freenovelworld Chapter 221 The thugs are caught, and the ladies are saved.
Chapter 221 The thugs are caught, and the ladies are saved.
The officers and soldiers rushed forward, rescued the young women from the sacks, untied them, and removed the cotton cloth stuffed in their mouths.
The young ladies slowly woke up and vaguely saw a group of soldiers. They thought they were dreaming.
Shen Qianchuan and Xiao Jiu rushed over together, knelt on one knee, and shook a young lady, saying, "Have you seen Xiao Tang? She's only seven years old, with bright eyes. She also disappeared at the market."
The young ladies looked around in confusion, and when they realized that Xiao Tang was not there, they immediately shook their heads to indicate that they did not know.
“We don’t know where she went. We were together before, but for some reason we all fell asleep, and we don’t know what happened after that.”
what?
Since Xiaotang was also arrested, why doesn't anyone know where she went?
Xiao Jiu felt a vague unease and a bad feeling began to form in her mind.
Shen Qianchuan, who was standing to the side, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Seeing that he couldn't get any answers from the young ladies, he turned to look at the villains being held down by the soldiers. He rushed over and kicked the tiger, knocking him to the ground.
He was furious and asked, "Where is Xiao Tang? Where did you take Xiao Tang? Why isn't she here when you arrested her?"
Before the tiger drugged the ladies and smuggled them out, the rat had already thrown several of the already weakened ladies into a mass grave.
They were engaged in a business that could lead to executions, and their crimes were already numerous. If people knew that some of the girls they had captured had died, wouldn't their crimes be even more unforgivable?
The people were already dead, and they had been left in the mass grave for so long. Their bodies were probably being eaten by snakes, ants, rats, and insects by now. How could he dare to tell Shen Qianchuan where the bodies of those young ladies were?
So he had no choice but to pretend he didn't know. "I don't know. We have no idea who Xiaotang is. All the girls we've captured are here. If the person you're looking for isn't here, then she wasn't captured by us. Just look carefully again."
Those ladies all know Xiao Tang, yet this damned villain claims he doesn't. Clearly, he's lying.
So Shen Qianchuan kicked the tiger in the chest, causing it to spit out a mouthful of blood.
"You bastards, all those ladies know Xiao Tang, and you're still pretending to be confused. If you don't hand over Xiao Tang today, I will definitely not let you off the hook."
A hint of disdain flashed in the tiger's gloomy eyes. Since they had already been captured, as long as they denied everything, no one would know that the young ladies had been thrown into the mass grave. But if they confessed, their crimes would only be compounded, and they would die a more miserable death.
Even a fool knows that in this situation, what needs to be said should be said, and what shouldn't be said should be kept a secret!
Xiao Jiu glanced at the tiger and the mouse and found that the tiger looked shrewd, while the mouse looked rather simple-minded.
He stood up and walked towards Haozi, coldly saying, "I know that Xiaotang was captured by you. These young ladies also know Xiaotang. If you tell me Xiaotang's whereabouts, my fourth uncle and I will not pursue the matter of you capturing Xiaotang."
The mouse opened its mouth, only to find that it couldn't open it.
Because he had already thrown the body into a mass grave, along with the bodies of three other young women.
If he reveals the whereabouts of the four young ladies' bodies, he will not only not be forgiven, but will be punished even more severely.
So he lowered his head and stubbornly denied it, agreeing with the tiger's story: "I don't know, all the people we arrested are here."
Xiao Jiu slapped Haozi hard across the face, gritting his teeth as he said, "Tell me, tell me where Xiao Tang is! If you don't tell me, I'll kill you!"
The rat said with a look of disdain, "You think you can kill me? You're just a wet behind the ears. If you kill me, your life will be ruined. Whether you kill me or not is for the government to judge and punish. The people we arrested are all here. If you can't find them, why are you blaming us?"
"you……"
Xiao Jiu was so angry that he almost snatched the sword from the soldier and stabbed the rat to death.
The more these people refuse to listen to reason, the more people suspect that Xiao Tang may have been harmed by them.
Although the criminals have committed heinous crimes, the trial has not yet begun, and they cannot stand by and watch someone harm the criminals. If they accidentally kill the criminals, their county government will be in trouble.
The two soldiers guarding the tiger and the rat said, "Calm down, don't get agitated. That's enough. We'll take them back to the county office for a proper interrogation, and we'll give everyone an explanation then."
Shen Qianchuan trembled with rage. He roared, "My niece is only seven years old. She's gone. How can I not be agitated? She's so young. I don't know what these heartless beasts have done to her."
As you all just heard, these women know my niece, but these two scoundrels stubbornly deny it, insisting that all the women are here. The more they try to hide it, the more it proves they have something to hide. I don't even know if my niece is alive or dead; how can I not be agitated?
At this moment, the clerk led a group of soldiers to rush over. He saw that the soldiers in civilian clothes were escorting the villains and that the young ladies had been rescued. Only then did the clerk secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
Good, great! We finally caught these reckless bastards and rescued the person. It wasn't a wasted effort. The adults will definitely praise him when they get back.
As soon as Xiao Jiu saw the clerk arrive, he immediately ran up to him and bowed.
"My lord, they have captured my young lady but refuse to tell me her whereabouts. No matter how we inquire, they may have already harmed her. Please, my lord, do us justice and help us find out where my young lady is."
The clerk's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately said, "What? There are still people we haven't found?"
He glanced down at the three thugs forced to kneel on the ground, and then spotted the wealthy-looking Fifth Master.
"Did you instigate those two to do this?"
Fifth Master immediately denied it, "No, no, no... no, I'm so bad at talking, how could I possibly order those two around?"
He couldn't admit to being the mastermind. If the authorities found out he was the mastermind, he would definitely lose his head.
The clerk didn't believe Fifth Master's words at all. He coldly ordered, "Take them back to the yamen and interrogate them thoroughly. Don't let any detail slip by!"
"Yes, Master!"
So the officers and soldiers immediately escorted the three thugs and the still-shaken young ladies back to the county government office.
Xiao Jiu and Shen Qianchuan hadn't yet found out Xiao Tang's whereabouts, so they naturally went to the county government office as well.
The clerk ordered his men to prepare instruments of torture and began to severely interrogate the suspects in the backyard of the county government office.
Why use torture to extract confessions? Because these people, even when facing death, still refuse to confess carefully, thinking that as long as they remain silent, the county government can't do anything to them.
How ridiculous!
After being tortured, Fifth Master, Tiger, and Rat cried out loudly. They were soon covered in wounds and blood, a shocking sight.