Chapter 211 - Two-Hundred and Eleven: The Law
"Granny, take out that jade pendant and let me look at it!" Zhang Xian wasn't interested in that "ungrateful wench." He was only concerned about the whereabouts of that jade piece.
Zhang Tao looked around and muttered, "Why isn't your mom done with those dumplings yet? Why aren't your father and grandfather awake yet?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhang Xian's mother brought out a bowl of dumplings. Zhang Xian took the dumplings and impatiently ordered, "Go to the small shop at the east end of the village and buy me some canned food. I want coconuts."
The woman looked at her son blankly. Annoyed, Zhang Xian stuffed the ten dollars into her hand and said, "Hurry up and go already! You don't have to hurry back; pick the cans with later expiration dates!"
After sending his mother away, Zhang Xian told Zhang Tao, "Granny, my father and grandfather drank so much yesterday, I don't think they'll wake up before midnight tonight. It's just us now, so hurry up and show me the treasure!"
Zhang Xian looked eager, and Zhang Tao also had the urge to show the pendant off after talking about the past for so long. It was indeed torturous for her not to show off her nice things. It had tortured her for decades, and she couldn't resist it any longer.
Under her grandson's urging, Zhang Tao finally returned to the house. She asked Zhang Xian to help shift the blankets away, move the cabinet to the side, and then use a hammer to knock out some of the wall's bricks. Finally, Zhang Xian took out a palm-sized small wooden box from deep within the hole in the wall. Dirty and dust-covered, Zhang Tao sighed in relief when she saw the box.
Zhang Xian walked out with the box. "Hey, hey, where are you taking it?" Zhang Tao cried out anxiously. "Others might see it if you take it outside!"
Zhang Xian replied with an excuse, "It's too dark in the house, so let's look at it outside! It's nice and bright out! Oh, come on, Granny! Don't fuss. There's no one—"
Zhang Xian had already taken the pendant out as he spoke, and his words cut off as he stood in the courtyard, admiring the crystal-clear jade pendant in his hand under the sunlight. The piece of jade had an old and faded red string tied to it.
Bang! Someone outside banged open the gate.
Zhang Xian was so startled he even forgot to put away the jade pendant he was holding. He stared at the intruders and cursed, "Who the hell are you people? Don't you know how to knock?"
Two women in the group—one young and one elderly—screamed, and Zhang Xian subconsciously clenched the jade pendant in his hand because they were staring at it. Before Zhang Xian could react, two burly men restrained him and snatched the jade pendant away.
Arms pinned down and face squished to the ground, Zhang Xian yelled, "Help! Murder! Robbery!"
Zhang Tao heard the ruckus and saw someone restraining her grandson the moment she came out of the house. She picked up the broom at the door and rushed over, screaming, "Help! Bandits! There are bandits here! Help!" The broom hit the bodyguards holding Zhang Xian down. The two were unmoved by the attack and looked at their boss.
"This woman was the one who kidnapped my daughter. Grab her!" Gu Bei said coldly. Immediately, two more bodyguards came over and grabbed the screaming Zhang Tao.
"Search the place and tie up anyone breathing in there!" Gu Bei ordered, and the bodyguards took action.
Soon, even Zhang Xian's father and grandfather—still sleeping in the house—were tied up and thrown into the courtyard. The bodyguards found a few clean chairs and bid the others to sit down.
However, Chen Yao was in no mood to sit still. She held the jade pendant and cried in Yun Nan's arms. Yun Nan was sure the pendant was the keepsake her mother had constantly been thinking about. It was the only clue her mother had to find her way home, yet it was possessed by these selfish and malicious people, causing her mother a lifetime's suffering.
The Zhang family's shouts had attracted the attention of their neighbors. Although the Zhang family weren't good people, they had lived in the village for generations. The villagers here were all related somehow or the other; they couldn't just watch as the Zhang family got bullied by a group of outsiders who came from nowhere.
A middle-aged man came forward and glared at the intruders. "Who are you people? Don't you know the law? I could have you all arrested for breaking and entering, as well as hurting these people!"
Before Shi Nian and Ye Kun could come over to mediate, Gu Bei frostily stated, "I'm here to look for my abducted and abused daughter. Is that a crime?"
The villagers were all stunned. Of course, they were well aware of how the Zhang family got their daughter-in-law, but no matter how you look at it, that daughter-in-law couldn't have come from a wealthy family. These people were too grand to be that timid woman's relatives.
A few women pushed a small and skinny old woman to the front. One of them questioned, "You're saying she's your daughter?" That skinny old woman was Zhang Xian's mother. She held a can of coconut in her arms as she stood there, helplessly isolated and overwhelmed. She wished she could find a hole to hide in at the moment. She had no idea what was going on.
Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m fre𝒆webnov(e)l.com