She's skilled in medicine, martial arts, and even understands animal language—the abandoned dau

Although the mother and daughter said this, it was their first time in the county town, and they were unfamiliar with everything here. In addition, the passers-by pointed at Shen Chang because she was so delicate and beautiful, which made Lanxiang feel even more nervous and uneasy.

The two of them only wandered around the county government office for a while, bought some food, and then returned to the inn.

As evening fell, the mother and daughter ate some food they had brought back from outside and went to bed to rest, planning to set off back to Qiufeng Town early the next morning.

However, an unexpected crisis was quietly approaching them.

Around 9 PM, just as the mother and daughter were sound asleep, there was a sudden, urgent knocking at the door.

Shen Man was awakened by the noise and quickly woke up Lanxiang beside her, whispering to her, "Mother, someone is knocking on the door!"

"W-who are you?" Lanxiang was a little scared, but she still mustered up her courage to ask.

"Open the door quickly! The officials are conducting a room inspection!"

Lanxiang was startled when she heard the words "officers are inspecting the rooms".

She looked at Shen Man nervously, and Shen Man gestured for her not to panic, then gently comforted her, "Mother, don't be afraid, I'll go take a look."

Shen Man dressed, lit the oil lamp, and slowly walked towards the door.

She peeked through the crack in the door and saw two men in government uniforms standing outside, their expressions serious.

Shen Man took a deep breath, opened the door, and asked with feigned composure, "May I ask what business you two have?"

One of the officers looked Shen Man up and down and said, "We are ordered to check the rooms and see if there are any suspicious persons in the inn."

Upon hearing that they were searching suspicious individuals, Shen Man immediately explained to them, "Officers, we came from the countryside on business. Because our home is far from the county town, we are staying here for the night. We will return tomorrow."

The two officers did not speak after hearing this, nor did they insist on searching the premises. Instead, they silently turned and left.

Shen Man returned to bed, thinking the matter was over, but a quarter of an hour later, the door rang again.

Shen Man's heart jumped. She got out of bed, walked to the door, and looked out through the crack in the door again.

This time, in addition to the two constables from before, there was another person standing outside. That person was none other than the constable who had demanded money from them at the entrance of the county government office.

However, he looked somewhat different from when Shen Man had seen him during the day. His left cheek appeared to have been swollen, as if he had been punched. If it weren't for the black mole on the corner of his mouth, Shen Man wouldn't have recognized him at all.

"Officers, is there anything else you need?" Shen Man had a bad feeling as soon as she saw the man.

"Stop talking nonsense and open the door!" the constable said impatiently.

Shen Man had no choice but to open the door, and the three of them rushed into the room without saying a word and began to search around.

Lanxiang stood by the bed, clutching the bundle tightly to her chest, trembling with fear.

Upon seeing this, the constable immediately snatched the bundle from her hands, opened it, and dumped its contents onto the bed, searching through it.

"What are you doing? How can you just rummage through other people's things like that!" Shen Man shouted angrily at them.

"We are ordered to search. If anyone resists, kill them without mercy!" another officer replied coldly.

Shen Man's heart sank. She knew that these people were not conducting a search under orders, but rather taking the opportunity to extort money.

"Where did you get this silver? Do you have anything else? Hand it over now!"

Suddenly, the constable held up a silver ingot and questioned Lanxiang.

"This...this is not our money. All our money is here."

Lanxiang answered in a low voice, taking out a purse from her sleeve, revealing loose silver coins inside.

"If it's not yours, how could it be in your bundle? You must be the thief disguised as a peasant woman." The constable clearly didn't believe him. "Tie them both up and take them away."

As they were talking, the constable snatched the purse from Lanxiang's hand and stuffed it, along with the silver ingot, into his own pocket.

"Officer, I'm innocent! This silver ingot really isn't ours..." Lanxiang was so anxious that tears were almost coming out of her eyes.

"Come back to the yamen with us and we'll talk!" Without saying another word, the yamen runner grabbed Lanxiang and dragged her outside.

Only now did Shen Man truly understand the meaning of the saying, "It is better to offend a gentleman than a petty person."

If she had known this would happen, she should have given him two taels of silver to avoid trouble.

"Sir, what happened at the yamen gate today was my fault. Please forgive us and let us go!" Shen Man immediately pleaded with the yamen runner.

"Now you know you're wrong? Too late!" The constable glared at Shen Man and sneered.

"Sir, how about this..." Shen Man said, slipping a tael of silver into the constable's hand. "This little bit of money is for you gentlemen to buy some wine. Consider it our way of showing our respect to you."

The constable weighed the silver in his hand, a sinister smile appearing on his face.

"You think you can get away with this little bit of silver? Little girl, you must be dreaming! Brothers, take this woman back to the yamen first. After we've had our fill, we'll sell her to a brothel!" the yamen runner said, grabbing Lanxiang's hand and dragging her out forcefully.

"No, no, I don't want to go with you..."

Lanxiang screamed in terror, desperately twisting her body to try and break free from his grasp, but to no avail. Her face was as pale as paper, and tears uncontrollably welled up in her eyes, streaming down her cheeks.

"Let my mother go!"

Shen Man chased after him without hesitation, her eyes filled with anger. She opened her mouth and bit the constable's wrist hard, using all her strength to prevent him from taking her mother away.

"You little brat, how dare you bite me! You're asking for it!" The constable cried out in pain and raised his hand to strike Shen Man.

However, at that moment, the other guests in the inn heard the commotion and opened their doors to peek out and see what had happened.

They stared in astonishment at the scene before them, and murmurs of discussion rose and fell among them.

Seeing that the situation was not good and fearing that things would escalate, the constable dared not lay a hand on Shen Man again.

He glared at Shen Man, then dragged Lan Xiang along and quickened his pace toward the inn's door.

"Let go of my mother! My mother is innocent!" Shen Man was extremely anxious. She didn't even bother to wipe away her tears and followed the constable closely.

She ran and shouted, her voice trembling with tears. But she was just a child, and her strength was limited; she was quickly left behind.

Watching Lanxiang being taken away and walking further and further away, she felt utterly desperate and helpless.

Just then, a man in white descended from the sky and stopped in front of the constables.

With his hands behind his back, he looked sharply at the constables and said coldly, "You dogs, how dare you forcibly abduct women! You are truly lawless!"