Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 581 - 581 582 He is the thief_1

Chapter 581: Chapter 582 He is the thief!_1 Chapter 581: Chapter 582 He is the thief!_1 Yu Ze hurriedly protected Muniang and dodged to the side. This was a bustling market with many people, and in the chaos, it was possible for someone to get trampled to death.

Muniang, shielded in Yu Ze’s embrace, finally stole a moment to observe the situation outside. She saw a man in grey fish a purse full of silver out of the bundle and stuff it into his bosom. He then casually tossed the bundle to the “old farmer” and shouted, “I’ll make a run for it first, cover for me!”

Then the man in grey vanished without a trace.

The ostensibly innocent old farmer clearly hadn’t grasped what was happening, standing there dumbfounded, clutching the bundle, unsure of what to do.

The woman chasing the thief rushed up, searching all around for the miscreant’s figure and cursed, “Damn bastard, stealing my things! Hand them over!”

Muniang stepped forward and pointed directly at the old man. “Could that bundle be what you’re looking for, ma’am?”

The woman immediately flew into a rage, glaring murderously at Zhuang Yile. She charged over saying, “You shameless scoundrel, robbing people in broad daylight, you best be prepared for me to beat you to death! Do you think women are easy to bully?”

The woman snatched the bundle from Zhuang Yile’s hands, then proceeded to pummel him relentlessly.

Zhuang Yile repeatedly begged for mercy, “Madam, you’ve misunderstood, misunderstood! How could an old man like me run so fast? The thief has already run away and just threw the bundle to me! If I were the thief, would I be so foolish as to wait here for you to beat me?!”

The woman, upon hearing this, did pause, her heart swaying somewhat with belief, especially since the man was clearly an elderly fellow, hardly able to walk steadily—how could he have run as fast as the one just now?

As Zhuang Yile thought he was about to get away, he heard Muniang loudly say, “You’re lying! You’re in league with that thief. Just now I clearly saw him toss you the bundle and say he’d go ahead while you cover the rear. Madam, you mustn’t be deceived by him!”

The woman’s eyes widened with suspicion, “You’re his accomplice!”

Zhuang Yile felt a headache coming on, “Truly, I am not! Why would an old man like me become a thief? With these legs, if I offered to be an accomplice, they would think I’m more trouble than I’m worth!”

Muniang snorted coldly, “Madam, do not be fooled by him. I suspect they deliberately stationed an old man here to stop you, so you wouldn’t send him to the authorities due to his pitiful act, letting the matter slide. But as for the money in the bundle, it’s probably gone by now. If you don’t believe me, Madam, why not check the bundle and see if the money is still there.”

Upon hearing this, the woman hurriedly searched through the bundle, her face turning pale as she began to curse loudly, “What a scoundrel to dare deceive me! I’ll kill you! Quickly, cough up my money, you shameless thing!”

Zhuang Yile was on the verge of tears, truly beyond redemption, and shot Muniang an angry glance. However, he realized that this woman was the same girl he had encountered yesterday at the foot of Little Jade Mountain, who had seemed so well-mannered. Little did he know she could twist words so convincingly—she could make white seem black!

Muniang’s mouth curved into a hidden smirk. “Madam, the silver is certainly not on him now, but with his accomplice. If you want to get your silver back, you’ll need to figure out how to retrieve it from his partner. We might as well report this to the authorities and have them arrest this man. Then there will be no fear of not being able to follow the trail and catch the thief—Madam’s silver can surely be retrieved.”

The woman nodded repeatedly, “You’re right; I’ll report this to the authorities right away. Little miss, your heart is truly kind. I owe you a great debt this time. Otherwise, I would have been fooled by these thieves!”

The woman gratefully took Muniang’s hand; sincerity was evident in her voice, and the surrounding people were full of praises as well.

Zhuang Yile’s face turned green as he glared at Qiao Muniang, his eyes nearly shooting fire.

Muniang raised her eyebrows at him, “Come out and mix, and eventually, you have to pay the price.”

But Zhuang Yile definitely couldn’t go to the government officials; once there, they would certainly check his household registration. As someone from Qilian Kingdom in the Daqian Dynasty, he was essentially undocumented, because the relationship between the two countries had always been tense, with such fierce warfare that declaring oneself from Qilian Kingdom in public would get you pelted with rotten eggs.

Moreover, to register locally, one must have a relative in the area. With no relatives in the Daqian Dynasty, he naturally had no household registration. Living in the depths of the mountains and never encountering outsiders, the registration made no difference to him. But now, if he were to be handed over to the officials and discovered to be undocumented, and furthermore, a person from Qilian Kingdom, how could he continue to get by?

“Hey, hey, hey, madam, don’t be in such a hurry to send me to the government officials, I’m really not a thief,” Zhuang Yile said anxiously.

“Let the government officer decide whether you’re a thief or not!” the old woman scolded.

“How about this, whatever amount of silver you’ve lost, I’ll repay you, alright? Let’s just forget about going to the officials, okay?”

The old woman’s expression softened a bit; getting the silver back wouldn’t be a bad thing.

However, Muniang immediately said, “Old woman, you mustn’t do this. This thief is so afraid of going to the government officials because he must have committed many crimes in the past. If he goes in, he fears he won’t come out. His accomplices are likely up to no good as well. Since we’ve caught him this time, we must deliver him to the authorities. Then, we’ll round them all up, and our Pingyue City can be a little more peaceful. Otherwise, if we let them keep causing trouble outside, who knows how many more people they might harm!

Moreover, even if he compensates you with silver now, once we go to the officials and have the government officers round up his accomplices, of course, you’ll get your silver back. It won’t end there; that gang of thieves won’t have a good fate. By then, old woman, you’ll be the benefactor of our Pingyue City! If we let him go now, the future troubles will be endless. Neighbors, am I right?”

The surrounding people immediately echoed her sentiment: “Exactly, exactly, we can’t let him go, we must send him to the officials!”

Yu Ze couldn’t help but smile wryly; whom was she calling ‘neighbors’!

The old woman, hearing this, was immediately invigorated, rolled up her sleeves, and grabbed hold of Zhuang Yile: “Don’t even think of running. Today, I’m definitely dragging you to see the officer. A crime happened under my watch, I’ll make sure you can’t escape the consequences!”

As she spoke, someone immediately went to find the patrolling government officer.

It didn’t take long before a couple of government officers came to take the man away.

When Zhuang Yile was being led away, as he passed by Muniang, he gritted his teeth and said, “I have no grievances with you, why do you bully me?! To think that just yesterday I kindly gave you a bowl of water!”

Muniang blinked, “Elder, you have a good memory. If I’d known yesterday that you were a thief involved in such sordid business, I wouldn’t have drunk the water you gave me, no matter what. That’s my principle!”

“Well said, young lady!” The crowd cheered.

Zhuang Yile was so furious he nearly stumbled backward. All those years out in the world, and it was the first time he’d been brought down by a young girl!