The moment Ji Xiaobo let go, there was a loud “thud” — the Third Madam collapsed onto the floor.

Immediately after came another “thud” — the First Madam’s legs gave out, and she too sat down on the ground.

The First Madam had two daughters; the Second Madam had two sons and one daughter; the Third Madam had only one daughter — the very girl who had just turned twelve.

“My lord, save Pei’er! How could they possibly do this to our family? My lord, save Pei’er!”

The Third Madam, sitting on the ground, clutched tightly at Ji Xiaobo’s hand.

“My lord, Pei’er is only twelve! He’s not human! Pei’er is only twelve, how could he possibly—”

“Shut up!” Ji Xiaobo shook his hand, but couldn’t break free. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand what you mean.”

“My lord.” The First Madam crawled forward on her knees and took hold of Ji Xiaobo’s other hand.

“Jun’er and Qing’er are still young too, still unmarried, innocent girls. This can’t happen, my lord.”

“Jun’er and Qing’er are my life — they are my life, nothing must happen to them!”

The Second Madam had already been in a foul mood, but seeing the First Madam and Third Madam wailing like this, she felt as though it were somehow not her own daughter who had gone missing.

Then again, thinking it over, she too had lost a daughter. More importantly, how had their gold, silver, and jewels suddenly become “stolen goods”?

The Second Madam’s smugness lasted only the blink of an eye before her face fell as well, and she knelt down.

“My lord, hurry! Saving Pei’er is what matters — you can’t possibly ignore Pei’er.” The Third Madam yanked hard on Ji Xiaobo’s hand.

“And Jun’er and Qing’er too — my lord, you can’t be so heartless!” the First Madam said, choking back sobs.

“It appears, Town Chief, that the disappearance of these women truly is connected to you,” Feng Jiu’er’s cold voice cut through the noise in the hall.

Unable to shake the two women off, Ji Xiaobo could only turn and look at Feng Jiu’er.

“City Lord, I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Don’t understand?” Feng Jiu’er’s lips curved. “Town Chief, why do you think my men brought these stolen goods straight to your household?”

Ji Xiaobo’s face showed his difficulty; he looked at the chests in the hall and couldn’t say a single word.

The goods had only just been sent out of his household when they were sent right back to him — which meant the City Lord had already had her suspicions, hadn’t she?

“Trafficking in human beings is an unforgivable crime — death is too light a punishment for you!” Feng Jiu’er said coldly.

Hearing Feng Jiu’er’s words, the two Madams released their grip on Ji Xiaobo.

Ji Xiaobo turned and knelt on the ground.

“City Lord, it wasn’t me, I didn’t do it, City Lord, I didn’t!”

“Still refusing to change your ways, even now?” Xiao Yingtao picked up a cup from the table and hurled it forcefully at Ji Xiaobo.

Small as the cup was, and thrown from such a distance, it struck Ji Xiaobo hard enough to knock him to the ground.

Such was the force behind Xiao Yingtao’s throw.

The cup struck Ji Xiaobo square in the chest; he fell, and instantly coughed up a mouthful of dark blood.

“My lord.”

“My lord.”

“My lord.”

The three Madams rushed over together and helped Ji Xiaobo up.

“My lord, are you all right?”

“My lord, please don’t let anything happen to you.”

“My lord, what’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

Everything had seemed perfectly fine today — no one had expected everything to change so suddenly.

“My lord.” The First Madam was somewhat more level-headed than the others.

What’s more, she was no longer young, and had only her two daughters left. If something happened to both of them, she wouldn’t be able to go on living either.

“My lord, just tell them everything. Only then can we beg the City Lord to save our daughters.”

“My lord, they’re all I have. I beg you!” the First Madam said hoarsely.

“That’s right.” The Third Madam nodded fiercely, tears falling one after another.

“My lord, Pei’er is only twelve — she’s only twelve! If something happens to her, how is she supposed to live the rest of her life?”

Finally unable to hold back any longer, Xiao Yingtao stood and pointed at the group of them.

“Your daughter is a daughter — aren’t other people’s daughters daughters too? I heard that the youngest of the women Mao Zhongcai took this time was also just twelve!”

“Didn’t expect it, did you — those who commit countless misdeeds will bring ruin upon themselves. Now it’s happened to your own family!”

Seeing that their husband was useless to rely on, the First Madam and Third Madam both turned and knelt toward the person at the main seat.

“We beg you, we beg you to save them!” the First Madam said, then knocked her head against the floor three times.

“Please… we beg you, please save them.” The Third Madam also kowtowed three times.

Only then did the Second Madam seem to realize that her own precious daughter had gone missing too.

She knelt and shuffled forward, joining the other two Madams. “City Lord, please, save them.”

“Thud, thud, thud” — the Second Madam kowtowed three times as well.

She still had her two sons, and seeing the First Madam and Third Madam so utterly devastated had, for a moment, given her a small flicker of satisfaction. But thinking it over, her own daughter had gone missing too.

Her daughter was her treasure — she couldn’t bear to have her suffer such a fate!

Feng Jiu’er remained unmoved, looking at Ji Xiaobo.

Ji Xiaobo knew the City Lord was waiting for him to speak.

He thought it over for a moment, closed his eyes, and bowed his head low.

“City Lord, this lowly one will confess everything honestly. Can… can you spare this lowly one’s life?”

“No,” Feng Jiu’er said, her eyes cold as she looked at the man who had raised his head. “But if you don’t want your entire family to be buried with you, you had better lay out every last detail, without leaving anything out.”

“My lord, tell them, tell them quickly!” the Second Madam pushed at Ji Xiaobo.

“Tell them! Don’t get our two sons killed too — you can’t do this! You can’t!”

Ji Xiaobo looked at his three Madams, took a deep breath, and turned his gaze back to Feng Jiu’er.

“All these years, it has actually been Liao Mushan who has been sending women to Mao Zhongcai.”

“City Lord, this lowly one truly had no part in it. This lowly one only…” he lowered his head.

“Only what?” Xiao Yingtao glanced at the table, picked up another cup, and hurled it hard.

Ji Xiaobo made no attempt to dodge, whether because he knew he couldn’t escape it, or because he genuinely felt some flicker of remorse.

“This lowly one covered for him. Toward the previous City Lord Duan, toward the common people, this lowly one turned a blind eye — that is why the missing women never left behind a single trace.”

“How many years has this gone on? How many women in total has Liao Mushan sent to Mao Zhongcai?” Feng Jiu’er’s eyes turned to ice.

“Quite a few years now — counting it up, about ten years, back when Liao Mushan hadn’t even married yet,” Ji Xiaobo felt as though death itself were descending upon him.

But he didn’t dare act rashly. After a moment’s thought, he spoke again. “Forgive… forgive me! City Lord, the exact number… this lowly one cannot recall.”

“What this lowly one does know is that it was at least three or four women a year.”

“As for this time, when Mao Zhongcai withdrew his troops and took women with him, this lowly one doesn’t know the exact number either. There were… there were too many.”

Ji Xiaobo wiped the sweat from his cheeks and lifted his eyes once more to meet Feng Jiu’er’s gaze.

He only looked at her for a moment before lowering his head again, avoiding her eyes.

“Liao Mushan has left. Before he went, he gave this lowly one certain benefits in exchange for watching over his household.”

“This lowly one doesn’t know where he went, truly doesn’t know — perhaps he went to Pingyuan City.”

“When Mao Zhongcai attacked Yongshan City, he took away nearly all the young women from the surrounding area. Liao Mushan surely knew the City Lord’s wrath would fall on him.”

“So this lowly one suspects he went to Pingyuan City, to seek shelter with his father-in-law.”