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However, Lin Yuan felt lucky that Xiao Shitou was a boy and nobody wanted to buy him; otherwise, she wouldn’t have known where to start looking for her little sister.

No matter how much she asked, Xiao Shitou just couldn’t remember the full name of that place Lin Dashuan mentioned, something with "Li" in it.

With no other choice, they had to search from door to door upon reaching the town.

After instructing Xiao Shitou to dress up and wait there for Lan Hua and the others who were hurrying over, Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng mounted their horses and galloped toward Zhuma Town.

Given the time, Lin Dashuan, who was left only with Xiao Linshuang without Xiao Shitou to slow him down, should have already reached the town by now and might have even sold the girl already.

It was only then that Lin Yuan remembered what Xiao He’s mother had said—that Lin Dashuan, now a drunken mess, was a brute in his youth. How could she have failed to detect that he dared to kidnap someone?

Indeed, freed from the encumbrance of Xiao Shitou, Lin Dashuan made surprisingly quick progress. Xia Zheng and she raced all the way to the gates of Zhuma Town City, but they never caught a glimpse of him. However, once inside the town, finding someone would be complicated.

Gazing at the bustling crowd before her, Lin Yuan felt like a hundred ants were crawling in her heart, and she was scratching her chest and ribs in desperation.

"Let’s wait for Lan Hua and the others to arrive and then search house by house.

We must not overlook any place with ’Li’ in its name," Lin Yuan suggested, looking back. She just couldn’t bring herself to utter the word "brothel" at the moment, fearful that by simply saying it, her little sister might end up suffering inhumane treatment there.

Now with no other solution, they had to look for a needle in the ocean; the only strategy Lin Yuan could think of was to mobilize everyone to search all the brothels in town.

She hadn’t considered reporting to the authorities, but the Yamen would, at best, assign a couple of Government Officials to go through the motions and give her a cursory tour.

Rather than wasting time with an official report, it was quicker to search for the person directly.

Xia Zheng clenched the whip in his hand and a smirk crossed his lips; he looked down at her and said with a smile, "If Lin Dashuan is set on selling someone, it’s definitely in one of Zhuma Town’s brothels.

There’s someone who surely knows his way around such places. Come on, let me take you to him!"

Lin Yuan’s brows furrowed slightly, and before she could ask who it was, Xia Zheng had already embraced her tightly and sped toward the city on his horse.

Only when the horse stopped in front of a grand mansion did she realize who Xia Zheng was referring to as the person most familiar with brothels.

"Hey, hey, what’s the meaning of this? Who are you looking for?

" The young servants guarding the gate of Li Mansion saw Xia Zheng stop his horse at the entrance and began shouting as they moved to chase them away.

How absurd, they thought; how dare someone ride a horse right up to the private residence of the County Magistrate? They must have a death wish!

But there was someone with an even bigger death wish!

Without any intention of dismounting, Xia Zheng squeezed his horse’s flanks and tugged the reins, ascending the high steps right up to the gate of Li Mansion: "Bring Li Chang out to see me!"

They’d seen those unafraid of death, but never someone so blatantly fearless, calling out the County Magistrate’s name at will: "How dare you! Do you think you can just call out the County Magistrate’s name? Go away, if you have business, take it to the Government Office. Don’t cause a scene here!"

As they spoke, the two young servants reached out to grab Xia Zheng’s horse’s reins.

Xia Zheng let out a cold laugh and lashed each with the whip: "The Government Office? Ha, as if I don’t know what kind of man Li Chang is?

Right now, he’s probably enjoying himself with one of his Little Concubines!

Hurry up and open the gate for me! Otherwise, I’ll send the two of you straight to Buddha! "

All the young servants at Li Chang’s gate were cunning, and being hit without opening the gate was akin to asking for slaughter. After all, once they opened the gate, this brash intruder couldn’t enter the inner courtyard and would instead attract the family guards for a beatdown—why not?

The young servant crouched and hurriedly opened the door, and as soon as the door was opened, he rushed inside, all the while ripping at his clothes and shouting at the top of his lungs, creating the appearance of a desperate resistance being suppressed, "Quick, someone come! There’s someone coming for vengeance! Bandits are at our door!"

Lin Yuan, atop her horse, had a face full of black lines, thinking that these two rascals were really overacting, truly worthy of being the County Magistrate’s watch dogs.

Xia Zheng watched the two fellows running into the courtyard with an amused, mocking look. He neither spoke nor stopped, simply following behind. If anyone dared to block his way, they were promptly whipped aside into the bushes by him.

It was only after following the two young servants into a courtyard that Lin Yuan realized Xia Zheng was having them lead the way.

After so many events, lunchtime had passed, and the County Magistrate was cherishing every moment with his new Little Concubine.

Upon hearing the cries of "vengeance" and "bandits" from outside, he was so frightened that his legs went weak, and without even time to get dressed, he tried to crawl under the bed.

Before the Little Concubine could even cry out, the door was already kicked open by someone, and the sudden gust of cold air that swept in made her shiver all over.

She quickly grabbed a brocade quilt to cover herself.

When she saw who the intruder was, the color drained from her face, but as she caught sight of Xia Zheng, her face turned red and then pale, her eyes fixating on him.

Unfortunately, the man seemed not to notice her at all and walked straight to the underside of the bed, dragging out the bare-bottomed Li Chang.

"Mercy, good sir, mercy!" Li Chang wept, with his head in his hands, not daring to lift it.

Xia Zheng, annoyed, kicked him and covered him with the clothes scattered nearby, haphazardly covering the essential parts. He then dragged him out of the Little Concubine’s room, not being able to stand the room’s heavy scent of makeup, which disgusted him.

The Little Concubine stood dumbfounded for a moment before realizing that it wasn’t really bandits seeking revenge.

She grabbed an undergarment to put on and, without even having time for her shoes, she rushed to the door to look.

But the first person she saw wasn’t Xia Zheng, who had just entered; instead, she saw Lin Yuan, sitting upright on a horse.

Lin Yuan also saw her and raised an eyebrow, recognizing that the Little Concubine Li Chang was holding was Lin Siyu. It seemed she was doing quite well for herself; Li Chang couldn’t bear to leave her alone even at midday.

Looking at the terrified Li Chang on the ground, who was over fifty with grey hair—although he usually took good care of himself, his cloudy eyes betrayed his excesses—she shook her head slightly in silence. No wonder Lin Siyu wanted to entice Xia Zheng. Who would like such a disgusting old man?

Seeing Lin Yuan looking at her with sympathy, Lin Siyu’s rage grew even stronger, and when she looked at the old man kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, she couldn’t conceal her disgust any longer.

Meanwhile, Li Chang was still holding his head and begging for mercy, calling out "good sir" repeatedly. Xia Zheng, tired of l

istening, grabbed his hair, forcing him to lift his head and look at him, "Shut up! Otherwise, I’ll knock your teeth out!"

Li Chang obediently closed his mouth, but when he saw it was Xia Zheng, anger immediately filled his eyes. Even though Lao Fan was a Divine Doctor and apparently had connections with Consort Guiren in the Capital city, that didn’t mean he could tolerate such insult from one of Lao Fan’s men!