“She’s not there.” Liu Yunyan became somewhat worried. “That child just loves excitement—I hope nothing happens to her.”

“This servant will go find Uncle Qiao right away and have him search.”

“Uncle Qiao is still out on business and hasn’t returned.”

“Then what should we do?” The maid also became anxious.

Liu Yunyan remained relatively composed. She said, “Let’s split up and search. Perhaps she’s somewhere in the inn.”

“But Miss, your health…”

“I’m fine!”

The two split up to search. The inn in Yanjing City was very large, with three large courtyards front to back.

Liu Yunyan asked the waiters, but no one had seen her.

She searched the back area and was preparing to return to the room to check again when, just as she returned to the first floor dining area, she was blocked by several men who were quite drunk.

“My oh my, this young lady is truly lovely!” One of the big fat men leered at her, intending to reach out and hook her chin.

Liu Yunyan stepped back, avoiding him, her eyes full of fear. “I don’t know you.”

This remark drew laughter from those men. “Not knowing us doesn’t matter—if we have a good chat, won’t we get to know each other?”

“That’s right, young lady. I can tell you must look like a celestial maiden. Why not keep us company? We won’t mistreat you.”

“Come, let this young master have a good look at what you look like.”

A man in gray clothing reached out to remove the veil from her face.

The moment his fingers touched the veil, Liu Yunyan quickly raised her hand to cover her face, retreating several steps backward until her body collided directly with a pillar behind her.

“Go away, don’t touch me.”

This only drew more mocking laughter.

“Look how we’ve frightened this lady.”

Liu Yunyan’s eyes reddened slightly, tears beginning to well up.

This commotion attracted many people’s attention, but no one dared to step forward and meddle, because those men were no easy targets—they were all rather famous bullies in Yanjing City, all sons of wealthy families.

Either officials’ sons or rich kids.

Not people others could afford to provoke.

Therefore, those eating in the inn all chose silence, turning a blind eye, not stepping forward to invite trouble.

The shopkeeper calculating accounts behind the counter saw this situation and felt very distressed.

He also couldn’t afford to provoke those people, but the incident was happening in his own inn. If word got out, it would inevitably have some impact.

A waiter approached timidly and asked, “Shopkeeper, aren’t you… going to intervene?”

The shopkeeper was also very afraid inside, but he still shuffled over and said softly, “Young masters, please be merciful and let it go. There are… so many people watching here.”

Just as he finished speaking—

One of the men glared at him fiercely. “Who do you think you are? How dare you interfere in this young master’s business.”

“This lowly one is merely…”

“Get lost!”

With a forceful push!

The shopkeeper collided directly with the wine rack behind him, causing two jars of wine to crash down.

Two loud crashes!

The two jars of wine shattered to pieces.

The wine spilled out completely, creating a messy scene on the floor.

Everyone in the inn fell silent, no one making a sound. Even their breathing slowed considerably.

The young masters’ faces all looked unpleasant.

Somewhat angry!

One of them shouted at the shopkeeper, “Why don’t you get lost already? You’ve gotten wine all over our shoe soles and clothes—can you afford to compensate?”

The shopkeeper didn’t dare argue back. “Yes, yes, yes, it’s all this lowly one’s fault.”

“Get lost!”

In this situation, if he didn’t leave now, when would he?

The shopkeeper cast a very sympathetic glance at Liu Yunyan, who was still surrounded in the middle, then walked away helplessly, disgraced.

One must know that to do good business in Yanjing City, one couldn’t offend those in power, and even more so couldn’t offend the sons of those in power! Otherwise, forget about continuing to operate here.

This showed just how arrogant and domineering those young masters usually were!

Liu Yunyan was terrified, clutching tightly at the veil on her face, deathly afraid those people would lift it. After the brief interruption, those men once again focused all their attention on her, saying, “Little lady, don’t be afraid! We won’t hurt you. We know how to treat a woman right. If you’re willing to obediently listen, you’ll have good days ahead.”

“Go away! Otherwise… I’ll report you to the authorities!”

“Report to the authorities? Haha… In this Yanjing City, we are the authorities, we are the law. Even if you complained to the Emperor himself, it would be useless.”

The men laughed so hard they couldn’t close their mouths.

One lecherous-looking but corpulent man stepped closer to Liu Yunyan and said, “I say, young lady, why don’t you lift your veil and let us see? Don’t be shy.”

“Go away!”

“Come, remove the veil from her face.”

The men were about to take action.

Suddenly—

A figure darted in, blocking Liu Yunyan.

“You men have no shame—bullying a young lady. Aren’t you afraid of being laughed at if word gets out!”

Luoyang, who had been sitting and drinking, hadn’t wanted to meddle. He thought those people would make a scene and then disperse, but he never expected them to go on endlessly.

Simply outrageous!

How could Luoyang sit still any longer? If he didn’t act now, he wouldn’t be a man.

“Who are you? How dare you obstruct our business?”

“This young master’s name hasn’t changed—Luoyang!” “Luoyang?” The fat white man looked him up and down carefully. He’d never heard this name in Yanjing City, and his clothing was so low-class—clearly just a busybody. “You little punk, I see you’re tired of living. If you’re smart, get lost right now. Ruin our good time and I’ll use you as an example, peel the skin and flesh from your body layer by layer, and hang you at the city gate.”

Heh!

Luoyang truly wasn’t intimidated! One must know, he had the Wen brothers backing him up, and he’d even shared drinks with the Heir Apparent—these connections were plain to see. He raised his eyebrows. “Today, this young master is definitely intervening. If you’re smart, you’ll hurry up and scram.”

“You little punk, you’re simply tired of living!”

“If you’ve got the guts, make your move!” Luoyang puffed up his courage.

This momentum was clearly even stronger than theirs.

Liu Yunyan couldn’t believe the person coming to her rescue was the very one who had “followed” her earlier. Her heart was very grateful, but she was also very afraid. She gently tugged at Luoyang’s sleeve and said, “Young master, please don’t concern yourself with me.”

Luoyang looked back at her and said, “I’m definitely handling this. Don’t worry, they won’t dare make a move.”

These words provoked those men.

They instantly flew into a rage. “Fool who doesn’t know death—we’ll skin you alive.”

Luoyang rolled up his sleeves, ready to fight.

Just as those men were about to strike—

A voice came from outside the inn. “Stop!”

Looking at the sound, it was actually Jiang Bin.

Part of the close “brotherhood gang” with the now-deceased Wang Huai!

He walked over. When he saw Luoyang, his eyes narrowed.

He recognized him!

The fat white man said, “Jiang Bin, this punk simply doesn’t know death.”

But unexpectedly, Jiang Bin glared at him. “I think the ones who don’t know death are you lot.”

“Huh?”

“Are you all blind? Get out of here now.”

“What do you mean? This person…” The fat white man and the others looked completely bewildered.

Jiang Bin scolded lightly, “Can’t you hear me?”

After Wang Huai left, everyone in this faction now stood on Jiang Bin’s side, so naturally they didn’t dare disobey him. They could only suppress the anger in their hearts and left unwillingly.

After they left, Jiang Bin politely said to Luoyang, “You’re called Luoyang, right? We met at Ning’an Manor. You’re one of General Wen’s people and helped solve the case.”

If it was for the Wen family’s sake!

Using this banner was quite effective.

Luoyang smiled smugly. “That’s right, I’m one of General Wen’s people. What, do you have something to say?”

“You misunderstand—I just helped you.”

“Helped? I think you’re all in the same gang.” “That’s not right! I do know them, but what just happened had nothing to do with me. Don’t lump me in with them. But regardless, I’ll apologize on their behalf.” As he spoke, Jiang Bin shifted his gaze to the young lady behind him and apologized with full sincerity. “Miss, what just happened was a misunderstanding. I guarantee such things won’t happen again in the future. I hope you won’t mind.”

Liu Yunyan’s body was still trembling. She had indeed been frightened by what had just occurred, but she also knew that less trouble was better than more, so she said, “It’s fine.”