The Princess of Northern Land
Chapter 121 Opportunity_1

Chapter 121: Chapter 121 Opportunity_1

A faint clamor came from beyond the wall, followed by the vague sight of people scaling it. Standing at the corner of the corridor, Lin Ziyin began to count the intruders.

...Five, six, seven, eight - precisely eight people.

Only the old man, Zige, Changting, and Guo Huiniang with her child were left in the courtyard. Quite a few people, alas, not particularly strong in combat. Lin Ziyin pondered on how to quickly resolve the situation without alarming her family.

"Spread out," a masked man whispered in the moonlight, instructing his companions, "Search everywhere and force that woman to reveal the directions."

"Yes, boss," a man next to him replied softly.

They came prepared! Lin Ziyin watched as the silhouettes slowly drew nearer, sneering. Suddenly, she stepped forward from the shadow of the corridor, and casually said, "Gentlemen, isn’t it rather strange to visit this late? And to whom does the ’woman’ you spoke of refer to?"

The masked men were taken aback, not expecting that Lin Ziyin would discover them in the middle of the night, and they froze momentarily.

"Quickly catch her before she attracts attention," a burly man commanded.

Lin Ziyin sneered as they approached, and suddenly, she pulled a rope hidden along the corridor. Instantly, the eight men either fell into a trap or were hoisted off the ground by their ankles. One was even more unfortunate, getting his foot caught in an iron clip.

"Ah, save me!" Before Lin Ziyin could utter another word, cries for help erupted from the captured thieves.

The thieves’ cries were swiftly followed by the glow of candles being lit in the rooms of Guo Huiniang and Zige.

"What is going on?" The old man was the first to rush to Lin Ziyin’s side, carrying a solid stick with a serious expression.

"Nothing much, a few thieves sneaked in and they’ve all been captured," Lin Ziyin answered nonchalantly.

"Thieves? What are we going to do?" asked Guo Huiniang, looking anxiously at Lin Ziyin and the old man.

"How about we call Uncle Lou Zheng," suggested Zige, who also was scared. She was just a timid girl and had never witnessed a scene of this magnitude.

"Grandpa, shout loudly and bang on a pot, awaken all the villagers," Lin Ziyin suggested, "We are not sure if there are more of them outside. None of you may leave."

"Ziyin is right, bring out the pots from the house and make as much noise as you can," ordered the old man, his eyes constantly scanning the immobile thieves, prepared for any sudden retaliation.

Guo Huiniang and Zige quickly understood. They fetched the pots from the house, and also got the two children involved. Together, they banged the pots and shouted loudly, "Catch the thieves! Catch the thieves!"

"Please, let us go," pleaded one of the men dangling from the tree upon hearing the commotion, "We’ll do anything as long as you let us go."

Both Lin Ziyin and the old man remained silent.

In a short while, the disturbance at the Lin residence woke up all the villagers, each of them coming armed with various tools – pitchforks, shovels, polearms, all they could get their hands on.

"Grandpa, what has happened?" The first ones to arrive were Lin Changshu and Wu Dayou. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw the captured thieves.

"Don’t fret. We just had a few uninvited guests," the old man responded calmly.

"We absolutely cannot let these audacious thieves off easily," Wu Dayou stated fiercely.

"You will regret it if you don’t let us go," the thief with his foot caught in the clip retorted defiantly.

Lin Ziyin watched him and scoffed, "Breaking into a civilian house, bearing weapons in the middle of the night, it’s clear you meant to murder and rob. Do you have any idea what kind of punishment awaits you when these charges reach the government offices? I heard our Prince treats the common people with leniency and decisiveness. How do you think he will respond upon hearing about murderers and thieves on his land?"

"Maiden, cease your absurd statements! Who killed anyone? Aren’t all of your family standing right here?" shot back one of the thieves. His words carried a defiant tone, yet the underlying fear rendered them less persuasive.

"How did they find us?" asked Lou Zheng.

"They knew about our family, as to how - that’s something they should answer," Lin Ziyin speculated. ’Someone inside the village must be in cahoots with these thieves. But who could it be?’ She dwelt on it; these days, she was too engrossed in improving her family’s living conditions to socialize with the villagers. Hence, she was not familiar with them.

"Young lass, don’t try framing us. Who killed anyone?" the masked thief continued his tirade.

"If no one was killed, then what were you doing breaking into our house late at night with knives?" Wu Dayou marched up to the dangling man and slapped him squarely in his face.

The slap sent the thief swinging wildly in mid-air, and that noticeably dampened his spirit.

The villagers gathered were discussing the pathetic sight of the thieves amongst themselves.

’Thieves in the village, this is a big deal. Even though the thieves did not come for them, the villagers were still disturbed. Look at the audacity of the thieves, eight men together, a show of utter disrespect towards the population of Shili Village.’

’Were they belittling Shili Village for having no strong men?’

"Uncle Lou Zheng, I think it would be best if we turn these people over to the officials," suggested Lin Ziyin, uninterested in arguing with the thieves. She decided to leave them to Lou Zheng for further action.

"Yes, let’s take them to the government offices. The local officials will surely banish them," one of the villagers interjected gleefully.

"Indeed, who do they think they are, belittling the people of Shili Village?" echoed another villager.

"People like them deserve to be beaten to death."

....

"Please don’t send us to the authorities. We only came here because of Ma Erlang’s scheme," pleaded one of the thieves, betraying their internal accomplice upon hearing of possible banishment.

"Yes, yes, it was your village’s Ma Erlang who brought us here," others chimed in, corroborating the betrayal.

"Shut up," the leader of the thieves chastised.