Red Mansion: Picking up a Lin Daiyu

Chapter 155 The Xue Family Suffers
Xue Pan was spoiled since childhood, and even though he was born with a strong physique, he was no match for Liu Xianglian, who had practiced martial arts since childhood.

The first palm strike had already made Xue Pan dizzy.

Xue Pan still didn't understand what was going on and thought it was just a play. He cried, "You are willing if you want to, and you are not willing if you don't want to. Why do you hit me?"

Liu Xianglian would never listen to him.

He had been chased by soldiers all the way and his left arm was injured in several places. He was bandaging and recuperating in the room, but this idiot broke in and disturbed him. How could Liu Xianglian not be angry?
The door is left open so that you can escape if soldiers come after you. I don't want to rob a young man who comes in, which is more unbearable than killing him!
The anger that had been accumulating for several months seemed to have found an outlet at this moment. Liu Xianglian grabbed the scabbard and hit Xue Pan hard thirty or forty times.

He hit Xue Pan from his back to his shins, making him cry out in pain.

Pain spread throughout his body, and Xue Pan was almost sober at this time. When he looked at Liu Xianglian's attire, he realized that he might have entered the wrong door.

At this point, he was crying out to heaven and earth but to no avail, so he could only give in and say, "Good man, please don't hit me, I have all the silver to give you."

"I didn't know you were from a respectable family. I was blind. Please forgive me."

Liu Xianglian stopped after beating him violently, because he couldn't use one arm and it was somewhat inconvenient.

Hearing Xue Pan wanted to give him money, Liu Xianglian couldn't help but spit and said, "Who do you think I am? Do you think I need your dirty stuff?"

After punching Xue Pan in the face again, Liu Xianglian clapped his hands and took a few deep breaths.

After tying the cloth strips around his body tightly and getting dressed neatly, Liu Xianglian picked up the scabbard and heard shouts and screams outside.

Liu Xianglian leaned behind the door and listened attentively, "Oh no, the soldiers are chasing us, I need to get away quickly!"

Glancing at Xue Pan behind him, Liu Xianglian angrily said, "If I hadn't run out of time, I would have given you some lamp oil and lit the sky lantern today!"

"I will spare you today, but if I bump into you again some other day, you will be in trouble!"

Xue Pan was beaten to the ground, and even sitting up was difficult for him. He kowtowed repeatedly and said to Liu Xianglian: "Goodbye, my good man. If we meet you again, I will hide ten miles away."

Liu Xianglian snorted again and walked out the door.

When Liu Xianglian appeared outside, he immediately attracted the attention of the officers and soldiers, "Come here, here!"

Xue Pan also heard the commotion outside, and the pain in his body was unbearable. He said, "Damn you! When I get back to the boat, I will have someone chop you into pieces and throw you into the river!"

Thinking about Liu Xianglian again, Xue Pan couldn't help but think: "It's a pity that such a handsome man is not a playboy."

"Mr. Xue suffered this loss today. If you meet Mr. Xue again in the future, Mr. Xue will definitely beat you up!"

Just as Xue Pan was still thinking about it, the soldiers arrived at the door.

"Where is he? He got away again? This kid's martial arts skills are really impressive!"

"Sir, there is someone in this room!"

"Quick, go and have a look. It might be the thief himself, or at least an accomplice!"

Officers and soldiers rushed in, lit torches to illuminate the hall, making it as bright as day.

Everyone saw Xue Pan lying on the ground like a toad, his body covered with bruises and he was breathing heavily from time to time. No one knew what was going on.

Everyone looked at the leader and asked, "Sir, what do you think is going on?"

The commander pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "This man is not a thief, but he is related to a thief. He must have drawn his sword against the thief because of an unequal distribution of the loot, or he may have been attacked by an enemy. In any case, we need to arrest him and bring him back to the yamen today, so that we can give an explanation to the judge."

All the officers and soldiers nodded, thinking it made sense.

Xue Pan raised his eyes and saw a group of soldiers surrounding the room, but he no longer looked timid.

"I was just injured by a thief. Hurry up and bring him back! I will definitely teach him a lesson!"

The officers and soldiers looked at Xue Pan with disdain, thinking him to be a fool who actually ordered the officers and soldiers around without even considering his own status.

Someone else kicked him twice more and said, "Who do you think you are? How dare you boss us around? If we don't take you back to jail today, we are wrongly accusing you!"

Xue Pan was puzzled. "The one who just escaped was the thief. Didn't you see that I was injured by the thief?"

The officer said again: "If you have anything to say, we can talk in the prison. Take him away!"

Judging from the tone of these soldiers, they really wanted to put him in jail. Xue Pan's face changed immediately.

In the old days, people who killed people were not sent to jail. He thought that the people in the government were easy to deal with. But now in this small place, his Xue family is not effective.

When Xue Pan remembered that the Xue family still had to set sail at dawn, he realized that he was in trouble and struggled not to go with the soldiers.

"No, I can't go to the prison. I have to take a boat to Beijing today. No, I can't leave!"

Such uncooperative officers and soldiers had seen many such cases, so they slapped Xue Pan a few more times, making him behave himself, and then took him back to jail.

...Early the next morning,

Cangzhou Prefecture Prefectural Government Office, Back Hall,

The officers and soldiers patrolling the city reported yesterday's events to the prefect and the magistrate in the court and explained what had happened.

Prefect Pu Zheng asked in confusion: "The Xue family of Nanjing? Why does it sound so familiar?"

The judge Ji Qing thought for a moment and nodded, "It should be the Xue family of the four major families in Jinling, Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue. These families have close intermarriages and close relationships. They prosper together and suffer together."

"And you know the Jinling official protection talisman, there is a good year with heavy snow, pearls are common in the dirt, and gold is common in iron. It is talking about this Xue family."

"The Xue family is an imperial merchant. They have a nominal title in the Ministry of Revenue and receive money from the imperial treasury. Now, they are at most a wealthy family, but their strength has long been reduced to what it used to be."

The prefect Pu Zheng still had a little worry on his face. "The Xue family may not be a big deal, but after all, they have connections with the court. It's hard for us to do anything to them. Let's release them."

Tongpan Jiqing said, "That is absolutely impossible. We didn't find the thief, and injured many of our brothers. If we only caught the young master of the Xue family, how can we give an explanation to our brothers if we don't make some money?"

"Besides, the treasury is now empty, and the prefect has to deal with inspections from above. Why don't you follow my plan and get something from the Xue family? They have plenty of money anyway, so why would they care about this little expense?"

"This……"

Pu Zheng was still hesitant, and Ji Qing clapped his hands and said anxiously, "Sir, you can't just wait for the rich people in the city to fill up your warehouse, right? Xue Pan is a good thing that has come to your doorstep. If you don't take advantage of it, how can you give an explanation to the masters above you?"

"According to the capital, that master will probably arrive in Cangzhou soon!"

Pu Zheng sighed and said, "Well, there is no other way. Someone, go check the passenger ship outside the city to see if there are any members of the Xue family from Jinling. If there are, give them a message!"

……

Outside Cangzhou Prefecture, on the Xue family's passenger ship,
In the morning, they discovered that Xue Pan had already slipped off the boat, which shocked Xue's mother and daughter. They hurriedly sent people into the city to investigate.

After waiting anxiously for a while, he only saw the servant who brought Xue Pan into the city yesterday.

The servant knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly, and said, "Madam, it's all my fault. Last night, the master wanted to go out for some fun, and I am from Cangzhou, so I took the master to the city. We were supposed to have a drink together, and we would be back at dawn."

"But the master wanted to have some fun with two good girls, so he went to another room. I don't know how he alerted the city's soldiers, and he has been arrested and taken to the city's jail!"

Upon hearing this, Xue's mother and daughter's expressions immediately changed.

Aunt Xue burst into tears and said, "It's you evil creatures who have seduced him all day long! If it weren't for you, there wouldn't be such a disaster today! Come, break his hands and feet and throw him into the river!"

The servant boy kept kowtowing on the ground, but Aunt Xue showed no mercy and had the servant boy dragged out.

She then tightened her grip on Xue Baochai's hand, and trembled with anger as she said, "Bao girl, what do you think we should do now? Your brother has never suffered since he was a child. How can he endure the misfortune in the prison?"

Xue Baochai had long anticipated that her brother would not be safe, but who knew that even the Xue family's servants could not stop him, and he still sneaked away.

Now, Xue Baochai just sighed, but seeing her mother crying hard and gasping for breath, she hurriedly thought of words to comfort her.

"Mother, don't be too anxious. The servant just said that the city seems to be catching some thief recently and mistakenly captured my brother. When they find out his identity, maybe they will give some face to my Xue family and send my brother back."

Aunt Xue added, "Our journey to the capital was not fast to begin with, and this will delay us for several days. If we miss the day when you enter the capital to participate in the selection of concubines, won't that ruin your future?"

Xue Baochai comforted him again, "If it is destined to happen, it will happen. If it is not destined to happen, don't force it. Even if you go to the selection, you may not be selected. You should consider your brother's affairs first."

Aunt Xue nodded repeatedly, leaned on Xue Baochai's shoulder, and wiped her tears.

Before Aunt Xue could recover from her grief, a bailiff from the city came with news.

A servant of the Xue family came in and reported, "Madam, officials just came from the city and said..."

"What are you talking about? Don't be so hesitant, you're driving me crazy!"

Aunt Xue sat up again and glared at the servants.

The servant said hurriedly, "It is said that last night, the master was in the same room with a famous bandit in the city. When the soldiers came to investigate, the master hindered the soldiers and the bandit escaped. So they suspect that the master is his accomplice."

"Now the master has been imprisoned and is just waiting for the trial."

Aunt Xue's heart was finally hanging. Her eyes rolled back, and she seemed not to have fainted. Xue Baochai hurriedly supported Aunt Xue's body and asked the servants, "Even if there is a lawsuit, we can bail him out. But how much money does the government want?"

The servant nodded and said, "Yes, they want 300 dan of grain, but no silver bills."

"food?"

Xue Baochai frowned and thought about it.

Aunt Xue held Xue Baochai's hand and said, "What should we do? Where can we get three hundred dan of grain?"

(End of this chapter)