Chapter 43: Wang Heyao Gets Arrested
The other bailiff who had gone out came back panting and said, “There’s no one outside. It seems someone saw us enter and slipped the letter in.”
The bailiff holding the letter pondered for a moment and asked Qiu Henian, “Your foster father’s surname is Wang, and the letter mentions someone surnamed Wang as well. What’s your relationship with them?”
Qiu Henian then explained his relationship with the remaining two brothers of the Wang family and recounted past grievances.
The bailiff furrowed his brow and said, “It looks like regardless of who the sender is, we need to visit this eldest Wang’s house.”
Due to past conflicts between Wang Heyao and Qiu Henian, the bailiffs didn’t ask them to lead the way but instead inquired about the general direction and proceeded.
As the two bailiffs arrived at the east side of the village, many children of various ages who hadn’t seen such a scene before followed them playfully.
The incident of money being stolen from the second son of the Wang family had already spread through the village several times last night.
As the bailiffs walked along, many people peeked out of their homes, and some curious ones asked if the bailiffs were going to arrest someone at Eldest Wang’s house.
The bailiff stopped and asked, “How do you know we’re going to Eldest Wang’s house, and why do you think we’re going to arrest him?”
The person looked around and lowered his voice, saying, “I heard that the money stolen from the second son of the Wang family was by a worker. But you didn’t take the worker away; instead, you came towards Eldest Wang’s direction. Most likely, you’re going to arrest him. His mother has been hungry and her face is blue recently.”
“She hasn’t stopped him from going out to eat, drink, gamble, and visit brothels. Yesterday, I heard their mother crying in the courtyard, and her husband was sobbing. I don’t know if they’ve lost all their savings, but they were desperate and went to steal money from the second son of the Wang family.”
The bailiffs looked at each other with even more suspicion in their eyes.
They hadn’t gone far when they arrived at their destination. After knocking on the door, a thin man in his thirties wearing a gray robe, with a clear blue palm print on one side of his face, came to open it.
When he saw that it was the bailiffs, he looked somewhat flustered, but it was understandable. Common people were inevitably apprehensive when facing those who ate at public expense, especially in this remote mountain village where most villagers had never seen much of the world and had little interaction with the county office.
The leading bailiff asked, “Are you Shen Wen, the husband of Wang Heyao?”
Shen Wen lowered his head, somewhat fearful, and nodded, “Yes, sir.”
The bailiff asked again, “Is Wang Heyao at home?”
Shen Wen shook his head and said, “He’s not. He just went out…”
Before he could finish his sentence, an elderly woman from behind asked, “Who’s there?”
Shen Wen quickly turned around and replied, “Mother, it’s two bailiffs, sir. They’re asking where my husband went.”
The old woman came out, looking somewhat worn out, with deep wrinkles on her face.
When she saw the bailiffs, she also seemed afraid, shrinking her shoulders and saying, “My son Heyao went to the county town. His friends invited him for a drink.”
As soon as these words came out, the leading bailiff keenly noticed that Shen Wen suddenly looked back at his mother-in-law, then quickly lowered his eyes.
The bailiff looked at Shen Wen and said, “Tell me, where did Wang Heyao really go? If you don’t tell the truth, you’ll get the paddle in court!”
Shen Wen suddenly raised his head, his face pale, and said, “He… he went to the gambling den in town.”
The bailiff squinted and asked, “I asked the neighbors earlier. Your family can hardly put food on the table. Where did he get the money to go to the gambling den?”
Shen Wen was about to reply when the cowering old lady suddenly burst forward and rushed to hit someone, shouting, “You bastard! How dare you speak nonsense! Watch me kill you!”
Her hand was already swinging towards his face.
The two bailiffs were not to be trifled with. One raised his hand and stopped the old lady, scolding, “Cause any more trouble, and we’ll take you back to the county office!”
The old lady spoke fiercely, her eyes red, “You can’t catch the thief, so you’re coming to arrest us. Heyao loves gambling and drinking, but he’s not a bad person. He definitely didn’t take the money. If you dare to arrest him, I’ll go to the magistrate and report you!”
Her inadvertent remarks hit the mark. There had indeed been cases of such things happening in the county office. After the incident, it even affected the promotion of the county magistrate and deputy magistrate at the time.
Therefore, the county’s punishment in this regard was extremely strict. If discovered, not only would one be dismissed, but they would also end up in jail. It was as miserable as it could be.
So upon hearing this, the two bailiffs both had their faces changed.
The leading bailiff grabbed the old lady’s shoulder with an iron palm, his eyes showing disgust and coldness, saying, “In that case, you’ll come with us to the county office and make your complaint to the magistrate.”
The bailiff sneered, “But let me tell you something in advance. If you make false accusations without evidence, you’ll get the paddle. At your age and with your health, I’m afraid it’s one way in and no way out!”
Having said that, the two bailiffs shook their clothes and walked out of the village.
With the situation as it was, whether the money was stolen by Wang Heyao would be revealed once they arrested the person in the gambling den and brought him back for trial.
Once the people were gone, the old lady sat on the ground, slapped her thighs, and began to wail. Shen Wen also burst into tears, crying uncontrollably, unsure of what to do.
Someone went to help Shen Wen up and reminded him, “Anyway, first take your mother-in-law home. There are so many people here, all watching the show at your house.”
Shen Wen hurriedly nodded, wiped away his tears, and went to help the old lady who was sitting on the ground.
When the old lady saw him, she stopped crying, her eyebrows raised sharply, and she reached out to hit him again, but was stopped by villagers nearby, who said, “He’s helping you kindly. What are you doing?”
The old lady cursed, “It’s all his fault. Since marrying him, nothing good has happened…”
Despite the continued accusations, the degree of harm did not diminish. Shen Wen covered his face and cried aloud, which made the villagers sigh.
The old lady didn’t want to continue being watched, so she got up from the ground, pulled Shen Wen crying, and walked back. Once in the yard, she slammed the door shut with a bang, blocking the eyes of the onlookers outside.
Once inside the house, the old lady swung her arm and slapped Shen Wen, yelling, “You traitor, selling out your husband!”
But this slap didn’t land on Shen Wen’s face. Shen Wen grabbed her wrist, no longer showing any sign of weakness or continuous tears on her face.
His eyes were bright, his back straight, and he seemed to stand much taller all of a sudden, with a faint smile at the corners of his mouth as he looked at the old lady.
Mrs. Wang was stunned.
She saw her usually obedient daughter-in-law smiling at her and saying, “If you don’t discipline your son properly, someone else will. He probably won’t come back. You’re getting old. Think carefully about how to live the rest of your days!”
With that, Shen Wen shook off her hand, causing the old lady to stumble, and then he walked into the house and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Mrs. Wang was full of anger and was about to kick open the door to confront him. But as she lifted her foot, her leg almost gave out, and she nearly sat down on the ground.
She was already old.
If her son really didn’t come back, who could she rely on?
The fire of anger gradually faded from Mrs. Wang’s eyes. She stood blankly at Shen Wen’s door for a while, then hung her head in dismay and turned back to her own room, closing the door behind her.
…
At noon, news spread in the town that the two bailiffs had found Wang Heyao, who was gambling enthusiastically at the gambling house, and took him directly to the county office.
According to witnesses, Wang Heyao had been on a winning streak today, boasting and laughing until the bailiffs arrived, and he realized he was in trouble.
He tried to run, but his body was too weak. He stumbled after a few steps and fell to the ground. The bailiffs easily tied him up and took him away.
In the afternoon, Qiu Henian was summoned to the county office as the victim. The village head and Liu Fa accompanied him.
Other villagers who were curious followed behind.
Qingyan wanted to go too, but Qiu Henian said there might be corporal punishment involved, so Qingyan reluctantly stayed home to wait for news.
The wait lasted until before dinner, when some villagers rushed back home anxiously before finishing the matter.
Other villagers crowded around and asked, “Wow, as soon as he was put in the squeeze, Wang Heyao confessed. He stole the money from the second son of the Wang family. Yesterday morning, when no one was home, he jumped in, pried open the window, and took the entire money bag.”
“This guy is really shameless. The family can’t even afford food. After stealing the money, he didn’t even buy a grain of rice for the family. He returned home for a moment and went straight to the gambling house in town.”
“He was still on trial when I left. It probably won’t be finished for a while.”
Qingyan waited until dark before hearing noises outside the courtyard.
Li Shen went out with him and saw the familiar tall figure walking in. Qiu Henian smiled tiredly at him and said, “I’m back.”
During dinner, Qiu Henian briefly talked about the situation in court, similar to what the early returning villagers had said. After that, the county magistrate asked some detailed questions.
The reason there were no signs of forced entry on the doors and windows of the house was because Wang Heyao had been familiar with the place since he was a child.
Qiu Henian didn’t know that the window in the house where Blacksmith Wang lived had a slight problem. Even if it was locked from the inside, it could still be pried open from the outside by pinching the window frame.
As for how Wang Heyao knew where the money was hidden, he couldn’t explain it. He just felt it should be there. When he entered the house, he went straight to the bottom drawer of the bed and indeed found it.
After dinner, Li Shen went back, and Qiu Henian took out the money bag from the bag, placed it heavily on the table, and opened it for Qingyan to see.
Inside, there were neatly stacked over four hundred taels of silver.
The feeling of recovering what was lost was even more joyful than when they first obtained it.
Qingyan touched the silver coins and asked, “What will happen to Wang Heyao?”
Qiu Henian pondered for a moment and said, “The laws of this dynasty are very harsh on theft. The county will report to the prefecture, and the prefecture will continue to report further. We’ll have to wait a few months to know the specific outcome.”
After these anxious days, they finally settled down. After washing up that night, the two went to sleep.
The next day, Qiu Henian repaired the broken window and carefully inspected the other windows and doors again.
In the morning, villagers came by from time to time to inquire about yesterday’s situation at the county office. Qiu Henian repeated what the villagers had said yesterday. As more people heard it, they found it less interesting and stopped coming.
In the afternoon, the two of them went to town together again and deposited all the surplus silver money that was not needed at home into the bank.
They used to find depositing and withdrawing troublesome because they had to go to town specially. Now, for the sake of safety, they had no choice but to deposit it.
They also bought a sturdy lock from the grocery store. When they returned home, they put the silver money left for feed and purchases deep into the cabinet and securely locked it with the new lock bought in town before they could rest assured.
The village knew that their family had lost a lot of money, but only a few people knew how much exactly. However, rumors would eventually die down over time.
That night, the couple took a bath, Qingyan went to the cabinet to find his white underclothes, and found nothing wrong. After drying off, he put them on.
He lay down in bed and turned off the light.
Qiu Henian turned sideways and hugged him, lowered his head to smell the fragrance of his hair, and gently stroked down his back from behind his neck with his large hand. Qingyan hummed comfortably a few times and pressed his face against his neck.
Until that warm hand continued down to pat twice on the fleshiest part of him, Qingyan’s body stiffened suddenly.
Feeling the soft, full sensation in the palm of his hand, Qiu Henian felt a bit restless in his heart, but he didn’t have any real thoughts. It was just an itchy hand.
He smiled helplessly, kissed Qingyan on the top of his head, and whispered softly, “You’ve been tired these days. Don’t move, just sleep.”
Spoiler for the Next Chapter:
Qiu Henian, a bit drunk, had a flushed face and slowed speech, repeating his usual line, “Qingyan is still young, no rush.”
