The Female Officer Became a Farmer After Getting Reborn

239 Capture (3)

Zhou Jia walked up to him and sneered, “Hunter? Would a hunter hurt someone with a saber? Would he ask for information about the county office? Tell me! Why are you here in Qingchuan to ask for information?”

Ah Cai spat at Zhou Jia. “We were merely walking on the road, but you surrounded us with sabers. Am I not allowed to resist? You wretched official, you’re harming the innocent.”

Zhou Jia said to the bailiff, “Hang him up and beat him until he confesses.” Seeing that the situation was not right, Ah Cai wanted to bite his tongue and commit suicide, but Mr. Qian blocked his mouth first.

No matter how the execution officers tortured him, Ah Cai still refused to tell them their motive. Zhou Jia looked at the dying Ah Cai and asked the officers to stop interrogating him for the time being.

!!

The cross-eyed man escaped from the bailiffs and went to a dilapidated house in the east of the city. He found his two accomplices waiting inside. He said to the tall man with a sad expression, “Brother, what should we do? Ah Cai has been captured by the bailiffs.”

When the eldest brother heard this, he rubbed his forehead and said, “No wonder they sent more people to the city gate. How did they discover us?”

The handsome man said anxiously to his brother, “Brother, let’s go to the county office and capture the county magistrate’s wife in exchange for Ah Cai.”

The eldest brother waved his hand and said, “Now that the county office is already on guard, it won’t be easy for us to succeed. We have to think of a way to get out of the city and spread the news.”

“Then what about Ah Cai? Are we going to abandon him?” The cross-eyed man looked at his brother indignantly. “Let’s go out together. How are the three of us going to explain to Sister-in-law when we go back?!”

“That’s right, Big Brother. Ah Cai’s dead if we don’t save him. We can’t leave him here.”

The eldest brother thought for a moment and looked at the two of them. “I’ll sneak into the backyard of the county office tonight. Wait for me here. Remember, don’t act rashly. Wait for me to come back.”

The handsome man said, “I’ll go! Brother, if anything happens to you again, it’ll be troublesome.”

The eldest brother smiled faintly. “Don’t worry! The small backyard of the county office can’t keep me. We can’t stay here after dark. It’s too cold at night. We have to find a place to stay.”

The cross-eyed looked at the house on the left with a fierce gaze. “Let’s stay at that house when it gets dark.” The eldest brother nodded and instructed, “Be careful. Don’t make any noise.”

In the county office, the bailiff was panting from the beating. Ah Cai still gritted his teeth and refused to confess. Mr. Qian shook his head at the bailiff to signal for him to stop hitting. If he continued, Ah Cai would be killed. Zhou Jia returned to the back office and told Li Yu that he had caught a spy, who was being interrogated.

Li Yu thought for a moment and said, “If these people are really spies from Great Qi, you might not be able to get the information through corporal punishment. Sir should be back in the next two days. Invite Sir to concoct a medicine that can make people uneasy and hallucinate. After you feed it to him, it’ll be much easier to get a real confession.”

Zhou Jia smiled and said, “I originally wanted to interrogate him with the same punishment you used to scare that bandit surnamed Tu, but I was afraid of killing him.”

Li Yu glanced at Zhou Jia and shook her head. “If it’s a carefully nurtured spy, you might not be able to get the news.”

“That’s right! Torture has been used, but the man still wants to die without a word. What you said about using medicine is not bad. I’d better wait for Sir to come back. Be careful at home. I’m going back to the office.”

Li Yu nodded and watched as Zhou Jia went to the front office. She held her waist and turned around to sit on the edge of the bed. She gently stroked her stomach. Suddenly, her stomach moved. Li Yu couldn’t help but exclaim, “Little baddie, don’t be naughty.”

Her stomach quietened down for a moment. Li Yu took off her shoes and leaned against the blanket. The child moved again. Li Yu gently stroked the bump on her stomach and said gently, “Baby, don’t be too naughty. Mother will feel uncomfortable if you keep kicking around.” The child slowly quietened down.

The sky slowly darkened. Ding Man, who was guarding the city gate, still did not find any traces of the cross-eyed man and the other two people. He said to the few people guarding the city gate, “The city gate is about to be closed. It seems that they are hiding in the city. I wonder if Ah Hui is better?”

A bailiff said, “The city gate will be closed in an hour. Let’s go see Ah Hui together.” Ding Man nodded in agreement. Looking at the gray sky, he thought to himself, ‘I’m afraid it’s going to snow again tonight. Where are those people hiding on such a cold day?’

Zhou Jia also received news from the bailiffs guarding the city. He said to the scribe, “Mr. Tu, is there any place in the city where one can hide?”

Scribe Tu looked at Zhou Jia and said, “Sir, they must be hiding in some abandoned house. Let me think. There are a few abandoned houses not far from the city gate in the east and two in the west. Do you think it’s feasible for us to send someone to search them before it gets dark?”

Zhou Jia thought for a moment and said, “That level of that person’s martial arts is not low. Mr. Tu, go and see if County Lieutenant Yu is still in the front office. Ask him to bring people to the east city to search first.”

“Alright, I’ll call County Lieutenant Yu now.” Scribe Tu quickly went to County Lieutenant Yu’s room. Seeing that County Lieutenant Yu was about to leave the office, Scribe Tu said, “Master Yu, please bring someone to come with me to the east city to search for a few unidentified suspicious men. I’ll tell you the details on the way.”

County Lieutenant Yu hesitated for a moment before saying, “Okay. Shall we go now?”

“Yes, we’ll set off immediately.” County Lieutenant Yu nodded in agreement. He and Scribe Tu led a few bailiffs and rushed in the direction of the abandoned house in the East City.

The sky slowly darkened, and a bitterly cold wind swirled in the dilapidated houses that let in wind everywhere. The cross-eyed and his companions felt increasingly cold as they hid in the abandoned house. A layer of white frost appeared on their eyebrows and whiskers. The cross-eyed man pointed at the residence on the left and said, “Brother, let’s do it now, or we’ll freeze to death.”

The eldest brother hesitated for a moment. “Bear with it for a while more. We’ll go when it gets dark. If we alarm someone, we’ll attract the officials.”

“It’s so cold, no one will come out.”

The handsome man nodded. “Yes! Who would go out in the cold?”

The eldest brother finally stood up and said, “Alright, you have to settle it quickly. I’ll go to the county office to take a look.” The three of them got up and hid before running in separate directions.

Scribe Tu and County Lieutenant Yu led the bailiffs to the abandoned house and slowly approached the house where the trio had been hiding. Suddenly, they heard a faint scream from the house on the left. “Not good,” County Lieutenant Yu said. “Someone has been killed.” He quickly swept towards the place where the sound had come from.

Scribe Tu panted as he said to the bailiffs, “You guys, go support County Lieutenant Yu.”

County Lieutenant Yu leaped into the hedgerow and rushed toward the lit house. He kicked open the door and saw two men with sabers. An old woman and a boy of about ten lay in a pool of blood.

“Beasts,” County Lieutenant Yu shouted angrily. He raised his saber and slashed at the two of them. The cross-eyed man raised his saber to block, and the handsome man took the opportunity to raise his saber and slash at County Lieutenant Yu.