He stole my money

Shen Xiaozhang clenched his fist in anger. He glared at the Young Master Li who was calling him a thief again and again and again. At the same time, he could also see the crowd whispering about the scene and wondering whether he had stolen money from this young man or not. Shen Xiaozhang gritted his teeth in anger and took a deep breath. He knew that he couldn't yell or scold at this Young Master Li because his father was an upright official in the court. He also knew about the foolish nature of this Young Master Li and hence, arguing or scolding this man would only be detrimental to his image and reputation.

He was a scholar and he would never argue with a fool who couldn't understand anything. Shen Xiaozhang snorted in his heart but on his face, there was an amicable smile. "Young Master Li, you cannot say such false words," he explained, "You are trying to destroy my reputation."

"Heh! What reputation does a thief have?" Young Master Li mocked. "You just give me my money back and I'll go!!!"

Shen Xiaozhang hissed, "Young Master Li -"

Seeing that his son was on the verge of breaking out in anger, Shen Bofeng quickly interrupted in between. "Ah Zhang, stop!" Shen Xiaozhang looked at his father, took a deep breath, and calmed down. He also knew what his father was trying to do. After all, they couldn't do anything to this young man. If it was some other person, then they would have already used their prestige and broken that person's legs and thrown him down the valley. But, dammit!!! This was Young Master Li. How dare this fool call him a thief? Does he look like one? Why would he, Shen Xiaozhang steal something from him? Does he look like he lacks money?

Shen Bofeng smiled and looked at the Young Master Li, "Young Man, why don't we go inside and talk? I am sure that you have been highly mistaken. My son is not a thief. He won't steal something from you."

"But he did!!!!" Young Master Li pointed out in anger. Pointing his hand at Shen Xiaozhang, he yelled, "This thief threatened me with a knife and stole my money!!!"

"Brother guard, catch him and get my money back." The young man pulled onto his guard.

The guard: "......" Young Master, please stop this!!!! That is Young Master Shen. Why would he steal your money???? Waah!!! Somebody save me.

"Master, let's go home...." The scared guard pulled on his young master's sleeves. He simply wanted to take his young master, home. He didn't want his master to confront the Shen Mansion and accuse them falsely. Unlike everyone who called his young master a fool, he knew that his young master was a simple man, with a pure heart just like a child. He knew nothing about the malice of the world and did good in everything and was extremely playful. He wasn't a fool but because of his good nature, others took unnecessary advantage of him. That's why he was appointed as a guard to protect his young master.

However, today, his young master excelled in locking him up and running away from home. As the young master's guard, he was so scared thinking how his young master would be treated by others and how he would be fooled. Luckily, someone heard his voice and freed him from the old shed. Just when he was about to hurry up and go out to look for his young master, he saw his young master coming back. Surprised, the guard quickly asked his young master about his whereabouts. But, as soon as the young master looked at his guard, he began to cry that somebody bullied him and stole his money.

Hearing this, the guard was engaged. Somebody dared to steal his young master's money!!! He promised that he would catch the person and bring back his young master's money. Thankfully, his young master recognized the face of the person who bullied him. Hence, the guard was quite confident in getting justice for his young master. But who knew? The person in his young master's mouth would turn out to be Young Master Shen. The guard was shivering in fear, not knowing what to do. Though he knew that Young Master Shen wouldn't do something to them, yet, they couldn't blatantly ruin somebody's reputation.

"Young Master, please, listen to me...." The guard wanted to cry out but no tears came. Frightened for his life, he pulled onto his young master's sleeves and began to explain it to him. "Young Master, that is Young Master Shen. He did not steal your money. You are mistaken. Let's go back!!!!"

Young Master Li frowned. "Young Master Shen?"

The guard nodded happily. In his heart, he sighed a relief thinking that his young master had finally recognized his mistake. "Yes, that is Young Master Shen," he whispered. "Young Master, why would he steal your money? Are you mistaking him for somebody else?"

Young Master Li frowned even more. In normal instances, he would always listen to his guard, after all, he knew who was good to him and who was bad. But as soon as he thought about the guard's word and decide to follow after him, his brain buzzed and something flashed in his mind. He froze, his pupils dilated for a second before it turned back to normal. A fierce determination flashed through his eyes and he snorted loudly, "So, what if he is Young Master Shen. He stole my money and this is the truth."

"That's it," Shen Xiaozhang sneered. He had enough of this nonsense. If this kept on going on that his reputation would be at stake. He took a deep breath and addressed, "Young Master Li, you cannot say whatever comes in your mouth. Why are you falsely accusing me? Are you trying to ruin my reputation?"

Hearing Shen Xiaozhang's question, even the crowd felt that he was right. He was Young Master Shen, a scholar, and a good man. Why would he steal somebody's money? No! It must be this YOung Master Li who was lying and trying to ruin Young Master Shen's reputation. Humph! Everybody in the capital knew about Young Master's Li problem and that's why everybody began to whisper and say bad thing about him.