Hearing this, Liu Rumei heaved a sigh of relief. If Mo Litian had really gone with them, she didn't know what to do.
Mo Litian was always a sensible person. Without saying more, he turned to Liu Rumei. "Is Miss Liu going to the yamen? How about we go together? I haven't been out of the palace for a long time. I also want to go to the yamen and have a look."
Heng Niang cursed silently in her heart. This man was really shameless!
Heng Niang had already refused him just now. Now Liu Rumei couldn't say more either. She could only nod. The two of them went to the yamen together.
However, when they got to the yamen, they found it empty. Both of them frowned.
Liu Rumei searched the whole yamen but found nothing. "Could something else have happened?"
Xue Zhan couldn't be absent from the yamen unless something unexpected had occurred.
Mo Litian quickly thought of this too. "I'll go and look for him."
After saying that, he was about to leave. Just then, a yamen runner came back. Seeing Liu Rumei, he was overjoyed. "Miss Liu, you've finally come!"
A look of confusion flashed across Liu Rumei's eyes. "What's going on? Why is there no one at the yamen?"
The yamen runner looked helpless. "Master Xue had an argument with the families of those girls before!"
The two looked at each other. Mo Litian pursed his lips and said, "What's going on?"
Wasn't this matter already resolved?
Why did such a situation occur again?
Only then did the yamen runner notice Mo Litian beside Liu Rumei. He was overjoyed again and quickly bowed to them. "Please follow this humble one, Your Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Liu."
Liu Rumei immediately followed him. While walking, she asked, "What on earth is going on? Didn't twenty taels of silver be given to each family?"
Why did this problem still arise? Twenty taels of silver was enough for an ordinary family to live on for several years! What else were they dissatisfied with?
A look of solemnity flashed across Mo Litian's eyes. Did they want more?
The yamen runner quickly said, "Master Xue indeed gave twenty taels of silver to each family as Your Highness the Crown Prince ordered. For the really poor families, Master Xue even added ten taels of his own. But yesterday, a girl came to Master Xue and cried, saying that her family was going to sell her to a lame man in exchange for a large sum of money!"
Mo Litian frowned and was about to speak when the yamen runner's voice came again. "Your Highness the Crown Prince said that these people were not allowed to sell these girls again. Master Xue sent people to investigate and found that the lame man had given the family twenty taels of silver and wanted to buy the girl as his wife. The lame man is a gambler. He indulges in the gambling house all day long. His family has lost all their money. He has also had several wives before, and he lost them all! Master Xue knew this was unreasonable, but he couldn't ignore it. At the same time, he was worried about the others, so he asked us to ask each of them one by one. Who would have thought that most of these girls had entered the brothel!"
Since the Fallen Flower Tower had fallen, this brothel had become the only one of its kind!
A cold light flashed across Mo Litian's eyes. How dare they play tricks on him!
Liu Rumei was not a fool. Naturally, she quickly understood. It was probably that someone had deliberately taken advantage of this loophole and sold these people under the pretext of a betrothal. In this way, they got the money from the court and made a lot of money themselves! This scheme was really ingenious!
The two soon came to the west of the city. Before they got close, they heard a shrewish voice of a middle - aged woman. "Master, Chuncao has already lost her good reputation. She can't marry into a good family at all. We've finally found someone who doesn't mind her. Why do you stop us, Master? Or do you two have your eyes on my Chuncao? If so, why don't you take her as a concubine, Master?"
Xue Zhan's face was full of anger. "She's your own daughter. How could you be so cruel as to push her into the fire pit?"
"Master, I'm not happy to hear you say that. I really like Chuncao. It's a proper match. Although I'm disabled, I'm not bad in other aspects. Moreover, Chuncao is also a girl with a bad reputation. We're just two of a kind. There's no one who's not good enough for the other. Why does it become a fire pit in your eyes, Master?"
"Please save me, Master! Save me!"
"You damned girl! Which family doesn't raise their daughters like this? Your younger brother is not young anymore. He's studying in the school. There will surely be a lot of expenses in the future, and there will be even more expenses when he gets married. I've raised you for so many years. Even if I don't have any credit, I've suffered a lot. Now you're a girl with a bad reputation. Why can't you just make do? Besides, apart from his bad legs, what's wrong with this Second Wang?"
"You little bitch. You're just wasting food living at home. Why don't you show some consideration for your mother? Marry yourself off. It's also a way to repay your mother for raising you!"
"Chuncao, it's not that your father is saying this. Apart from Second Wang, who else would dare to marry you? Even if you were to be a concubine in a rich family, I'm afraid they wouldn't take a fancy to you. Your mother has good intentions. Why do you think it's unfair to you?"
"Oh! I'm so kind - hearted, but I'm treated like a fool! My own daughter actually teams up with outsiders to blame me, her mother. I've finally found such a good marriage for her, but in her eyes, it's all wrong! I'm so unlucky!"
Liu Rumei and Mo Litian walked in and saw the five people in front of Xue Zhan. One of them limped. He was wearing a coarse cloth shirt. He was about thirty or forty years old. His eyes were cloudy but faintly showed a glint of shrewdness. It was not difficult to tell that this was Second Wang.
Beside him was a couple of the same age. The woman was shrewd and mean - looking, and the man was sneaky - eyed, looking very calculating. Behind them was a little boy about ten years old, very worldly - wise, looking just like the man. At this time, all three of them were glaring at the girl kneeling beside them.
The girl was about fifteen or sixteen years old, at the age of marriage. There were some patches on her coarse cloth shirt. Her face was delicate and pretty, but now it was blurred with tears. Her eyes were full of despair.
Xue Zhan's eyes were full of anger. In all his years, this was the first time he had seen such a brazen person.
"Master, this is our family matter. Why do you have to interfere?"
"Master Xue, we're grateful to you for saving Chuncao, but Chuncao can't stay with us for the rest of her life!"
"That's right. Selling her can still earn some money. A good - for - nothing! Bah!"
"Wife, get up quickly and go back with me."
Chuncao's eyes were full of despair. She kept kowtowing to Xue Zhan. There was already a little redness on her fair skin, obviously with quite a bit of force.
"Master, please save me! If I really marry this man, I'm afraid I'll be sold by him soon!"