Just then, Aunt Zhang received word from home that her daughter had gone into labor. She asked Ruan Qingli for leave and returned to her hometown.
The Fang residence was a two-courtyard estate. Once night fell, Ruan Qingli locked the gates to the front courtyard before returning alone to the inner courtyard.
Since it was still fairly early, she sat on the bed sewing padded winter clothes. As she worked, the door—which she distinctly remembered latching—suddenly creaked open.
Before she could react, a shadow flashed before her eyes, and an icy blade was pressed against her throat.
Her heart sank.
A thief had broken into the house.
The man was of average height, his head wrapped and face covered, revealing only a pair of eyes.
In a rough voice, he demanded,
“Talk. Where’s the silver hidden?”
Ruan Qingli forced herself to stay calm, but the cold blade at her neck made her tremble.
“W-We haven’t even harvested this year’s grain yet. How could there be any spare money? You’ve come at the wrong time, good sir.”
The man pressed the knife another inch closer to her neck and lowered his voice.
“Quit feeding me that nonsense. I made my inquiries before coming. Ever since the old master of the Fang family died, your family hasn’t farmed a single acre yourselves. Those several hundred mu of land are all rented out to tenant farmers. You collected the rent at the beginning of the year—at least a hundred or two hundred taels. So stop crying poverty. You can probably tell by now that I’m a desperate man. If you don’t hand over the silver, there’s nothing I won’t do.”
It was the first time Ruan Qingli had ever encountered something like this.
Her own family had once been so poor that they could leave the door open at night without attracting thieves.
She had heard that several wealthy households in neighboring towns had recently been robbed. She had assumed the Fang family wasn’t rich enough to become a target.
She had been wrong.
To say she wasn’t afraid would have been a lie.
Her palms were drenched with sweat.
After a moment’s thought, she said,
“There is some silver in the house… but I don’t manage the household finances. My mother-in-law keeps all the money. I really don’t know where she hides it.”
Feeling the knife press harder against her throat, she hurriedly added,
“But I do have some jewelry in my box. You can take that first.”
The man dragged her over to retrieve it.
When he saw that the jewelry box contained only a silver ring and a pair of silver earrings, his dissatisfaction was obvious.
“That’s all? How much could this worthless junk possibly be worth?”
Ruan Qingli answered,
“My mother-in-law is very stingy. These are all she gave me after I married into the family. The rest are just bolts of cloth and some clothes. If you want them, you can sell them for money.”
The man spat on the ground.
“What the hell do I want women’s clothes for?”
Then his eyes suddenly lit up.
By the candlelight, he finally noticed just how beautiful Ruan Qingli’s face was.
“If you don’t have silver, then you’ll just have to pay me with something else. I didn’t come all this way for nothing.”
As he reached out to tear at her clothes, Ruan Qingli cried out,
“Wait! I just remembered! There’s some silver buried beneath the wall outside the kitchen. As long as you don’t hurt me, you can take all of it.”
The man narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t try anything funny. If you’re lying to me, you’ll regret it.”
Madam Zhou guarded her money like a tigress. There was no way Ruan Qingli knew where she actually hid it.
The reason she lured the thief toward the kitchen was because only one wall separated it from Han Sheng’s home.
Even better, the ladder she had used a few days earlier to climb over the wall was still there.
If she found an opportunity, perhaps she could climb over.
And if not, maybe shouting loudly would catch Han Sheng’s attention.
As luck would have it, the chance came.
Pretending to dig beneath the wall, she waited until the thief’s guard dropped. Then she grabbed a handful of dirt and flung it into his eyes before scrambling up the ladder and jumping over the wall.
Unfortunately, the wall was too high.
She landed badly, twisting her ankle.
When she tried to run, she couldn’t move.
Seeing the thief begin climbing over the wall after her, she shouted at the top of her lungs,
“Constable Han! There’s a thief in my house stealing our money! Help!”
The thief visibly froze.
These roaming burglars were rarely locals. Before entering a town, they only investigated which households had money. They never bothered asking who lived next door.
Hearing that a constable lived in this very courtyard, he hesitated on the wall.
Han Sheng had just gone to bed.
The moment he heard her cries, he rushed outside wearing only his inner robes.
The thief saw the young, broad-shouldered man emerge and immediately jumped back down from the wall before fleeing for his life.
Han Sheng started after him but noticed that Ruan Qingli appeared to be in considerable pain.
He stopped.
“You’re hurt?”
“I twisted my ankle when I jumped over the wall.”
“Can you stand?”
She shook her head.
“It hurts too much. I can’t even move.”
“Wait here. I’ll call your family to help you back.”
Ruan Qingli quickly stopped him.
“There’s no one home. Otherwise, the thief never would have dared break in.”
Han Sheng considered it for a moment.
“Then I’ll help you back.”
“Alright.”
Using Han Sheng’s arm for support, Ruan Qingli barely managed to stand.
But the instant she put weight on her injured foot, a sharp pain shot through her ankle, and she stumbled forward.
Just as she thought she was about to hit the ground, her body suddenly became weightless.
Han Sheng had scooped her up into his arms.
As their eyes met, both of them could hear the other’s heartbeat.
“Constable Han… what are you…”
“Don’t move. Hold on tight. If you fall, I’m not responsible.”
Instead of using the gate, Han Sheng simply carried her over the wall in a single leap.
After landing smoothly, he asked,
“Which room is yours?”
Ruan Qingli quietly pointed the way.
Carrying her in his arms, Han Sheng quickly brought her back to her room.
As he turned to leave, she hurriedly called after him,
“Constable Han! What if that thief comes back after you leave?”
Without turning around, Han Sheng replied,
“So you expect me to stay here dressed like this?”
Only then did Ruan Qingli realize he was wearing nothing but his inner robes, and during all the commotion she had tugged at him so much that the front of his shirt now hung loosely open.
Her face instantly flushed red.
She quickly turned her head away.
“Then… could you at least go back, get properly dressed, and come sit with me for a little while? I’m really frightened being here alone.”
Han Sheng refused without hesitation.
“No. I have to go to the yamen and report this so we can catch the thief.”
Without thinking, Ruan Qingli blurted out,
“Can you take me with you?”