“Little beauty… hehe… little treasure… I’m coming…”
Even hidden in the darkness, Bai Zhi nearly gagged. Just hearing his voice was disgusting enough.
At that moment, Xiao Yu was standing behind the folding screen, secretly watching. Bai Zhi stepped beside him and patted him lightly. Then the two of them moved out from opposite sides of the screen at the same time.
“Hehe… my little prince…”
The man lunged toward the figure beneath the blankets on the couch.
Xiao Yu seized the opportunity, lifted a stool, and smashed it down hard.
“AHH!”
He actually didn’t pass out!
Bai Zhi immediately shoved the man’s head into the bedding, pinned his lower back down with her knee, and pressed a hairpin against his throat with her other hand.
In a low voice, Bai Zhi said, “Don’t make a sound, or I’ll kill you.”
She loosened her grip slightly, allowing the man to gasp desperately into the blankets.
The shadow outside the window was still there.
Bai Zhi gestured to Xiao Yu.
Understanding instantly, Xiao Yu rolled around heavily on the couch a few times, deliberately creating movement and noise.
Finally, the shadow outside left.
Xiao Yu got up to check. Only after confirming the person had gone far away did he relax.
“He’s gone.”
By then, Bai Zhi had already tied the man up and gagged him.
“Are you alright?” Xiao Zelan’s anxious voice came from the other side.
“We’re fine. We caught him already.”
Bai Zhi tossed the man onto the floor, stood up, lit a candle, and moved the folding screen aside.
With the candlelight illuminating the room, everyone could finally see the intruder clearly.
He was a sturdy man in his thirties.
No wonder Xiao Yu’s blow hadn’t knocked him unconscious.
“Mmph! Mmph—!”
The man struggled violently.
Xiao Yu immediately rushed over and kicked him several times. Kicking his face wasn’t satisfying enough, so he aimed for the man’s groin next.
Bai Zhi stopped him.
“Don’t kick him to death yet. Wait until after we question him.”
Xiao Yu still gave the man one more vicious kick to the stomach before stopping.
His face looked terrible.
Having grown up in the palace, Xiao Yu had seen all kinds of filth. Naturally, he knew there were people who liked children—regardless of gender.
“I’ll ask, you answer. If you dare lie or say one extra word of nonsense…”
Bai Zhi glanced toward Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu immediately lifted his foot threateningly toward the man’s groin again.
The man writhed and whimpered in terror. Xiao Yu’s kick landed on his thigh instead.
Bai Zhi pulled the wad of bed curtain cloth out of the man’s mouth.
“Who are you? Why did you come here?”
“I—I’m Li Yuanhao, the young master of Treasure Pavilion! Don’t kill me! I’ll give you money! My family’s rich!”
Bai Zhi shoved the cloth back into his mouth.
This time Xiao Yu didn’t even wait for instructions before kicking him.
“Answer what you’re asked. Don’t spout nonsense.”
“Mmph… mmph…” The man curled up and nodded frantically.
Bai Zhi yanked the cloth out again.
“What are you doing here?”
“Old Madam Sun told me to come… told me…”
The man didn’t dare look at Bai Zhi. Trembling, he couldn’t continue.
Bai Zhi started stuffing the cloth back into his mouth again.
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk!” he cried desperately. “Old Madam Sun said there was… there was a little boy here… extremely beautiful… so… so she let me come…”
Xiao Zelan clenched his fists so tightly his eyes turned red.
“Do you know what place this is?! Do you know who we are?!”
“This is the Western Suburb Estate… Old Madam Sun said you were… discarded princes…”
“And you still dared— You have incredible nerve! Cough cough—”
Xiao Zelan erupted into violent coughing from anger.
“Royal Brother, don’t get agitated.”
Xiao Yu hurriedly poured water for him.
“How did you get in? Did you bribe the guards?” Bai Zhi fired questions rapidly.
“No! Old Madam Sun told me to wait outside the side gate and sneak in during the guards’ shift change. Then leave during the next shift change two hours later.”
“Who knows you came here?”
“My servant and my family know. If I don’t leave, they’ll definitely come looking for me…”
Bai Zhi smiled faintly and stuffed the cloth back into his mouth.
“In that case, I’ll carve off two pieces of your flesh every day. Then when your family finally finds you, we’ll see how many pounds of you are left.”
The hairpin plunged viciously into Li Yuanhao’s thigh.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
“MMPHHH—!”
Eventually Xiao Zelan finally calmed his breathing and spoke slowly.
“I once heard that the young master of Treasure Pavilion was highly educated and talented. Since he claims to be the young master, perhaps we should test him.”
Bai Zhi pressed the hairpin against Li Yuanhao’s throat.
“One last chance.”
Li Yuanhao’s face was filled with terror.
The moment Bai Zhi pulled the cloth out again, he immediately begged for mercy.
“No one knows! No one knows! Only Old Madam Sun knows! I—I’m not the young master of Treasure Pavilion! I’m… I’m only the shop manager!”
He was trembling so violently he looked ready to collapse.
Bai Zhi continued questioning him.
“What benefits did you give Old Madam Sun? How do you know each other?”
“I gave her fifty taels of silver. Before this… she sold children to me before too. That’s how we met.”
Bai Zhi had no more questions.
She stuffed the cloth back into his mouth.
“I told you everything! Don’t kill me—mmph!”
The expressions of everyone in the room darkened.
None of them had imagined Old Madam Sun would dare do something this outrageous.
“How could they… how could they…” Xiao Zelan was clearly furious beyond words.
“They probably heard rumors from outside,” Bai Zhi said coldly. “Most likely they think you two have no chance of recovering your status anymore. As for this pervert…”
She glanced at Li Yuanhao.
“He’s probably addicted to the thrill of it. A chance to touch a prince who used to stand high above everyone else… this might be the only chance in his entire life. It went to his head.”
“Aren’t they afraid this would eventually be exposed?”
“Afraid of what? It’s not like you’d dare announce it yourselves.”
The expressions on Xiao Zelan and Xiao Yu’s faces became even uglier.
She was right.
After suffering such humiliation, what face would they have left to continue living?
Bai Zhi’s own face looked cold as well.
These people weren’t just trafficking humans.
They were harming children.
Xiao Yu asked, “What do we do now?”
“We wait. Old Madam Sun will definitely come pick him up later.”
Bai Zhi drew a finger across her throat.
“At that point…”
The meaning was obvious.
“Xiao Yu, search him.”
Suppressing his disgust, Xiao Yu searched the man.
Meanwhile, Bai Zhi went to the cupboard, took three steamed buns, tore off a small piece from each, then crouched before Li Yuanhao and pulled the cloth from his mouth.
“Don’t kill me—mmph!”
She shoved the steamed bun pieces into his mouth and gagged him again.
By then Xiao Yu had found quite a few valuables.
Two one-hundred-tael banknotes.
Seven or eight taels of loose silver.
A jade pendant.
And a jade thumb ring.
“This Treasure Pavilion manager is pretty rich.”
Xiao Zelan spoke quietly.
“Treasure Pavilion is the largest jewelry store in the capital. Behind it stands Princess Fuyang. Princess Fuyang is the current Emperor’s younger sister. When the Emperor was young, she once took care of him, so after he ascended the throne he became extremely fond of her. No one in the capital dares offend her family. Even when the Crown Prince was still in power, he gave way to her. Naturally, her shop managers rise along with her.”
Xiao Yu handed the items to Xiao Zelan for inspection.
After examining them briefly, Xiao Zelan said:
“The jade pendant and thumb ring can’t be sold. Their quality is too distinctive—it would be easy to trace them. These banknotes are from Huifeng Bank. Huifeng branches exist throughout Great Qi, with offices in every province. There are even two in the capital.”
Xiao Yu packed the items into a cloth pouch and reluctantly handed it to Bai Zhi.
Bai Zhi accepted it without hesitation.
Then she teased him:
“Can’t bear to part with it?”
Xiao Yu muttered awkwardly, “You were the one who caught him. It should belong to you.”
Bai Zhi was quite satisfied by Xiao Yu’s newfound sensibility.
She told him to go sleep beside Xiao Zelan while she waited for Old Madam Sun.
Sure enough, a little over an hour later, Old Madam Sun arrived.
“Young Master Li… Young Master Li…”
Bai Zhi was crouched behind the door.
Thinking Li Yuanhao had fallen asleep, Old Madam Sun pushed the door open and entered.
“Young Master Li—”
Her voice cut off abruptly.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she clutched at her throat.
A horrible gurgling sound escaped her mouth.
Bai Zhi pulled the hairpin free and immediately pressed a strip of bed curtain fabric against the wound.
The pale pink cloth quickly turned crimson red.
Old Madam Sun collapsed onto the floor.
The candlelight flared to life once more.
On the floor, Li Yuanhao stared wide-eyed at Old Madam Sun’s corpse.
Yellow liquid spread beneath him.
Honestly, it wasn’t just Li Yuanhao.
Even Xiao Yu and Xiao Zelan looked awful.
Especially Xiao Zelan.
When he saw Bai Zhi kill Old Madam Sun without the slightest hesitation, he was shocked.
Yet beneath the shock, something complicated also appeared in his eyes.
Bai Zhi glanced at Li Yuanhao.
More than an hour had passed, yet he still hadn’t fainted.
Looks like the steamed buns really weren’t poisoned after all.
The room reeked of urine, but Xiao Yu no longer cared about the smell.
Because Bai Zhi had told him to kill Li Yuanhao.
Crouching before the man, Bai Zhi pointed at his throat.
“Stab here. It’ll be quick. Not too painful.”
“Mmph! Mmph—!”
Li Yuanhao was covered in tears and snot, desperately whining through the gag as he stared at Bai Zhi.
“Oh? So you’re afraid too?”
Bai Zhi’s eyes turned cold.
“Then those children were so small. Weren’t they afraid too?”