mtl008 Chapter 134 Little Stone the Thief
Chapter 134 Little Stone the Thief
“Even though he’s older, he’s still my older sister.” Shen Li saw him get flustered and it was as if she was seeing him as a child.
When boys are young, they are short and immature. Back then, whenever Shen Li entered the palace, he would follow her around like a shadow, begging her to take him to play.
Li Rui obviously remembered as well, coughed awkwardly, and looked down at her using his height advantage: "You can't call me that now if it doesn't look like it."
"You're not allowed to call me 'little girl' either, or else..." Shen Li warned with her eyes.
Li Rui instinctively tried to avoid eye contact and shrank back. Although Shen Li stopped hitting people after she was seven or eight years old, he had been beaten quite a bit before that.
"Alright, just eat." He awkwardly touched his nose when he saw that Shen Li didn't make a move.
"You go about your business, I'll shop by myself." Shen Li refused. Although they were childhood playmates, she had grown up and gotten married, so there should still be some boundaries between men and women.
"You don't seem like the type to just wander around aimlessly. Something's up, isn't it?" Li Rui asked.
He knew Shen Li well; he knew she must have something to do as soon as he saw her come out.
Shen Li glanced at him: "Don't ask questions, go have fun by yourself."
“Alright, I’ll go to the opera. Let me know if you need anything.” Li Rui didn’t find her offensive at all; the two of them had been used to this since they were little.
After entering the city, the two parted ways. Shen Li chose a relatively large restaurant and ate in a private room on the second floor. She ate for two whole tables before she was full.
She's been quite confined in the military camp lately.
After she finished eating, the waiter brought tea and fruit, and at the same time handed Shen Li a bamboo tube: "Madam, someone downstairs asked me to give this to you."
"Thank you," Shen Li said.
Lian Qiao reached out and took it, then took out a small silver ingot from her sleeve and handed it over.
The waiter felt a pressure on his wrist and was speechless with surprise when he saw the silver ingot. He had never seen such a generous person in all these years.
Lianqiao took out the note from the bamboo tube, unfolded it, and handed it to Shen Li. It had a street name written on it.
"Ma Zheng, find out the location of this place, we'll go there right now." Shen Li felt an indescribable excitement as she read those few words.
"Yes, Madam." Ma Zheng had long been obedient to Shen Li, and quickly went downstairs.
When Shen Li came downstairs, Ma Zheng had already hired a carriage, and the horses started running as soon as she got in.
Hejian Prefecture is quite large; it took half an hour to reach the street on the note, but there was no specific address below.
"Let's get out of the car and take a walk." Shen Li got out of the car at the street.
This is a bustling downtown area, with shops lining both sides of the road, and many small stalls along the way, selling food and drinks, as well as trinkets and fortune telling/calligraphy services.
The others didn't know where Shen Li was going, so they just followed her.
Shen Li walked slowly, seemingly not in a hurry, and even instructed someone to buy a few sugar figurines from the roadside to share.
"Miss, pickpocket!" Peony crunched on a sugar figurine, then pointed at a child who had bumped into someone and then disappeared into the crowd. "Should we do anything about it?"
"Chase after them." Shen Li's gaze sharpened.
"Okay!" Peony ran forward without even putting down the sugar figurine.
Shen Li glanced around, then fixed her gaze on a fortune-telling stall. She tossed a silver ingot at one of the people and pointed it at him: "Stop him."
He was a middle-aged man dressed in brocade robes, with a large belly, and two servants following behind him. He looked like he had some money.
Every fortune teller is shrewd. After taking the money, he waited for the middle-aged man to approach and said, "Benefactor, I see that your forehead is full and bright; you are sure to have good luck soon."
The middle-aged man was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "Oh? Tell me, where does this luck of mine come from?"
Shen Li looked ahead. Although the thief was small and agile like a loach, Shaoyao was like an eagle in the sky. She caught him as soon as she chased him into the alley.
"Kid!" Peony grabbed the little guy by the collar and said smugly, "You think you can run away after I catch you? Do you think you can escape?"
"What...what are you doing?" The thief looked flustered, and although his voice was loud, he was very guilty.
"Don't you know what you did?" Just as Peony was about to become serious, Shen Li walked over and said to her, "Let go, don't hurt her."
"Oh." Peony didn't know why she had to let go after catching him, but she obediently let go, only blocking him in the alley to prevent him from running away.
"Please spare my life, I'll return the money to you..." Upon seeing this, the thief skillfully knelt down and presented a bulging purse with both hands.
Shen Li quickly helped the girl up from the ground. The fourteen-year-old girl was dressed in thin clothes, and her wrists were as thin as sticks. Her voice softened as well: "I won't make things difficult for you. Just quietly return the purse to that person and pretend that nothing happened."
"Aren't you together?" the child asked in a hoarse voice.
"Go quickly," Shen Li said softly, "and come back when you're done."
"Okay... fine..." She looked at the fierce-looking peony beside her, and although she was unwilling, she still went.
"Follow her and protect her," Shen Li instructed.
The middle-aged man was still listening intently at the fortune-telling stall when the child casually bumped into him, and his purse was already back on his person without the man even noticing.
"What's wrong with you, kid? Are you looking to die?" The middle-aged man was enraged by the collision and reached out to grab her.
"It was just a bump, why make such a fuss?" Ma Zheng blocked the middle-aged man's arm, his tone gentle but his face stern.
He was burly and looked like someone you wouldn't want to mess with.
"Bad luck." The middle-aged man shook his hand, not daring to make a fuss.
"Can I go now?" The child was quite frightened when he saw Ma Zheng, who was two heads taller than him.
"Don't be afraid, my master said he won't make things difficult for you, and he won't." Ma Zheng reassured you in a lukewarm tone, then added, "Let's go see the master."
When the child saw Shen Li again, he knelt down and said, "My lord, I really don't know where I offended you. Please, have mercy on me."
However, Shen Li helped her up early, not making her kneel, and said, "It's alright once you've returned it, but it's not right for someone so young to be doing this outside. Would you like to come home with me?"
"What?" The child looked very puzzled, only able to feel the warmth of Shen Li's hand holding her wrist.
“Miss, you…” Peony wanted to remind her that men and women should not touch each other, but she felt that she had overstepped her bounds, so she didn’t say anything.
Her young lady has always been very strict about the separation between men and women, so why is she being so unreserved with this little guy in front of her?
The little guy's face was all dirty, but his eyes were dark and beautiful. Could it be that Miss likes this kind of thing?
"What's your name?" Shen Li asked softly.
“My name is Little Stone…” she replied in a trembling voice.
"Don't be afraid, I need a maid by my side, and I think you're quite pleasing to the eye. If you come back with me, you'll have plenty to eat and wear, and you'll even get a monthly allowance." Shen Li continued, "Why don't you think about it?"
"A girl?" No one around could react. Was this a girl?
When Shen Li's eyes are gentle, there is no sense of distance. Xiao Shitou even feels a sense of familiarity when he looks at Shen Li, as if he has seen her in a dream.
"Are you a deity?" she asked.
This time she didn't lower her voice, and it was clearly a girl's voice.
Peony and the others were all surprised; it really was true.
Seeing that she had let her guard down, Shen Li's smile became even more friendly: "I..."
"Hey madam, what gang are you from? What's the meaning of this?" a loud voice rang out from the side.
Little Stone trembled at the sound and looked at the person who had come.
The newcomer was a burly man with triangular eyes and a fierce-looking face. He was followed by several thugs who all leered at Shen Li with ill intent.
"Little thing, where's the money due today?" the burly man stared at the little stone.
"No...no..." Little Stone was so frightened he could barely utter a complete sentence.
"Come here." The burly man glared at her. "You still have the nerve to stand here? Go out into the street!"
Little Stone instinctively went over; she was already terrified of being beaten.
"She's mine now." Shen Li pulled the man behind her with one hand, her gaze sharpening as she looked at him: "You often beat her, don't you?"
"What do you mean?" The burly man looked at Shen Li's clothes and Ma Zheng and began to realize that she might have a powerful background.
"If he can't understand human language, beat him until he does." Shen Li gave Ma Zheng a look.
Ma Zheng had long disliked him, and upon receiving the order, he grabbed his shoulder and delivered a powerful knee strike to his stomach.
"Ow!"
The burly man screamed in agony, clutching his stomach as he collapsed to the ground, sweating profusely from the pain, and began to writhe on the ground.
Ma Zheng and his personal guard took action, and the remaining few who intended to resist were all knocked down at the alley entrance.
Peony took off her whip and handed it to Ma Zheng.
Ma Zheng took the beating and started hitting them mercilessly, making them scream in pain. Some people passing by the alleyway ran away quickly, not daring to see who was being beaten, let alone interfere.
Little Stone's eyes widened in terror. In her eyes, Lai San had always been the fiercest, but how come this fairy-like older sister looked even fiercer than them?
Am I going to fall into another wolf's den?
"Please spare my life, sir! We can talk this over, we can talk this over!" Lai San knew he had met a ruthless person, so he begged for mercy, but he still didn't want to let the man go.
Shen Li didn't say anything, but just held Xiao Shitou's hand, silently comforting her.
"Clap clap clap!"
After a few more lashes, Lai San immediately pleaded, "My lord, please take the man away and spare my dog's life."
Shen Li then signaled to stop.
When Ma Zheng stopped, the whip was already bright red, the jackets of the men were torn, and their faces and hands were covered in blood.
It's clear they didn't hold back at all.
Little Stone didn't even dare to look, and he agreed so easily?
"My lord, could you please grant me your name? I, Lai San, will certainly come to apologize another day." Lai San's triangular eyes were filled with a fierce light.
"Not convinced?" Shen Li laughed: "No rush, I don't intend to let you off so easily."
"You..." Lai San didn't expect this to be over yet, and immediately became anxious: "We have people at the yamen gate. If this gets out of hand, it won't do you any good. You'd better know when to stop."
“What a coincidence, I also know a few people in the government offices.” Shen Li raised the corners of her eyes: “Tie them up and take them to the Hejian Prefectural Government Office.”
"No..." Little Stone grabbed Shen Li's sleeve and shook his head at her: "They are in cahoots with the constables. Fairy Sister, you can't fight them. Run!"
“Since I am a god, there is no one I cannot defeat.” Shen Li held her hand tightly, looked into her eyes and said softly, “Don’t worry, it’s alright.”
As she spoke, she took the sugar figurine that she hadn't eaten from Lian Qiao's hand and handed it to her: "Eat this first, and I'll take you to eat something delicious later."
Little Stone took the sugar figurine in a daze, wondering if it was a coincidence or if the fairy sister knew that sugar figurines were her favorite food.