The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 139 The incident came to light
When Wang Xifeng woke up from her coma, she found herself hung up with her hands raised high. Her toes were touching the ground, supporting her body, but her heels were empty and hanging.

Wang Xifeng blinked and realized that she was still alive. She breathed a sigh of relief and began to look around, carefully taking in the surrounding environment.

As far as the eye can see, I am in a huge room. There are several huge torches stuck on the walls. They are burning brightly, illuminating the room.

No one knows what the walls are made of. They are gray and look like stone, but there are no seams to be seen.

There was a huge table directly in front, with a bunch of messy things placed on it, such as rings, balls, strings, etc., and no one knew what they were used for.

But she could clearly recognize the things on the walls on both sides. They were clearly whips, chains, and other torture instruments.

As soon as she saw these things, Wang Xifeng was frightened and her body began to tremble.

Apart from these things, the entire room was empty, without any extra things, and without doors or windows, it seemed very spacious. In the silent space, there was only the sound of the burning torch and the occasional "beep" of sparks, which was particularly creepy.

She tried hard to turn her head and look behind her, but after struggling for a few times, she found that she could only use the tiptoes of her feet, and her hands were tied tightly, so she couldn't move at all. She could only half tilt her head and see part of the scene behind her.

A double door was closed tightly, and not a single light or sound could leak in from outside.

On both sides of the gate, there are wooden shelves, on which are placed all kinds of strange and weird things.

With the torture instrument in front of her, Wang Xifeng guessed without hesitation that it was not something good.

Seeing that there was no one in the room, Wang Xifeng struggled desperately, trying to free her hands from the bonds, but after struggling for a long time, she did not achieve any results except making herself breathless.

She didn't know that the binding was done by Master Zhan himself. With Master Zhan's many years of binding skills, even if Wang Xifeng struggled for several hours, she would not be able to break free.

After trying for a long time, Wang Xifeng finally realized that she could not escape by herself, so she changed her mind and began to shout for help.

"anyone there?"

"Help me..."

"No matter who is here, as long as you let me go, you will be rewarded with a large sum of money!"

But no one paid any attention to her after she shouted for a long time. Only the faint echo in the empty room echoed in her ears. For a moment, Wang Xifeng felt as if she was the only one left in the world.

She has lived a life of luxury since childhood. Wherever she goes, there are always a large group of people around her. Whatever she wants or wants to do, she only needs to give a simple order, and there will be a lot of people to do it for her. How could she encounter the current situation where no one can help her.

When Wang Xifeng thought of the miserable plight of those women who had encountered bandits, she became more and more frightened.

Wang Xifeng couldn't help but burst into tears again, filled with emotions such as nervousness about not having freedom, panic about possible disasters in the future, and fear of the unknown.

After all, she was just an ignorant woman. Her usual toughness was all given to her by her status as a member of the Wang family and the Jia family. Now that the outermost hard shell has been peeled off, the tender and beautiful flesh inside is revealed.

Mr. Zhan is proficient in PUA techniques. He wants to break her defenses first, so he ignores her and does what he needs to do.

Anyway, this person was imprisoned very nearby, in the basement of the Zhan Mansion.

After having the Mind Cave, Master Zhan found it very convenient to do anything, and he could solve many problems with just a thought.

If someone wants to build a dungeon, they will have to hire many craftsmen to do the construction work, and the excavated earth and rocks must be handled somewhere, so it is impossible to hide it from outsiders.

There is no need for that with Master Zhan. He just turns the soil into running water, which seeps into the ground through the holes in the ground, and a natural space emerges.

After the flowing water leaves the cave, it turns back into soil, tamping the ground more solidly and strengthening the foundation without any delay.

As for the internal reinforcement and decoration, it is even simpler, just turn it into cement and it's done.

If Mr. Zhan had not seen those fortifications before, he would have been able to build a nuclear shelter.

The door looks like wood on the outside, but its inner core is actually made of steel, and it is secured with an anti-theft lock.

In a dungeon like this, who can rescue Wang Xifeng?
So Mr. Zhan went to Rongguo Mansion to watch the fun with peace of mind.

The little maid's legs were much slower than Master Zhan's. When Master Zhan arrived at Rongguo Mansion, she was still on the road!

This is also Master Zhan's fault. He thought she would drive the carriage back, but he forgot that driving the carriage is not a job that an ordinary maid can handle.

Mr. Zhan went to find Daiyu and chat with her first. Not long after, he heard a commotion outside and knew that the little maid had returned.

The little maidservant went through great pains to rush back to the mansion, and when she told the news, the whole mansion was in an uproar.

Originally, Grandmother Jia had been ill these days, and she was shocked by the news and almost fainted again.

In particular, the little maid said it very clearly that the kidnappers wanted ten thousand taels of gold as ransom.

Whose woman is worth a million taels of gold?

Although it cannot be said so, the heads of the Jia family all think so in their hearts.

If he asked for ten thousand taels of silver, perhaps it wouldn't be a big problem, and the Jia family might be able to pay for it, but ten thousand taels of gold is a bit too much!
It’s not that the Jia family can’t afford it, but it will definitely be a huge loss.

After some argument, Jia's mother, who was still on her sickbed, made the decision to report to the authorities!

This is not a family scandal, and it is not shameful to report it to the authorities. Moreover, as long as you report it to the authorities, any subsequent incidents will be the responsibility of the government.

To put it bluntly, the Jia family now does not want Wang Xifeng to come back.

Can a woman who is abducted by kidnappers keep her chastity?

How can it be!

Even if the kidnapper cared about the gold and not the woman and did not touch her, the rumors behind the person's back can kill him.

So instead of paying a ransom to get Wang Xifeng back and bringing shame to the entire Rongguo Mansion in the future, it would be better to let the kidnappers kill her!

If Wang Xifeng died outside, when others mentioned Rongguo Mansion, they would only say that Rongguo Mansion was unlucky, encountered kidnappers, and a daughter-in-law died, and they would not say too much else.

After all, news of death is more serious than gossip, and since the dead are the most important, it is not good for people to talk too much about other people's gossip.

But if Wang Xifeng hadn't died, it would be basically predictable what topics those gossips would talk about.

However, this kind of thing is not convenient for the people in the Jia family to say or do, so the best scapegoat appeared, that is - the government!
It’s not that the Jia family didn’t want to save people, it’s that the government was incompetent and the people couldn’t be rescued!
So the unlucky Jia Yucun was hit hard again and took on this important task.

This time it was not a private job. Jia Lian personally went to Shuntian Prefecture to report to the authorities and asked Shuntian Prefecture to help catch the thief and rescue people.

As soon as the matter got out, not only did people from the palace come to inquire about it, but even the cabinet sent people over, and in a stern tone, they demanded that Jia Yucun must bring the kidnappers to justice and rescue the people successfully, otherwise he would have to forget about his position as an official!

What kind of family is the Jia family?

That was the Rongguo Mansion, which was surrounded by four kings and eight princes, and was the family that Consort Xian De came from.

Now is the time when the imperial concubines of each family are about to visit their families, but something like this happened in the Jia Mansion. This is clearly a blatant provocation to the court and a slap in the face of the court!
How can this be done!
All the powerful people in the world are one family!

If you can kidnap the imperial concubine’s family today, can you kidnap the relatives of officials tomorrow? Can you kidnap officials the day after tomorrow? Will you want to rebel the day after tomorrow?
You in Shuntian Prefecture can't even protect the imperial concubine's family, so who would believe that you can protect the people of this capital?
Where is the credibility and dignity of the court?
In an instant, this case changed from an ordinary kidnapping case to a major event that concerned the dignity of the court, the safety of officials, and the trust of the people.

At this point, Jia Yucun just wanted to spit out blood, go back to Jinling, and never come to Beijing again in his life.

Everyone says that being the chief official of Shuntian Prefecture is difficult, but who would have thought it would be so difficult.

Nothing good has happened to him since he took office.

It was obvious that he had spent countless gold and silver and used favors to be promoted from Nanjing to Beijing, but he was about to be dismissed from his post before he even had time to sit firmly on the position.

Realizing the threat, Jia Yucun also went crazy. He first dispersed the three shifts of yamen runners, arrested people on the street, and interrogated them one by one for information. Then he called Jiang Dairong to interrogate the little maid who had escaped.

Ever since the last incident at the Jia Mansion, while he deeply hated Jiang Dairong for not knowing his limits, he also realized Jiang Dairong's abilities. He had originally planned to give this little captain of the police a good beating and then recruit him for his own use, but now he had to give up his original plan and use Jiang Dairong as a response.

Although Jiang Dairong had used a cheating device when investigating the case at the Jia Mansion, he was also quite capable. After asking for the confession word by word, he bowed to Jia Yucun and said:
"Your Excellency, I'm afraid the kidnappers are not only after gold and silver, but more likely they are after revenge."

"According to the maid's confession, the kidnapper must have a grudge against Lai Shun. He once mentioned that Lai Shun was a loan shark. If we want to find out the identity of the thief, we have to start from here."

After hearing this, Jia Yucun was overjoyed. It would be best if there was a grudge, and it would be best if it was directed against the Jia family. Then the bigwigs in the court would naturally feel relieved.

"Okay, Chief Inspector Jiang is indeed a capable man. Let's start our investigation from here."

After hearing this, Jiang Dairong glanced at Jia Lian who was also listening at the side and said hesitantly:

"In this case, I'm afraid I'll have to go to Rongguo Mansion and ask Laishun's family and friends."

After hearing this, Jia Yucun also looked at Jia Lian.

Jia Lian is very anxious now. Although Wang Xifeng has always been a jealous person and is very strong at home, always putting pressure on him, they have been husband and wife for many years after all, and they still have a lot of affection for each other.

Previously, because Wang Xifeng sent Ping'er away and he lost a son, this affection was weakened a lot, but it has not been completely exhausted.

So Jia Lian hesitated for a moment and then nodded in agreement.

"As long as we can rescue the people as soon as possible, everything will be fine."

The group immediately went to Rongguo Mansion and borrowed a hall, temporarily using it as a government office to continue the trial.

Lai Wang and his wife had lost their son in their old age and had been crying bitterly for a long time. Now that they saw an opportunity for revenge, they cooperated very well. They answered whatever was asked and did not care that Jia Lian was beside them. They told Jia Lian everything.

"W-what?"

"Feng Er is lending money out there?"

Before Jia Yucun could speak, Jia Lian was surprised.

Wang Xifeng had always kept the matter of lending money a secret from Jia Lian, and Jia Lian never cared about the family expenses. Whenever he needed money, he would just ask for it, and he had no idea where the money came from.

Now, when he heard that Wang Xifeng was actually using the name of the Jia family to lend money at high interest, he was immediately shocked and angry.

He didn't care whether the money was loaned at usury or not. What was wrong with lending money at usury? Which gentry hadn't done it?
What he cared about was that Wang Xifeng had concealed this matter from him and had the money at home but didn't let him use it.

When he thought about how Wang Xifeng would deduct and exploit his money whenever he asked her for it, and would say some nonsense about how hard it was to make money, he felt furious.

Jia Yucun didn't care about all the shit going on in his house. He just wanted to catch the kidnappers and keep his official hat. He shouted to Lai Wang:

"Where is the debt collection account book? Bring it to me immediately."

Lai Wang's family went back to the house to get the account book and handed it to Jia Yucun.

Jia Yucun called Jiang Dairong over and looked through the book together to see if there was anyone who was unable to pay his debts and whose family was ruined.

Jia Lian also came over and leaned his head behind the two of them to look at the account. He saw eighty taels here and a hundred taels there. A rough estimate was that the total was no less than a thousand taels.

These are just the numbers on one page. If you add up the numbers in the entire account book, the total number may be uncertain.

As Jia Yucun turned the pages, Jia Lian saw more and more numbers in the account book, and his anger grew stronger and stronger, gradually eroding the affection between him and Wang Xifeng.

After reading the account book, Jiang Dairong called Lai Wang over and asked him many questions in detail. Then he found that there were a lot of people on the list of broken families and dead people. However, the government office had the most people, so Jia Yucun sent a letter to the surrounding counties without saying anything, asking them to arrest people one by one according to the list.

Even if you can't get it, you still have to find out clearly where it went and what its whereabouts are.

When the yamen runners received the order, they dispersed in a swarm.

Jia Yucun sat upright in the lobby. After pondering for a long time, he finally found a way out of the impasse and was no longer so anxious.

He was a capable official and knew that the so-called "must catch the thieves and rescue the hostages" was just a high-sounding order.

Although the Imperial Concubine has a noble status, the Imperial Concubine's cousin's wife is no big deal.

What the masters in the court were really worried about was their own safety. They were worried that this thief would be so bold and reckless that he would pose a threat to them.

Therefore, it is not important whether the hostages can be rescued or not. The most important thing is to eliminate those hidden dangers.

Whenever there were unsolved cases in this government office, they would find scapegoats to take the blame.

As long as an explanation is given to everyone, the master and the people will be relieved, and no one will care about the truth.

If these thieves were lawless lunatics who could threaten the safety of the man and his family, then scapegoats cannot be used in this case.

If he can't deal with this group of thieves, he won't be able to keep his official hat.

But if these villains were brought here by Wang Xifeng's own evil deeds and were purely out for revenge, and posed no threat to other powerful people, then the problem would be simple.

The man wouldn't care whether the thief he caught in Shuntian Prefecture was the real kidnapper.

As for whether these kidnappers were targeting Wang Xifeng personally, if Jia Yucun said yes, then it must be so!

At least, he will have a chance to catch his breath and keep his official hat before these thieves commit crimes next time.

As long as he finds a scapegoat quickly enough, the next time thieves commit crimes against the families of the powerful and wealthy, he can simply say that it was another group of thieves and they were not in the same group as this one.

After making up his mind, Jia Yucun said to Jia Lian:

"Master Lian, you heard what happened just now. Now it seems that these thieves are not here just for money, but mainly for revenge."

"From my humble opinion, these people probably hate Second Madam Lian to the core because of the usury issue."

"Please be prepared, Mr. Lian. I'm afraid your wife's chances of coming back are slim."

"To put it bluntly, Second Lady Lian is probably no longer alive."

Although Jia Lian had guessed this possibility in his heart a long time ago, but now that he was exposed by Jia Yucun, he couldn't help but turn pale and sway all over. All the resentment in his heart towards his wife disappeared in an instant, and his mind was filled with only her good points.

Jia Yucun stroked his beard and did not comfort Jia Lian. Instead, he spoke earnestly, with the air of a moral scholar:

"Master Lian, you can't write two Jias with one stroke. Our two families are from the same clan, so Yucun dares to speak to you from the bottom of his heart."

"The Book of Changes says: 'A family that accumulates good will surely have good fortune', and the Zuo Zhuan also says: 'Good fortune and bad luck have no door, they are only summoned by people'."

"Mrs. Lian's misfortune was certainly due to bad luck, but if you look deeper, it's hard to avoid the feeling that it was her own fault."

"Please remember this when you do things in the future, Master Lian. Only when good deeds are accumulated can blessings last forever."

Jia Lian was scolded by him, but he couldn't say anything back, so he could only lower his head and be unhappy.

Jia Yucun wanted to continue to pua him, but a chaotic sound of footsteps was heard, and Baoyu rushed in and asked loudly:

"Second brother, why hasn't anyone paid the ransom yet?"

"In this situation, it doesn't matter whether we catch the thief or not. Shouldn't we rescue the person first?"

Seeing the concubine's brother coming in, Jia Yucun hurriedly stood up to greet him, bowed and smiled and explained:
"Brother Shi, you don't know that these thieves are not only here for gold and silver, but most of them are here for revenge. Even if you give a ransom, it will be difficult to save the person."

"So the best way is to find their lair and send a large army to uproot them, so as to ensure the safety of the hostages."

Baoyu was ignorant and immediately wavered, but Master Zhan who came in behind him was not so easy to fool and said loudly:
"That's wrong!"

"If those thieves wanted to seek revenge, they could have just killed the man with a knife. Why did they take him away?"

"Instead of tracking down the thief's lair, which is nowhere to be found, it is better to pay the ransom first, get the person back, and then consider catching the thief."

After hearing this, Baoyu immediately believed it again, clapped his hands and shouted:

"That's right. Human life is much more important than any gold or silver. Let's get the person back safely first."

Seeing Baoyu suddenly appear and mess things up, Jia Yucun couldn't help but frown, but he also knew that Baoyu was the treasure of the Jia family and he couldn't afford to offend him, so he smiled and said:
"Just because the thief didn't kill anyone at the time doesn't mean he won't kill anyone after getting the gold."

"Rather than losing both the people and the property and letting them take the gold and escape, it is better to use this gold to seduce them and make it easier for the government to catch the thieves."

Baoyu thought it made sense, so he turned to look at Master Zhan, only to see Master Zhan shaking his head and saying:
"What Magistrate Jia said is true, but you and Baoyu have different standpoints and focuses."

"You are the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, so of course you care more about solving the case and catching the thief, but Baoyu only wants to rescue his sister-in-law, so he doesn't want to take any risks at all."

"You just said you were worried that the thieves would still kill people after getting the gold. But if that was the case, would the thieves still keep the hostages to be rescued when the government troops were suppressing the thieves?"

"You also said that those bandits have a grudge against Lian's second sister-in-law. Now that there is gold hanging in front of them, they will not rashly kill people. But when they are surrounded by government troops, they will definitely choose to take revenge on the spot and kill Lian's second sister-in-law to vent their anger."

"No matter how fast the government troops are, can they be faster than them swinging their steel swords?"

"Perhaps if we pay the ransom in exchange for the hostage, Sister-in-law Lian will still have a narrow escape from death, but if we wait for the government troops to rescue the hostage, then Sister-in-law Lian will be truly doomed!"

After hearing this, Jia Yucun's face darkened. He rolled his eyes and tried to shift the blame, so he said:
"But what if the thief takes the gold and then kills the victim and runs away? What should we do?"

Master Zhan smiled and said:
"Then don't give all the gold at once. Give it in batches. Leave a letter saying that you are raising funds to buy time."

"The gold weighs a thousand pounds. If the thieves want to take it, they must use a cart. Such a heavy thing will leave deep tracks, which will also help the government to recover it."

Jia Yucun had been thinking about catching the thief. When he heard this, his eyes lit up and he was persuaded. "This is a good idea. It's worth a try."

He immediately started thinking, and after thinking carefully, he added:

"If that's the case, I don't think it's appropriate to give gold."

"If they were given in batches, each would only be a few hundred kilograms, and the thieves could easily carry them separately."

"Why not change it into silver? That would weigh tens of thousands of pounds. It would take several large boxes to pack it. Even if we ship it in batches, it would take several large trucks."

Anyway, whether it is gold or silver, none of them can escape the control of Master Zhan. Sooner or later, they will all be surnamed Zhan, so Master Zhan will certainly not object.

After several people talked together, they soon perfected the plan. The next issue was the gold and silver.

Who should pay for this money?

At this point, Jia Yucun shut up again. He didn't want to use the government's public funds to do such a thing, and the government couldn't afford so much cash.

Jia Lian did have this intention, but he was worried that if the silver was lost after he took it out, he would suffer a huge loss, so he was very hesitant.

Baoyu was the only one who was simple-minded. Seeing that he had helped to save people, he was very happy and generously said to others:

"This is a simple matter. I'll go talk to my wife and ask her to transfer out 20,000 taels of silver first. After rescuing my second sister-in-law, I'll return it to the warehouse."

Baoyu left excitedly, leaving Mr. Zhan, who originally wanted to lend money to the Jia family again, no time to open his mouth.

You see, Master Zhan lent money to Jia Lian, Jia Lian used the money to pay the ransom, and then the ransom was taken back by Master Zhan. Isn't this a closed loop?

Baoyu's enthusiasm ruined Mr. Zhan's financial plan, but Mr. Zhan would not blame him. After all, the Jia family had recently made a fortune from Lai Da, and helping Mrs. Wang clear out the inventory was also a good choice.

Seeing that someone had paid, Jia Yucun and Jiang Dairong began to discuss further ambush plans, to see how to better deploy defenses to block the roads around the woods and prevent the thieves from escaping.

Master Zhan had no interest in these things at all. He just said goodbye and left, returning home to play dungeon play with Feng Lazi.

But Baoyu excitedly found Mrs. Wang, told her the situation, and asked for money.

Mrs. Wang was almost furious when she heard this.

How could she give birth to such a heartless thing!
What does the affairs of the first wife have to do with their second wife?
It's not like the eldest wife is short of money. If she wanted to save people, she could use her own small treasury. Why is she asking her for money?
Besides, she also guessed the old lady's thoughts. She had no intention of letting Wang Xifeng come back, and it would be best for her to die outside.

But such insidious things can only be done but not said, and she cannot explain it clearly to her stupid son Baoyu.

In particular, she thought of her son's love for married women, and recalled the ambiguous relationship between Baoyu and the eldest daughter-in-law Li Wan. Now seeing him running around for Lian's second daughter-in-law, Mrs. Wang's face was longer than a donkey's.

"I'll beat you to death, you good-for-nothing!"

"I told you not to make any progress!"

"That's Lian Er's wife, not yours. Why are you giving her money?"

"His wife is lending money at high interest rates. I don't know how much money she has made. How could she be shortchanged? But you are such a fool and you are taking on the responsibility without any reason."

Mrs. Wang gritted her teeth and started beating Baoyu, which made him stunned.

what happened?
Why are you hitting me again?
He ran away with his head in his hands, shouting in panic:

"Madam, what are you doing?"

"Why are you angry again for no reason?"

"If you don't want to give me the money, then just tell me, ma'am. I'll go ask Brother Zhan for the money. Why are you so angry? You might as well get yourself hurt."

It would have been better if he hadn't said anything. The more he talked, the angrier Mrs. Wang became, and she beat him even harder.

"Money, money, he's not your father, why do you always ask him for money?"

"Did I hit you because of money?"

"It's obvious that you are a good-for-nothing, doing shameless things..."

Hearing this, Baoyu immediately thought that the old lady had told his wife about the matter of "sending her daughter away". He felt even more guilty and dared not say anything more. He ran away in a hurry.

Since he knew that Lian Er had no shortage of money, Baoyu was no longer anxious. He walked back slowly, sighing, thinking that his wife's temper had been getting worse and worse recently. Now that she knew about what happened between him and Brother Zhan, he would go back and tell her about Brother Zhan's good points. He didn't know if she could accept being nurtured by Brother Zhan.

As a man who cherishes women, Baoyu hopes that all women can be as dazzling as sparkling gems, forever radiant and brilliant. This includes not only his sisters but also his own wife.

With the ability of the eldest brother, he could probably make his wife regain her former gentle and peaceful nature, and stop beating and scolding him all day long.

It wasn't that he was afraid of being beaten by his wife. Mainly because he was a filial son, he didn't want his wife to always be troubled by this manic mood and become as ugly as a dead fish.

(End of this chapter)