribs were already painful even when breathing, and the kick made it even more painful.
The man was silenced by acupressure and couldn't make a sound, but he cursed inwardly, "Birds of a feather flock together, and these people are all worse than humans!"
"What are you glaring at me for? If you hadn't come here to scare us, none of this would have happened." Tianquan, who was eating snacks at the table, saw the man's resentful eyes and immediately snapped at him.
The others at the table agreed with Tianquan's statement, saying, "Yes, dried fruit is delicious too."
In the back alley of Dongjie, Meng Jinxin looked at the thousand taels of silver notes laid out in front of him, feeling a pang of heartache, liver pain, and flesh pain.
He was still torn, wondering if he should really listen to that female demon and hand over the thousand taels of silver to them.
Or perhaps, if I'm a little bolder, I can take a gamble and not go to Feng'an Inn tomorrow morning. Maybe she's just trying to scare me? Do you think she can control a local like me who's just passing by?
So what if she's powerful and skilled in martial arts? She still dares to commit murder here?
He hadn't killed or set fire to anything, so what if the innkeeper handed Lou Wu over to the authorities...?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
