TSWPF -Chapter 199 Caught

Early the next morning, Li Laifu tucked that knife into his clothes again and went to look for Huang Meiniang. When he reached the area near the Huang household and saw no one around, he finally dared to walk up and knock on the door.

He knocked for a while, but the door didn’t open. He raised his voice toward the door and called out, “Meiniang, I’m here. Hurry up and open the door.” After shouting, he glanced around warily, afraid of alerting others.

Hearing Li Laifu’s voice, Huang Meiniang’s heart skipped a beat. She tiptoed over to find her parents and told them to hide. She asked them to wait until she dragged Li Laifu into the kitchen, then sneak out to call people to come and catch him.

Her parents nodded anxiously, their hearts pounding, and told her to be careful and not reveal any flaws.

Huang Meiniang reassured them, reached out to tidy her skirt, and put on a composed smile before going to open the door.

She opened the door a crack and, seeing Li Laifu outside, hurriedly said, “Laifu, quick, come in.” Suppressing the fear in her heart, she didn’t wait for him to respond and pulled him inside, then slammed the door shut with a bang. “Have you eaten breakfast? I’m still eating. If you haven’t eaten yet, come have some with me.”

Li Laifu touched his somewhat shrunken stomach. He’d rushed over to find Huang Meiniang and really hadn’t eaten yet. “Alright, then I’ll eat before we go,” he said. Breakfast wouldn’t take long and wouldn’t delay them much.

Hearing this, a trace of triumph flashed through Huang Meiniang’s eyes. She pulled Li Laifu into the kitchen, thoughtfully filled a bowl of porridge for him, gave him a few pancakes, and urged him to eat quickly so they could leave afterward.

Li Laifu hadn’t eaten such a good breakfast in days. He swallowed hard and lowered his head, devouring the food hungrily.

“Slow down, slow down. There’s no need to rush—there’s more,” she said gently, patting his back lightly to keep him from eating too fast and choking.

Her tender gesture moved Li Laifu deeply. He hummed in response and slowed down his eating.

He looked up at Huang Meiniang and asked indistinctly, “Why haven’t I seen your parents?”

“Oh? Them?” she replied. “They went to work in the fields early this morning.” As she spoke, she glanced outside and happened to see her parents tiptoeing away. Her heart pounded wildly, afraid Li Laifu would notice, so she steered the conversation elsewhere. “Laifu, where are we planning to go?”

At that, Li Laifu happily laid out his plan. Huang Meiniang nodded along, praising his idea as good.

“Right? I think it’s pretty good too,” Li Laifu said with a broad grin. “In a few years, when things die down, we can come back to visit your parents. We can even bring them over to live with us.”

“Alright, we’ll do whatever you say,” Huang Meiniang replied softly. She quickly finished the bit of porridge in her bowl, stood up, and said, “Laifu, eat slowly. If it’s not enough, there’s more in the pot—help yourself. I’ll go pack things up now. Once you’re done, we’ll leave.”

She acted so naturally that Li Laifu didn’t notice her scheme at all. He nodded and mumbled for her to hurry and not worry about him.

Huang Meiniang gave him a deep look before leaving. Once back in her room, she quickly shut the door and slid the bolt into place. Only after making sure it was secure did she slump against the door and sit weakly on the floor.

She hoped her parents would hurry back with people to take Li Laifu away.

After a while, she heard Li Laifu calling out, “Meiniang, are you done packing? If you’re done, let’s go!”

How did he finish eating so quickly?

Panic surged in her heart. Huang Meiniang scrambled to her feet and steadied her voice as she answered, “Almost, almost done. Wait a bit longer.” Inside, she was growing anxious—why hadn’t her parents returned yet?

Li Laifu walked over to the door of her room and pushed on it, but it wouldn’t open. He called again, “Meiniang, why did you lock the door?”

Huang Meiniang quietly took a deep breath, moved away from the door, and replied, “I’m looking for my silver. I can’t open the door right now. Wait a moment.” She deliberately dragged the box from under her bed out with a loud scrape, making noise so Li Laifu would hear and think she was really getting money. “Laifu, do you have much silver on you? Is it enough for us?”

Li Laifu cocked his ear, hearing the sounds inside, and truly believed she was taking out silver. He said gloomily, “I don’t have much on me. How much do you have?” He’d given Huang Meiniang money from time to time before, but didn’t know whether she’d spent it or saved it.

Huang Meiniang clattered noisily as she counted her copper coins. After a long while, she said, “I don’t have much either—just about thirty taels of silver.” She wasn’t foolish enough to reveal all her assets.

“Then bring all of it,” Li Laifu said.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a loud bang as the courtyard gate burst open, followed by the voice of Huang Meiniang’s father.

“Quick, he’s inside!”

A group of people wielding iron shovels, hoes, and sticks rushed in, all glaring fiercely at Li Laifu.

Huang Meiniang’s tightly clenched heart finally relaxed. With a choking voice, she cried out, “Dad, hurry and save me!” Her parents had finally brought people back—otherwise, Li Laifu would have started to suspect something.

She quickly put her silver away, pushed the box back in place, and, seeing that nothing was amiss, let out a small sigh of relief.

Seeing this scene, how could Li Laifu not understand? In a fury, he pulled the knife from his clothes and hacked violently at the door to Huang Meiniang’s room.

“Huang Meiniang, you whore, come out here!” He never imagined he’d still be tricked by that whore. Even if he died, he’d drag her down with him.

Watching the door shake violently, Huang Meiniang curled into a ball in terror, afraid Li Laifu would break in and slash her.

“Dad… Dad, hurry and come catch him—he’s trying to kill me!”

Seeing the knife in Li Laifu’s hand, Huang Meiniang’s father felt a flicker of fear himself. He raised his voice and shouted, “Li Laifu, come out now. You can’t escape!” Then he turned to Village Head Huang and said, “Village head, the wanted criminal is right there. Let’s hurry and catch him and send him to the yamen. The magistrate will definitely praise our village for ridding the people of this menace.”

Village Head Huang scanned the villagers and felt their odds were good. He nodded. “Alright. Everyone, go catch him. Be careful of the knife in his hand.”

The villagers advanced slowly with their weapons. Seeing this, Li Laifu stopped hacking at the door and turned to glare viciously at them. He swung the knife hard and shouted, “Come on! Just try coming closer. One comes, I’ll cut one down. Two come, I’ll cut both. Let’s see whose life is longer.” A barefoot man fears no shoes—he had nothing left to lose. What was there to fear?

Seeing how ferocious he was, the villagers all felt a little afraid.

If this continued, Li Laifu might escape. Huang Meiniang’s father rolled his eyes and encouraged them, “Don’t be afraid—our weapons are long. He can’t get close to us.” As he spoke, he swung the stick in his hand at Li Laifu.

Li Laifu dodged the blow. After evading it, the anger in his heart flared even more. “Fine, fine, fine—refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit.” With that, he charged straight at Huang Meiniang’s father. “Your daughter tricked me so badly. If I can’t take revenge on her, I’ll take it on you, her father!”

“Ah—stop him, stop him!” Seeing Li Laifu charging at him like a madman, Huang Meiniang’s father tried to turn and run, but there were too many people and he couldn’t escape.

He’d always thought Li Laifu looked honest and meek—who would’ve guessed he was this vicious?

Truly, appearances were deceiving. Their whole family had been fooled by his looks.

The villagers were also startled and instinctively brought their weapons down hard on Li Laifu.

Li Laifu didn’t care even as he was struck. Gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, he rushed up to Huang Meiniang’s father and raised the knife to slash at him.

Seeing the blade coming down at him, Huang Meiniang’s father was so frightened he collapsed onto the ground. Li Laifu’s first slash missed.

Unwilling to give up, he prepared to strike a second time.

At that moment, someone—no one knew who—swung a stick with a loud crack at his wrist. Pain shot through his hand, and the knife fell from his grip, clanging onto the ground.

Huang Meiniang’s father reacted swiftly. He reached out, grabbed the knife, and viciously chopped down on Li Laifu’s lower leg.

With that strike, Li Laifu let out a miserable scream.

His knees gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, clutching his injured leg and curling up as he howled in pain.

Huang Meiniang’s father panted heavily and roared at the fallen Li Laifu, “Cut, cut, cut—go on and cut! Come cut me! Weren’t you so fierce just now?” If he hadn’t dodged quickly, his head would’ve been chopped off.

Li Laifu was truly ruthless.

“Enough yelling. Hurry and get some rope to tie him up so he can’t escape,” Village Head Huang said, lightly pushing Huang Meiniang’s father.

Huang Meiniang’s father answered and ran into the house to fetch two ropes. He knocked on the door of Huang Meiniang’s room. “Meiniang, it’s fine now. We’ve already caught Li Laifu. You can come out.”

After speaking, he didn’t wait to see if she came out. Carrying the ropes, he ran back to Li Laifu, and together with the villagers, bound him tightly.

Whenever Li Laifu tried to struggle, he was immediately subdued.

Looking at Li Laifu tied up like a zongzi, Huang Meiniang’s father spat at him. “Pah! Run—go on and run. Let’s see how you escape now.”

“Even as a ghost, I won’t let your whole family off. Just wait,” Li Laifu snarled. Though his body couldn’t move, his mouth still could.

“Fine, I’ll wait,” Huang Meiniang’s father shot back fearlessly.

Village Head Huang frowned and glanced at the wound on Li Laifu’s leg. “That injury needs to be treated. If he dies, we’ll become murderers.”

Huang Meiniang’s father thought that made sense. He hurried off to find Huang Meiniang and asked her for some hemostatic powder to bandage Li Laifu’s wound.

After tending to him, the villagers of Huangjia Village carted Li Laifu off to the yamen.

All of this was unknown to Li Qingling. At this moment, she was wearing an expressionless face as she looked at Li Qingfu and Li Baozhu, who had been coming to her house to make trouble for days on end.