Forcing me to become a concubine? Remarrying the Ninth Prince, she'll be pregnant all over the

"I guess they were too extravagant. Perhaps we should..."

The butler didn't finish his sentence, but instead raised his hand and made a throat-slitting gesture, clearly intending to kill and rob the victim.

Wang Hu chuckled and waved his hand, "What time is it? We've long since given up those kinds of shady dealings. Besides, this place is too close to the capital. How do you know these people don't have relatives in the capital? What if they're officials in the court? If we act rashly, wouldn't we just be causing trouble for His Highness?"

Wang Hu couldn't afford to offend Shen Huai'an, nor did he have the guts. But he was unwilling to let such a big fish slip away. He chewed on his pipe and rolled his eyes, "Why don't we stick to the old way and coax them into gambling a few rounds? Wouldn't that work?"

The housekeeper thought for a moment, then clicked his tongue and nodded: "That's fine, they said they'll be staying for a few days anyway, there's plenty of time!"

Wang Hu and the steward discussed the matter for a while and set a trap. Nothing happened that night. The next day, before Wang Hu could find an opportunity to meet the four people, they were all gone.

It wasn't that they left completely, but Wei Wujiu was unhappy that there were spies everywhere in the courtyard, making it inconvenient for them to talk. He made an excuse that he was going to a temple to burn incense, and the four of them left the courtyard without taking anything with them.

They found a teahouse, and Li Jinzhi tossed five taels of silver to the waiter to book the entire place. Then, the group sat down, drinking tea and exchanging information.

Li Jinzhi spoke first: "I tried to find fault with them several times last night, but the servants in the brothel kept their mouths shut and I couldn't find out anything. But in the middle of the night, I patrolled the entire brothel and found that the backyard was heavily guarded and there were twenty-three girls locked up inside."

"Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough to tell which one was Liu Yuniang, but there was a woman with a disability in both legs who probably noticed me but didn't say anything and even tried to cover for me..."

Li Jinzhi thought about how he had almost been discovered last night due to his carelessness, but fortunately the woman helped cover it up. He frowned and took a deep breath: "That woman has some authority in the backyard, but she doesn't seem to be in cahoots with Wang Hu. I'll just have to wait until tonight to investigate and I'll find out."

Wei Wujiu toyed with the white glazed teacup and nodded slightly: "Be careful. With your skills, you won't be exposed if you don't let your guard down."

Li Jinzhi chuckled and scratched his head: "I know, senior brother. I underestimated them. I thought they were just a bunch of country bumpkins and didn't take them seriously."

Wei Wujiu glanced at him, offering no reprimand, but instantly making the jovial Li Jinzhi quiet down.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhang Qian stepped on Li Jinzhi's foot under the table, then pushed him away as he cried out in pain, and said, "Yesterday when we entered the courtyard, I explored the entire mansion courtyard and found that there are secret passages and hidden rooms."

"Moreover, the layout is well-organized, comparable to an underground palace."

As Zhang Qian spoke, he took out a piece of paper from his sleeve. When unfolded, it showed a map of the entire courtyard and the locations of the underground passages and secret chambers.

He pointed to two spots: "These two spots are still a bit unclear. The sounds inside are too noisy for me to make a specific judgment. I'll try again tonight, and that should be about right."

"Alright, you can do it." Wei Wujiu replied, explaining to the bewildered Lin Wantang beside him while looking at the blueprints: "Zhang Qian's martial arts are average, but his internal strength is profound, and he is also sharp-witted and has exceptional hearing."

As long as the surrounding environment is relatively quiet, Zhang Qian can use his hearing to gradually sketch out the terrain of the entire courtyard, mansion, and even palace in his mind, and determine whether there are secret passages or underground palaces by sound.

Zhang Qian couldn't bear such praise and felt a little awkward: "You flatter me. I... I just have a little skill, nothing to mention."

Wei Wujiu smiled and said to Lin Wantang, "He is introverted, but he is also extremely skilled in using poison. His intelligence and methods are quite good."

Lin Wantang was shocked, envious, and full of admiration. She quickly clasped her hands in a fist salute to Zhang Qian and said, "Brother Zhang, there's no need to be modest. Such skill is truly admirable."

Zhang Qian chuckled sheepishly, "I dare not accept such praise."

After saying that, Zhang Qian hurriedly got up and said he would go get two more tea snacks and leave quickly.

Li Jinzhi didn't want to leave, so he stared at Wei Wujiu expectantly, hoping that Wei Wujiu would also praise him to Lin Wantang. But after waiting and waiting, he didn't hear a word from Wei Wujiu. So he gave up and slunk away first.

After Wei Wujiu and the others left, he chuckled to Lin Wantang, "Li Jinzhi is my junior brother from the same sect. As you can see, he is free-spirited and doesn't like to be constrained. It must have been difficult for him to become an official in the court."

Lin Wantang already knew about their master-disciple relationship, and nodded hesitantly upon hearing this: "Indeed."

"Both of them are trustworthy and capable. Li Jinzhi's martial arts skills are no less than mine, especially his lightness skills. He also knows how to disguise people. Even their own parents would find it difficult to recognize someone who has been transformed by him."

Li Jinzhi also knew some medical skills, but only superficial ones, because he was too lazy to learn and hone his skills from his master.

Lin Wantang noted everything down, then looked at Wei Wujiu with a smile in her eyes as she pondered something: "And you? What are you best at?"

"Me?" Wei Wujiu hadn't expected the topic to circle back to him. He couldn't help but suppress his smile, shifting slightly closer to Lin Wantang. As his Adam's apple bobbed, his deep, mellow voice slowly emanated from him: "If I said I'm best at bewitching, would you believe me?"

His magnetic voice was like heavenly music, slowly exhaling with his thin lips. Coupled with his handsome and refined face, it was truly captivating and could easily stir one's heart in an instant.

Lin Wantang looked away in surprise, turning her face away as well. "Are you kidding me again?"

She said this, but her ears, which she turned away from, couldn't help but turn slightly red.

My fingers clenched involuntarily.

It's true that he's easy to bewitch, but that's not exactly his forte, is it? At most, he's good at bewitching women.

Lin Wantang thought to herself, took a sip of tea, and then steered the conversation back on track: "However, I was just about to ask, weren't we supposed to be looking for the looted tribute, especially the lost luminous pearl? How did we end up talking about something else?"

Wei Wujiu didn't mince words, leaning back in his chair with his arms outstretched, and slowly recounted what Zhang Qian and Li Jinzhi had discovered through their secret investigation, adding his own speculation: "All of this should be related to Shen Huai'an."

In one sentence, he hit the nail on the head.

Her eyes darkened slightly as she pondered, "I'm not mistaken, the one who deliberately tried to frame my father was also Shen Huai'an. Our mission is not only to find the tribute and the luminous pearl, but also, if we can rescue those girls, their testimonies, and then report to the Emperor, we can surely bring Shen Huai'an to justice for forming cliques for personal gain, being blinded by greed, and harming the country and its people!"

"No, no..."

Lin Wantang narrowed her eyes and then changed her words: "These are not enough. Shen Huai'an is the eldest son among the princes and has been in the Eastern Palace for a long time. He is already deeply rooted. If we want to bring him down, we can't just rely on these... Otherwise, it won't hurt him much, and the Emperor won't punish him severely. Instead, it will make him wary of us."