"You don't need to get involved directly, but if you are willing, there are naturally things you can help with."
Xie Jiang methodically briefed the two of them.
Xia Zeshi and Xu Hengyi listened, completely bewildered, still unable to grasp Xie Jiang's intentions.
However, whether they understood or not, they would simply follow her instructions.
The two young eunuchs by Xia Zeshi's side removed the door panels from the Wu family's residence and helped the immobile Madam Zhou onto them.
The two elder ladies ran out of the Wu family's home and quickly gathered some neighbors. Together, they carried Madam Zhou towards the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion.
Xie Jiang followed on horseback.
Xia Zeshi and Xu Hengyi stood at the intersection, watching the procession depart.
Xie Jiang was leading Madam Zhou and the neighbors to confront the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion head-on, but they couldn't participate. It was truly...
Xia Zeshi said to Yishan and Yishui, "Quickly take your third young master back and tend to his wounds properly."
Then, he added with some concern, "We don't know how chaotic things will get later. Let's hurry and make preparations..."
Xu Hengyi sighed. Why had he compromised so easily? Why had he been swayed by Xie Jiang's few words and stopped trying to dissuade her?
"Do you think this can succeed? I've never seen anyone so audacious, bringing a common woman like Madam Zhou to stir up trouble at the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion. What if she angers Lu Baofang... she will definitely anger Lu Baofang! Knowing that Lu Baofang is no easy opponent, and she still dares to do this..."
Xu Hengyi frowned, sighing again, with no confidence at all. "Should we prepare in case Xie Jiang is unable to handle it? We should think of a way to help her leave the capital quickly..."
Xia Zeshi thought seriously. "Once they reach the sea, Lu Baofang will be powerless."
Madam Zhou was carried along, weeping as she went, mourning her daughter Hongyun's filial piety and thoughtfulness, and cursing Wu Laosan's heinous cruelty.
Along the way, more and more onlookers joined, and by the time they neared the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion, the procession had become quite large.
The gatekeepers of the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion spotted the commotion from afar and naturally couldn't allow so many idlers near the entrance.
One person quickly ran into the mansion, summoning more servants and guards. Each holding a club, they blocked the crowd far from the mansion's gates on the street.
Xie Jiang, mounted high on her horse, tossed a gold bead. A guard from the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion got a lump on his forehead.
Someone in the crowd spotted the gold bead rolling on the ground. They picked it up, bit it, and finding it real, excitedly held it up and shouted. This caused more people to lower their heads and search the ground for gold beads.
Xie Jiang threw gold beads one by one, knocking over a Nanxiong Marquis's mansion guard with each throw. The crowd erupted in more exclamations.
Dazzled by the gold beads, who would still fear the clubs in the hands of the Nanxiong Marquis's servants and guards? The blockade was broken into pieces.
The door panel carrying Madam Zhou was rushed up the steps, and Madam Zhou was placed before the main gate of the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion.
The guards of the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion had naturally noticed Xie Jiang, who stood out like a crane among chickens.
Xie Jiang, calmly sitting on her horse, made her move against them, making no attempt to conceal it.
Furthermore, not long before, she had visited their mansion with the Fifth Prince and Young Master Xu San.
It was self-evident who was backing these people to dare to cause trouble at their marquis's mansion.
Steward Lu received the news and hurried out. He saw Xie Jiang at a glance, ignored Madam Zhou weeping on the door panel, and walked directly towards Xie Jiang.
"Young Master Xie, what is the meaning of this?" Steward Lu cupped his hands towards Xie Jiang, his politeness tinged with a cold edge.
Xie Jiang responded with an innocent "Oh," "I told Madam Zhou that her daughter Hongyun was sold to the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion, so she came to find her daughter."
Seemingly unaware of Steward Lu's subtle threat, "Mother and daughter depend on each other, and Madam Zhou is injured and ill. It's quite pitiful. Steward Lu, perhaps you could show some mercy and bring Wu Hongyun out?"
Madam Zhou crawled over and kowtowed repeatedly to Steward Lu, "Please show mercy, please! Let my Hongyun out, please! Please let Hongyun come out. Hongyun is my only child, Hongyun is my life, I cannot live without Hongyun..."
As she spoke, she took out an old sachet from her怀里, "I have money, I have money. I can buy Hongyun's freedom. I know you spent money, I'll give you all the money, and if it's not enough, I'll go borrow more..."
Madam Zhou still held a sliver of hope. The Nanxiong Marquis's mansion often bought young girls, perhaps they still had some in stock, perhaps it wasn't her Hongyun's turn yet...
The neighbors who had come to watch the excitement also knelt down, "Please release Hongyun, sir. Tell us how much money you need, and we can try to gather it..."
Steward Lu's face darkened instantly. He didn't even glance at the kneeling ants behind him.
If it weren't for this Young Master Xie interfering, how would these ants dare to come to the Marquis's mansion to cause trouble?
He stared only at Xie Jiang and said in a deep voice, "Does Young Master Xie not know whether there is a person named Wu Hongyun in the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion?"
Xie Jiang calmly replied, "I have evidence to prove that Wu Hongyun entered the Nanxiong Marquis's mansion."
Steward Lu sneered, "Then please, Young Master Xie, present your evidence."
Xie Jiang's eyes widened in surprise, "Oh? They silenced her so quickly?"
"Steward, sir, please! How much money is needed to buy Hongyun's freedom? Tell me the price, and I will definitely gather it for you. Please, I want to buy Hongyun's freedom..."
Madam Zhou, as humble as dust, prostrated herself at Steward Lu's feet, her forehead bleeding from the kowtows.
If she could die there and exchange it for a sliver of hope, Madam Zhou would not hesitate.
Madam Zhou hoped that Steward Lu would name a price, even if it was a sky-high sum she couldn't repay in three lifetimes, she would still give her all...
The onlookers, some pointing and whispering, some softly echoing the pleas, some wiping away tears, were moved.
Steward Lu, however, remained indifferent. "We do not have the person Young Master Xie is looking for in our mansion. No matter how much Young Master Xie incites these people to make a scene, we cannot conjure a living person out of thin air."
Xie Jiang did not dismount, looking down at Steward Lu, "If you cannot conjure a living person out of thin air, then what about a corpse? I want to see her alive or see her dead."
Upon hearing this, Madam Zhou almost suffocated. She raised her head and stared intently at Steward Lu, silently praying to all the gods and Buddhas to spare her Hongyun's life, willing to be reborn as an animal in her next life.
Steward Lu, as a servant of the Marquis, considered himself superior to these ants and did not care about their thoughts. "Young Master Xie, what exactly do you want? Regardless of your intentions, we can discuss it first."
"Speaking of which, Young Master Xie came with the Fifth Prince and Young Master Xu San earlier. Why aren't the Fifth Prince and Young Master Xu San here now?" Wouldn't the Fifth Prince and Young Master Xu San have advised you against trying to strike a stone with an egg?