Zhenzhen browsed for a while before finally selecting only a green gown that closely resembled the dress she was wearing.
Just as she finished paying and was about to wait for Su Ting at the shop entrance, a hand suddenly grabbed her.
Immediately after, an ugly and lecherous man’s face abruptly appeared before her.
The man had a greasy complexion and a fat head with large ears, making anyone who saw him feel nauseated.
In fact, Zhenzhen genuinely felt a chill of disgust in her stomach.
Especially when she caught the smell of sweat on him, she nearly lost control and vomited right on him.
However, to her surprise, before she could break free from this man’s grip, another hand seized her arm.
Following that came an extremely arrogant voice: “Where are you off to, little beauty?”
The speaker wore a purple robe with a jade token hanging from his waist, resembling some sort of official pass.
As this was Zhenzhen’s first time in Suzhou, she had no idea what that token represented.
Nor did she recognize who this purple-robed man was.
His attire suggested he might be from a wealthy family, and his figure was somewhat better than those two lackeys.
But the moment he opened his mouth, Zhenzhen was certain he was no good.
This must be the leader of those two lecherous men.
Zuo Zhiquan had no idea Zhenzhen viewed him this way.
He remained smug, flicking two strands of hair near his temples while thinking himself handsome as he said: “This young master would like to invite you for tea. What do you say?”
Zhenzhen found him utterly repulsive.
She glared at him, spat on his clothes, and said coldly: “Get lost.”
Zuo Zhiquan’s lecherous smile widened. “Oh, a feisty one.”
He paid no mind to the spit on his clothes, instead taking another step closer to Zhenzhen with a disgusting, suggestive tone: “I quite like your type.”
As he spoke, he raised his hand intending to toy with her chin.
The moment his hand touched Zhenzhen’s chin, her temper flared.
She tried to break free from the two lackeys’ restraint, but they were stout and immensely strong – she couldn’t break loose at all.
After several failed attempts, Zhenzhen became furious and suddenly lifted her foot, putting all her strength into kicking Zuo Zhiquan right in his vulnerable spot.
Pain, excruciating pain…
Zhenzhen’s aim was true – she hit her target with one kick.
Unable to bear the pain, Zuo Zhiquan collapsed to the ground, clutching his crotch while curled up and crying out in agony.
The two lackeys were stunned by this scene.
Previously, only their young master had beaten others – today their young master had been beaten by a woman.
This woman truly had nerves of steel.
Lin Chaoyu and Lu Jing, watching from not far away, immediately understood that Zuo Zhiquan had encountered a beauty with a fierce temper.
The two leisurely walked over to Zuo Zhiquan and helped him up.
Even if the beauty was somewhat temperamental, she was still a beauty after all.
Even though she might have damaged Zuo Zhiquan’s precious parts with her kick, they couldn’t bring themselves to blame her.
However, not blaming her didn’t mean they didn’t want to toy with her.
Lin Chaoyu loved beauties, but he also loved tormenting them.
He enjoyed watching beauties flush with rage, loved seeing tears well up in their eyes as they pleaded pitifully.
Now that Zuo Zhiquan had been injured by her, he had another reason to stand by and criticize Zhenzhen.
Thus he remained on the sidelines throughout, making sarcastic comments and echoing Zuo Zhiquan’s curses directed at her.Lu Jing was even more of a troublemaker.
He loved stirring up drama without caring about the consequences. Unlike Lin Chaoyu, who occasionally chimed in with sarcastic remarks, Lu Jing directly and decisively added fuel to the fire of this wave of scolding.
The phrase “delighting in chaos” suited him perfectly.
These two together kept talking nonstop, creating an unbearable racket that made one’s scalp tingle.
However, no matter how much or how harshly they spoke, they never truly intended to do anything to Zhenzhen.
If they didn’t want to, naturally, someone else would.
Zuo Zhiquan, having been kicked like that, was in excruciating pain and seething with anger.
“Seize her! How dare she lay a hand on me—does she have a death wish?”
The two servants tightened their grip on Zhenzhen’s arms, as if trying to wrench them right off.
Zhenzhen already had old injuries on her arms, and their harsh grip intensified the pain.
Bearing the agony, she struggled in vain and tried to seek help from the passersby.
Yet, from start to finish, not a single person stepped forward to assist her.
People along the way mocked her, pointing and whispering in the shadows.
Their indifference dimmed the hope in Zhenzhen’s pleading eyes.
She was berated by the furious Zuo Zhiquan and physically tormented by the two servants.
But to the eyes of the passing crowd, this scene appeared as Zhenzhen lacking feminine virtue and shame, openly tussling and entangled with others on the street.
Su Youen, a fine young person from the 21st century, termed this behavior: selective blindness.
Even if some sharp-eyed individuals saw the whole incident clearly and understood the truth, they dared not speak up.
Even as she wept in pain.
Even as her voice trembled and her words slurred.
Even as she was surrounded and cursed by three grown men.
No one came to her aid.
All because they knew Zuo Zhiquan’s identity.
After all, this was no trivial matter.
The person she had offended was Zuo Zhiquan, the son of the Suzhou Prefecture’s deputy governor.
He was notoriously spoiled and unscrupulous—crossing him was akin to risking one’s life.
Given his status and position, over the years, no matter how outrageous his actions, few in Suzhou dared to provoke him.
Few, but not none.
It was only when Su Ting witnessed this scene that he realized Zhenzhen wasn’t signaling or sending a message to someone—she had genuinely encountered a group of ruffians.
Initially, he had suspected Zhenzhen was putting on an act for his benefit, given that she was a woman who had emerged from prison and had spent time by the Supervisor’s side.
The Supervisor didn’t keep useless people.
He had assumed that, no matter what, Qin Zhen must have some skills.
He thought Zhenzhen knew martial arts and had the ability to break free from restraint.
But he was wrong.
He forgot that, no matter what, Zhenzhen was just a woman.
How could one woman overpower two strong men and three ruffians?
The moment this realization struck him, he finally snapped to action and prepared to step in and save her.
But just then, the appearance of someone made him halt in his tracks.
In recent days, Lin Fu’s strict investigation of merchant caravans had greatly impacted various shops in Suzhou.
Although the Jiang family’s shop had devised an emergency plan to minimize their losses, other shops had not.
Many businesses suffered significant losses overnight, and numerous merchants incurred heavy damages, breeding considerable resentment toward Lin Fu, the Prefect.
Lin Fu hadn’t anticipated that his crackdown on merchant caravans would anger so many traders; his original intention was merely to cause trouble for the Jiang family.
Who would have thought that this trouble would ultimately fall upon himself.
The Jiang family, on the contrary, turned the tide. Not only did they suffer minimal losses, but they also made a substantial profit through their strategy of offering desserts with meals.
Among the merchant caravans that suffered significant losses due to Lin Fu’s actions, many were businesses owned by officials.
No one wanted to see their own enterprises suffer heavy losses.
Although they appeared calm and indifferent on the surface, as if they didn’t care about the matter, in their hearts, they were keeping a detailed account of every grievance against Lin Fu.
Note: Due to some unforeseen circumstances today, I’m still out and unable to use a computer for writing. I had to type this on my phone, so there might be some typos. I’ll check and correct them tomorrow.