Before the Hour of the Dog, Yun Zhu, who had changed back into her afternoon disguise, quietly left the restaurant through the back door with Yiyi.
Reaching a deserted spot, she retrieved a handcart loaded with medicinal herbs from her pocket dimension. Letting her daughter sit atop the herbs, she pushed the cart toward the pharmacy.
At the same time, the servant sent by Chen De to keep watch over Yun Zhu and her daughter discovered that the two had vanished from the restaurant at some unknown point. Panicking, he ran back to the Chen household to report: “Master, that mother and daughter have disappeared!”
Chen De was sipping tea while listening to his concubine sing a little tune. Hearing these words, he smashed the teacup directly at the servant’s face: “Useless fool!”
The servant did not dare to dodge. Blood trickled from his forehead where the cup hit, and a few tea leaves stuck to his face: “Master, please appease your anger! The city gates are already closed, so they must still be inside the town!”
“Send men to search for them for me!” Chen De said through gritted teeth. “Even if you have to dig up Daliang County three feet deep, drag that mother and daughter out for me!”
“Yes!” Trembling with fear, the servant backed out and gathered hands to leave the Chen household in a hurry.
Meanwhile, Yun Zhu and her daughter handed a cart’s worth of dendrobium, caterpillar fungus, and dried lily bulbs over to the pharmacy manager. As per Yun Zhu’s request, the pharmacy manager handed over six hundred taels of physical silver that had been prepared in advance.
Accepting the silver, Yun Zhu took her daughter and checked into an inn in the eastern quarter under the guise of father and son.
Although it was dozens of times more expensive than the previous inn, the added cost brought security and a much better environment.
Seeing that the curfew hour had arrived, Yun Zhu assumed they would spend a peaceful night. She had not expected that in the middle of the night, official men would arrive to search the inn.
“Mother,” Yiyi was awakened by the noise and rubbed her eyes, asking, “What’s wrong?”
“Yiyi, don’t forget to call me Father when outsiders are around,” Yun Zhu reminded her daughter nervously.
Before Yun Zhu’s words even faded, the door was kicked open, and two constables holding blades charged inside: “Everyone, get downstairs!”
When Yun Zhu and her daughter went downstairs, all the guests of the inn were already assembled in the main hall.
Among them, a lady dressed in luxurious attire frowned: “What major case has occurred in Daliang County that requires a midnight search?”
A maid beside her said in a low voice: “I heard they’re searching for a mother and daughter.”
Yun Zhu swept her eyes over them.
Judging by her attire and aura, this lady’s status was likely extraordinary.
A few constables scanned the faces of the crowd, their eyes finally settling on the faces of Yun Zhu and her daughter.
“Are you two father and son?” A bearded constable sized up the “father and son” in front of him, issuing a fierce warning: “Take off your upper garments!”
It wasn’t that he was overly suspicious, but this lad’s stature was far too slender—he didn’t look like a male at all!
“Father…” Lu Yiyi shrank toward Yun Zhu’s side in fear.
The bearded constable stared intently at Yun Zhu’s face, as if trying to bore a hole through it with his eyes.
“Who on earth are you looking for?” The lady who had spoken earlier walked over to shield Lu Yiyi behind her, frowning at the bearded constable: “Don’t frighten the child!”
This constable’s attitude toward the common people was truly off-putting!
The bearded constable looked coldly at the lady: “What kind of thing are you to dare question me? You are obstructing official duties—do you think I won’t arrest you?!”
The noble lady was both shocked and enraged: “A mere petty constable like you dares to be so lawless!”
Furious, the bearded constable drew his blade with a sharp *shhh-wack* and pointed it at the noble lady: “Men! This woman and this father and son pair are obstructing official business—arrest them all!”
In the next second, a loud *clang* resounded.
Out of nowhere, over a dozen armed guards appeared, one of whom knocked the heavy blade straight out of the bearded constable’s hand onto the floor.
“How insolent!” The lead guard barked coldly. “How dare you show disrespect to the Duchess of Ying!”
Yun Zhu was surprised in her heart.
*This lady was actually a Duchess from the capital?!*
The bearded constable’s face turned deathly pale. His legs went weak, and he nearly dropped to his knees, supported only by the constables beside him.
“Hmph, stop trying to bluff people here! The Duchess of Ying possesses noble status—how could she possibly appear in our remote Daliang County?” Another constable sneered. “Impersonating a Duchess is punishable by flogging! Arrest them and bring them back for thorough interrogation!”
“And this father and son!” The bearded constable, cold sweat dripping down his back, sought to reclaim some face by pointing at Yun Zhu and her daughter: “They might very well be enemy spies—take them back and interrogate them thoroughly too!”
This was blatant, outright framing!
“Good, good, good! You people are truly wonderful!” Duchess of Ying Wen Qing laughed out of sheer anger. “Men, arrest these constables! This Duchess will personally ask Ning Sichang how he, as the magistrate official, handles matters for the people?!”
Had she not witnessed it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed that under Ning Sichang’s governance, such oppression of the common people would occur!
Accustomed to lording their power over others daily, how could these constables take such treatment? Just as they were about to retaliate, the guards of the Duke’s estate disarmed them in two or three swift moves, forcing them to kneel on the ground.
“You dare touch us—are you tired of living?!” The bearded constable was still shouting threats at the top of his voice: “This is our turf! Even if you really are from the Duke of Ying’s estate, once you’ve touched us, don’t think you can walk out of Daliang County!”
“Fine then! This Duchess would like to see how you people cover the sky with one hand!” Wen Qing had now calmed down, handing a token to a guard beside her: “Go invite Ning Sichang here. Tell him this Duchess is waiting for him right here!”
As it turned out, Wen Qing was the daughter of the Imperial Academy Chancellor, Wen Weian, and Ning Sichang was a student of Wen Weian—he even had to call her “Senior Sister.”
“Escort these constables down first!” Wen Qing instructed another guard.
Only after the guard escorted the constables away and cleared the inn’s main hall did Wen Qing look toward Yun Zhu and her daughter.
Yiyi gripped the hem of Yun Zhu’s garment tightly, clearly terrified.
“Child, don’t be afraid. The bad men have been arrested.” Wen Qing shed her previous majesty when facing the constables and beckoned to Yiyi with a smile: “Come over, I want to ask you a few questions.”
Lu Yiyi looked up at her mother.
Yun Zhu smiled and nodded: “It’s alright. This lady is a good person.”
Wen Qing couldn’t help but laugh softly.
*Knowing she was a good person just like that?*
*How truly naive!*
Yiyi walked cautiously over to Wen Qing and thanked her in a small voice: “Thank you for helping us, Lady.”
Wen Qing’s eyes held a gentle smile: “Child, let me ask you: were they looking for you two?”
Had those constables not been so arrogant, she, as a woman, would have had no reason to meddle in government affairs. However, Ning Sichang was her father’s student after all.
If too big a commotion arose in Daliang County, her father would be implicated as well!
Yiyi bit her lip and remained silent.
Wen Qing’s gaze fell upon Yun Zhu, carrying a few hints of probing: “The people they were looking for are you two?”
This Duchess had helped her, so Yun Zhu felt it improper to deceive her.
Besides, now that this matter had been blown open, it could no longer be hidden anyway.
Yun Zhu unfastened her hair tie, letting her hair cascade down like black silk.
“You are a woman?” Wen Qing was not overly surprised, forming a few guesses in her mind within moments.
And Yun Zhu’s words verified her suspicion: “During the day, I crossed paths with Chen De, the jail master at the county magistrate’s office. That Chen De set his eyes on me and sent men to track me, so my daughter and I had no choice but to disguise ourselves as men to hide.”
*So it was a case of lustful intent!*
Wen Qing’s expression turned somewhat unsightly: “Then what about these constables? It’s impossible for them to take orders from a mere jail master, isn’t it?”