The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 219 Jia Lian's Team Will Suffer

Before he could finish speaking, a group of constables dressed like Zhang Er and his companion rushed into the courtyard.

These people surrounded Zhang Er and his two companions, and then a bearded man came in from the doorway and stood in front of them.

This bearded man was not tall, but he was very burly. His face, which should have been rugged, was now gloomy and sinister.

Zhang Er and the other two were already pale with fright when they heard the sound they had just heard.

Seeing the way this bearded man was posing now, I was even more terrified.

However, by then it was too late. Zhang Er and Ma Si could only suppress their fear and ask tremblingly:
"Rainhead, what brings you here?"

The bearded man, nicknamed "Rainhead," sneered and said:
"You even know I'm your boss, yet you're doing side jobs behind my back, and you even asked me why I'm here. You've got some nerve."

Yu Tou'er was filled with anger, clearly very dissatisfied with Zhang Er and Ma Si.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Er and Ma Si knew that Yu Tou'er probably already knew what they had done.

Based on their understanding of Yu Tou'er, if this matter cannot be explained clearly...

Not only will they lose their jobs as constables, but they will also likely find it difficult to even establish themselves in the capital.

Thinking of this, the two exchanged a glance privately.

Then Zhang Er quickly said:
“Head Yu, you must have misunderstood something. We were trained by you, how could we dare to do private work behind your back?”

Rain Head naturally didn't believe it, and he stared at her, saying:

"Don't try to argue with me. The men you two sent have all been captured. Don't think that just because you've climbed the social ladder by marrying into the Prince, you can get rid of me, your head constable. Let me tell you, no way."

If Zhang Er had truly climbed onto Prince Su's coattails, he naturally wouldn't be afraid of Yu Tou'er.

However, the current situation is that although they have helped Prince Su find out the whereabouts of the item, they have not yet found it.

They had no confidence that this small achievement would allow Prince Su to protect them.

So Zhang Er tried his best to explain, hoping to get past Yu Tou'er.

He thought for a moment, then pretended to be puzzled and said, "Rain Boss, you've really misunderstood. You know perfectly well what kind of people we are. How could we possibly climb up to the prince's high branch?"

Whether it was because he had been with Zhang Er for a long time or for some other reason, Ma Si, who was standing next to him, was not present.

They surprisingly said in perfect unison, "We don't even know which way the prince's gate faces, let alone that we know him."

Although the two spoke sincerely and their faces showed that they were telling the truth.

Still unable to dispel Yu Tou'er's suspicions, Yu Tou'er asked:
"Since you don't recognize the Prince, what were your men searching for all over the city this afternoon?"

Hearing Yu Tou'er's words, Zhang Er pretended to suddenly understand and said:

"So this is what you're talking about, Yu Tou'er. I'd like to explain this to you in detail, so that no one will take offense at us and cause trouble for you."

This Zhang Er is quite clever; he not only knows how to fabricate stories, but also how to shift blame eastward.

His last sentence was clearly meant to imply that someone wanted to get rid of the two of them, which was why they were talking nonsense to Yu Tou'er.

However, Yu Tou'er was clearly not a simple person. He didn't react to Zhang Er's words at all, and just waited quietly to see how Zhang Er would explain.

Seeing Yu Tou'er's expression, Zhang Er became even more nervous. He dared not make any more small movements and could only continue making things up according to the method he had just thought of.

"Yu Tou'er, here's what happened. Today, the two of us went out to patrol the streets and happened to run into a young master who was shopping with his family."

Later, some ignorant thief stole the jewelry that this young master had bought, and he asked the two of us to help him find it.

Yu Tou'er, you see, this is the territory that the two of us patrol, so if anything happens, it will be our responsibility. Therefore, we sent someone to help this young master find his things.

"We were only thinking about finding the item quickly, not about climbing the social ladder. Besides, we didn't even know this young master's identity."

It's unclear whether this leader of the rain didn't fully hear Zhang Er and the others' conversation, or if he had other considerations.

He asked suspiciously, "You really don't know that young master's identity?"

Zhang Erma and Si shook their heads together.

"do not know."

Seeing that Yu Tou'er's attitude had softened somewhat, Zhang Er quickly said:
“Rain, you must know this young master’s identity. If he is indeed a noble young master, then we can’t linger here. It would be best to get the item in our hands. Otherwise, things can go wrong at night. If the item is taken by the people from Shuntian Prefecture, that would be bad.”

Yu Tou'er thought about it and realized that what he said made sense.

Anyway, Zhang Er and his gang can't escape. There will be plenty of opportunities to teach them a lesson later, but we can't let others take the credit for what we've done.

So he stopped bothering Zhang Er and the others and instead asked:

"You should have found out where the item is. Where is it?"

Zhang Er grinned and forced a smile, saying, "It's in the South City, around the old houses area. My men are guarding that area. If we go there now, we'll definitely catch them red-handed."

As someone born and raised in the capital, Yu Tou'er naturally knew where Zhang Er was referring to.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Since we're there, let's not delay and set off now."

After he finished speaking, he didn't forget to give a wink to the people on both sides.

Those who had followed Yu Tou'er in saw this situation and several people came out to guard Zhang Er and the other two closely, one on each side.

Clearly, Yu Tou'er still didn't completely believe what Zhang Er said.

Seeing this, Zhang Er and his companions looked helpless, but they could only follow.

If it weren't for the interruption from Yu Tou'er and the others, Zhang Er could have led his men to the thieves' hiding place much earlier.

But now that they've been delayed, even though they're trying their best to hurry, they've fallen behind others.

And the one who got ahead of them was none other than Jia Lian, who led the servants and personal guards of the Jia family and arrived ahead of time.

Speaking of the Jia family, they also had a chaotic afternoon today.

After Lin Daiyu returned to the Jia family mansion, she told them about losing her jewelry.

When the Jia family heard that the jewelry was the same set that Jia Min had left at the jewelry shop, they knew that it was of great significance.

I also heard that Prince Su had summoned all the yamen runners of Shuntian Prefecture in order to find the jewelry.

The two Jia families naturally dared not neglect the task. After discussing it with Jia Jing and Jia Zheng, Jia Lian led a group of people to help find the jewelry.

His thought was that whether he could find it or not wasn't a big problem, but he had to have the right attitude.

So Jia Lian and Jia Rong spent the whole afternoon searching, but they didn't find any useful clues at all.

However, just as they felt it was getting dark and were preparing to go home...

But on the road, someone threw a note at them, which surprisingly contained the whereabouts of the thief.

Faced with such a strange note, Jia Lian couldn't immediately tell if it was real or fake.

After discussing it with Jia Rong, he decided that regardless of whether it was true or false, they should go and see for themselves, just in case they found something.

Anyway, the destination is within the capital city, so there shouldn't be any major danger.

And so, Jia Lian led his men and arrived at the old houses area in the south of the city ahead of Zhang Er and the others.

When they arrived, it was already getting dark, and soon the curfew would begin once it was completely dark.

Therefore, in order to get back to the mansion before curfew, Jia Lian ignored the advice of his old personal guards and did not send anyone to scout the area before leading his men straight there.

Jia Lian thought that there were at most a few petty thieves here, and with so many men on his side, they would be easy prey. But what he didn't expect was that when he arrived with his men, before he could even surround the place where the thieves were hiding, he heard the sounds of fighting coming from both sides.

Jia Lian was astonished. How dare this petty thief be so bold? He quickly turned to the person beside him and asked:
"what's going on?"

Those who were with Jia Lian naturally had no idea what had happened.

Fortunately, the old guard who was in charge of leading the men to flank the enemy from the side sent someone over to explain the situation.

"Chief Xiao said that they encountered unidentified people ahead, who were armed. They started fighting without warning, and the people in the manor had no choice but to fight back."

Xiao Tou'er was one of Jia Lian's old personal guards who had followed him to the Jia family. He was one of the few people in the Jia family who had fought on the battlefield.

Since this person says so, it means that a fight is unavoidable.

Fighting in the capital is a taboo, especially when both sides are armed.

Jia Lian asked nervously, "Did Xiao Er say what weapons the people we're fighting are using?"

The servant who came to deliver the message said, "Just like in our mansion, they all carry sticks and clubs, but no knives."

Hearing this, Jia Lian breathed a sigh of relief. If it was just a beating, the problem wouldn't be so big, and he could explain it away.

Feeling less nervous, Jia Lian then became concerned about the person opposite him and asked:
"Are there many people fighting us?"

The servant said, "Chief Xiao said that although they don't have as many men as we do, they are more capable fighters, so they are probably not the petty thieves we are looking for."

"Aren't we supposed to be looking for someone?" Jia Lian was taken aback at first, then said, "What are we fighting for? If we scare the thieves away, who will I be looking for?"

The servants didn't know how to respond to Jia Lian's complaints.

Jia Lian thought for a moment and said, "Go to the other side and tell Uncle Rong about this situation. I'll go to Xiao Er's place to see what's going on."

After saying that, he led his men toward Xiao Er.

However, by the time Jia Lian reached Xiao Er, the fighting had gradually ended, and both sides were carefully retreating.

Jia Lian came over, walked to Xiao Er's side, and asked in a low voice:

"What's happening here?"

Xiao Er stared at the person opposite him while answering in a low voice:
"You've misunderstood. They're probably looking for something, just like us."

"Like us?" Jia Lian was surprised and asked, "Are they from Shuntian Prefecture?"

Xiao Er shook his head and said, "I didn't see anyone wearing official uniforms, but their fighting style didn't seem like that of amateurs."

These words left Jia Lian somewhat confused.

If he's not an unlicensed individual, then he must be an official.

But given the character of those people in the government offices, how could they possibly not wear official uniforms when handling such matters?

It seemed the person opposite him was no ordinary individual, so he said to Xiao Er:

"Why don't you try to find out where they're coming from?"

Xiao Er nodded, indicating that he understood, and then whispered:

“I’ll stall them here. You should take some men and go check out those dilapidated courtyards in the middle. The fight was so intense just now, those petty thieves must have been alerted. If you don’t go now, I’m afraid they might accidentally run off to the other side.”

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian was startled, only then remembering that he had come to arrest people and take things, not to fight with a group of unidentified people.

Thinking of this, Jia Lian didn't say a word and led his men to search the several dilapidated courtyards ahead.

These old houses in the southern part of the city have been abandoned and have not been rebuilt since they were flooded.

Therefore, the houses here are severely dilapidated.

Aside from a few people who didn't leave, generally no one would settle down here.

So these dilapidated houses became places where local scoundrels and hooligans conducted their transactions.

The two petty thieves who stole the jewelry this time probably had the same idea in mind.

Because it was a dilapidated old house, the search was relatively quick.

Before long, Jia Lian led his men to search three or four courtyards.

Just as he was about to enter the next courtyard, he suddenly heard faint footsteps ahead.

It seemed that someone was walking towards the courtyard in front of them.

Was it that the petty thief was alerted and wanted to run away, or was it that the group from before, like himself, also wanted to search quietly?

Regardless of the possibility, Jia Lian felt that they couldn't wait.

He waved his hand, signaling those who were blocking his way to rush forward.

If you encounter a petty thief trying to escape, arrest him first.

If the other side tries to steal someone, you must block them and prevent them from succeeding.

Seeing Jia Lian's actions, the servants in the mansion rushed over without hesitation.

Jia Lian didn't lag too far behind; he followed the servants over the gap in the dilapidated courtyard and entered the courtyard.

As soon as he entered, he could vaguely see a row of people standing opposite him, holding sticks and confronting the servants in the mansion.

Seeing this, it was obvious without even thinking that these were the people who had just fought with him.

They seemed to have the same plan as Jia Lian, intending to take advantage of the fighting between the two sides to secretly search for the petty thief.

It must be said that these two groups of people tonight are kindred spirits.

After the fight, both sides knew they couldn't defeat the other anytime soon, so neither dared to move in the courtyard.

However, they didn't have to wait long before Jia Rong and Xiao Er, who had been leading men to flank them from both sides, ran over together.

The two of them were rushing and were panting heavily.

However, Jia Lian did not let them rest, and asked directly:
"Have you found out who they are?"

Xiao Er and Jia Rong shook their heads, both indicating they didn't know.

Xiao Er took a couple of breaths and said in a low voice, "Second Master Lian, I have a feeling that something is wrong with what happened tonight."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian was startled and quickly asked, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Er shook his head and said, "I can't say for sure, but ever since I inexplicably got that note, I've had a bad feeling about it."

Veterans like Xiao Er, who survived the battlefield, sometimes have very accurate intuition.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian quickly asked, "Since you feel something is wrong, what should we do now?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Er said, "The best course of action right now is to retreat immediately."

Upon hearing about the retreat, Jia Lian was conflicted. They had already come all this way and even fought with someone. If they didn't get the jewelry back, wouldn't they be at a huge loss?

Xiao Er, however, didn't allow Jia Lian time to think further. He sensed the increasing danger and urged Jia Lian to hurry up:
"Second Master Lian, make a decision quickly, or it may be too late if we don't leave now."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian made his decision.

(End of this chapter)