The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 5 Offering a Daughter

"The village chief is back..."

At the gatekeeper's shout, hundreds of people rushed over.

Zhan Ershisi waved his hand casually, signaling everyone to disperse, then pointed at the captives being taken down from the car behind and ordered:
"Lock up these people first, and wait for my orders on how to deal with them."

"Old rules. Without my order, you are not allowed to beat or abuse prisoners, or touch women. Do you remember?"

The bandits responded loudly, "Don't worry, great leader. If anyone dares to raise his claws, we brothers will chop that monkey down first!"

After hearing this, everyone in the car felt a lot more relaxed.

This is still a chivalrous thief!

It’s a pity that they didn’t know that in order to avoid leaking secrets, Zhan Ershisi always robbed people of their money and released them on the spot when he went out to do business, and he never brought anyone into his own village.

This is because as long as someone comes to the mountain stronghold, there is inevitably a risk of the news leaking out. He is not a person who kills indiscriminately, so he can't kill everyone to silence them!

The reason why beating, scolding or abusing prisoners was not allowed was to avoid unnecessary trouble and to prevent them from escaping or resisting. When they were too hungry to have any strength, they could be easily captured without any harm.

But not beating or scolding them doesn't mean that they will be let off.

After Zhan Ershisi gave his orders, a group of people immediately escorted the prisoners to different rooms for detention, and then someone came over soon to record their statements.

The people who came were all familiar with this game. After they came in, they walked in front of the prisoner, put a notebook on the table, and said coldly:

"In my village, we emphasize rewarding the good and punishing the evil. We only kill bad people, not good people. So if you are a good person, you don't have to worry about losing your life in the village."

"At the same time, the village also encourages people to make up for their crimes. Even if you have done something bad, you can reduce your sentence by making meritorious contributions."

"There are many specific ways to perform meritorious service. Different meritorious acts can naturally reduce different sins. One of them is reporting others."

"If you know who has done bad things, you might as well tell us in detail. I will keep it a secret for you and record your merits."

"But you need to remember that even if you are unwilling to report others, others may not let you go."

"If you don't want to become a scapegoat for others and die while others get away with it, then it's best to confess the problem honestly."

"The policy of our village is to be lenient to those who confess and severe to those who resist!"

"Okay, start explaining the problem!"

Aunt Xue and others were no exception and were interrogated one by one.

When Aunt Xue saw this scene, she felt that it was just like a trial in the government office. She couldn't help but trust her daughter Baochai's judgment even more and felt a lot more relieved.

The interrogator was a woman who sat in front of Aunt Xue. She snorted coldly and asked:

"Are you Xue Wangshi?"

Aunt Xue had always lived a life of luxury. People she met were usually polite to her and she rarely got angry with others. But now, after being glared at by this female bandit, she became terrified and trembled as she said,

"I am Xue Wangshi."

"My lady queen, please tell the leader of your village that there was another reason for Feng Yuan's incident. He was not accidentally killing someone because of fighting for a woman."

After that, she began to rattle off the excuses she had discussed with Baochai, saying that Xiangling was her lost daughter, and finally said:
"My Lady Queen, my Xue family is willing to marry our daughter Xiangling to the chief of your village. Please spare my son's life for the sake of our relationship." It was the first time that the woman had seen someone "selling his daughter for fame". She was stunned for a moment and then refused.
"My village never does things that force others, and you don't have to do the same."

"As long as your family has not committed a serious crime, you don't have to worry about your life."

Although Aunt Xue was not fully aware of what her son had done, she knew a thing or two and knew that if the case was really settled, he would definitely not be able to save his life. She became even more anxious, fearing that the evidence of her son's crime was conclusive and he would be brought to justice first. She wanted to finalize the marriage relationship as soon as possible, so she eagerly promoted her "daughter".

"This is not forced, but my daughter has always been fond of heroes. After seeing your king's heroic appearance, her heart was moved and she missed him so much that she wanted to marry him."

After hearing what Aunt Xue said, the female guard didn't want to hinder her master's happy marriage, so she nodded and said:

"In that case, I will pass the news to my village chief, and he will make the decision."

However, Zhan Ershisi ordered his men to settle the captives, and then he went to the rear camp and entered his own house.

He usually lived in the town as Master Zhan, and only occasionally returned to the mountain for inspection. This yard was like his holiday villa. Although it was not as magnificent as his residence in the city, it was also comfortable and peaceful.

As soon as I entered the gate, a group of beautiful women came up to me and bowed to me.

"Congratulations to welcome the master back home."

"Get up and prepare some hot water for me to take a bath."

Zhan Ershisi waved his hand, signaling everyone to stand up, and then strode into the house.

After receiving the order, the women hurriedly got busy.

Although this is a copycat, thanks to Zhan Ershisi's management over the past few years, there is no shortage of various supplies and life here is no worse than that in the outside world.

As a time traveler, Zhan Ershisi understood very well that if you want a horse to run fast, you have to feed it well, so he invested a lot of money in this mountain village.

After a while, the bathtub and other things were ready.

Zhan Ershisi took off his beard and scraped off the teardrop mole under his eye. Without any disguise, he looked like a young man in his twenties. No one could connect him with that notorious bandit.

He lay comfortably in the bathtub, enjoying the service of his beautiful concubines and maids, while thinking about how to properly develop the world of Dream of the Red Chamber.

With his status as a small landlord in a remote countryside, it would not be easy for him to enter the Rongguo Mansion, and it would be even more difficult to kidnap Jia Baoyu in Beijing.

In order to successfully break in, we must probably start from the Xue family.

I had heard Xue Baochai's judgment before, that he had mistaken me for a general in the army, so he thought that he could make some slight changes from this angle, create a fake identity, bluff the Xue family, and use it for his own benefit.

With his knowledge of the book Dream of the Red Chamber and the analysis of many details by various Redologists on the Internet, he successfully worked out a plan, got out of the bathtub, and prepared to confront the Xue family.

Just then, the female guard in front came over to report that the daughter of the Xue family fell in love with his charm and insisted on marrying him as a concubine.

Zhan Ershisi already knew what was going on. He smiled slightly and waved his hand, saying:

"Since she is willing to give it to me, why should I refuse, Master?"

"Go and prepare for the wedding. The master is going to take a concubine tonight!"

(End of this chapter)