Miao Chu

Chapter 91 Opening your mouth

Han Li's expression hardened, and he followed the constable in quickly inside.

The house had been in disrepair for years, with cobwebs hanging down and insects crawling around inside.

As soon as he entered the room, he smelled a strong stench of excrement.

There was no other furniture in the room except for a broken bed, on which a person lay with his hands and feet bound.

Several constables first untied the man, and then patted him.

The man did not react.

Han Li approached the bed and was immediately struck by the stench. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the person bound on the bed was a woman. Her clothes were filthy and smelly, and her hair was wrapped in cloth, loose but not disheveled.

Xin Feng, being an experienced patrol inspector, saw that the woman was unconscious, so he personally went forward, pinched her philtrum, and called out, "Zhengyan, fetch water to revive her."

Han Li removed the water bag from Xin Feng's waist, opened the wooden stopper, and splashed it on the woman's face.

The woman made a sound in her throat, slowly opened her eyes, and saw many people in front of her. She was startled and trembled with fear.

When she saw the colors of the people's clothes, she was completely stunned, her teeth chattering. After a long while, she finally cried out, "Sir! Sir, save me!"

Its cries were mournful, yet its voice was low and hoarse, like coarse sand.

Xin Feng asked, "Who are you? Where are you from?"

The woman reacted very slowly, as if she hadn't heard clearly. Her eyes gradually focused, and she opened her mouth only to say, "Water..."

Han Li handed the water bag to her.

The woman suddenly found a great strength, grabbed the water bag, and started gulping down the water.

Her movements were a little sluggish. Because she drank too fast, she choked after a while. She kept choking and coughing, coughing so hard that it hurt, but she still tried to force the drink into her mouth.

After drinking the water and catching her breath, she gradually regained some strength. Ignoring everything else, she hugged the water bag and burst into tears.

***
Shen Xingniang felt like she was going to die.

She felt like she was floating in the sky, but it was very uncomfortable. She felt panicked, her stomach was burning, and she was experiencing spasms and acid reflux.

The acidic fluid seemed to be eating away at her stomach and her belly.

She hadn't eaten for three days, and she was so hungry that she felt like vomiting but couldn't. She opened her mouth to shout, and it seemed like she was about to shout, but no sound came out.

When she felt something cool on her face and it splashed over her, she suddenly woke up. For about half an hour, her mind was completely dizzy and she couldn't move at all.

After drinking water, her face was covered and she was helped out of Guangji Temple. She then got into a carriage, and only after the carriage had traveled halfway did she slowly regain consciousness.

As she got off the carriage and walked toward the back office, she heard two officials talking beside her.

One of the younger men said to the older man, "Let's feed her something first, change her clothes, and then ask her."

The older man said, "That's fine too."

Once inside, someone brought over some porridge.

Shen Xingniang drank the porridge, changed her clothes, washed her face, and wiped her body—her pants were full of excrement. She hadn't noticed it before, but after drinking the porridge, she realized just how dirty and smelly she was.

She couldn't help but cover her face and cry for a long time, the first emotion that welled up in her heart was shame.

Why am I the one who gets kidnapped, while others don't?

Did I do something wrong?
If the officials in the yamen interrogate me later, should I confess to the lie I told Xu Da earlier?

If I confess, what will people outside say about me once it gets out?

Shen Xingniang entered the interrogation room in a daze. When she saw the two stern-faced officials sitting there, she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.

She couldn't help but ask, "Could...could you bring those two officials who came to rescue me today along with me?"

***
A moment later, Han Li and Xin Feng sat down in the interrogation room, one after the other.

Although he was used to seeing victims, Xin Feng still felt sorry for the woman in front of him when he saw her pitiful appearance. He first offered a few words of comfort before asking, "What is your name, madam, and where are you from?"

"My name is Shen Xing. I am from Suzhou and I am an embroiderer at Yunxiang Embroidery Workshop inside Baokang Gate."

Han Li picked up his pen and started writing, then paused before continuing.

Upon hearing this, Xin Feng immediately sat up straight and asked, "Are you the one who made the wedding dress for Minister Cao's daughter?"

Shen Xingniang wiped away her tears and nodded.

Through questioning and answering, the circumstances of her abduction that day were finally reenacted.

It turned out that after Shen Xingniang arrived in the capital, she stayed at the home of a cousin. The next day, she had something to do at home and needed to ask for a day off from the embroidery workshop.

Unfortunately, the Cao family's daughter's wedding was approaching, and time was of the essence. In order to finish the task as soon as possible, she worked on it even on the night of the Lantern Festival. Seeing that she couldn't finish it, she simply took the work home.

She hadn't gone far from the embroidery workshop that evening when she met an old woman with a little granddaughter asking for directions.

Seeing that the other person was confused and there were many people on the Lantern Festival, she kindly led him for a while.

But as soon as she entered a path, before she had gone far, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head, her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.

When she woke up again, she was found blindfolded, gagged, and handcuffed, locked in a room.

Two days later, someone finally untied the ropes binding her hands and brought her food and water.

Shen Xingniang, unaware of the other party's purpose, begged for mercy, made promises, and inquired about the situation, but the person did not answer any of them. They simply stuffed the food into her hands and left.

She was very hungry, so she ate the bread, but the water tasted wrong. When no one was looking, she splashed the water on herself.

Sure enough, that very night, someone came and put her in a box, and then carried the box out.

She was panicked, but knew that fate was uncertain and dared not act rashly. She secretly listened and managed to understand the general situation.

It turned out that he had been captured and was to be sent to another state to be sold for money. At this time, he had to be sent out of the city gate, and the person transporting him seemed to be unaware of this.

Halfway there, she was trying to make some noise when the delivery vehicle suddenly stopped.

Someone opened the chest, lifted the veil covering her face to look inside, and then untied the ropes binding her hands and stripped her clothes off.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shen Xingniang removed the cloth stuffed in her mouth, first begging for mercy from the other party, and then offering bribes.

That person was Xu Da.

“I said rather than go to another state to become a prostitute, I would rather marry him. I am good at embroidery. When things calm down, we can go to a place where no one knows us. I can do some embroidery every day and that will be enough to support the family.”

"I'll have his children, buy him houses and property, and he can just eat, drink and have fun every day without having to worry about anything."

"At first, the man surnamed Xu didn't believe me, but luckily I had the embroidery pattern of Miss Cao's wedding dress on my person, so I showed it to him."

"I don't know which of my words moved him, but he finally dragged me out of the trunk, tied me up, and threw me into a forest outside the city. An hour or so later, he came back with another trunk."

“I was locked in the box for two days before being sent to the temple.” Upon hearing this, Xin Feng asked, “Did you mend that huge garment?”

Shen Xingniang nodded and said, "It's me."

To dispel Xu's great suspicion, and thinking that no matter how useful it was, it was still a way to ask for help, she offered to mend his clothes and embroider his name on the sleeves and hem.

“I also offered to do his laundry and cook for him, but he refused, saying we’d talk about it when things calmed down and we went to another city.”

"At the time, all I could think about was that I absolutely couldn't leave the city. If I went to another prefecture, I would never have a chance to get ahead in my life. But if I stayed in the capital, perhaps the government could come to my rescue..."

At this point, Shen Xingniang's face was already covered in tears.

She wiped her eyes and said, "I think the old woman and granddaughter who asked for directions must also be a gang of kidnappers—has the official found them?"

Xin Feng shook his head, saying no, and then asked her what the two people looked like.

Shen Xingniang managed to calm herself down a bit, recalled and described the scene, then asked, "When I was leading the way for them, I met a seamstress from the same embroidery workshop, and I greeted her and exchanged a few words with her—she wasn't taken away, was she?"

After learning that the other party was unharmed, she looked somewhat strange and asked, "Did she report to the authorities about the grandmother and granddaughter?"

Of course, there isn't one.

Shen Xingniang's complexion was already sallow, and now it looked even worse.

She was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Sir, now that I'm saved, can I still make a wedding dress for Miss Cao?"

The question seemed abrupt, but neither Han nor Xin responded.

***
Once we got Shen Xingniang's confession, interrogating Xu Da became much easier.

He had previously refused to explain anything else, only saying that he was merely following the orders of the porters to act as a messenger.

When the hem of the garment with the burnt hole was brought over, he pretended to be clueless and said he didn't know what had happened, guessing it had been accidentally burned somewhere.

When the inspector saw that he was stubborn, he threatened that the government had sent people to search all the temples in the city and that the results would be available soon.

Hearing this, Xu Da was clearly frightened, but he still forced himself to stay calm.

They thought it would take another half a day to resolve the issue, but after rescuing Shen Xingniang, Xin Feng and Han Li took her statement and questioned her. Xu Da immediately started cursing.

"I knew that slut was no good! If it weren't for me that day, she would have been sent somewhere long ago, and now she's ridden by a thousand men and slept with by ten thousand!"

"She previously said she liked my looks and physique, valued my loyalty, and even said she wanted to have my children. She begged to come with me, and I only agreed because I'm kind-hearted and soft-hearted. How did that become a crime?"

"I didn't kidnap anyone, I didn't abduct anyone, I was rescuing someone!"

Such self-righteousness surprised even Inspector Xin, who was used to seeing criminals.

He couldn't help but say, "If you saved her, why did you tie her up in the house? If the authorities hadn't arrived in time, she would have either starved to death or died of thirst in two days!"

"What's it to me? If you don't arrest me, she'll be fine. If she really starves to death, isn't that the fault of the authorities?"

But no matter how he tried to justify himself, Xu Da panicked when he realized that if he couldn't find a way to atone for his crimes, he might be beheaded, given his current offenses.

He said, "How could there be such a serious crime? Are you trying to lie to me? If I don't admit it, are you going to force me to sign it?"

"Whether you admit it or not is up to you. The victim and the physical evidence are all there. Even if you don't admit it, the verdict can still be reached."

Han Li slammed a thick volume of Wei Xing Tong (a legal code) on the table, flipped to the legal decrees, read them aloud to him, and even helped explain their meaning. Finally, he said, "Accomplices in gambling dens, kidnapping and detaining respectable women, abduction..."

"I did not abduct anyone!"

"Why are you calling me that? Go tell the judge who made the judgment! So many people went missing during the Lantern Festival, the case has already gone all the way to the highest levels, and it might end up being handed over to the Dali Temple for sentencing!"

As Xu Da heard the names of one government office after another being announced, he grew increasingly flustered and couldn't help but ask, "What if I were... what if I were like you just said, wearing... wearing what kind of drunken eunuch?"

"To atone for one's crimes through meritorious service."

"what does that mean?"

"It means you tell them everything you know. If the authorities use this information to arrest other criminals, they can reduce your sentence."

"...Then, if I directly report other people, would that count as meritorious service?"

"That depends on how timely you report it, how much you confess, and whether it's effective—you're not the only one trying to redeem yourself." Han Li's tone was slow and deliberate. "This time, so many thugs were arrested at once, hundreds of people from over a dozen gambling dens, everyone wants to lessen their punishment. If you had spoken up too late..."

"I have information that no one else knows!" Xu Da exclaimed urgently. "I know the whereabouts of many women! I also know that the gang leader has another residence!"

***
The interrogation lasted until dark, and Xu Da finally spoke.

Xu Dayuan was a brother of one of Liao Qingjiao's confidants. He had only been summoned from his hometown by his brother for less than a year, and back in the countryside, he was a petty thief.

He visited the mansion in Nanxun Gate several times and was dazzled by its luxurious furnishings. Under the guise of "receiving goods," he secretly "collected" many valuable items.

During the process of "collecting things," he also overheard many private matters happening in the house.

It was because of those gossips that he learned that the crates he delivered each time actually contained many women and children who had been trafficked.

He's not young anymore, spends money extravagantly, his mother died early, leaving behind an irresponsible father, so naturally he has no wife or family.

I usually enjoy my freedom, but now that an opportunity is presented to me, why not take advantage of it?
Xu Da knew that the women in the trunks had been drugged and wouldn't wake up, so he would often take advantage of them to grope them halfway through the journey, unaware that he was encountering a still conscious Shen Xingniang.

But Shen Xingniang insisted on marrying him, bearing him children, and going out to do embroidery to support him.

Xu Ziran didn't believe it, but the suggestion tempted him. He thought to himself: Once the storm has passed, we can go to another state, lock her up, and make her do embroidery every day. I can sell the money to eat, gamble, and have her work and cook at home. Wouldn't that be more comfortable than now?
Furthermore, he knew that no one in that house knew anything about him. If the boat reached its destination and someone discovered that someone was missing, and they came back to investigate, by the time they found out about him, he might have already run away.

Xu Da confessed the names of the three women and children he had overheard being sold, and even the exact location of the bandit leader's other residence, in a certain alley in Yingzhou.

Those three place names are within the area previously demarcated by Han Li, so they are highly credible.

After all the questions were asked, and as soon as Han Li stepped out of the interrogation room, he heard a loud noise coming from Xin Feng's stomach, like a drumbeat.

"I'd rather starve to death!" Xin Feng complained, but a smile was on his face.

The case has finally made progress again. If we can find more of the women and children who were sent away as soon as possible, it will be worth all the hard work these days.

While pressing his stomach, Xin Feng urged Han Li to go to the kitchen, saying, "If we're any later, there won't be anything left to eat!"

A yamen runner who had just returned casually chimed in, "So that the inspector knows, the kitchen door is already closed and the lights inside are all off."

***
Xin and Han stood there hungry, as did Song Miao.

She came out of Jinming Pond, but the carriage was blocked on the road as soon as it entered the Vermilion Bird Gate.

After a long car ride, feeling quite stifled, she decided to get off the bus to buy some food to tide her over. But after only a few steps, she saw a familiar face standing outside an inn not far away.

—It is Cheng Zijian.

Transitional Chapter.

Many thanks to the bookstore for gifting me this amazing writing tool :)

Thank you to my cat Egg and Moon Goddess from the bookstore for the two little gifts you sent me! =3=
Thank you so much, Fu Ruanruan from the bookstore, for this little gift! ^_^
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(End of this chapter)