“No, no, no.” Ji Xiaobo shook his head at once. “This house was offered up by the common people. On my salary alone, how could I afford to live in a place this large?”

“The City Lord should be able to see that this mansion is nothing but an empty shell.”

“Oh?” Feng Jiu’er’s gaze returned to Ji Xiaobo. “Offered up by the common people?”

“If that’s the case, then you, Town Chief, must be quite popular with the people?”

“Not at all, not at all.” The smile that rose on Ji Xiaobo’s face looked somewhat stiff, but he pressed on with it anyway.

These were matters from many years ago — even if the City Lord chose to investigate, who could say for certain what really happened?

The servant who had left soon returned carrying a new rug, hurried in, and swapped out the old one.

“City Lord, please, take the seat of honor!” Ji Xiaobo gestured again.

Feng Jiu’er swept her sleeves back, turned, and went to sit at the main seat.

Xiao Yingtao sat behind her; Jian Yi held his long sword, and Qiao Mu held her silver spear, standing guard on either side.

The three Madams looked at Feng Jiu’er’s face, each with her own thoughts.

No wonder she had managed to claim the position of City Lord — how could a face be so striking?

They felt envy, disdain, and worry over their own husband’s wandering eyes, yet all of them stood quietly to the side, not daring to make a sound.

Once Feng Jiu’er was seated, Ji Xiaobo turned and waved his hand.

“The three of you, come pay your respects to the City Lord.”

The three Madams stepped forward together, stood in the hall, and bowed to Feng Jiu’er.

“Greetings, City Lord!” the three said in unison.

Not only did their words match — even their movements and expressions were nearly identical.

Anyone who didn’t know better might have mistaken them for the closest of sisters.

Feng Jiu’er’s lips curved slightly. With just a wave of her hand, her gaze moved past the three Madams.

“Town Chief, today I’m simply here to inspect your residence. You don’t mind, do you?” Feng Jiu’er said, getting straight to the point.

“Not at all! Not at all!” Ji Xiaobo cupped his hands together.

Feng Jiu’er waved a hand, and the men standing at the door outside cupped their hands and turned to leave.

“I had no idea when the City Lord arrived. Had I known, I would have come to pay my respects myself, rather than troubling the City Lord to come all this way,” Ji Xiaobo said.

He still had no idea what the situation truly was, but since he’d already claimed to be upright, he might as well stay upright for now.

Everything had already been arranged — he had nothing left to fear.

Still, Ji Xiaobo hoped this City Lord before him was also someone greedy for wealth. If she was, things would be much easier to manage.

“I’ve heard that even before this battle, the town had a recurring problem of women going missing. Are you aware of this, Town Chief?”

“Of course.” Ji Xiaobo cupped his hands again.

The City Lord hadn’t invited him to sit, so he could only remain standing.

“A matter of this magnitude — I would certainly know of it,” Ji Xiaobo continued.

“Not just me — the previous City Lord, Duan, knew of it too. Unfortunately, to this day, we still haven’t gotten to the bottom of it.”

“Alas!” Ji Xiaobo sighed regretfully. “I don’t know why, but the matter has simply never made any progress.”

“No progress, of course, because someone has been working behind the scenes to obstruct it,” Qiao Mu cut in coldly.

Ji Xiaobo looked at Qiao Mu, who held her silver spear, and his voice immediately dropped.

“Someone working behind the scenes? Miss, have you found something?”

“Of course!” Qiao Mu shot him a sidelong glance. “The truth will come out very soon!”

Meeting Qiao Mu’s gaze, Ji Xiaobo felt a flash of guilt and quickly looked away.

“This… this…”

“City Lord, has there truly been a lead in this matter?” the First Madam stepped forward.

“If there really has been progress, that would be wonderful! Over the years, though the number of missing women hasn’t been very large, it has still been deeply unsettling.”

The First Madam had long felt she’d married the wrong man — her husband was useless at everything, and the moment someone frightened him, he could barely speak straight! Pathetic.

“If you’ve done nothing wrong, why fear a shadow at your door? What are you so unsettled about?” Xiao Yingtao, too, had little patience left.

Just now, she had seen how many young misses this household had. For the sake of money, these people were capable of anything — did they never worry the matter might fall upon their own heads?

“This lowly woman’s household has four precious daughters. With the town constantly losing women, of course this lowly woman is unsettled.” the First Madam replied.

Xiao Yingtao almost wanted to laugh out loud — so she knew her own household had “precious daughters,” did she?

Ji Xiaobo’s face showed his difficulty; he didn’t know what to say.

Just then, several men walked in, their hands empty.

Ji Xiaobo let out a small breath of relief — as long as nothing was found, the City Lord couldn’t do much to him for now.

Before the men could even speak, there was another commotion outside.

When Ji Xiaobo turned around, he was so startled his whole body spun toward the newcomers.

The chests they were carrying in — why did they look so familiar?

Dozens of men carried in box after box, nearly filling the entire hall.

To the shock of Ji Xiaobo and his three Madams, this wasn’t just the small amount of jewelry and clothing sent out earlier — it was everything that had been sent away bit by bit over the past several days.

A few days ago, sensing that Mao Zhongcai was on the verge of defeat, Ji Xiaobo had already made his plans.

He had found a secret location to hide away his valuables.

On one hand, he worried that once Mao Zhongcai was defeated, someone would come looking for trouble or try to take advantage of him.

On the other hand, he wasn’t entirely certain of the current situation in Yongshan City, and he was especially worried about the appearance of the new City Lord.

The new City Lord had indeed come, and Ji Xiaobo never imagined she would dig out every last one of his hidden possessions.

This was the accumulated wealth of half his life, meant to support him in his old age.

Ji Xiaobo’s expression grew uglier by the moment, and his three Madams looked even worse.

Once everything had been carried in, one of the men stepped forward and cupped his hands.

“City Lord, these are the stolen goods we recovered. Please decide how to proceed.”

Feng Jiu’er cast a pointed glance at Ji Xiaobo before curling her lips. “Since these are stolen goods, take them back for now.”

“No!” The Third Madam finally couldn’t hold herself back and rushed forward.

She had married this old man so young, had served him faithfully and obediently — for what purpose?

If all of this was gone, what was she supposed to do with all these years of youth still ahead of her?

The moment the Third Madam rushed over, Ji Xiaobo immediately turned and caught her in his arms.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? If you’re unwell, I’ll have someone fetch a physician.”

Though it looked as though Ji Xiaobo was embracing the Third Madam, in truth, he was pinching her waist hard.

The Third Madam, in pain, came somewhat back to her senses.

She looked up at Ji Xiaobo, her eyes glistening with tears.

Ji Xiaobo shook his head slightly, his face full of warning.

Tears slid down the Third Madam’s cheeks; she had no idea what she was supposed to do.

“Help the Third Madam inside and find her a physician,” Ji Xiaobo said, looking at the steward.

“Yes.” The steward nodded and stepped closer.

“My lord, this is terrible! First Madam, Second Madam, Third Madam, something terrible has happened!” A short, small-statured servant came running in.

“Terrible news! Terrible news! The four young misses are gone! The four young misses were — were — were taken! They’re gone!”