Chapter 763: Searching the Yan Family
Wuxian County, Wangli Village!
Just as Xiao Zhanwu and his men were preparing to search the Yan residence, they heard a chaotic commotion from outside.
Immediately afterward, they saw seven or eight villagers armed with shovels, rakes, and wooden sticks storm into Yan Minsheng’s house, with more people trickling in behind them.
Seeing this, Xiao Zhanwu and Li Yi both knew trouble was brewing.
Judging by the look on these people’s faces, they certainly weren’t there to help; more likely than not, they’d come to obstruct their arrest.
In rural areas, clan ties are deeply ingrained; these relationships, bound by blood and marriage, are fundamentally exclusionary.
When outsiders aren’t around, these people might bicker over trivial matters, but if a fellow clan member is in trouble, they’ll certainly unite against outsiders.
Consequently, what worried Xiao Zhanwu and his team most was going into the village to make arrests, as they were often surrounded and confronted by villagers.
Moreover, today’s situation was particularly unusual. First, they were conducting an investigation across county lines without having informed their bureau in advance, let alone notifying the Wuxian County Public Security Bureau.
Second, they didn’t even know what crime Yan Minsheng had actually committed, let alone have any substantial evidence.
If the villagers really blocked them from making an arrest, they would be in a real bind.
But since the officers had already arrived, they couldn’t very well shut the door and hide from them, could they? So Xiao Zhanwu immediately led two police officers out.
Seeing this, Li Yi and Zhang Ziqiang immediately followed them out!
As soon as they stepped outside, they saw a woman in her fifties with graying hair shouting at the top of her lungs: “What right do you have to arrest our Minsheng? What exactly did he do wrong? You can’t just make this up!”
“That’s right! What gives you the right to come into the village and arrest people without even saying hello? You’ve got to explain yourselves!”
“If they take him away, our whole village will be the laughingstock of everyone…”
Xiao Zhanwu immediately shouted, “Villagers, please be quiet. We are conducting a police investigation. Do not obstruct us, or you will be committing the illegal act of obstructing official duties!”
Immediately, a middle-aged man stepped forward and said, “Don’t try to scare us. Bring Minsheng and his wife out here so we can ask them what they’ve done. Otherwise, don’t even think about taking them away!”
“That’s right, bring out the Minsheng couple!”
“It can’t be that you just do whatever you want. We want to see Minsheng…”
Xiao Zhanwu knew that if he didn’t let them see the couple today, it simply wouldn’t work.
He immediately ordered Xiao Liang to bring out Yan Minsheng, who was handcuffed. As for the woman inside the room, she refused to get off the bed no matter what.
Under the circumstances, Xiao Zhanwu and his men couldn’t force her off the bed, so they had to leave her under Xiao Yun’s watch.
After Yan Minsheng was brought out, he saw that his parents and uncles were all present, along with quite a few other members of his clan, and he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
He knew how much his parents loved him; they would never let these police officers take him away.
So, before his clan members could say a word, Yan Minsheng shouted at the top of his lungs, “Father, Mother! They came to arrest me for no reason at all, and they beat me—my arm is almost broken!”
Hearing this, the Yan family members instantly flew into a rage. Filled with righteous indignation, they began hurling insults, and the scene quickly descended into chaos.
Seeing this, Xiao Zhanwu immediately shouted, “What are you doing? Are you trying to assault a police officer? Do you know that assaulting a police officer is a serious crime?”
“Don’t think you’ll escape punishment just because there are so many of you. Anyone who dares to lay a hand on them will spend at least three years behind bars. Go ahead and try me!”
His shout instantly deflated the villagers’ earlier bravado.
Shouting a few threats while outnumbering the officers wasn’t a big deal, but when it came to actually attacking the police together, they didn’t have the guts.
Besides, since he’d already laid out such severe consequences, they had to be even more cautious and think twice.
At that moment, Yan Minsheng’s mother spoke up again: “Comrade, my son has always been timid and avoids trouble. How could he possibly do anything illegal? Have you made a mistake?”
It was clear that Yan Minsheng’s mother was a shrewd woman; if force didn’t work, she’d try a softer approach.
Xiao Zhanwu glanced at Li Yi; he wasn’t sure how to proceed with what he was about to say, since even now he still didn’t know exactly what was wrong with this man.
Of course, this Yan fellow was definitely up to no good; his instinctive reaction upon seeing them just now spoke volumes.
He was confident that, given enough time, they would certainly be able to unravel the mysteries surrounding this man.
But unfortunately, the villagers had arrived too quickly, leaving them no time to investigate!
Seeing this, Li Yi knew it was time for him to step in.
He strode to the front of the crowd and said, “Fellow villagers, my name is Li Yi. I’m the one who filed the report—I’m the one who called the police to the Yan household!”
Yan Minsheng’s mother immediately shouted, “What right do you have to have my son arrested? What right?”
Li Yi replied calmly, “Who said we’re here to arrest anyone?”
Hearing this, everyone was taken aback.
Wasn’t that the obvious truth? After all, the man was still in the hands of the police…
“Here’s the situation: we originally came to Wangli Village to visit relatives, but just a moment ago we discovered that something very valuable was missing from our car—and before that, only Yan Minsheng’s wife had been near our vehicle!”
Li Yi continued, “More importantly, when we confronted her, she looked completely flustered and even stumbled twice. So we have reason to suspect she stole our belongings, which is why we called the police to investigate.”
Yan Minsheng’s mother shouted, “Then just investigate Minsheng’s wife! Why are you arresting him?”
“Exactly! Setting aside whether Minsheng’s wife stole anything, even if she did, they should be arresting her!”
“Exactly! It makes no sense to arrest the husband when it’s his wife who stole something…”
By now, seventy or eighty villagers had gathered in the courtyard to watch, and many more were still on their way.
The villagers gathered in front of Yan Minsheng’s house, chattering away, while some pointed fingers at Li Yi and his men!
Facing the villagers’ accusations, Li Yi sneered and said, “As for why we’re arresting him, you’ll have to ask him yourself!”
“What do you mean by that?”
“We originally came here to question that woman. We didn’t expect this man to see us and immediately try to escape by climbing onto the roof. Naturally, the police moved in to apprehend him!” Li Yi explained.
As soon as he said this, the villagers’ murmurs grew even louder.
But this time, not everyone sided with Yan Minsheng; some villagers began to harbor doubts about him.
In the simple minds of the common folk, only those with a guilty conscience or something to hide would run away at the sight of the police.
Therefore, Yan Minsheng’s reaction was proof enough that he was up to no good!
Even Yan Minsheng’s father couldn’t stand it anymore. He immediately turned to his son and said, “You good-for-nothing! Did you take something that doesn’t belong to you? If you did, you’d better give it back right away!”
“That’s right, son. If you two really took something from them, just admit it right away. Maybe they won’t arrest you then!” Yan Minsheng’s mother chimed in.
“Dad, Mom, I really didn’t steal their stuff. If anyone did, it was that damn woman—I really didn’t know!”
Seeing Yan Minsheng’s desperate defense, Li Yi couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
At the same time, a saying came to mind: The person who falsely accuses you knows better than you do just how wronged you are.
Yan Minsheng really was being framed this time, and Zhou Shuxia was being framed as well—after all, the one framing him was none other than Li Yi himself.
Of course, his framing of the couple was merely a ploy to secure an opportunity to search the Yan household—nothing more.
With that in mind, Li Yi immediately turned to Yan Minsheng’s parents and said, “You’ll have plenty of chances to discipline your son later. For now, just focus on how to handle this situation!”
“You… what do you want?” Yan Minsheng’s father said in a low voice.
“I’ve questioned both of them, and they both deny stealing anything. However, that woman is currently the only suspect. Therefore, to thoroughly investigate their involvement, I demand a search of the Yan residence!” Li Yi said.
“And what if you don’t find anything?”
“If we find nothing, I’ll apologize to the couple and compensate them 1,000 yuan for their loss!”
Before Yan Minsheng’s father could speak, Yan Minsheng shouted, “No way, I won’t agree to it. What right do you have to search my house…”
Li Yi immediately gave Zhang Ziqiang a look. Zhang Ziqiang caught the hint and promptly grabbed Yan Minsheng by the collar, dragging him into the house.
Seeing this, Yan Minsheng’s parents tried to step forward, but Li Yi stopped them.
“I can guarantee you this: even if we find the missing items, given the couple’s situation, I won’t make things difficult for them. We’ll take the items and leave immediately. What do you think?” Li Yi said.
“You’d better remember that. If we really do find what’s missing, you can’t give Minsheng and his wife a hard time!” Yan Minsheng’s mother said.
“I promise. With so many villagers watching, why would I deceive you?” Li Yi said.
“Well… then go ahead and search!”
Having obtained permission from Yan Minsheng’s parents, Li Yi immediately exchanged a few quiet words with Xiao Zhanwu, then instructed the police officers in the room to conduct a thorough search of the Yan household…
………