Do you really think you can get me with just a banana?

The hall was bustling with activity, and the sound of a heated argument drew Guan Shanyu to a stop and listen. The voice was strangely familiar. As he pondered this, the woman known as "Auntie" quickly walked towards the main hall. After glancing inside, she turned back and immediately stopped the bewildered Yan Ruchen from following her. After telling him to wait where he was, she lifted her skirt and walked down the corridor to the hall, intending to find out what was going on.

Seeing this, Guan Shanyu immediately followed.

The hall was exceptionally deserted at the moment, with only a few burly, men with fierce looks standing in the center, clearly harboring ill intentions. As soon as Guan Shanyu entered the hall, he immediately recognized them as the same men Yan Ruchen had accidentally bumped into that morning. They were standing in the hall, smashing a few teacups and cursing at the fawning madam in front of them, "Don't you understand what I'm saying? My young lady's anklet was stolen by a child, and passersby are saying the child is from your company. Are you trying to cover up for him? Believe it or not, I'll destroy this place!"

Following closely behind the men was a young girl, tears streaming down her face. She was lavishly dressed, clearly from a wealthy family. The madam, upon seeing this, paled with fear and quickly apologized, "Hey, gentlemen, calm down. We're all law-abiding people here and would never commit such a theft. You said there was a child here? Then tell us what that child is, and we'll help you find him."

The attendant glanced at the heavily made-up madam with a forgiving smile and said in a stern tone, "Don't play tricks. That child is definitely from your place. Your neighbors have all proven it. He's a boy of about seven or eight years old, wearing a plain white suit with a red string around his neck. If you don't hand this little thief over to me today, I'll turn your place upside down, believe it or not!"

When the madam heard this, her expression changed instantly. She turned to the pimp beside her and said viciously, "Call out that little bastard Yan Ruchen!"

"Wait a minute!"

Just as the pimp was about to act, a woman suddenly spoke up to stop him. She hurried out, and at the same time, the waitresses who were sharing a chicken leg upstairs were attracted by the noise and came downstairs to check. The woman in green said politely to the attendant, "Sir, is there any misunderstanding?"

The attendant had originally only casually glanced at the blue-shirted woman as she walked out, but unexpectedly, this glance made him unable to look away and began to examine the woman carefully. Guan Shanyu could clearly see from the side that the attendants' eyes gradually became malicious, and it was obvious that they had lustful intentions towards this woman.

Sure enough, the leading attendant said frivolously, "Hey, I didn't expect that such a beauty as you could be hidden in this shabby place. How about this, you let him out, and if he obediently returns my lady's things, we will spare him."

The woman frowned and was about to speak when the madam impatiently pushed her and shouted, "Langyun, don't protect him! If he didn't steal anything, let me search. If he stole something, just return it and let it go. I've already said it."

Before Lang Yun could object, the madam had already signaled to the pimp to go find Yan Ruchen. Seeing this, the courtesans upstairs came down and gathered around Lang Yun with concern. Although the madam smiled, the attendants' eyes remained unfriendly, staring at Lang Yun intently.

Soon, Yan Ruchen was dragged into the house by the turtle man by the ear and thrown harshly in front of the servants. The turtle man cursed, "Hurry up, hand over what you took!"

Yan Ruchen stumbled and fell to the ground. Langyun and the other prostitutes tried to help him, but were stopped by the madam. She turned and glared at them, then turned to Yan Ruchen and said, "The masters said a young lady's anklet was lost. Did you see it? If you took it, return it quickly."

Yan Ruchen looked at them with horror on his face and replied in a low voice: "I have never seen any anklets."

As soon as he finished speaking, a servant angrily kicked Yan Ruchen to the ground. The maids rushed forward to protect him and gently comforted the servant, "Master, calm down. The child is still young and may not remember. We will ask him for you. Please don't get angry."

The attendant said viciously, "If you can't get any information from me, we'll take you all to the government office!"

The maids burst into tears of gratitude and quickly pulled Yan Ruchen aside, but no matter how they asked, Yan Ruchen just shook his head innocently and said he didn't know. The crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger, and the servants obviously lost their patience. Turning back to see their young lady already asleep in the nurse's arms, they scratched their hair in annoyance and said, "Forget it, if you can't figure it out, just leave and follow us to the government office."

"Don't!"

At the mention of the word "yamen," the courtesans hurried to stop them. Lang Yun even dropped to her knees, kowtowed, and begged for mercy. The attendants actually stopped. The madam stamped her feet anxiously. After all, with their lowly status, going to the yamen would certainly put them in a bad light, even if they were innocent. It was possible that her entire fortune and life would be confiscated.

The madam's eyes flickered as she noticed the servants' ill-intentioned looks towards Lang Yun. An idea came to her mind, and she leaned close to Lang Yun's ear and whispered, "I still have your indenture. If you want to keep this boy, you'll have to beg these gentlemen. If Liu Yue Fang is destroyed, I'll make you perform the sheep-leading ceremony and then throw you out on the street!"

Lang Yun's face turned pale upon hearing this, but the madam ignored him and turned to the servants, flattering them again: "My lords, don't rush to the government office yet. We have something to discuss. I see you are all tired from standing. Why don't you go upstairs to the elegant house, have a cup of good tea, and chat slowly. Lang Yun, go and serve the lords well."

The servants had originally looked arrogant, but the madam glanced at Lang Yun, and their attitudes immediately softened. They pretended to be generous and said, "We are not unreasonable people. As long as you can give us an explanation, we will naturally not make things difficult for you. Since you want to talk, then we will give you this opportunity."

The madam said yes repeatedly and quickly led the servants upstairs. Lang Yun was stunned for a moment, and saw Yan Ruchen being dragged upstairs by the pimp by the ear. She immediately came to her senses and wanted to follow, but was stopped by the other prostitutes with concern. Lang Yun looked at the worried faces of the sisters, turned around to glance at the little girl who was still sleeping in the arms of the wet nurse, and said: "It's okay, you can help me treat them well and don't make any more mistakes." Before she finished speaking, she picked up the hem of her skirt and hurried up the stairs.

Guan Shanyu followed closely behind, entering the second floor and seeing a luxuriously decorated room filled with fragrance and elegant furnishings. The madam led the attendants to their seats, smiled apologetically, glanced at Langyun, and then quietly left the room.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed. Yan Ruchen and Lang Yun knelt on the ground, facing four or five men with fierce expressions. The leading man played with the teacup in his hand, staring directly at Lang Yun: "Tell me, are you sending it to the government, or do you have other plans?"

Lang Yun hugged the trembling Yan Ruchen tightly, gently stroking his back to comfort him, and replied with some fear: "Gentlemen, my child really can't remember. Otherwise, we are willing to compensate, is that okay with you?"

The attendants burst into laughter upon hearing this. The leader scoffed, "Compensation? Do you know how much that item is worth? My young lady's treasure is worth at least five ingots of silver! If you can compensate us, we'll call it a day."

Lang Yun's face turned pale upon hearing this, and she was filled with horror. This amount of compensation was almost the sum of their years of hard work. How could they afford it?

Seeing Lang Yun's ashen face, the attendants sneered, "You bastards are all the same. You stole things and refused to admit it. You pretended to invite us to negotiate, but in the end you only kowtowed and begged for mercy. No money? Then pay with your life. This kid's life is enough for this money. Brothers, go! Show him some lessons! He is the one who caused us trouble and delayed our way home."

Originally, without clear evidence, it was impossible to directly determine theft. However, in this era, officials held sway over people, and innocence and life and death were often decided by a single word. Before Lang Yun could react, the servants swarmed over him, roughly dragging Yan Ruchen away from him and throwing him to the ground. Fists rained down on Yan Ruchen's frail frame.

Yan Ruchen was still a frail child, curled up in a ball with his hands over his head, his cries of pain piercing the room. Lang Yun, distraught, kowtowed desperately, begging for mercy, trying to move closer to protect Yan Ruchen, but was repeatedly ruthlessly pushed away by the servants, falling to the ground. For a moment, the room was filled with the cries of a child and the screams of a woman.

Seeing Yan Ruchen being beaten almost to silence, only able to gasp for air and occasionally cough up blood, Lang Yun instantly collapsed and roared, "I'll pay! I really can afford it! Please stop!"

The attendants stopped breathing heavily, looking at Lang Yun, whose head was bleeding but still begging for mercy, with a hint of amusement in their eyes. "Compensation? What are you going to pay with?"

Lang Yun's face turned pale, tears welled up like a spring, and his voice trembled: "I... I can compensate. Gentlemen, please follow me... to the next room."

Having said this, she stood up desperately and stumbled around the screen. The attendants looked at each other in confusion, but followed her.

Guan Shanyu was still hesitant about whether to go over and take a look, but when he saw Yan Ruchen lying on the ground, motionless, he stopped and lay on the ground, carefully observing Yan Ruchen's condition. The little guy's face was covered in blood, and he was seriously injured. One of his fingers was obviously broken and twisted in a shocking way. Guan Shanyu looked at him anxiously, wondering if he should go out and call for help, but then he remembered that this was an illusion and no one could see him, so going out would be useless.

For a moment, he stood there at a loss as to what to do.

At this moment, a faint gasp could be heard from the ground. Guan Shanyu quickly turned around and found that Yan Ruchen had moved slightly. He leaned over to check again and saw that Yan Ruchen seemed to have recovered. After coughing up a mouthful of blood, his breathing gradually stabilized. He lay on the ground for a long time before slowly opening his eyes.

He seemed to open his eyes and not see Lang Yun, and he became anxious. He gritted his teeth and endured the pain, trying to sit up, but found his legs numb and weak. He looked around and made a few calls in his throat, as if calling for Lang Yun, but his throat was blocked by blood and only a faint whimper could come out. He shouted anxiously for a while, and when he found that he could not make a sound, tears began to flow again.

At this moment, something behind the screen seemed to attract his attention. He struggled to support his body with his arms and crawled towards that side little by little.

Guan Shanyu followed him carefully, watching him struggle to crawl on the ground. The bloodstains left behind resembled a mottled map. Behind the screen, the room on the other side was tightly closed. Lang Yun had led them there earlier to discuss compensation.

Yan Ruchen climbed with difficulty for a long time and finally reached the door. Although his arms were too weak to knock on the door, fortunately there was a small hole in the door panel, which seemed to have been eaten by insects and ants, just enough for him to peek.

He placed his unswollen eye close to the small hole, but the next moment, his pupils dilated dramatically and his whole body trembled violently. Seeing this, Guan Shanyu also leaned in to watch. He used his illusory body to penetrate the door panel and saw a stunned scene inside the room.

In the room, on a wooden bed, several bodies were entangled, the air was filled with indulgent gasps and suppressed sobs, the scene was extremely erotic and chaotic.

grass.

This is too perverted.

Guan Shanyu almost subconsciously reached out and quickly covered Yan Ruchen's eyes.

But after his shock gradually subsided, he was shocked again.

He felt the warmth of her body under his hand, and now, he was physically touching Yan Ruchen.