Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 268: Arrest

Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Arrest

Li Zheng did not fully understand why Zhiyu’s pearl and the awakening of her sister-in-law were related. However, since they were referred to him, there must be some connection.

He summoned a few government officials to accompany him and Lin Yicheng to apprehend the culprits.

There were only a handful of pickpockets and thieves in Yan City and their whereabouts were predictable. Since their crimes were minor, they weren’t given much attention.

In a dilapidated house in the Western City, a group of people were gathered. Apart from a man with a sharp face and monkey cheeks, and another one with thick eyebrows and small eyes who looked quite honest, there was a white-haired, crippled old beggar and two children.

The two children were thin and small, huddling in a corner, too scared to speak.

"If the girl is not skillful, we can just sell her to the brothel." The sharp-faced man spat, then glanced at the little girl in the corner and snorted coldly.

This little girl always failed to steal anything and was frequently caught.

She was indeed useless!

"With her looks, could she be sold?" The old beggar prodded the little girl with a wooden stick and sneered.

The little girl was prodded by his stick. She wanted to cry out in pain but dared not, instead, she bit her lip and curled up, trying not to make a sound.

She knew what a brothel was, the old beggar told her that her mother came from there.

Her mother had abandoned her, and it was only thanks to the old beggar picking her up that she had survived.

"The girl isn’t bad looking, she’s just a bit skinny. We could still sell her for four taels of silver. That’s better than keeping her here, feeding her for nothing." The man with thick eyebrows squints and gazes at her for a while before stroking his chin and suggesting.

"She’s too young, let’s keep her a bit longer." The old beggar chimed in, knocking his wooden stick on the ground.

Seeing that he didn’t agree, the other two men exchanged glances and sullenly closed their mouths.

The sharp-faced man then pulled out a small pouch from his bosom.

Upon opening the pouch, a pearl was revealed.

The pearl was completely white and appeared extremely valuable just by its lustrous appearance.

"This is what Xiaomi brought back today." The man’s eyes beamed, clearly satisfied with the one he had trained.

"This pearl is pretty good." The old beggar looked at the pearl, then glanced over to Xiaomi, who appeared somewhat uneasy.

"But, having gone to the authorities, we might have to lay low for a while."

"How come? Tomorrow we stop him from stealing in Northern City, and there shouldn’t be any familiar faces, nothing will happen." The sharp-faced man shrugged off the worry.

Xiaomi was the one he was the most satisfied with among those he had trained.

Not only was he quick and nimble, but he was also clever. Since joining him last year, he has brought back quite a lot of loot.

"Humph, he doesn’t seem to want to continue stealing anymore." The man with big eyebrows and small eyes glanced at Xiaomi, whose body was slightly rigid, and said coldly.

"Why do you think so?" The other man retorted.

"Did you forget how he came back yesterday?"

The white-haired beggar hung his head, saying nothing, as if he was asleep.

The man with the monkey cheeks closed his mouth.

He was somewhat worried that Xiaomi would betray him when he heard that Xiaomi had been taken to the county government a few days ago.

However, he seemed to have overlooked this for several days.

Originally, he had planned to kill Xiaomi and dump his body into the river once he was released, but he ended up bumping into him on the street the other day.

Xiaomi had changed into clean clothes and even had twenty copper coins in his hand.

If not for his calling out to Xiaomi, Xiaomi might not have returned on his own.

Thinking of this, the man’s face darkened.

His gaze turned colder when he looked at Xiaomi, as if poisoned.

"Xiaomi, come over here."

By now, Xiaomi had already changed back into his filthy clothes from before. Hearing him call, he instinctively shrank his body.

Remembering the consequences of disobedience, he still obediently walked over.

"What are you dilly-dallying for!"

Xiaomi’s body shivered, then quickly stood next to him.

"Why didn’t you hurry back here yesterday?" The man’s face darkened even more, tightly gripping his wooden stick.

"I...I..." Xiaomi’s hands clenched tightly, stammering and struggling to speak.

He was looking for that woman.

He thought he would be better off dead in jail.

But the jailers not only didn’t beat him, they even gave him food to eat.

He took a bath and put on clean clothes, for the first time feeling like a real person.

The jailer said someone had asked them to take care of him.

It must have been that woman, who said he was not much older than her child, and she felt sorry for him. But if she didn’t want him, why would she have others take care of this little thief?

He was hoping to be released from jail soon, always expecting to see that woman at the door.

Otherwise, why would she be so kind to him?

But there was no one at the county office gate, the jailer gave him twenty copper plates before leaving, and for the first time, he showed up clean in a crowd.

No more being despised by people.

But he couldn’t be happy.

He wanted to find that woman again, but in the end he was brought back.

They stripped off his clothes and sold them for a hundred wen.

Once again he became the dirty, stinky little beggar.

"Speak up!" The man with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks spat and kicked him.

Before Xiaomi could react, he had fallen to the ground.

The kick landed on his stomach, causing him to break out in a cold sweat from the pain.

"Damn it, I’ve been feeding you for so many years, just because you’ve been to jail and worn decent clothes you think you can run?" The man added another kick while cursing: "You’re truly an ungrateful wolf! I should have strangled you and dumped you in the river!"

Xiaomi could only curl up, his filthy face wet with many tears.

He saw that woman today.

That woman was the owner of the restaurant, she didn’t remember him at all.

He also saw that woman holding the baby.

He thought, if he stole something from the baby, would it remind her of him?

Gradually, Xiaomi’s consciousness became blurry, and he could no longer hear the man’s curses, and his body seemed to become somewhat weightless.

He thought he was about to die.

When Lin Yicheng kicked open the door, he saw a man beating a child on the ground.

He instinctively covered Zhiyu’s eyes.

"Don’t move!" Liu Jie led his men into the room, capturing all three of them before he started to ask questions.

"Where are the things you stole today?"

Liu Jie asked coldly.

"What stuff? We didn’t steal anything!" The man was pressed to the ground, defiantly declaring his innocence.

"Defiant? Then off to jail for a whipping!"

Xiaomi seemed to hear something in his daze and pointed to the man’s arms.

Little Zhiyu saw his movement through the gap in Lin Yicheng’s fingers and hurriedly whispered to Lin Yicheng.

Lin Yicheng didn’t hesitate, he just reached into the man’s clothes and found Zhiyu’s small purse.

In the purse, besides several copper coins, there was indeed that pearl.

"Brother Liu, I found it." Lin Yicheng finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the pearl was unharmed.

"Good." Liu Jie nodded, ready to take the prisoners away.

The old beggar coughed and spoke up: "Why are you arresting an old beggar like me? I’m just staying here, what do their actions have to do with me?"

Liu Jie glanced at him, then at Xiaomi on the ground and the little girl next to him, and ignored the old man, intending to leave with the other two people.

The old beggar was old, if he also took him away, there would be nobody to look after the two children. They might be sold somewhere again.

"Uncle, let’s take that big brother with us," said Zhiyu, looking at Xiaomi on the ground and frowning.

Lin Yicheng looked at his niece in surprise, then looked again at the unconscious Xiaomi, before bending down to lift him up.