Feng Jiu’er came up beside Mao Linye, crouched down, and slipped under the table next to him.

She couldn’t yet guess what Mao Linye was thinking, so all she could do was hide for now and stall for time.

Just a moment ago, she had actually gotten her hands on the City Lord’s token.

Once it was in her grasp, Feng Jiu’er didn’t want to let it go. The Plains City was so vast — she really wanted to be its ruler!

Mao Linye looked at the small figure under the table, thinking back to what she’d just said. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, tinged with amusement.

“The City Lord is drunk. Let his men in and take him to rest.”

The cool, detached voice carried across the room. Feng Jiu’er raised an eyebrow.

How could she find a chance to swap out the token? The token absolutely could not fall into Mao Linye’s hands.

“Yes.” A man acknowledged the order and turned to leave.

Soon, two men walked in.

“Little beauty.” Mao Zhongcai bent down to look under the table.

But where he stood wasn’t where Feng Jiu’er was hiding, so he didn’t find her.

Once the two men entered, they saw their master thoroughly drunk and stepped forward together.

Mao Zhongcai tried to move toward where Mao Linye was, but somehow his arms were suddenly seized and held.

“Let go!” He glared at the men on either side of him and gave a cold snort. “My little beauty is hiding.”

“My little beauty, where are you?”

Watching Mao Zhongcai in this state, the corners of the madam’s mouth curved into a faint smile.

If the boss wanted the City Lord drunk, how could the City Lord not end up drunk?

Their specially made wine usually caused no trouble when sipped normally, but if gulped down recklessly, it would knock a person out quickly.

Still, how had the boss known the City Lord would be so reckless, pouring drink after drink into himself?

The madam couldn’t quite work it out, but as long as there was still a smile on the boss’s face, she wasn’t worried.

“Little beauty.” Mao Zhongcai tried to push forward.

“My lord, let’s go rest.” One of the men tightened his grip.

“Let go of me! I want to find my little beauty.” Mao Zhongcai wrenched his arm.

“My lord, let’s go rest.” The man showed no sign of letting go.

“Let go! Are you defying me?” Mao Zhongcai flew into a rage. “Let go of me, or I’ll have your lives!”

No matter how much Mao Zhongcai shouted, one man was no match for two, and he was dragged out of the private room.

“There’s a room right next door — take good care of him,” Mao Linye instructed in a low voice.

“Yes.” Another man nodded and turned to follow the three ahead of him.

Mao Zhongcai’s shouting grew fainter and fainter until it vanished entirely. Only then did Feng Jiu’er slowly let out a breath and poke her head out from under the table.

The first thing she saw was Mao Linye’s dark, unreadable gaze. She swallowed audibly, a soft gulp escaping her throat.

Mao Linye reached out his large hand and brought it close to her face.

At some point, unnoticed, a silver needle had appeared in Feng Jiu’er’s lowered hand.

Her eyes fixed on Mao Linye as her fingers tightened slightly around the needle.

If she left now, she could at least take the token with her — that wouldn’t be a bad trade.

Just as Mao Linye’s fingertip was about to touch Feng Jiu’er, and just as she was about to strike, a man came rushing in in a panic.

“Something’s wrong! Something’s terribly wrong!”

The madam frowned instantly and turned to look.

“What is it?” the madam asked, her voice low.

To her, nothing mattered more than the boss’s good mood.

The madam could tell that just now, when the boss had looked at the little girl, he had genuinely been pleased.

And yet this happy moment had been suddenly interrupted.

“Boss.” The man looked at Mao Linye and cupped his hands in salute. “Something’s happened at the medicine factory.”

Feng Jiu’er, ears pricked up, blinked at once.

A medicine factory? What medicine factory? It sounded like an important place.

The key question was — what a coincidence. Could it be…?

Feng Jiu’er withdrew her silver needle and settled in to watch how things unfolded.

Right, she was still sitting on the floor!

“Take me to see.”

Mao Linye’s voice rang out, and the low, oppressive air pressing down behind Feng Jiu’er eased at once.

She reached out, gripped the edge of the table, and stood up.

“Boss.” Feng Jiu’er called out with feigned boldness, as if she’d noticed something, and immediately raised a hand to cover her lips.

When Mao Linye turned back, Feng Jiu’er stood there covering her mouth, blinking her large eyes at him.

Mao Linye frowned and asked, “Something wrong?”

Feng Jiu’er closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and asked in a voice barely audible to anyone else.

“Boss, are you… done with me?”

Mao Linye said nothing and didn’t turn to leave.

Feng Jiu’er tried again, testing the waters. “Boss, if you’re leaving, will you take me with you?”

“Come.” Mao Linye’s lips suddenly curved upward, and he extended his long arm.

Feng Jiu’er, like a child who had just been granted approval, immediately took off running toward him.

Without any hesitation, she reached out and gently grabbed hold of Mao Linye’s robe.

Mao Linye looked down at the small hand clutching his clothes, the knuckles pale from gripping so hard. The corner of his mouth curled up, and he turned and walked off.

Qiao Mu and Gong Xinyue exchanged a glance and stepped forward together to follow.

“Here.” Before leaving, Qiao Mu tossed out a single word.

But no one understood what she meant by it. When the madam turned to look, all she saw was Qiao Mu striding forward as if no one else existed.

The madam frowned slightly, but let it go, turning to hurry after Mao Linye and Feng Jiu’er.

Gong Xinyue, walking rather urgently, passed several men to catch up right behind the madam.

Qiao Mu lagged a few steps behind, walking at the very back of the group.

At a corner on the second floor, she accidentally bumped into a wooden trash bin.

Qiao Mu frowned, kicked the bin hard, and strode forward, her face full of irritation.

Soon, a tall figure dressed as a servant boy appeared in the corridor.

He paused in front of the trash bin, then continued on, quickly vanishing down the second-floor hallway.

Mao Linye went down the stairs and out through the brothel’s front door before he stopped.

He turned back to look at the girl still gripping his sleeve, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

“I have some matters to attend to. Do you want to come, or stay behind and rest?”

Feng Jiu’er clung tightly to his robe, her head lowered slightly, her pink lips pressed together as her eyes flicked upward to look at Mao Linye.

“Xiaoxiao is your person now. Boss is a good man. Xiaoxiao doesn’t want to be left behind alone.”

The reason they’d come out this time was to investigate what exactly the dark medicine was. Since Mao Linye was in such a hurry to get to the medicine factory, she was determined to follow and see for herself.

“Little sister, don’t be difficult!” Qiao Mu strode over.

“Anyone can see the boss has urgent business. How could he possibly bring you along?”

“Oh, right.” Qiao Mu turned to Mao Linye and cupped her hands. “Boss, this humble one is called Da Qiao. I’m now employed by the madam as well.”

“The three of us siblings belong to the madam, and to you as well, Boss. Whatever you need, just say the word.”

Mao Linye stared at Qiao Mu’s empty hands, brow furrowing.

“Where’s the token?”

Qiao Mu composed herself and suddenly understood. “The token you mean, Boss — is it the City Lord’s token from earlier?”

“Such a precious thing — how could a commoner like me dare to sully it?”

“When you left in such a hurry just now, Boss, I didn’t know who to give it to, so I simply set it down on the table.”