How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Chief Zhang stroked his chin, feeling quite displeased. Not only was the Lü family involved with the Guo family, but they were also connected to the Song family.

Isn't this a troublesome matter? If Zhang Xun hadn't sided with Guo Zixing, he really would have wanted to extort some money to release the man.

But now I dare not do that, in case they investigate...

Ugh, what a hassle, so incredibly troublesome.

Sergeant Zhang has always only wanted to make money and never wanted to get involved in these troublesome squabbles.

He was unhappy, and he made no attempt to hide it on his face. "What the hell are you doing here? Didn't you see I put up a seal? Do you have no respect for the law?"

Song Yi knew very well how demanding Chief Zhang and his gang were, so he quickly came up with a reason.

"Chief Zhang, I had no choice. I know the Lü family has put up a seal, otherwise I wouldn't dare to come."

Sergeant Zhang slapped him across the face, yelling, "You bastard, you're breaking the law, aren't you? You don't respect me at all?"

Song Yi shrugged, looking humble. "How could that be, sir? I really have no choice. I'm short of money. I only came here because I heard that an antique shop had been shut down."

"If he doesn't tell the truth, beat him up." Let's vent our anger first before talking about anything else.

These guys were used to being arrogant under Chief Zhang's leadership, and beating people was a common occurrence for them.

The usual practice when interrogating prisoners is to beat them until they are scared before questioning them. Nine out of ten prisoners will then tell you everything they know.

Song Yi rolled on the ground, being kicked around, shouting, "I'll never do it again, I'll never do it again!"

He suppressed the urge to fight back, pretending that he was just a sack.

The group kicked and punched him for a while, but they didn't dare to actually kill him. After all, even when beating a dog, you have to consider its owner, and this person belonged to the Song family.

Seeing that things had gone far enough, Chief Zhang called for a stop, saying, "That's enough, guys. You've gone too far. You've hurt them badly."

Song Yi's whole body ached. Fortunately, he had protected his chest with his hands, so he didn't suffer any internal injuries, but his skin and flesh were definitely bruised and purple.

He gritted his teeth and endured it, beads of sweat dripping down his face, groaning in pain, seven parts genuine and three parts feigned.

After all, Chief Zhang and the others were used to this kind of thing. They waited for him for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and seeing that he was gradually recovering, they continued to ask, "So, what brings you here?"

Song Yi didn't get up, but curled up on the ground, and said with difficulty, "Chief Zhang, I'm not lying to you. I'm really short of money and wanted to try my luck, but I didn't expect to be caught by you."

Sergeant Zhang rolled his eyes. "You think I'm incredibly stupid? That I deserve to be fooled by you, huh?"

Another slap landed. "Your Song family is richer than Commander Guo's. You're telling me you're out looking for food? Do you think I'd believe that?"

Song Yi explained, "Chief Zhang, no matter how rich the Song family is, it's not mine after all. I... I recently found a lover, and I'm short on cash, so I came up with this crooked idea. I originally thought this place was sealed off and no one was around, so..."

Chief Zhang's patience, which was already running out, was slowly wearing thin. "A lover? What the hell kind of lover would make you take such a risk? Doesn't the Song family pay you a monthly allowance? Isn't it enough?"

"That's not enough! Chief Zhang, you're not married, so you don't know how many women you need to pursue. I just wanted to show off a bit. Please, be magnanimous and let me off the hook. I'll definitely thank you tomorrow with generous gifts for all the brothers."

Seeing that Song Yi seemed to be quite cooperative, Chief Zhang was not satisfied with his answer. If this man were brought to the Song residence, they would surely extort a large sum of money from him.

Old Master Song is slippery, and it's not easy to get involved with him. Will Chief Zhang let this opportunity slip by?

"Sigh, I was willing to let you go, but you're useless. Fine, arrest him."

Chief Zhang was determined to use this "hostage" to extort some benefits from the Song family, and no matter how Song Yi explained, he simply ignored him.

Song Yi knew in his heart that, given Chief Zhang's past behavior, he was most likely trying to use him to gain entry into the Song family. Therefore, he was determined not to give in, since his brother and mother both held positions in the Song family.

Fortunately, arrangements had been made for the banquet. If Song Yi did not return in time, someone arranged by Master Song would come to pick him up.

Once he had sorted things out in his mind, he became even more unwilling to change his story. He insisted on the charge of theft, which was better than involving Yan Ru.

Meanwhile, Yan Ru had already circled the street several times, inevitably attracting the attention of some people, but still hadn't seen Song Yi come out, and began to have a bad feeling.

We cannot sit idly by and wait for our demise; the banquet is no longer going to turn around.

I didn't see Qingru anywhere, maybe my sister has other plans?

Yan Ru found a clothing store and used the large sum of money Song Yi had given her to buy an ordinary jacket. It consisted of a medium-length gray-blue coarse cloth robe with a diagonal placket and earth-brown coarse cloth trousers.

There was a special place in the shop for women to change clothes. Yan Ru changed her clothes, folded them into a bundle and carried them on her back. She also draped the jacket with the Song family mark over her wrist so that she could change into it at any time.

After making these preparations, my heartbeat gradually calmed down.

Yan Ru didn't go anywhere else, lest Song Yi come out and not be able to find her, so she waited in front of the wonton stall where she had eaten.

After two groups of customers walked past the stall and still hadn't seen Song Yi, Yan Ru realized something was wrong.

Follow the direction Song Yi disappeared in, and see if you can run into him.

Yan Ru didn't know if Master Song had made any backup plans, but she couldn't care less at this moment. She couldn't let Song Yi take the blame for her mistakes.

"Beep beep," a car came down the street. At this time, cars were still rare, especially on West Street.

Pedestrians quickly made way, and Yan Ru also moved to the base of the wall to let people pass.

Zhang Xun drove over; he had been lying in ambush nearby, and upon seeing Chief Zhang's signal, he immediately drove over.

Meanwhile, Chief Zhang had already ordered his men to tie up Song Yi and torn a piece of curtain to cover his head.

What a joke! The plan was to catch a woman, but what's the point of catching a man instead? But it's not a complete loss, so we can call it a day.

Yan Ru looked at the direction the car went, and the more she looked, the more familiar it seemed. Wasn't that... the direction of the Lü family's courtyard?

My heart started racing. So... they really were going to capture her?

Yan Ru headed in that direction and saw that the car was indeed parked in front of the Lü family compound. The leading policeman opened the gate and went inside.

Breathing heavily, Yan Ru tried her best to suppress her panic, and in a short while she had already figured out how to deal with it.

She ran quickly to the well, drew a bucket of water, washed her face, let down her hair and braided it into two braids, instantly transforming from a woman into a young girl.

They then packed up the clothes from the Song family, added a few stones to the bundle, and sank it into the well.

Holding her head up to the moonlight and looking at her reflection in the water, she realized she wasn't dressed like she had when she first arrived, and only then did Yan Ru stop.

Still somewhat flustered, Yanru decided to check the situation inside first.

Running to the door and looking inside, he saw a group of people dragging Song Yi out. Song Yi was still shouting, "I'm innocent! I just came in to steal something. I have nothing to do with the Lü family!"

Yan Ru immediately understood that Song Yi didn't want to involve the Song family and was taking all the blame upon himself. Judging from the unnatural way he walked, he must have been beaten.

Feeling guilty and uneasy, he became even more determined to create chaos and help Song Yi escape.

Several large men quickly escorted the person to the front yard.

"who?!"

Zhang Xun was always observant, and he immediately noticed a strange figure standing at the door.

Yan Ru stammered, "I...I was just passing by and saw a police car, so I wanted to see what was going on."

Zhang Xun strode forward, while Yan Ru stepped back, saying, "I, I'll leave now, I'll leave now."

After saying that, he turned and ran, only giving Song Yi a fleeting glance.

Song Yi didn't know how he understood, but he thought to himself that this stupid girl could run away but not escape her fate. Even if she ran away for a while, the other party would come looking for her.

Yan Ru understood, of course, that she was doing this simply to clear the Song family of suspicion, since the whole thing started because of her.

Zhang Xun was indeed trained; he caught Yan Ru in just a few steps, his large hand gripping her shoulder firmly like an eagle's claw.

He pulled her back sharply, and Yan Ru fell to the ground. Zhang Xun restrained her and lifted her face.

That glance left him momentarily speechless; her beauty was truly undeniable, even in simple clothes.

Even Chief Zhang, who ran up behind, was stunned. They were not unfamiliar with women, but Yan Ru's beauty was the most striking they had ever seen.

They noticed the fear and evasiveness in Yan Ru's eyes and asked sternly, "Why are you running?"

"I...I get nervous whenever I see soldiers. Officer, could you please let me go?"

Zhang Xun had seen Yan Ru's photos before. Even if the photos differed from the real person, it would be difficult to mistake her for someone else. The same was true for Chief Zhang.

The two of them found themselves in sync once again.

"If you were just here to watch the show, of course you could leave, but you are... Miss Lü. Don't you know we've been looking for you?"

No matter how hard Yan tried to control her breathing, she couldn't suppress the shock she felt. She thought she could stall for time, but...

"Yes, yes, there are photos of myself at home." Yan Ru secretly scolded herself for being stupid, not thinking of this.

Now there was no need to act; the look of astonishment and fear naturally appeared on his face.

He decided to be more open-minded and asked, "Why are you arresting me? What did I do wrong?"

Chief Zhang laughed and said, "I wouldn't know about that. You should go to the jail and ask your old man yourself."

Song Yi was also forced out, and the police herded the two into the back seat of the car, where they were closely watched by officers on both sides.

The two didn't dare to look each other in the eye or recognize each other, and pretended to be strangers.

The car drove away from South Street. The people from the Song family arrived a step too late and naturally saw two figures being suppressed in the car.

Seeing this, the leader pointed to a fast-moving person and ordered, "Go and catch up with the carriage, see where they are going, leave one person here to guard it, the rest of you come back to the manor with me to report."

Zhang Xun was driving in front, and Chief Zhang was sitting in the back next to Yan Ru.

"Hey bro, you're not going the way you're heading to the police station."

Zhang Xun replied, "How could that be? Aren't we going to the Marshal's Mansion to personally hand over Miss Lü?"

"Hand it over? I'm afraid the person you're looking for isn't Commander Guo, but Young Master Guo."

Since Zhang Xun joined Guo Zixing's side, his words and actions have clearly shown his bias towards him.

But Chief Zhang was different. He didn't want to take sides; he just wanted to stay in the police station. No one paid attention to his position, which was neither big nor small. No matter how the people above him changed, he was still the chief.

Therefore, although the two were cousins, they often did not get along.