Red Mansion Taoist

Chapter 17 Captured
  "My boss, it's me who's lost my mind. I'll make up for the missing one hundred and thirty-six taels in the account book right now. I've moved some materials in the warehouse and I'll make up for it today. Please be kind and let the little one go!" The shopkeeper knelt on the ground with a bang, kowtowing and begging for mercy.

After his boss found out about the accounting problems, he didn't dare to take any chances.

It would have been better if Jia Qiang was white, but the problem is that Jia Qiang is wearing a Confucian shirt, and it is obvious from the look that she has a reputation.

Even if the twelve-year-old scholar left the Jia Mansion, his status as the shopkeeper would still be much higher than that of him.

Jia Qiang just reported to the Yamen, and Shopkeeper Ma had to skin him even if he didn't die.

In this circle, if something like this happened and he was caught by his boss, even if Jia Qiang could let him get away, he would have no future. No shop would hire a shopkeeper with unclean hands and feet.

Thinking about my wife and son, it would be a sad life if I didn't have the job of shopkeeper.

Now he only hates himself for being greedy. This greed of money has ruined his future.

Jia Qiang sat on the chair, tapping her fingers lightly on the table, and the clicking sounds affected Shopkeeper Ma's heartbeat.

Jade had a look of resentment on her face, feeling how could Shopkeeper Ma be so bad and reach out to her own business.

"This is your first offender. Write a letter of repentance and make up for all your greed. If you do something like this again in the future, we will be punished together!" Jia Qiang's fingers stopped tapping and he said in a deep voice.

Shopkeeper Ma was greatly surprised by his words, and he was overjoyed.

Although after writing the repentance, it is equivalent to having a handle left in Jia Qiang's hands. It will be easy for Jia Qiang to manipulate him in the future.

But the situation is stronger than the people, and he has no way out. He will either be sent to the Yamen by Jia Qiang, or he will hand over the handle to Jia Qiang and be driven by Jia Qiang in the future.

Shopkeeper Ma picked up the pen and wrote a letter of repentance on the paper with a slightly trembling hand, clearly describing his embezzlement of the owner's money. There was no falsehood in this process.

Jia Qiang's shrewdness was nothing like that of a twelve-year-old boy. Shopkeeper Ma just wanted to be honest and let the matter pass as soon as possible.

"Master, I'm going to get the ink pad!" After shopkeeper Ma finished writing, he took the initiative without Jia Qiang having to say anything.

"No need!" Jia Qiang said as she picked up one of Shopkeeper Ma's hands, pulled out the dagger from her waist, and opened a gash on his thumb.

Shopkeeper Ma's whole body convulsed with pain. He knew what he should do next. He pressed his injured thumb on the confession book, forming a blood-red fingerprint.

When Xiao Dongzi saw Jia Qiang's fierceness, all the hair on his body stood up, and his eyes were full of fear.

"Okay, run the shop well. I'm not a stingy person. If the shop is run well, I will give out rewards according to the situation!" Jia Qiang put away the hate book and said with a smile on her face.

He stood up and walked outside.

Shopkeeper Ma followed quickly. When he walked into the shop, he did not forget to pick up two boxes of rouge and gouache. After Jia Qiang left the door, he delivered the two boxes of rouge and gouache to Jade who was about to leave.

"Master, this is from shopkeeper Ma!" After getting on the carriage, Jade put the box in his hand in front of Jia Qiang and said truthfully.

"Take the gift I gave you!" Jia Qiang waved her hand indifferently.

Jade opened the box happily and saw the precious rouge and gouache in the box, her little face was full of joy.

"Sir, why do you want to let Shopkeeper Ma go?" Although she liked the rouge and gouache that Shopkeeper Ma gave him, she didn't help Shopkeeper Ma, but asked in confusion.

"The rouge shop is not that easy to run. Once you become the shopkeeper Ma, there is no guarantee that the new shopkeeper will not do the same thing. But having mastered shopkeeper Ma's letter of repentance, he will not dare to do anything else for at least the past two years!" Jia Qiang explained with a smile.

"I'm still smart!" Jade boasted, seemingly understanding.

The carriage traveled to a street with few people, and Lao Shun saw a cart lying on the ground in front of him, blocking the way forward.

He shook his head, jumped off the carriage, and prepared to move the cart to the roadside.

Jade emerged from the carriage holding two boxes. She was curious about what trouble was ahead.

At this moment, a figure rushed out from the alley on the side of the road, snatched away the two boxes of Jade, and then ran towards the back of the carriage.

"There is a thief!" Jade exclaimed.

Although Lao Shuntou was not young, when he saw someone robbing something, he quickly chased after the thief.

Lao Shuntou ran to the alley and could no longer see the thief. He turned around helplessly.

But when he returned to the carriage, he saw Jade lying in front of the carriage with a big slap mark on his face, and Jia Qiang, who was supposed to be in the carriage, had disappeared.

"Girl Jade, girl Jade, where is the master?" Lao Shuntou didn't care about anything else, stepped forward and gently pushed Jade's body, and asked loudly.

Jade was knocked unconscious by a slap, and she slowly woke up amidst Lao Shuntou's screams. "The master has been kidnapped, call the officer!" Jade shouted as soon as he woke up.

It turned out that just when Lao Shun was chasing the thief, another strong man came out of the alley. Without saying anything, he slapped Jade on the face, and Jade fell down immediately.

Then the strong man entered the carriage and took Jia Qiang away.

Although Jia Qiang was very strong, it was only the strength of a normal adult. When facing this strong man who was obviously trained, he didn't even have a chance to resist.

Of course, Jia Qiang did not resist when she discovered something was wrong.

As long as you don't kill him on the spot, there will be another chance later.

If he resists and is killed, there is no chance.

The strong man was very experienced. After grabbing Jia Qiang, he gently pressed his hand on Jia Qiang's neck.

A normal twelve-year-old child would definitely faint under this pressure.

Jia Qiang never fainted, but she pretended to fall down.

The strong man put Jia Qiang on his shoulders and strode into the alley.

The alleys here extend in all directions. With his familiarity with the alleys, it would be difficult to find him once he enters the alleys.

Jia Qiang felt the man's strength on his shoulder. The entire shoulder was completely made of solid muscles.

The strong man is not tall, but he is extremely strong. Even if he faces several ordinary people, he can easily handle him.

"How could he be a scholar? Now he is in some trouble!" The strong man murmured to himself.

His name is Ni Er, a gangster from this area who makes a living by lending money.

Lai Sheng, the steward of Ningguo Mansion, came to him and asked him to catch a child, and the reward was a full two hundred taels.

Ni Er is not a kind person at all. He is very willing to do this business for two hundred taels of silver to catch a child.

He is very experienced in dealing with prisoners, and he only used a few tricks to lure away the most troublesome old man.

Without the adult man around, Jia Qiang was easily caught by him.

But when he saw Jia Qiang, he also saw Jia Qiang's Confucian shirt.

This Confucian shirt was worn by Jia Qiang for the first time. Ni Er had asked people to follow Jia Qiang before, but he had never seen this Confucian shirt before.

If he had known that Jia Qiang was a scholar, it would not be that Ni Er would not have taken over the business, but he would have paid more.

Once the incident happened after he captured a scholar, Ni Er's crime was far worse than that of capturing an ordinary person, and his sentence was even more severe.

Ni Er just said that Ningguo Mansion was not something he could provoke, and he was very satisfied with getting two hundred taels of silver.

It was impossible for him to take Jia Qiang directly to Ningguo Mansion, so he took Jia Qiang back to his residence first, and then notified Butler Lai Sheng to come over.

Turn left and right in the alley, and finally stop in front of a wooden door.

He took out the key and opened the door, entered the room and threw Jia Qiang to the ground.

He put his hand in front of Jia Qiang's nose and found that Jia Qiang was still alive. Then he took out the rope with confidence and tied Jia Qiang tightly.

After doing this, Ni Er did not immediately go to see Butler Lai Sheng, but prepared to go there the next day.

Delaying it for a whole day seemed like a troublesome matter. He was experienced in this kind of thing.

He took out a jar of wine, mixed it with dried tofu and drank it leisurely.

After drinking to his heart's content, he started singing a ditty. When he was drunk, he stood up and thought about it before sitting down again.

"You can't touch that little girl, she won't be worth the price if she's ruined!" He said, taking another sip of wine.

Whether it was because he was in a complacent mood or because he suppressed his passion, he drank half a dozen of the bottles of wine, and he fell on the bed and snored heavily.

(End of this chapter)