The ancient morning market was bustling, with people coming and going. The sounds of buying and selling, hawking, and bargaining could be heard on every street and alleyway.
Leng Ruo Li, who usually loved to stroll through the streets, had no inclination to wander in the noisy market this time.
What concerned her most was rescuing Ling'er from the den of iniquity that was the Yichun Tower.
After leaving the General's mansion, she had headed straight for Yichun Tower.
Yichun Tower was located on one of the busiest streets in the capital, a well-known brothel. It was said to be second only to the Baihua Tower across the street in terms of business.
At the moment, the main gate of Yichun Tower was shut. She had forgotten that ancient brothels, like modern nightclubs, only operated after dark.
What should she do?
If she waited until nightfall to rescue Ling'er, it might be too late.
She had to find a solution quickly.
Suddenly, an idea struck her.
Turning, she went to the outside of the rear courtyard wall of Yichun Tower. She looked up at the three to four meter high wall not far away and was instantly dumbfounded.
Damn it!
This wall was twice as high as the rear wall of the General's mansion, and it was built with smooth stone bricks. She didn't know any martial arts for climbing walls. How could she possibly get over it? She had to think of another way.
Subsequently, she carefully observed the surroundings outside the wall and found a wooden gate at the base of the left rear courtyard wall of Yichun Tower.
She guessed that this wooden gate was for the logistic staff of Yichun Tower to enter and exit.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a door opening from inside.
Leng Ruo Li quickly hid in a secluded corner and carefully observed the movements at the large wooden gate.
With a "creak," the large wooden door was opened from the inside.
She saw two young servants carefully carrying a large, heavy barrel out. She didn't know what they were carrying, but a gust of wind brought a foul odor.
"Let's put it by the door for now. Someone will come to take it away shortly. Let's go inside quickly," one of the servants said.
"But this smelly water bucket has such an unpleasant odor, won't it affect our backyard?" the other servant asked.
"No, someone will come to clean it up soon," one of the servants replied again.
Leng Ruo Li thought to herself that this was her crucial opportunity to infiltrate Yichun Tower. Seeing that the two servants were about to go back in and close the door,
At this moment, a glint flashed in Leng Ruo Li's eyes. She decisively took two silver needles, coated with her special anesthetic, from her system and gently flicked them in the direction of the two servants. They accurately embedded themselves in their necks, and both men immediately collapsed and lost consciousness.
"Yay!"
The opportunity had arrived.
However, the silver needles that Physician Han had given her might all have been used as projectiles.
At this moment, Leng Ruo Li, with the utmost speed, dragged the two unconscious servants to a hidden spot and slipped into the rear courtyard of Yichun Tower.
That was a close call!
Upon entering, she immediately closed the door and let out a long sigh of relief.
After composing herself, she hugged the south wall near the rear courtyard entrance and carefully made her way along it.
What the heck!
This rear courtyard of Yichun Tower was quite large. Utilizing her spatial abilities, she quickly circled the entire courtyard.
She discovered that the rear courtyard of Yichun Tower had five or six identical small wooden houses, each guarded by two men in black. Patrols were constantly moving around the area.
Damn it!
The security was too tight.
It was comparable to the imperial palace in television dramas (though she hadn't been to an imperial palace in this era yet).
There must be something important in these small wooden houses, or someone was being held captive, otherwise, so many people wouldn't be guarding them.
These men in black all looked fierce and menacing, each holding a long sword. They were likely the enforcers within Yichun Tower.
But what intrigued Leng Ruo Li the most now was what exactly was being held in these five or six small wooden houses?
Just then, a patrol team, armed with long swords, approached her.
Leng Ruo Li flashed into her system space and peered out through the mirror of the system space with her clear, beautiful apricot eyes.
"Huh, boss, I definitely saw a woman here just now. How did she disappear all of a sudden? That's creepy," one of the skinny men said, scratching his head in confusion.
"You must have seen wrong. Such a large person couldn't just vanish into thin air. The guards in the rear courtyard of Yichun Tower have always been strict. Women from the front building are not allowed here, and it's even more impossible for women from outside to get in here. Even female ghosts wouldn't dare come out in broad daylight. Have you not been with a woman for a long time and started hallucinating from longing? Haha..." the leading man mocked.
"It's okay. If you're missing a woman, just tell boss. Boss will help you find a madam to arrange a beauty for you. You'll have a blast," the leading man said, patting the skinny man.
"N-no, boss, I really did see a woman standing here just now," the skinny man said, his face turning red with frustration.
"Let's go, we have other places to patrol," another person said, patting the skinny man's shoulder.
Afterward, the patrol team quickly moved away, but the skinny man was still unwilling to give up. He walked a few steps, then turned back to look at the spot where Leng Ruo Li had been.
After a long while, Leng Ruo Li emerged from the space, let out a long sigh, and thought, "Phew, that was really close!"
After this incident, Leng Ruo Li became even more cautious. She slowly approached the window of a small wooden house, gently opened the window, and peered inside. She saw that the wooden house was filled with many wooden chests of various sizes, each locked with a padlock. She had no idea what was inside the chests.
Next, she went to another small wooden house and also peered inside out of curiosity.
What she saw made her jump in shock. Inside were two large coffins, one black and the other bright red. The sight was incredibly eerie and chilling, sending shivers down her spine.
What were they doing with two such large coffins in Yichun Tower?
However, she saw that the subsequent small wooden houses were normal. Some contained wooden chests, others held ancient musical instruments. She didn't see any living people in any of the houses.
Leng Ruo Li felt a bit disappointed. She had assumed Ling'er would be locked up in one of the small wooden houses.
It seemed finding where Ling'er was held captive would take some effort.
The only option now was to venture into the front building to search.
Just then, the Yichun Tower patrol team came by again. Fortunately, there was a large, leafy tree nearby. Leng Ruo Li nimbly climbed to the top of the tree and hid.
Coincidentally, this large tree was directly opposite a window on the second floor of the front building.
Haha...
Heaven is helping me!
Leng Ruo Li flipped herself over and entered a room on the second floor of Yichun Tower. Her apricot eyes scanned the entire room.
The furnishings in this room were extremely luxurious, with all sorts of vases, calligraphy and paintings, and a red coral tree nearly a meter tall. The coral was fine-textured, supple, and firm, with a pure color. It was undoubtedly a top-grade item. These items indicated that the owner of this room must be quite wealthy.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Ancient people were so wealthy. If such an exquisite handicraft were taken back to modern times for auction, it would surely fetch a lot of money. She felt a tickle of excitement at the thought.
But just then, a woman suddenly opened the door and walked in. Seeing someone had entered her room, she screamed in fright. Leng Ruo Li didn't even have time to retreat into her system space. Immediately after, she heard hurried footsteps rushing up from the first floor of Yichun Tower to the second, surrounding the woman's room tightly.
Leng Ruo Li had no choice but to quickly take out her surgical knife from her system space and stride towards the woman. She swiftly covered the woman's mouth with her left hand and held the sharp surgical knife against her slender neck with her right, saying, "Don't move, and don't scream. I won't hurt you."
"Mmm... mmm mmm..."
The woman's mouth was tightly covered by Leng Ruo Li, rendering her unable to speak. She could only nod vigorously.
Outside, "Madam, has something happened in your room?"
"Mmm mmm..." Madam wanted to speak.
Upon hearing the word "Madam," Leng Ruo Li instantly knew the woman's identity.
"Madam? Isn't Madam the madam of a brothel? Are you the madam of Yichun Tower?"
Leng Ruo Li glanced sideways at the woman, her apricot eyes wide with disbelief. It was too much of a coincidence that this woman, adorned with thick rouge and powder, was the madam of Yichun Tower!
No wonder there were so many valuable items in this room. She was the owner of Yichun Tower.
After Leng Ruo Li regained her composure, she calmly said to the madam, "Madam, I'll let go of your mouth now. Please don't scream. I really won't hurt you, but if you dare to make a sound, this knife will slice across your neck."