"Just playing around when I'm bored."
Ye Qingcheng's eyes flickered, and she glanced at Xiao Wangye. Xiao Wangye wouldn't randomly bring up matters of a pleasure house. He must have found something.
Watching Ye Qingcheng leave, Xiao Wangye withdrew his gaze.
He had previously heard his subordinates report that Wang Shanchong had secretly opened a pleasure house, attracting many court officials and powerful figures.
Not only that, but the frequent disappearances of young girls in the vicinity had also caught his attention. It was difficult not to connect these two matters.
Murong Yun watched Ye Qingcheng leave, feeling a sense of relief. She looked at the tea ceremony master sitting on the judging panel. How could even he praise Ye Qingcheng?
This had made Ye Qingcheng gain a little attention.
It's fine, Murong Yun comforted herself, so what if Ye Qingcheng gained some attention? She was the top talented woman.
Ye Qingcheng walked out of the tea house and headed towards Ye Shan Village.
A sound of horses' hooves echoed on the mountain path. The man reined in his horse. Hearing voices from ahead, his ears twitched.
He patted the horse beneath him and walked alone towards the voices.
"This damned girl, her head was split open. Why did you bring her along?" a fat man grumbled, grasping Bi Xi's chin and examining her closely.
"She's just a little girl who hasn't even grown any hair yet."
"What do you know?" a lean man slapped the fat man from behind. "Some gentlemen prefer this sort."
"There aren't many young girls in the nearby villages. We'll have to look elsewhere in a few days."
There was a commotion from inside the carriage. The fat man impatiently knocked on the carriage, "Quiet down, or I'll drag you all out and kill you."
The fat man carefully tied up the unconscious woman beside him and carried her onto the carriage.
Inside the simple carriage were several bound girls.
Seeing the fat man lift the curtain and enter, they all cowered back in fear, letting out whimpers. Unfortunately, the dirty rags in their mouths muffled any cries for help.
"Quiet down," the fat man cursed. He put down the girl he was carrying, but then suddenly stopped.
"We'll drug them before entering the city," the man behind him said, also picking up Bi Xi like a chicken.
"Let's go," the man urged the fat man, who remained motionless.
The girls inside, however, began to whimper louder.
As the fat man's corpulent body fell to the ground, the man behind him saw what had happened.
A still-dripping dagger lay beside a man in black. Hearing the man's voice, he slightly raised the dagger in his hand.
The man was momentarily stunned and quickly said, "Good sir, let's talk. Let's talk."
The man slightly turned his head, identified the man's direction, and immediately charged at him. In a short while, the man's corpse lay in the wilderness.
The man did not stop. He returned to the carriage and, guided by the girls' whimpers, felt his way to a nearby hemp rope and untied her.
At first, the woman was frightened, but seeing that the man did not intend to harm them, she immediately helped untie the other girls.
"Who among you is Bi Xi?"
The girls were a little scared, but they all quietly denied it.
The man frowned slightly and slowly walked out of the carriage. He looked at the four corpses on the ground, appearing somewhat troubled.
"Sir, is there anything you need help with?" A few bolder girls stepped forward to ask, while others had already vanished.
"There are two girls on the ground," the man sighed slightly.
He had never seen Bi Xi, only knew she was a young girl by Ye Qingcheng's side. If only she could speak now.
"Sir, are you looking for them?" a girl volunteered, "I'll help you wake them up."
That would be good; they would be able to speak once awake. Perhaps then they would know which one was Bi Xi.
Yujian woke up under the girls' urging. She had intended to go down the mountain after dragging Bi Xi into the bushes. She never expected to feel a sharp pain at the back of her head and fall unconscious.
"Miss, you're awake."
"Where am I?" Yujian got up, rubbing her head, and of course, she couldn't ignore the two corpses on the ground and Bi Xi not far away.
Seeing Bi Xi lying there with a pale face, her own expression changed. Without returning to Ye Shan Village, Bi Xi's body appeared like this. How could she conceal the fact that she had cruelly killed Bi Xi?
"Miss, we were all women abducted midway. Fortunately, this benefactor rescued us."
Hearing the woman's words, a plan surfaced in Yujian's mind. Why not frame these two human traffickers for Bi Xi's death?
The man in black heard Yujian speak and immediately concluded that she was not Bi Xi.
Seeing the man in black pull Bi Xi up from the ground, Yujian ignored her injuries and blurted out, "Benefactor, this is my sister. Please don't trouble yourself."
"Your sister?" Although he asked it as a question, his hands did not stop. He picked up Bi Xi and gestured for another girl to bring the hemp rope.
"My sister," Yujian said, feigning sadness, "I will take her back and bury her properly. You don't need to trouble yourself, benefactor." As she spoke, she reached out to pull Bi Xi back.
The man easily dodged, "She's still alive," though her breath was faint.
Upon hearing this, Yujian became even more anxious.
The man ignored her further words, mounted his horse with Bi Xi, and rode away.
Now what? How did this incident happen out of the blue?
She had to return to the Prince's mansion before Bi Xi did.
Ye Qingcheng saw a familiar throwing knife fly past her and embed itself in a nearby large tree. Ye Qingcheng pulled out the knife and walked towards the direction it came from.
"Xiao Hua," seeing the man in front of her, Ye Qingcheng hurried over. The man gently put down Bi Xi, who was behind him.
Seeing the pale-faced Bi Xi, Ye Qingcheng quickly opened her waist pouch to bandage her wound, then took out her water pouch, crushed a pill, and fed it to her.
"Where did you find her?"
"Past two mountains, a small mountain village. I dealt with two human traffickers."
"Human traffickers?" Ye Qingcheng frowned. "Did you see anyone else with Bi Xi?"
"The traffickers abducted quite a few girls. When I left, someone said she was Bi Xi's sister."
Bi Xi was an orphan. How could she have a sister? It must have been Yujian, but Ye Qingcheng didn't know how much she was involved in this incident.
"Thank you, Xiao Hua," Ye Qingcheng could finally relax. Bi Xi was injured and had lost a lot of blood, but with good care, she should recover quickly.
Ye Qingcheng tenderly stroked Bi Xi's hair.
"You're welcome. You helped me once before," she always believed in returning favors.
"There's one more thing. I hope you can help me with a favor, Xiao Hua."
News came from the Princess at the foot of the mountain. The person had finally been found. The day's extensive search operation finally ended. Lin Xiao and the guards descended the mountain.
The man squatted in the grass, listening to the guards pass by.
Lin Xiao seemed to sense something and squinted towards the grass.