In the western city, Yongfu Alley, Fan Zhi Mei sat in a sedan chair, listening to what seemed to be an unusual sound coming from ahead. She lifted the curtain and took a look outside. The wind lanterns hung in the backyards of the houses on both sides had been extinguished for some unknown reason. In the narrow alley squeezed between high walls, the moonlight floated like it was veiled in thin gauze...

  "Young master, what is it?" The attendant by the sedan asked him if he had any instructions.

  "It's nothing..." Baozhimei thought it was just a stray cat running wildly on the wall, and asked, "Is this Yongfu Alley?"

  "Huh, is it Yongfu Alley? Is the young master feeling dizzy?" The attendant asked outside the sedan chair and loudly scolded the sedan bearers, "You bastards, lift steadily! Usually you boast that a full bowl of water can be carried from Donghua Gate to Xingyi Gate without spilling a drop. Are you trying to shake out all the water in the young master's belly?"

  "Let them go," said Fan Yi, sitting in the sedan chair and asking his attendants, "Why did my father hurry me back to do something?"

  "I'm not clear either," said the attendant, Banyi, outside, "Master came out of your house at night with a gloomy face, first saying that he would tie you up and take you back, but later changed his mind and let you roll back. Could it be that Master found out about what happened last time? I heard that the girl jumped into the well and died."

  "What's it to me if that woman jumped into the well? If you hadn't also been involved back then, who knows what she might still be hoping for from me? Do you think I should find a place to hide for now, since going back is either good or bad luck?" asked Fan Zhi Mei in the sedan chair. He actually wasn't worried about anything and guessed that his father probably mistakenly thought he was involved in today's incident at Dongshi Market. Going back to explain things clearly would be fine. Thinking to himself, if it weren't for recently acquiring a beautiful woman, who knows whether he would have gone to Dongshi Market to intervene today? The soft flesh on this beauty was truly wonderful, her gentle voice like that of an infant crying, and he hadn't gotten tired of playing with her after several days. Yesterday, after getting half-drunk from drinking with Wang Chao, Gu Siyuan, and others, he had slept soundly at home until noon before waking up. With his energy fully restored, he thought about coming to the new mansion he bought at Jiangyimen to fool around with this beauty. It wasn't until sunset that he heard Lin Xie, a scholar from Dongyang, had caused a huge commotion in Dongshi Market, not only cutting off people's hands and feet on the street but also forcing seventeen people to be taken to the Procuratorate for trial amidst the encirclement of the East City Patrol.

  The county governor, Mei, knew that the local ruffians in Dongshi had some connection with Wang Chao, the son of Wang Xueshan. As soon as he heard about the incident in Dongshi, he suspected that Wang Chao might be involved. He has also become more cunning and did not go to find Wang Chao directly, but instead sent a follower to wait outside the Procuratorate to watch the excitement. When he learned that all the unimportant ruffians had been released, while some people who were close to Wang Chao were taken into custody by Gu Wudun in the city's main prison, Mei knew that things would get more exciting and let his follower wait outside the prison to report back if anything happened.

  To be honest, today's events have left Fan Weng feeling a bit smug inside. He had humiliated Lin Xie in the Fan Tower by threatening to cut out his tongue, and now that Wang Chao has joined in, it's even more enjoyable for him to see them both being ridiculed together. He can't wait to see how Wang Chao's father, the esteemed Magistrate of Jiangning, Wang Xueshan, will handle this situation, making the city of Jiangning even more lively than before.

  Sitting in the sedan, Fan Zhi Mei was still thinking about how to comfort Wang Chao in a few days. It would be best if he could provoke Wang Chao into driving Lin Xie to death, which would be a great way to vent his anger. It seemed that the little prostitute was going to be given to Wang Chao for free. In his heart, he wasn't very sure how much Lin Xie valued that little prostitute. Of course, the more valuable it was, the more satisfying the revenge would be. He even wanted to give away the little prostitute in front of Lin Xie.

  "...the vassal..." The vassal, seeing that his attendants had not responded for half a day, shouted again. The sedan chair suddenly lurched, and he was thrown out, landing on his head on the brick path. He thought the bearers had lost their grip, and covering his bleeding forehead with his hand, he was about to curse loudly. But then he saw his attendant, Vassal Yi, lying in front of him. In the moonlight, a large amount of blood was gushing out from his neck, and he hadn't made a sound when he was killed. The two sedan bearers were also lying on the ground, unconscious or dead. Two masked men in black clothes stood before him, each holding a gleaming knife. This made him swallow his curses. "Two gentlemen, let's talk this over. You want money, I..." Before he could finish speaking, someone struck the back of his head with great force, and he immediately fainted, losing consciousness.

  Lin Xuan ignored the two sedan bearers who had been knocked unconscious, squatted down on the ground, and with his finger dipped in blood, wrote "No wealth sought" on the head of the dead servant. Although Fan Zhi Mei was also knocked unconscious, Zhou Pu still used a cloth to stuff his mouth tightly shut, bound his hands and feet behind him, and only after confirming everything was secure did he take a black cloth bag and put Fan Zhi Mei's entire body inside, slung it over his shoulder, and together with Lin Xuan and Wu Qi quickly exited Yongfu Alley.

  Two horses and a carriage were hidden in the small woods behind the alley, their hooves wrapped in thick soft cotton to muffle the sound, with wooden blocks in their mouths, and black cloth draped over them. There was someone on guard, and outside the moonlight was good, so even if someone passed by, they wouldn't notice that there were horses and a carriage hidden inside unless they intentionally entered the woods.

  They brought the people over, hid the sacks of people in the compartment of the car, and Lin Xie and Zhou Pu took off the cloth covering their faces and the black clothes on their bodies. The whole process was done without a word, except for gestures, and they parted ways to leave Yongchang Square. Wu Qi and his subordinate Chen Liu drove the horse-drawn carriage towards Tianhan Bridge, while Lin Xie and Zhou Pu rode horses towards Cangjin Bridge.

  All the way to Zangjin Bridge, Lin Xie and Zhou Pu finally removed the thick cloth wrapped around the horse's hooves and threw it into Longzangpu.

  The bridgehead was also deserted, and Lin Tie led the horse and smiled at Zhou Pu: "Old Crow is a thief..."

  "This rascal is good at stealing and thieving, hiding the private belongings of the lord's concubine in the room of the lord's minor wife, and even making the lord discover them at night. And then he would collect a few intimate items from the lord's minor wife, such as scented clothes and underwear... these are just some small tricks for him." Zhou Pu laughed.

  "What if Lord Ding truly believes his son is having an affair with his concubine and, in a fit of anger, refuses to save him?" Lin Xie asked with a smile.

  "Let's wait for two days until he calms down," Zhou Pu said with a smile, "But at first, Fan Ding wanted someone to tie up Fan Zimei and bring her back, later it changed to letting someone tell Fan Zimei to get lost. It seems that he has regained some sanity and also knows that family shame should not be spread outside..."

  Lin Zhancai burst out laughing and flipped onto his horse, urging it towards the Bamboo Basket Alley. He stopped in front of the Bai Garden, tied up his horse and went to knock on the door.

  "Who is it?"

  "Please inform Miss Su that Lin Xie, a scholar from Dongyang, has come to disturb her..." said Lin Xie.

  After a moment, the gate of the mansion opened, and Song Dao Po, the housekeeper of the Pan family in Baiyuan, stuck her head out from outside the door. Her face was full of sarcasm as she said: "So it's Master Lin, Master Lin showed up again in Dongshi today."

  "Song's servant raised her hand and casually broke a few useless dog legs, what face to show or not?" Lin Xuan smiled and bowed respectfully to Song Dao Po, "Is Su Mei in the house? I rarely return to the city, originally wanted to come earlier to discuss things with Su Mei and Song's servant, didn't expect to be delayed by those street vendors in the east market until now."

  "What's the matter?" Song Dao Po blocked the door, although she was disdainful of Lin Xie in her heart, but she didn't dare to offend this villain in front of her. Being able to cut off the hands and feet of seventeen or eighteen people on the street was not something an ordinary person could do.

  "I, along with Su Mei and Xiao Man, have been through some hardships together in Baisha County. We each relied on our own luck to escape, which is also a kind of fate. I was thinking that Xiao Man's life is pitiful, and I wanted to help her redeem herself. Last time, I mentioned this to Su Mei, and now that we're in the city, I thought it would be a good opportunity to take care of this matter," Lin Xuan said with a smile, "I don't know if Su Mei has mentioned this to Song Po Po and the Prince's family..."

  "This is going to be difficult, my young master has just promised Little Meng to be a concubine of the Wang family's young master," Song Dao Po said with a frown, "It's not that I, Song Dao Po, want to make things difficult for you, Lin Gongzi. This kind of thing isn't something we can decide on our own... or else you could go directly to my young master to discuss..."

  "Is that Wang Shaokun, the son of the Jiangning Prefect?" Lin Xie's face suddenly turned stern, and he asked in a cold voice, "How much silver did that beast give?" He pushed Song Daopo roughly inside, "Go and find Fan Zhi Mei, tell her that I've redeemed Little Man's body, let him set the price for how much silver!"

  Song Daopo didn't expect Lin Lian to take action, and suddenly gave Lin Lian a push, making her fall to the ground with her four limbs in the air. The other people in the yard were shocked and helped her up from the ground. Three or five guards held long sticks and short knives, but no one dared to come forward to drive Lin Lian away. Moreover, this side was still nominally led by Su Mei.

  "You... you..." Song Dao Po felt her buttocks aching as if they were about to split into four pieces, she stood up and pointed at Lin Xie, wanting to scold him, but after hesitating for half a day, she didn't dare to curse. Instead, she said resentfully, "Then please let Young Master Lin wait here, I'll go find the young master right away. As long as he agrees, I, Song Dao Po, won't make things difficult for Young Master Lin."

  At this moment, Xiaoman poked her head out of the Yuehua Gate and suddenly saw Lin Xie standing in front of the mansion gate. The grievances she had been holding in her heart for the past two days suddenly surged to the surface, and her eyes began to well up with tears. However, in front of Song Dao Po and others, she restrained herself from rushing into Lin Xie's arms.

  "Then trouble Song Niang, please inform the young master, Xiao Man I must get," Lin Xuan said to Song Dao Po with a slight bow, "I'll go in first to visit Su Mei, and won't delay Song Niang from spreading the news."

  Song Daopo had a carriage prepared, but she didn't know where Fang Zhi Mei was. She thought of going to the Fang residence first to ask Master Fang to take charge and have the government officials expel these two scoundrels from Baiyuan. Perhaps today, the Jiangning Prefecture is looking for an opportunity to vent their anger on this number one door of the Gu family.

  *************

  P.S: Looking for red envelopes.