Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Wu Zihan was unaware of Mingliang's true thoughts. She quickly walked to Mingliang's side, her face beaming with a happy smile, and said coquettishly, "Husband, I've come to take you home. I'll cook you something delicious tonight to help you recover."

As she spoke, Wu Zihan reached out and gently patted non-existent dust off Mingliang's clothes. Her gentle and considerate manner was particularly irritating to Mingliang. In Mingliang's eyes, Wu Zihan's smile was like a female ghost from hell, both terrifying and disgusting.

He really didn't want to spend another moment with this woman, but he couldn't refuse her. He could only suppress his disgust, force a smile, and say, "Okay, let's go home then."

After saying that, Mingliang reluctantly took Wu Zihan's hand. The hand felt rough and cold, making him feel uncomfortable all over.

However, not having to keep looking at her skull-like face made Mingliang feel much more comfortable.

You should know that when he had sex with her at night, he always kept his eyes closed and didn't dare to look, otherwise he would definitely be so disgusted that he couldn't get an erection.

In the alley of Xiaogang, the three officials, having finished their business, stood up contentedly and pulled up their trousers.

"Haha... I didn't expect her to still be a virgin." One of the officers said happily. You see, his wife was a widow who had two children with another man before marrying him. He never thought he would be able to sleep with a virgin in his life. It was all worth it.

"What? A virgin? How lucky you are! I'll give it a try too." Another officer said, and started to take off his pants again.

He didn't choose the woman because he thought she wasn't good-looking, but instead chose the mute woman, who was like a dead fish, lifeless and boring.

"Get to business." The head constable said, then took out some copper coins from his pocket and handed them to the constable who was still taking off his pants. "Go next door and buy them three sets of clothes."

"Yes, sir." Although the officer was reluctant, he was thinking that he would soon be able to get his share of the silver, so he took the copper coins and left the courtyard.

They returned shortly afterward, carrying several sets of old clothes. "Hurry up and put these clothes on and come with us."

In no time, Li Qian'er and the others were dressed.

The three officers nodded in satisfaction, then led them away from Xiaogang Alley and into another, more secluded alley.

The alley was very quiet, and the houses on both sides looked somewhat dilapidated.

The officials then led Li Qian'er and the others into a courtyard, which was filled with a pungent fragrance.

As soon as I entered, an elderly woman dressed in a flamboyant manner came out to greet me.

The woman was about fifty years old, with thick makeup on her face and bright red lips, looking just like a brothel madam.

"Hey, Meng Laosan, not bad today! Three of you." The old woman's blood-red lips snapped open as soon as she saw the women behind the three men, as if she wanted to devour them. "These girls have pretty good figures!"

The old woman's gaze lingered on Li Qian'er and the others, finally settling on the wounds on their faces. "Oh dear, how did you get these injuries on your faces?" she muttered somewhat unhappily.

The leading constable quickly explained, "Granny Wang, she was just scratched a few times. The wounds aren't deep; they'll heal in a few days. How much silver would you like to give her?"

Granny Wang stretched out one hand, shook her five fingers, and said, "Fifty taels of silver for the three of you. I won't accept any more."

Two of these three women are of above-average looks. If I buy them and take good care of them, they will surely be able to earn me a lot of money in the future.

The other woman, though slightly less beautiful, was quite robust and clearly fertile.

Selling her to the widowers in the villages outside the city would surely fetch a good price.

The three constables exchanged glances, thought for a moment, and then nodded in agreement: "Alright, fifty taels it is."

"Take the silver notes, these people are mine now." Granny Wang took out five ten-tael silver notes from her bosom and handed them to Meng Laosan.

Meng Laosan took the fifty taels of silver notes, turned around and left the courtyard.

Once inside the alley, the three of them eagerly gathered together, ready to divide the fifty taels of silver equally.

Just as they were dividing the silver, suddenly, all three of them felt a sharp pain in the back of their heads, their vision went black for a moment, and they collapsed to the ground like rag dolls, unconscious.

"Take them all away." Mu Nan gave the order expressionlessly upon seeing this.

His men, upon hearing the commotion, quickly dragged the three constables away like dead dogs.

After dealing with the three officials, Mu Nan led his men back into the courtyard.

His purpose in coming here was naturally to redeem Li Qian'er and the other two.

After entering the courtyard, Mu Nan negotiated with Granny Wang, who was in charge of the courtyard, and finally redeemed Li Qian'er and the other two at a reasonable price.

Afterwards, Mu Nan led Li Qian'er and the other two to a courtyard owned by the Mu family outside the city.

Once there, he arranged for some people to guard the three women.

In the spacious hall of the Mu family home, Madam Zhou sat solemnly in the main seat, her brows furrowed, as if troubled by a worrying matter.

“Mingliang can no longer be an official; we must find a way to send him back to his hometown.” Zhou’s voice revealed a hint of helplessness and determination.

She never imagined that her granddaughter, Wu Zihan, would so brazenly use the Mu family's name to commit crimes in just a few months after arriving in Beijing.

This will not only damage the Mu family's reputation, but may also bring unexpected trouble to the entire family.

Zhou knew that for the sake of the Mu family's overall interests, she had to give up this granddaughter.

Although she felt a little reluctant, she still made a decisive decision—to send Wu Zihan back to her hometown.

“Mother…” Wang Cuiying exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Zhou’s words.

Before she could finish speaking, Zhou interrupted her sternly: "Shut up! Don't tell Yan'er about this, and all of you listen to me: this matter must be resolved secretly, absolutely not made public. Let them go back to their hometown and be peaceful landowners."

Zhou's gaze swept over everyone sitting in the hall with the sharpness of a hawk.

Of all these people, the one she was most worried about was Wang Cuiying.

In fact, from the day Wu Zihan arrived in Beijing, Wang Qing'er felt that Wu Zihan was somewhat sinister, so she had been secretly keeping an eye on her.

During this time, Wu Zihan did not do anything outrageous, but she would boast to everyone that she was the direct granddaughter of the Duke's family and that her husband worked in the Hanlin Academy.

At first, those people scoffed at her words and didn't believe her at all.