How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Qingru and the others ran away as soon as they were out of the guards' sight, unaware that several pairs of eyes were already watching her.

Guo Zixing picked a pear, munched on it, and slowly made his way into town. He distributed the rest to the group of people who had been on duty the day before.

The sweet pear juice melted in his mouth, quenching his thirst and soothing his throat. Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, Guo Zixing paused.

"Something's wrong."

Chief Zhang asked, "What's wrong? That young woman showed up?"

Instead of answering, Guo Zixing asked, "Didn't you think something was off about the pear seller?"

Sergeant Zhang thought about it carefully, "No, is there anything wrong?"

Guo Zixing pondered, feeling that something was amiss, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it."

Sifangcheng is known for its "rich in the east, noble in the west, poor in the south, and lowly in the north" layout. The Lü family's shop is located in the southwest corner. Qingru plans to sneak over there first and then go to Grandpa Hua's daughter-in-law's house to check things out.

He casually distributed a few pears to a few beggar children, pocketed the copper coins, and headed southwest.

They dodged left and right, avoiding crowded places. When they arrived, they were surprised to find that the Lü family's shop was sealed off.

He found a vendor with a stall nearby, squatted down, and started asking, "Hey buddy, what happened to this shop? Antique shops can get into trouble and get sealed off, right?"

"Hey," this young man often sets up his stall here, so he probably knows something. "How strange, antique shops can't get into trouble, they're the ones that get into trouble the most."

Qingru pretended to be interested, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"It seems you know, young man. Why don't you tell me about it?"

There wasn't much business at the moment, so the young man had some free time. "Come here, come closer, I'll tell you, this Scholar Lü got caught selling fake antiques."

"impossible!"

Qingru blurted out, then regretted her quick tongue, "How could that be? Wasn't this boss supposed to be the most honest person? Is someone setting a trap for us?"

"How would I know? Anyway, the Marshal's Mansion was alerted. Several groups of people came and searched the place thoroughly. I heard they even found some things that were stolen from the tomb."

They know their own family situation best. There's no way Mr. Lü would sell counterfeit goods, and the tomb raiding story is completely fabricated. They felt something was off about the matter. "Didn't they even hire a lawyer?"

"Where can we find him? Both of his daughters have run away, and they're still looking for them. Besides, even Commander Guo said, 'This man is extremely treacherous,' so there's no way he can escape."

This is a difficult situation. Commander Guo is the guardian deity of Sifang City. These past few years have been filled with war and chaos, but fortunately, after Commander Guo arrived and governed strictly, the people enjoyed a few years of peace, and therefore they all trusted him.

"Did Commander Guo say that himself?"

"Yeah, it's not true." The young man spoke with absolute certainty, but Qingru felt a bitter taste in her mouth.

"What about his servants? Where did they go? Were they arrested too?"

"That's hard to say, they only arrested Lü Peijun."

As the young man was talking, he noticed Qingru's unfamiliar face and immediately became wary. "Who are you? Why are you asking about their family?"

Qingru came to her senses and smiled shyly, "Well, my family is too poor, and I was thinking of taking some old bowls and plates to see if they were worth anything."

The young man became interested. "Then let me see it. I know how to tell. I've been setting up my stall here for so long, I know a little bit about it."

"Hehe, who has that thing on them? I just came to ask around. Since I can't sell it, I'll be leaving now."

The young man gave her a suggestion, "Hey, why don't you go to the pawnshop? There's one in the north of the city. Hey, don't go there."

Qingru thanked them as she ran, afraid that if she said a few more words she would give herself away.

The Lü family didn't have many servants. Besides Old Master Hua and his wife, they would occasionally hire his son to do some work, and there were also a few casual laborers.

Qingru decided not to go looking for those casual laborers, since even if she did, they wouldn't know the secret.

Having figured all this out, Qingru headed north of the city. She remembered that Grandpa Hua's son lived there, and hoped that Grandma Hua was also there, so that she could know some inside information.

The city is well-connected, but to find a shortcut, you have to go through the city center, which is cheaper to go anywhere.

"stop!"

Qingru was on her way when she was suddenly stopped by several shady-looking men.

These three or four people were very thin and dressed in coarse linen clothes, but they looked energetic. They were clearly poor but well-fed. As for how they managed to get enough to eat, it was probably related to their behavior.

"What, you want money?"

Qingru decided to deal with it for now and then wait for an opportunity to act.

The leader, who also had a cloth band wrapped around his head, casually tossed his long stick around and said disdainfully, "Where's the money you just earned from selling pears? Give it to me."

So it turned out they wanted money. Qingru didn't care about the money, so she cooperated and said, "I...I don't have any money."

Stop pretending and show me.

The skinny boy shoved her hard and ripped off Qingru's clothes. Qingru wouldn't let him tear her clothes off, so she quickly took a few steps back and said, "I...I'll give it to you."

Qingru tossed a dozen or so copper coins to the ground and ran away while they were picking them up.

In a panic, people will go wherever there are many people. Although not everyone will be able to help them, they will feel more at ease.

Unfortunately, "misfortunes never come singly".

With a loud bang, Qingru was sent flying to the ground. She was immediately dizzy and her arms went numb from the impact.

"What are you doing? Can't you watch where you're going?" the man shouted, having bumped into the horse's head.

The horse was hit hard and went berserk. It plowed the ground with its four hooves and neighed. The rider was jolted forward by the inertia. His thighs, which were clamped between the horse's belly and his body, were released and he was thrown into the air!

Chief Zhang shouted anxiously, "It's over, it's over! If this young master gets thrown off the horse and trampled to death, then he won't be able to live either!"

Guo Zixing was also flustered, but he remained calm and quickly grabbed the horse's neck with both hands, lowered his hindquarters while airborne, and kicked off with his feet, keeping his legs tightly gripping the horse's belly.

While calming the horse down, I pulled on the reins. Fortunately, the horse was trained, and after running around erratically for a while, it gradually calmed down.

Once the horse had calmed down, Guo Zixing gently stroked its back before dismounting and angrily galloping toward the culprit.

He slapped her hard across the face and yelled, "What are you doing? Arrest her!"

The slap caused half of Qingru's face to swell up. She mumbled, "Sir, spare my life! Those petty thieves stole my money and chased after me. That's why I panicked and bumped into you. Please spare my life, sir!"

Guo Zixing then recognized her. "It's you?" he exclaimed. "The pear-selling woman."

Qingru's face was swollen on one side, and she was even dirtier than in the morning, covered in dust. When Guo Zixing asked her, she nodded hurriedly, "It was me. I got some money from the officer this morning, and someone saw me and tried to rob me."

She spoke haltingly, her voice trembling with tears, which made Guo Zixing frown but not lash out.

Chief Zhang walked over at that moment and overheard the conversation. "Oh dear, this is terrible! You've caused chaos on half the street with that startled horse."

Qingru then looked around and saw that several nearby stalls had been overturned, and the food stalls were in a terrible state, with food splattered all over the ground.

She silently apologized, feeling quite embarrassed, and said, "I...I didn't mean to. I was going to have a lot of money to pay back, but now I have none left."

Guo Zixing had been observing her, his doubts still lingering. "Even if it wasn't intentional, she still has to pay for it; it's her livelihood."

Qingru didn't know what he was planning, but what he said made sense. She planned to go back and get the money, and secretly return it to the stall owners.

It's best to play the victim now. "I...I'll pay you back next time I sell pears, okay? I don't have a single penny left."

"Is it them?" Zhang Xun brought over the skinny monkey and the others and asked Qingru to identify them.

When Qingru saw the skinny monkeys, she wanted to punch them a few times. If it weren't for their commotion, she wouldn't have ended up in Guo Zixing's hands.

He said angrily, "It's them." He went over and pried a few copper coins out of their hands. "Why are they still missing?"

Skinny Monkey's eyes darted around quickly. It wasn't the first time he'd been arrested by the police, and he immediately cried out that he was innocent, "You've got the wrong person! I would never rob anyone! I earned all this myself!"

"Nonsense, this copper coin is still fragrant with the scent of pears when placed next to my pears."

“My family has pears too.” Skinny Monkey reacted quickly. “It’s not like your family has pears. What makes you think this money is yours? This is a false accusation, Chief Zhang. False accusation is a crime, isn’t it?”

She winked at him; he usually paid protection money to the police.

Chief Zhang held the money in his hand, casually weighing it in his hand. "Skinny monkey, don't lie through your teeth. This money is from me... What's your name?"

Qingru was stunned, "My...my name is Cui'er."

There should be quite a few overlaps in this name.

"Oh, Cui'er, this money was given to this Cui'er girl by me. Is it yours?"

"I..." Skinny Monkey regretted it. How could he have forgotten that he had personally witnessed Chief Zhang give it to him at the city gate? It was too late to regret it now. Besides, it wasn't about robbing money at all, but about bringing it out and startling the young master's horse beside Chief Zhang.

Skinny Monkey, unable to speak, stammered, "Brother Zhang, I..."

"Shut up," Sergeant Zhang snapped, "Don't yell like that. Go to jail and reflect on your actions."

Guo Zixing watched coldly as Chief Zhang dealt with the skinny monkey, his attention mainly focused on Qingru.

"Young Master, what do you think we should do about this?"

Sergeant Zhang asked Guo Zixing in a pretentious manner, to which Guo Zixing replied nonchalantly, "You handle it."

"Miss Cui'er, is your face alright?"

Guo Zixing came over and asked her again, and Qingru calmed down and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing. I'll go home first and come back to sell pears next time."

"I feel bad that your face is so swollen. Let me find a doctor to take a look at it for you."

Qingru dared not stay with him any longer, for saying too much would only lead to more mistakes. "I'm easy to take care of, nothing to worry about, no need to see a doctor."

Guo Zixing insisted, "Let's go. It wouldn't be good if you, a girl, got disfigured."

Qingru tried to argue, "I don't have any money. I'll come back after I sell the pears."

Guo Zixing grabbed her arm and pushed her onto the carriage without saying a word. He raised his voice and said, "My Guo family has always loved the people like our own children. We will never let good people suffer any injustice. If you don't have money, I will naturally pay for it for you."