The princess was ordained by Heaven.

At this moment, the woman among the human traffickers cried out in anguish, "Your Honor, you have been wronged! I was just joking with the princess, I meant no harm. I am a law-abiding citizen and have never done anything evil!"

[Having not committed any evil deeds? Does this mean you didn't sell your own children to others, or that you didn't abduct those seventy-two children?]

Le Zhenghong: Seventy-two?!

His gaze towards the woman was no longer just irritable; it was as if he wanted to chew her up and swallow her whole.

The woman swallowed hard, closed her mouth, and dared not open it again.

"You are incredibly audacious to attempt to abduct the princess! This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"

His blue official robe was adorned with soaring auspicious beasts, and the deep, solemn color made him appear even more dignified.

The traffickers had their heads down, and upon closer inspection, their shoulders were trembling slightly.

“However…” After a moment, Le Zhenghong changed his tone, “If you are willing to tell me the whereabouts of those children, I can also petition for leniency on your behalf.”

The youngest trafficker was overjoyed and was about to speak, but the middle-aged trafficker glared at him and, seeing him quiet down, continued to cry out, "My lord! I'm innocent! I don't know where those children are!"

Anyone can see that he's just being pretentious.

He was taking advantage of their desire to know the whereabouts of the children, and he wanted to use that as leverage to obtain a pardon.

Normally, Le Zhenghong would interrogate these people separately, trying every means to get them to talk.

But now that Zheng Xun is here, it saves a lot of trouble.

The trafficker's lips curled up slightly, seemingly quite pleased with himself for being able to threaten a high-ranking official.

"You're so stubborn. Here's what we'll do: tell me where those children are, and I'll spare your life..."

"Lord Yue!" Zheng Xun interrupted him as expected.

Under the expectant gaze of the human traffickers, Le Zhenghong suddenly changed the subject: "What are your orders, Princess?"

Zheng Xun looked at the human traffickers and said, "Who are you threatening? I do have some divination skills, so why don't you listen to whether what I say is right or wrong?"

She walked up to the middle-aged human trafficker: "Tu Da, forty years old, you started gambling seventeen years ago and began human trafficking fifteen years ago. The first person you trafficked was a seemingly healthy little beggar. The third time, you sold your cousin's daughter to a wealthy businessman as a concubine. From then on, you tasted the sweetness and couldn't stop."

The middle-aged human trafficker's face twitched a few times, and he clenched his fists, still refusing to back down.

This guy is a complete scoundrel, rotten to the core. Zheng Xun didn't even bother to waste his breath on him.

After saying that, she turned to look at the young man: "He Zhuzi, you have just come of age and have abducted fifteen children and abused four women. The first one you killed was your own cousin. In the end, your cousin could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide. Even her body was sold to someone else for a ghost marriage."

He Zhuzi remained calm even after his background was revealed; in fact, he even grinned and showed a smile.

Zheng Shi felt nauseous, purely disgusted by the two of them. She looked at Zheng Jiu seriously and said, "I feel like I should kill him."

Zheng Jiu nodded repeatedly: "Kill them properly, but don't be too hasty. I have two blunt knives with blood grooves, do you need them?"

"Can I have both of them?"

"No, I need to use one of them."

Among the people outside, there was one with exceptionally good hearing who couldn't help but shout, "Give me one!"

Zheng Jiu and Zheng Shi pretended not to hear, and the man didn't make a scene for long before being pinned down by the people waiting for what would happen next.

Finally, Zheng Xun looked at the woman and said, "Wang Fangcheng, your mother was originally the daughter of a minor official. She was kidnapped and sold to your father. Your father was violent and would beat her at the slightest disagreement. After your mother was beaten to death, she became a 'slut' in the eyes of your father and the villagers, who called her 'unfaithful' and 'run away with a peddler'."

Zheng Xun flipped through the system's data, his expression becoming increasingly subtle as he read: "Your father favored sons over daughters and constantly beat and verbally abused you. As a result, you first sold your younger brother, and then sold your father to the quarry."

If things only ended here, it would be a perfect template for a female protagonist's wish-fulfillment novel.

However, she did not stop there, and began to extend her reach to innocent people.

"After marriage, you had one son and two daughters, all of whom you sold for high prices. Your somewhat handsome husband was also sold to a lustful noblewoman..."

“My name isn’t Fangcheng. My family calls me Daya. Besides, my father’s surname is Zhang.” After hearing this, Wang Fangcheng breathed a sigh of relief. After making a brief explanation, she lowered her head meekly, looking like an ordinary, unsophisticated young woman. But anyone who had seen how domineering she had been on the street just now would know that her current demeanor was not her true nature.

Zheng Xun squatted down and reached out his hand to her.

Wang Fangcheng tried to dodge, but Zheng Xun held her shoulder and quickly removed the pendant from her neck.

This is a square amulet, dark blue in color, with fine stitches. It has faded somewhat due to long-term wear.

Wang Fangcheng screamed, "Give it back to me!"

Zheng Xun dodged her outstretched hand and tore open the tightly sewn amulet.

The amulet contains a thin square of cloth, with two characters embroidered on each side: "芳程" (Fang Cheng) on ​​one side and "平安" (Ping An) on the other.

She placed the piece of cloth in Wang Fangcheng's hand and sighed, "Your mother's original surname was Wang."

Wang Fangcheng stared blankly at the two words on the piece of cloth for a long, long time.

Zheng Xun's gaze was indifferent, and he said with regret, "Fangcheng... Your mother must have placed countless hopes on you when she named you. A bright future, peace and safety... If she hadn't been abducted, you would have been a daughter of an official, right? If your mother hadn't been beaten to death by your father, your childhood memories wouldn't have been filled with insults and beatings. Although you might not have been rich and noble, at least you would have had your mother's protection and could have lived a decent life. Your past could have been much less difficult."

Some things are regrettable because "it could have been".

"No, no..." Wang Fangcheng seemed unable to bear the blow, tightly clutching the tattered cloth, tears falling to the ground in large drops, crying out in a hoarse voice.

Some soft-hearted people were moved by her crying and couldn't help but sigh, "Alas, she's pitiful too..."

[No way, no way, does anyone really sympathize with Wang Fangcheng? If so, I'll laugh at you!]

Those who wavered could not hear Zheng Xun's true feelings and naturally had no reaction, but those who did hear it lost half of their emotional impact.

How could someone who abducted more than seventy children be considered a pitiful person? Even if there is still a shred of tenderness in her heart, the evil deeds of the past will not disappear because of her remorse or pitifulness.

I just saw how much she cares about her mother, so I touched a nerve. It's so funny to see her in pain and regret now, and some people are actually feeling genuine sympathy for her.

Le Zhenghong: ...

Seeing Wang Fangcheng crying so hard that her superiors couldn't catch their breath, he couldn't help but feel a headache coming on: "The princess is incredibly resourceful; could she possibly have figured out where those children are?"