Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 403 Hua Zhenzhu rescues Jia Baoyu
Jia Huan was stunned and said defensively: "Brothers, this is different from what we discussed!"

A young man with a smirk said, "Your gold and silver are only worth a few silver dollars. We brothers have worked so hard and it's a job that costs our lives. How can we not make a few thousand taels of silver? Don't make a noise, or you'll be beaten to death!"

Jia Huan was speechless and dared not say anything. He could only watch as several men carried the jade on their shoulders and walked out. A thief saw She Yue on the ground and saw that she was beautiful. He immediately became interested in her and said with a smile, "What a pretty young lady. Why don't you go back with me and have fun with her?"

So they also carried Musk Moon. The group left Tiekan Temple from the back door. It was dark and windy, so they took shelter at the nearby Mantou Temple.

On this side, Jia Zheng and Jia Lian ordered servants to fetch water to put out the fire. After much difficulty, the fire was finally put out. However, when they looked closely, they saw that half of the Tiekan Temple had been burned down.

The uncle and nephew immediately hung their heads and sighed. It was really a dilapidated house and it rained all night. It would cost another fortune to repair the ancestral temple.

After the crowd dispersed, the two were discussing the allocation of money for repairs when suddenly an old woman came crying and yelled, "Master, it's bad, Master Bao is missing!"

Jia Zheng hadn't reacted yet, so he asked, "Could it be that he came out to watch the fun, and hasn't returned yet?"

The old woman said, "Not only Master Bao, but even Miss Sheyue has disappeared. The room is in disarray, as if she had been kidnapped by thieves!"

Jia Lian took a deep breath and said, "Uncle, this fire started out of nowhere. Maybe it's a trick to divert attention!"

Jia Zheng's body suddenly shook. He only had this one legitimate son in his life, and Jia Huan was a useless person. If Baoyu got into trouble, wouldn't the second house of Rongguo Mansion be...

Jia Lian hurried forward to support him. Jia Zheng said in a trembling voice: "Quick, send someone to look for him. We must find Baoyu!"

Jia Lian immediately called Lin Zhixiao and sent out some people to search for him. When he came back, he saw Jia Zheng slumped on a chair in a state of despair. He could not help thinking, "It is night now. If we send out too few people, it may not be enough. We may need to ask for help. Brother Jian's Haidian Villa is nearby. Why not send someone to ask for help?"

Jia Zheng said: "That makes sense. Go and send someone to invite him!"

Then another servant rode a fast horse to Haidian to ask for help. The servant fell twice before he finally arrived in Haidian and limped to the gate of the Bo's mansion.

It was already midnight, and after a tiring day, Li Weijian had already gone to bed with Daiyu. Half asleep and half awake, he suddenly heard Zijuan calling him. Li Weijian rubbed his eyes and got up to ask about it. He was shocked to learn that Baoyu had been kidnapped.

Daiyu also woke up at this time, got up with her clothes on and asked, "What happened to Brother Bao?"

Li Weijian said, "It is said that there was a fire in Tiekan Temple, and the thieves took advantage of the chaos to kidnap Baoyu."

"Ah?" Daiyu was greatly surprised and said, "Where do all these thieves come from in the capital, the best place in the world?"

Li Weijian pondered and said, "The capital is becoming more and more prosperous, and the rich merchants from all over the world are gathering here. Those bandits who cut off the roads will definitely follow."

Daiyu said, "What shall we do? Fourth brother still needs to help, and uncle only has Baoyu. If something unexpected happens to him, I'm afraid uncle won't be able to bear it."

Li Weijian thought and said, "This is what we should do. But I am not good at investigating cases, so I have to ask the government to handle it." Li Weijian dressed neatly and went to the front to call Ding Rufeng, and asked him to find Chang'an County and invite the criminal officials to come, so that he could investigate the case.

Then he met the bruised servant again and told him, "I know what my uncle said. Go and tell him to arrest all the people in Tiekan Temple. I will take the bailiffs with me at dawn and we will be able to investigate thoroughly."

The servant agreed and limped away.

Li Weijian pondered secretly, a fire broke out in the middle of the night, and Baoyu was the only one kidnapped. This seemed to be a collusion between insiders and outsiders, otherwise how could the thieves find Baoyu by such a coincidence?

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Mantou Temple.

But when the young actors were expelled from Rongguo Mansion, the third girl Tanchun could not bear it and asked Daiyu for help. Daiyu then sent them to manage the silk and satin shop owned by her and Baoqin. But these actors could not stand the hardship and were unwilling to be entertained or to kowtow.

Fangguan was already good friends with Zhitong from Mantou Nunnery, so after some thought, she decided to follow Zhitong to Mantou Nunnery. Later, other sisters, such as Ouguan, also came one after another, and now they have taken over Zhitong's nest.

Jia Qiang had a love affair with Ling Guan, and they had lived happily together since Ling Guan came to Mantou Temple. However, after a long time together, Jia Qiang became impatient with Ling Guan's affectation and willfulness, and they often quarreled over trivial matters. Jia Qiang was a playboy, and he had even done illicit things in his early years, so how could he be willing to stick with Ling Guan alone?
That day, Lingguan and Jia Qiang drank too much and started arguing about Jia Qiang's lover. Jia Qiang simply left in anger, leaving Lingguan alone in tears.

Fang Guan came to comfort her: "Why bother yourself with troubles? After all, few men in this world are sincere."

Lingguan cried, "I don't want anyone else but him. I want him to change his mind and stop paying attention to those vixens."

Fang Guan was about to persuade him again when she heard a commotion outside. Then Ou Guan came running in and said, "This is terrible! Those people have tied up Second Brother Bao!"

Fang Guan and Ling Guan looked at each other in shock. Fang Guan said in fear, "Those guys don't look like good people. Now that they have committed such a crime, they might implicate us."

Lingguan also said, "We have been bullied everywhere in Rongguo Mansion, and only Master Bao can say something good. Now that he is in trouble, it is not good to watch him die without helping him."

Fang Guan disagreed and said, "He means well, but has he ever taken responsibility? Besides, it was his mother who decided to chase us away!"

Ouguan thought, "It was the wife who chased us away, what does it have to do with Master Bao? Besides, in order to avoid being implicated in a case like this, it is better to make plans early." After a pause, she continued, "I don't know what you are thinking, but I have made up my mind. I will find an opportunity to go to Jiangnan tomorrow."

Fang Guan frowned and said, "What's the point of going back? Won't we still be wandering around?"

Lingguan wiped her tears, stood up and went to the front. Fangguan and Ouguan could not stop her, so they followed her. When they got to the front, they saw thieves guarding the woodshed, and in the hall in front, there were people shouting and drinking.

After Lingguan and the others had been around for a while, they were teased by a few thugs. Fangguan and Ouguan pretended to be nice to them, and because of Jia Qiang, these thieves did not tease Lingguan.

By midnight, the thieves were drunk and lying down. Fangguan, Lingguan and seven other young actors gathered to discuss privately. They all felt that it was not a good place to stay and that the best way out was to go south. Lingguan was reluctant to leave Jia Qiang and was determined to wait here.

How could they stay here for such a matter that could cost them their lives? Fang Guan threatened him, and Ling Guan finally agreed.

Lingguan then said, "Master Bao has been very kind to us. It would be inappropriate for him to leave like this. It would be bad to watch him die without helping him."

Fang Guan said, "What can we do? There are strong men guarding the woodshed, we can't defeat them."

Lingguan said, "Sheyue is locked up in the kitchen. I see the guard is drunk now. We can't release Master Bao, so letting Sheyue go is a gesture of kindness."

The seven little actors chattered and discussed, and all agreed. So around the fourth watch, they packed up their bags, secretly released Musk Moon, and fled in all directions. Musk Moon was saved, and expressed her gratitude profusely, and quickly found the direction to Tiekan Temple for help.

As luck would have it, just as they left, a thief got up at night and thought of Musk Moon's appearance and wanted to do something. But when he arrived at the kitchen, he found no one and only saw hemp ropes all over the floor, and he immediately started shouting.

Several thieves stood up cursing, and when they heard that Musk Moon had escaped, they immediately started to grumble. The leader said, "Not good, I'm afraid the news will leak out, and we can't stay here any longer."

"Where shall we hide then?"

The leader said, "There is a Rosewood Fort in the north of the capital. I have some friendship with the fort's owner. We might as well go to the Rosewood Fort to hide."

He immediately took Jia Baoyu away and hurried to Zidan Fortress at night.

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But Musk Moon was afraid of being caught by the thieves, so she did not dare to take the official road, but went into the mountains and forests. She walked many detours, and at dawn, she finally found the vicinity of Tiekan Temple.

Suddenly, they saw a group of people coming up the official road ahead, led by Li Weijian. Musk Moon hurriedly came out of the woods and knelt down to beg for help.

Li Weijian reined in his horse and stopped, looking carefully, then quickly dismounted and asked, "Muyue, why are you here?"

She Yue said, "Mr. Li, please save Mr. Bao. Last night, Mr. Bao and I were kidnapped by thieves and taken to Mantou Temple. It happened that Fangguan and Lingguan were in Mantou Temple. They released me in the middle of the night when the thieves were not paying attention."

Li Weijian turned around and said, "Captain Zhang!"

Captain Zhang patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Li, I will lead people to search the Mantou Temple right away!"

At that moment, smoke and dust were billowing, and Captain Zhang led more than thirty yamen runners and quickly went to the Mantou Temple.

Li Weijian brought several guards with him, freed up a horse for Sheyue to ride, and immediately rushed to Tiekan Temple. On the way, Li Weijian asked carefully, and Sheyue gritted her teeth and said, "It was Jia Huan! That fellow colluded with the thieves to kill Master Bao, but it was only because the thieves were greedy for money and wanted to use Master Bao to blackmail Rong Mansion that Master Bao was saved!"

Li Weijian said with a smile: "Jia Huan? He has become more capable... But it's not surprising, he has been wanting Baoyu to die for a long time."

When he was a child, he dared to kick Baoyu into the pond. It was because the pond was shallow, otherwise Baoyu would have been gone long ago.

Sheyue was very surprised when she heard this, but seeing that Li Weijian stopped talking, she did not ask any more questions. A group of more than ten riders arrived at Tiekan Temple, which was already in chaos.

Jia Lian came to greet him in a hurry. When he saw Li Weijian, he felt as if he had seen his backbone. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Brother Jian is finally here. Second Uncle is not feeling well now. You should go and try to comfort him."

Li Weijian said: "Don't panic, look who this is?"

"Mushuyue?" Jia Lian was startled and asked hurriedly, "Brother Jian, have you found Baoyu?"

"Let's talk about it after we meet Uncle Shi."

As they were talking, everyone went in. Jia Zheng looked gloomy. He had not slept well the night before and seemed to have dreamed that Mrs. Wang came to complain to him about not taking good care of Baoyu.

After seeing Li Weijian and Sheyue, Jia Zheng also perked up a bit: "Have you found Sheyue? Where is Baoyu?"

Musk Moon knelt down hurriedly and told Jia Zheng what happened last night. Jia Zheng staggered after hearing this and cursed with gritted teeth: "Evil creature! How could I give birth to such an evil creature! I thought he was plotting against my family property before, but now he wants to kill my brother!" He grabbed Lin Zhixiao and ordered him fiercely: "Go home immediately and tie up Aunt Zhao and Jia Huan, and leave them for me to deal with when I get back!"

Lin Zhixiao hurried to give instructions, and soon another constable came to report: "Master Li, we are too late. The thief has already escaped and is now missing. The head of the constable is searching everywhere for him."

Jia Zheng and Jia Lian were in a panic again, so Li Weijian said, "Don't worry, uncle. Musk Moon just said that the thieves are after money and can't harm Baoyu's life in a short time. The most urgent thing is to find Jia Huan first and ask Baoyu where he is hiding."

Jia Zheng thought about it and said, "That's exactly the reason. It's useless to stay here. I think we'd better return to the capital as soon as possible!"

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The Jia family did not mention their hasty return to the capital, but rather a group of thieves took Baoyu and traveled around the capital, arriving at Zidan Fort at noon that day.

The leader went forward to negotiate, and soon the gate of the fort opened. Jiang Yuhan came to greet them personally and greeted the thieves as friends. Suddenly, he saw Baoyu tied to a horse and gagged. Jiang Yuhan was surprised and asked, "Brother, why did you tie Baoyu up?"

The leading thief was surprised and asked, "Brother Jiang, do you know this man? To be honest, someone offered us money to kidnap him, and because the news leaked out, we came to your house to bother you."

Jiang Yuhan sneered, "This guy is spineless. I was sincere in my relationship with him, but he sold me out. He then sent a used maid to humiliate me. I was so angry that I couldn't find any fault with him!"

The thief laughed in relief: "So that's how it is. I will make sure to let Brother Jiang vent his anger later!"

As he was speaking, Jiang Yuhan welcomed the thieves into Zidan Castle. The tied-up Baoyu was thrown straight into the woodshed, and left behind a servant to guard him. The rest of the people went into the hall to eat meat and drink wine.

Xiren had been in Rosewood Castle for a long time, and although she was increasingly disliked by Jiang Yuhan, Xiren was determined and started to plot after being wronged for a few days. Although she did a lot of rough work every day, she was good at speaking and won over many servants.

One day, while she was washing clothes in the back, a maid came and whispered that the master's friends had kidnapped Master Bao and were holding him to extort money the next day.

Xiren was curious and took a quick look. The door of the woodshed was open. She saw that Baoyu was indeed locked up inside. Xiren was startled at first, and then she started to plan something.

She thought that if she stayed in Rosewood Castle, Jiang Yuhan would not like her. Baoyu was a soft-hearted person. Although she had done many wrong things before, if she could be saved this time, there might be a chance for her to turn things around.

After thinking it through, Xiren found a maid named Cui'er. This maid was originally a farmer from a nearby farm. Because she was quite pretty, she was abducted by the bandits. She was thinking about escaping from this place.

Xiren said to her, "Cui'er, now you have a chance to escape from the tiger's mouth, but you have to take some risks."

Cui Er's eyes suddenly turned red and she said, "Sister Hua, if there is a slight possibility, I would sacrifice my life. Sister Hua, tell me what you want me to do!"

(End of this chapter)