In the blink of an eye, Princess Baoqing’s head lolled to the side, and she lost consciousness.
The young woman supported her and carried her into the woodshed.
Immediately after, the woman sat back down in the courtyard as if nothing had happened.
Once Jiang Li had assessed the situation clearly, she landed silently by the back window of the woodshed.
Through the window, she saw Princess Baoqing lying on the ground.
Besides her, there were five other girls, aged around twelve or thirteen, all lying with their eyes closed, apparently drugged as well.
Jiang Li clenched her fingers. She signaled one of her guards to head to the Princess’s estate to deliver a message while she stayed behind to keep watch.
The guard needed time to go back and forth, and she intended to use that time to capture the people behind this operation.
Jiang Li watched silently. A quarter of an hour later, two men walked into the woodshed.
Their gazes swept across the faces of the six girls in the shed, and they nodded with satisfaction.
The young woman also followed them in, saying proudly: “Masters, how is this batch of goods?”
One of the older men spoke up: “Not bad at all. Send the two with the best looks to the brothels in Jiangnan, and sell the other four further away.”
“Rest assured, we are well-practiced in these matters. There won’t be any mishaps.”
Jiang Li, observing cautiously from the back window, felt that the man who had not spoken looked somewhat familiar; she felt as though she had seen him somewhere before.
Regardless, since they had appeared here, the young woman called them “Masters,” and they had the authority to decide the fate of these girls, it was clear that they were the ones pulling the strings.
Jiang Li exchanged a glance with her guards, and several of them vaulted silently into the courtyard.
The guards overcame the young woman and the two men in the courtyard with almost no effort, knocking them unconscious and tossing them into one of the rooms.
Jiang Li leaped into the courtyard and sat down, smiling at the girl who was standing there, stunned.
“Little sister, lying is not right, you know?”
The girl opened her mouth as if to scream, but Jiang Li suddenly raised her hand and covered her mouth.
The girl could only emit “mmph, mmph” sounds, all while trying to bite Jiang Li’s hand.
Jiang Li had practiced martial arts since she was young, and with her skills, dealing with a five- or six-year-old girl was not a challenge.
“Be good, and big sister will give you some pastries to eat.”
No matter how clever the girl was, she was only a five- or six-year-old child. As soon as she heard about pastries, her eyes lit up.
Jiang Li took out the pastries, opened them, and held them out to the girl.
She had ordered her guards to buy these. She wanted to use the girl’s position to lure out the rest of the people behind the operation.
Those human traffickers must have someone backing them to be able to abduct people in the capital, so the traffickers themselves would certainly be tight-lipped.
But this little girl was different.
Even though she helped the traffickers lure people in, she did not have a very firm resolve.
Moreover, Jiang Li had noticed pastry crumbs on the girl earlier and guessed that she might be fond of them.
Sure enough, the girl reached out with her small hands, grabbed the pastry, and stuffed it into her mouth.
“Eat slowly, don’t choke.” Jiang Li did not approve of what the girl was doing, but seeing such a small child eating so hungrily, she said this instinctively.
Unexpectedly, the girl suddenly burst into tears: “I have never eaten such delicious pastries before.”
Jiang Li said: “If you listen to me, I can buy you anything you want to eat.”
These pastries were made by the Jiang family’s pastry shop. They tasted good, and Jiang Li had guessed that a child would likely enjoy them.
The girl looked up at her with teary eyes: “Why are you buying me pastries?”
Jiang Li did not treat the little girl in front of her as an ordinary child. The fact that she could help traffickers lure people in at the age of five or six was enough to show she was not typical.
Therefore, Jiang Li spoke the truth: “I want you to listen to me and help send these traffickers to prison.”
“Can I eat delicious pastries every day?”
“Yes, as long as they are all sent to prison.”
The girl tilted her head, seemed to ponder for a moment, and then nodded: “Okay, I promise you.”
Jiang Li looked into the girl’s eyes, but she could not discern her thoughts.
After all, she was just a five- or six-year-old child; no matter what she was thinking, her eyes appeared clear.
The girl pointed at the house: “You go hide first, I will call all of them over.”
“Alright.”
Jiang Li returned to the room, half-doubting, while exchanging a glance with the guards hiding in the shadows.
The girl looked at the pastry in her hand, wrapped it up again in oil paper, and tucked it into her tunic.
Immediately, she walked on her short legs to the side of the kitchen and released several pigeons from a cage behind the water vat.
“Little pigeons, go and call them all back.”
The pigeons flapped their wings and flew off in all directions.
A quarter of an hour later, seven or eight men and women dressed in various disguises appeared in the courtyard.
Seeing only the little girl in the courtyard, everyone felt curious.
“Little Bean, where is your mother?”
The girl said with a serious, straight face: “My mother went to see the Masters. She asked me to entertain you uncles and aunties here.”
The group merely took the girl to be a child and did not see any danger.
Consequently, they found seats and sat down, completely unaware of the aura of danger.
The girl scanned the courtyard and counted quietly.
Eight people in total—just right, they were all here.
Afterward, she looked toward the large tree overhead. Although she could not see the people in the tree, she blinked her eyes toward it.
The guards stationed in the tree understood. After exchanging glances with the others hiding in the dark, they dropped down into the courtyard.
The guards landed almost soundlessly. By the time the eight people in the courtyard reacted and tried to flee, the courtyard gate had already been locked.
These eight people were all human traffickers. They disguised themselves in various identities while outside, but they were merely smooth-talkers and possessed no martial arts skills, so they were no match for the guards at all.
Before long, the guards had knocked them all unconscious.
Footsteps were heard outside the courtyard gate. Jiang Li signaled for the guards to step back and went over to open the gate.
The guard she had dispatched spoke from outside, so Jiang Li knew the people who had arrived were servants from the Princess’s estate.
Jiang Li opened the gate and said anxiously: “You have come just in time. These traffickers suddenly had an internal conflict and started fighting. Quickly, take them to the authorities.”
The servants from the Princess’s estate were there for the Princess. Upon hearing that the people who had abducted the Princess were traffickers, the servants did not dare to lower their guard. After confirming that the people on the ground were truly unconscious, they found rope and tied them up.
Jiang Li pointed to the house and said: “There are three more people in that room; they are also traffickers. If this little sister hadn’t saved me, I would have been abducted too.”
Jiang Li made it sound completely authentic, and the servants from the Princess’s estate did not doubt her. They sent people over to tie up the individuals in the room as well.
Only then did Jiang Li look at the two lead matrons and say softly: “The Princess is in the woodshed. There are five other girls of her age inside, all of whom have been drugged.”
Upon hearing this, the matrons told the guards from the Princess’s estate to stop and only called for a few maidservants to follow them and help.
Regardless of anything else, the Princess was a young lady of noble status, and she could not be seen in such a disheveled state by just anyone.