"Words are spoken beautifully!"
Song Chaoyu smiled slightly, but appeared to trust him greatly. "If that's the case, then that's wonderful! We haven't encountered any place like Ping'an County on our journey so far! With things as they are now, we can finally feel at ease."
At this moment, in Prince Zhou's heart, Song Chaoyu and the other two were as innocent as could be.
Even after entering Ping'an County, Song Chaoyu didn't ask any further questions, which led Prince Zhou to start having wild thoughts.
Until they reached the entrance of the school—
Song Chaoyu looked at the tightly shut gate, the guards at the entrance, and finally stopped. "Why isn't anyone else here?"
However, the bodies of the family of five that Shui Jing had mentioned earlier were nowhere to be seen. Only some dark red bloodstains were not conspicuous; it seemed the bodies had already been cleaned up.
"Haha, let's go in!"
Prince Zhou signaled for his men to open the gate, then stepped forward and directly snatched Song Chaoyu's package from her hands. "We've arrived. You can all relax now. All packages are to be handed over to us for unified distribution! You just go inside. If you serve our boss well, you won't be short of good food and drink!"
As she spoke, she reached out to touch Song Chaoyu's face.
Song Chaoyu instinctively dodged, and Prince Zhou's expression suddenly changed.
From a smiling demeanor, it abruptly turned to one of disdain and anger. "Oh? You dare to dodge? What do you think this place is? You go in first! I'll make you know my power sooner or later!"
"What are you doing? Let us go! We're not going in!"
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tiaohong also tried to snatch their packages back. "We want to leave, let us go!"
"Go in!"
Prince Zhou stepped forward, grabbed Song Chaoyu's sleeve again, and dragged her towards the school. "Since you're already here, do you think we'll let you leave? Don't dream!"
As Song Chaoyu and the others were pushed into the school, Prince Zhou's men also closed the school gate behind them.
Only then did Song Chaoyu calm down and survey the situation inside the school.
The school was large, with a vast courtyard. The four sides of the courtyard were lined with rooms, where the fathers usually taught.
Normally, the main hall would house statues of Confucius and Mencius, along with an incense table and cushions for worship.
But now, the statues of Confucius and Mencius had been moved to the center of the courtyard, facing away from each other. Beneath the statues, several women and children were bound.
Some of them were already on the verge of death. Hearing the commotion at the entrance, they didn't even have the strength to lift their heads to glance at Song Chaoyu and the others.
The rest of the people mostly had indifferent eyes.
In this vast courtyard, about a hundred people were held captive. Most of them were the elderly, weak, women, and children. The children were on Song Chaoyu's left, while the elderly and women were mostly on her right.
In the main hall directly facing Song Chaoyu, a man was seated, eating fish.
The man wore a lake-blue brocade robe that was not perfectly fitted but looked very expensive.
However, the man seemed to pay no mind to the costly fabric.
His manners were crude; as he ate, he wiped the oil from the corners of his mouth with his sleeve.
Hearing the movement at the entrance, he also looked up and roared at the entrance, "Prince Zhou! What are you back for?! Didn't I tell you to find He Si? A good person, can they just disappear for no reason?!"
"Boss! Look who we've brought!"
Prince Zhou immediately scurried over like a lapdog, pulling Song Chaoyu along. "These young ladies have arrived in Ping'an County! They seem to be young ladies from prominent families in the capital! Boss, look how beautiful this woman is?"
The man threw the bone, still stained with fish, onto the ground, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and indeed, his eyes showed more interest as he looked at Song Chaoyu. "Oh ho, she's quite good-looking! Fair-skinned and tender, not bad!"
He immediately beamed with joy, patted Prince Zhou on the shoulder. "Then tonight, it's the usual rule. I'll go first, and the two behind her will be rewarded to you tomorrow."
"As for her—"
Prince Zhou stepped forward, sizing up Song Chaoyu. "I'll keep her by my side for a few days until I'm tired of her!"
Disgusting!
This was the only feeling Song Chaoyu had at the moment.
But as long as he didn't touch her immediately, Song Chaoyu felt she could endure for now.
"What right do you have to do this?!"
Even though they already knew the situation here, upon hearing the man speak like this, Tiaohong was furious. "What right do you have to lock so many people here? We are refugees, not criminals!"
"Slap—"
"Ah—"
However, before Tao Hong could finish speaking, Prince Zhou slapped her across the face. "Since you're here, why all the nonsense? Anyway, the emperor is far away, what can happen if we lock you up?!"
As he spoke, he pointed at the people tied beneath the statues of Confucius and Mencius. "See? If you resist, this will be the result! You'd better be smart and serve us well, and perhaps we'll even give you some good food!"
Tiaohong's cheek quickly became red and swollen.
Song Chaoyu also remembered this slap!
If it weren't for the need to endure for now, she really wished Qiu Qing could chop off Prince Zhou's hand!
At this moment, she stepped forward to shield Tiaohong in her arms. An old woman beside them sighed and advised them, "You girls, don't provoke them. They will really kill you. Do you think anyone who comes here can ever leave? If you are obedient, you will suffer less."
"That's right."
The man in charge seemed to be in a bad mood. He turned his head and snorted at Song Chaoyu and the others. "If you are disobedient, we will kill you directly as a warning."
Then he signaled Prince Zhou to take Song Chaoyu and the others to the group of women, and then he lost his temper with Prince Zhou again. "If you don't find He Si today, don't come back to see me! Don't you know the current situation?! I heard that the court has sent Prince Chang. Although Ping'an County is remote, many things need to be handled quickly. Don't provoke people you shouldn't, or we'll have no choice but to flee!"
So... he was afraid too?
Song Chaoyu lowered her gaze, preventing them from seeing the anger and hatred in her eyes, and then slowly walked towards the crowd of women.