The next day, the matter of purchasing goods was left to Xiao Wei and Zhong An. Mo Zi went to the brothel where Zuo Gu had redeemed Mo Chou.

Mo Chou had only left two items behind with nothing else, so there was no way to know the Water Purification Pearl’s origin. She had to investigate elsewhere. Though she didn’t believe the Water Purification Pearl concealed some treasure or anything like that, Nande Zhou Sifo’s death vaguely made her feel this object was involved in an important secret.

The Water Purification Pearl was priceless—compared to it, the redemption silver was nothing at all. Yet Mo Chou hadn’t used it to find a way out, not even leaving a single word about it. Most likely she didn’t know its origin. Not knowing the origin yet hiding it away—perhaps she had stolen it, or perhaps she knew this thing was important.

Of course, all of this was just Mo Zi’s speculation.

The madam initially refused to say anything, but silver pried open her mouth. Happily tucking away two large silver ingots, she said, “Spring Pear was sold in by a human trafficker. That temper of hers—bah!—fierce as a young mistress. Day and night saying she’d been tricked and sold, wanting me to write to her sister to redeem her. But her sister is in Great Zhou. Tell me, could I believe that? Naturally I treated it as nonsense. After beating her for a few days and using medicine, didn’t she obediently serve customers? It’s not like she was a virgin anyway. Her personality wasn’t likable, but fortunately she had a beautiful face. To be honest, that beauty was rarely seen—no wonder General Duan Ge took a fancy to her after seeing her just once. If she’d served him well and been more patient, she might have become a minor concubine. After all, among Daqiu nobility, only the Duan Ge family can take Han women.”

Mo Zi smiled coldly. “Madam certainly knows a lot.”

The madam didn’t hear the sarcasm in her words. She waved a handkerchief to cover her mouth as she laughed. “My establishment naturally has the most information. Young master is generous, so I won’t be stingy either. I could see Spring Pear was truly unusual, so later I inquired with the human trafficker. The trafficker said she was originally the newly-wedded wife of a river gang leader. Because of her bad temper, she fell out of favor not long after marrying in. She also didn’t get along with the principal wife. Seeing the inner quarters unsettled, her husband blamed it all on her. One day he drugged her unconscious and sold her to the trafficker. Knowing the trafficker dealt in smuggled goods between the two countries, he specifically instructed him to sell her far away.”

“Since you knew she’d truly been tricked and sold, why did you still insist on making her serve customers? If she really had a sister who could redeem her, what then?” Mo Zi was somewhat angry.

The madam still made that irritating laugh. “Young master, this is a brothel, not a temple. Which girl doesn’t have some story, some injustice? If I kept them all for free waiting for sisters and mothers to redeem them, could I still do business? Eh—young master just said you came out of admiration, but you seem like Spring Pear’s old acquaintance.”

After Mo Zi asked this, she knew she hadn’t controlled her emotions well. She tugged at the corner of her mouth and changed her tone. “Where did madam get that idea? I merely heard of Miss Spring Pear’s plight and couldn’t help feeling moved. I most love thorny beauties. I heard Miss Spring Pear was not only exceptionally beautiful but also outstandingly talented. I really didn’t expect—”

The madam didn’t yet know about last night’s events. “Spring Pear’s fate isn’t so terrible. Yuling’s wealthiest man, Member Zuo, bought her several days ago. Perhaps before long she’ll be a wealthy lady again.”

“Madam doesn’t know yet? It’s spreading throughout the city. Last night Spring Pear took her own life.” Mo Zi watched to see if she would feel guilty.

The madam was startled, but her eyes held no sympathy. She slapped her leg and said, “How could she be so foolish? She’d long lost her chastity, yet acted like a chaste widow. Not living the good days available to her—I’m afraid she offended Old Master Zuo again. Aiya, I wonder if Old Master Zuo will blame me for this? That wretched girl—when alive she didn’t earn me much money, and in death she still causes me trouble.”

“Madam, help me think—while Spring Pear was here, aside from General Duan Ge, what other customers of relatively high status and position did she serve?” Since Mo Chou had been sold directly from the Feng residence here, perhaps she could find a clue.

The madam narrowed her eyes, no longer politely calling her “young master,” her expression suspicious. “Customer, the more you talk, the stranger I find it. Since you know Spring Pear is already dead, yet you say you came out of admiration to inquire about her affairs, even wanting to know which customers she served—what exactly is your purpose?”

“You don’t need to worry about my purpose. You took the silver, so just answer my questions.” Without saying Spring Pear was dead, the madam wouldn’t tell the truth. She knew there were holes in her story but didn’t particularly care.

“I’ve told you everything I should. Customer, you may leave.” The madam stood up, wanting to open the door.

A weight on her shoulder—a jade-green sword that pressed her down to her knees.

“Madam, don’t be hasty. You’ve finished saying what you should say, but I haven’t gotten answers to what I need to ask. Tell me, what other customers were there?” Her methods were becoming increasingly violent—Mo Zi had no choice.

The madam screamed once, trying to summon guards to rescue her.

Zan Jin’s sword lightly brushed across her neck, immediately leaving a bloody mark. “Old woman, if you don’t want to live, just call for people.”

Ding Gou pushed the door open and entered. “Even if you call, no one will come.”

“Madam, I don’t have much spare time, and my brother’s sword is very fast.” Mo Zi played with the teacup lid.

The madam immediately knew she’d encountered a tough character. “Young master, spare my life! I’ll tell you. Spring Pear was here just over two months. Not many days after arriving, General Duan Ge took a fancy to her. From then on she only served him—I didn’t dare let her take other customers. Before that, there were only two customers, nothing special in terms of status and position, just ordinary merchants.”

Zan Jin extended his hand. In his palm was a pitch-black pill. He said to the madam, “Swallow it.”

The madam’s face fell. “Young master, everything I said is the truth. I absolutely didn’t lie.”

“I’m a suspicious person.” Mo Zi stood up. “Madam can choose between two options. One, death. Two, poison. Death—I don’t need to explain that, do I? As for the poison, after swallowing it, you’ll be no different from normal for a month, just some numbness in your hands and feet. If you take the antidote in time, your life will be fine. I’m afraid your mouth isn’t reliable and you’ll casually talk about today’s events, so I have no choice.” Using the same old trick with nothing new, but as long as it worked. She didn’t want the madam to file a complaint before they’d even departed, ruining everything.

“What happens after a month?” The madam shivered.

“If you keep your mouth shut like a clam, I’ll have someone deliver the antidote. If you leak even half a word, you’ll only die from the poison.” Mo Zi didn’t wait for her to make a choice and walked outside. “Accumulate some virtue. If I hear you’re still forcing good women into prostitution, I might change my mind.”

Who would choose immediate death? The answer was self-evident.

Zan Jin followed her out and said, “The old woman took the Muscle Numbing Pill. A’Gou is staying behind to secretly watch the situation. Did Mo Ge figure out the whole story?”

“I’m guessing that pearl is related to Feng Shi. Duan Geshou wouldn’t carry this thing on his person, unlike the Imperial Gate Token. If by chance it’s the one Yuan Cheng left in Nande—” Mo Zi had a headache. “The Min family ancestor’s ten pearls are simply disaster stars.”

“My father once said that things in this world that people treat as rare treasures are all inauspicious objects, attracting endless greed.” Zan Jin’s father’s words were always very wise.

“After we return, we must definitely investigate that bastard Feng Shi.” The jianghu nowadays wasn’t pure—it constantly involved political struggles.

Ding Gou kept watch all day. When he returned at dinner, he said, “The madam was so frightened she called a physician, but the physician couldn’t determine anything and only prescribed some spirit-calming and qi-nourishing medicine. After that, she kept dropping and breaking things by accident, completely believing it was poison. She instructed the guards I’d knocked out to absolutely not speak of this. I think she’ll keep her mouth shut tight.”

That night passed peacefully. Early the next morning, Zuo Gu sent someone to lead the way. After sailing for half an hour, they saw the Zuo family fleet—cargo ships of four thousand shi each, a full twenty vessels.

Chou Yu gazed out. “Today we’re like country folk entering the city—our eyes are opened.”

Mo Zi always examined ships closely regardless of whether they were friend or foe, looking over the structure meticulously from top to bottom. Now her eyes shone even brighter. “Truly magnificent.”

The lead steward smiled rather proudly and said to Xiao Wei, “Young Master Cousin, the master asks you to board his ship for a moment. There are some matters to entrust to you.”

Xiao Wei nodded in agreement and boarded a small boat with the steward to go to the main ship in the middle to see Zuo Gu.

Mo Zi was in Lady Miao’s room talking, instructing her to be careful not to let Zuo Gu recognize her, and also asking about Yang Qiao’s condition.

Lady Miao’s godson Ji Qiu was now helping her with odd jobs on the ship. He ran in to relay Zan Jin’s message, asking her to come to the deck.

“Are we about to depart?” Mo Zi asked.

“Brother Zan said you’ll know when you get there.” Ji Qiu was still very unfamiliar with everything and couldn’t guess people’s thoughts.

When did Zan Jin start being mysterious? Mo Zi discovered he’d recently been influenced to become more cunning.

Arriving on deck, before she could speak, Zan Jin pulled her to the bow and had her look down.

Mo Zi saw Xiao Wei returning in a small boat. “If he’s returning, he’s returning. Do we need to line up to welcome him?”

“Mo Ge, look carefully—there are several extra people on the boat.” Zan Jin’s gaze was vigilant.

It wasn’t that Mo Zi hadn’t noticed, she just hadn’t thought much of it. “Perhaps Zuo Gu sent them to coordinate. I anticipated this early on, so I had Chou Yu and the others keep close watch on the cargo hold.”

Before long, the people boarded the ship.

Xiao Wei introduced the three like this: “This is Wen Feng, Wen Qin, and Wen Gui—three brothers. They’re also taking Uncle’s ships to Daqiu. Uncle said their ages are similar to ours, so why not share our ship? We can look after each other and it’ll be livelier together.”

Hearing this, Mo Zi muttered inwardly—were they not Zuo Gu’s people, or was Zuo Gu afraid they’d be suspicious and deliberately saying these three were also passengers?

“However, Uncle also said if Sister and Cousin’s wife find it inappropriate, we can forget it.” Seeing Mo Zi silent, Xiao Wei could roughly guess what she was thinking. “I replied that Sister has been in commerce since childhood and isn’t like ordinary ladies of the inner chambers, and Cousin’s wife is a married woman, so it should be fine. Moreover, ‘When friends come from afar’—sharing a ship is also fate.”

Mo Zi knew he had already agreed with Zuo Gu, mostly to put Zuo Gu’s mind at ease. Looking at the three men again—they all had extraordinary bearing, dressed in scholar’s robes, with simple clothing and unassuming accessories. Though she knew she shouldn’t judge by appearance, she still felt they seemed not bad.

“Since Elder Brother has agreed, I have no objection either. It’s just that the ship is small and the cabins simple—I’m afraid we may inconvenience the three of you.” She said to the three men.

Wen Feng looked at her, blinking once, then blinking again.

Xiao Wei frowned, thinking to himself that when speaking earlier he’d seemed quite composed, yet facing Mo Zi he was in a daze. Could he be a lecher?

The one called Wen Qin, with extremely handsome features, gave a light cough.

Only then did Wen Feng hastily bow. “Many thanks, young lady.”