After saying that, Fang Cheng staggered and was about to get up and go out. As soon as he got up, his body shook and he fell to the ground.
Seeing this frightened Muchuan, he hurriedly went to help him: "Brother Fang, Brother Fang... are you okay?"
Fang Cheng had already passed out, his body was weak, and he was dying. This was an obvious symptom of overwork! Presumably, Fang Cheng was already weak and worked hard day and night managing the shop. Today, he was seriously injured due to Xin'er's accident.
With such mental trauma, it would be strange if he didn't fall down.
Muchuan quickly asked the Fang family's servants to invite a doctor to treat Fang Cheng and asked the maids to take good care of him.
The sun was shining brightly in the sky at noon, and there was no cloud in the sky.
Muchuan was sitting on the pavilion in the courtyard of Fang's residence, with his eyebrows furrowed. He was thinking about where the thieves would take Xin'er.
But according to what the maid Hehua said, the thieves knew Xin'er's identity as the eldest daughter of the Fang family, and seemed to want to use her identity to extort money from the Fang family.
If a ransom is wanted, it means that Xin'er's life will not be harmed, and her life will not be demanded for a while.
At this moment, a big-eyed man appeared in the courtyard and ran over in a panic: "Lord Muchuan, Lord Muchuan! There is news!"
Startled by the sound, Muchuan rushed over and said, "What's wrong?
Is there any news about Xin'er?"
"Yes! They were sent by those bandits. They said they wanted to talk to the head of the family, but the head of the family has fainted. We can only ask you to take charge of the overall situation..."
"I understand, I'll go there now!"
As Muchuan expected, although the thieves' location could not be found, since the thieves were holding Xiner hostage and demanding ransom, they would definitely come looking for her.
Fang Cheng had already passed out and naturally could not negotiate with the thieves, so Muchuan himself had to take action.
The living room is the place where Fang entertains guests, and it is beautifully decorated.
Muchuan came with Fang's guys and found a man with squinting eyes sitting on a four-legged chair in the living room. He looked dirty and his clothes were in tatters. Needless to say, this man was a thief.
"Are you the robber who took Xin'er hostage?
I heard you want ransom?"
Muchuan didn't mince words, he asked directly.
The man with narrowed eyes looked at Muchuan and asked in surprise: "Who are you?
Aren’t you the head of Fang Cheng?”
It seems that these thieves do not know Muchuan's identity. This is natural. Although he is famous throughout Chang'an City and his reputation as "the number one scholar in the Tang Dynasty" is resounding at home and abroad, more people only hear his name and never see him.
people.
Muchuan would not be so stupid as to explain his identity to the thieves. If he revealed his identity, he would probably scare the thieves. At that time, the thieves would most likely be afraid of the pressure from the government and choose to refuse the ransom directly.
Muchuan smiled slightly and said to the man with narrowed eyes: "I am Xin'er's step-brother. Brother Fang Cheng passed away due to the impact of Xin'er's incident."
"coma?
No way, we are here to ask for ransom from him! If you want Miss Fang’s daughter to be fine, you have to pay the money obediently!”
"You don't have to ask Brother Fang for ransom, right?
You can also ask me for it."
The man with narrowed eyes was slightly shocked. He thought that money matters were all in the hands of Master Fang Cheng, but he didn't expect that this "sworn brother" in front of him could also give money.
To thieves, it doesn't matter who gives the money, as long as they receive the money.
The man with squinted eyes looked particularly arrogant. He crossed his legs and asked, "Since you can talk about it, it's easy. How much do you, the Fang family, plan to pay for that eldest lady's life?"
But you have to be careful, if you give less, don't blame our men for being ruthless!"
"Five thousand taels of gold."
When Muchuan just said that, the man with narrowed eyes was so shocked that he fell off his chair.
Five thousand taels of gold?
This is too rich! According to the thieves' thinking, five hundred taels of gold is already pretty good. Five hundred taels of gold alone is enough for the thieves to have enough food and clothing for half their lives.
Unexpectedly, the "sworn brother" in front of him asked for five thousand taels of gold as soon as he opened his mouth. It was like a fortune! The man with narrowed eyes could not have imagined that Xin'er was so valuable!
Human nature is greedy, especially the narrow-eyed man. The reason why he was sent here to negotiate with Fang was precisely because he was resourceful and eloquent.
According to the current situation, five thousand taels of gold is just a drop in the bucket for the Fang family. In this case, it must be slaughtered more harshly! The man with squinting eyes will slaughter the Fang family's shop until there is no money left!
"Five thousand taels of gold?
Too little, too little!”
The man with narrowed eyes said with disgust, even though he was already satisfied with the price, he still said, "You just want to exchange five thousand taels of gold for the life of the eldest lady of the Fang family?
impossible!"
"Then I wonder how much money this dear friend wants?"
"Eight thousand taels... no, ten thousand taels of gold!"
The man with narrowed eyes patted the table and said in a sonorous voice, "It must be at least ten thousand taels of gold, no less! Otherwise, Miss Fang will be killed!"
"good!"
Muchuan agreed happily.
This once again shocked the narrow-eyed man. Ten thousand taels of gold was an astronomical figure even for Fang's shop, but he didn't just give it out! In the end, this "sworn brother" actually agreed so easily?
No wonder the narrow-eyed man was surprised. This group of thieves had done many criminal and illegal things in the past, such as kidnapping the children of landlords and officials.
Every time the lion asked for money, the landowners and officials would bargain and haggle, as if they were unwilling to exchange money for the lives of their children.
But this Fang family was different. He allowed the narrow-eyed man to ask for the price without any hesitation.
This gave the squinting man the illusion that the ten thousand taels of gold he wanted was too little.
Forget it, the price has already been quoted and it's hard to change it.
The man with narrowed eyes stood up and said: "Now that we've reached an agreement, let's just have the gold ready at noon tomorrow! Then hand it over to someone else and deliver it to someone else. Remember not to report it to the government! Otherwise, we'll kill someone and silence you!"
Just when the man with narrowed eyes was about to stand up and leave, Muchuan called out to him: "Please stay."
"Is there anything else?
Are you going to regret it?"
"Of course not. When the hero leaves, I need to ensure Xin'er's safety."
"What's the meaning?"
The man's face with squinted eyes turned gloomy, and he was wary of whether Muchuan might be up to some shady conspiracy.
Muchuan showed a harmless smile and said that he just wanted to pay the ransom in advance.
Money is not a big deal to Fang. Although ten thousand taels of gold is important, it is far less important than Xiner.
