Chapter 286: Running Really Fast

He grimaced, "Young Chief Luo, it's truly not that I'm refusing to give you face."

"I just got back from the Ghost Market, exhausted to death; can I go sleep first, okay?"

Luo Hongjiang relaxed his grip, his eyes flicking, "What are you outsiders doing at the Ghost Market? Gathering information?"

"What do you want to ask? Tell me! Whatever the Ghost Market knows, the Bridgehead Gang may not be unaware!"

"Alright, alright, your Bridgehead Gang knows everything!" Xiao Ran turned and bolted upstairs, "But I have to sleep first, don't follow me! When I wake up, I'll definitely go, definitely go!"

Luo Hongjiang watched his hapless retreating back, smiled, "Fine! When you wake up, don't forget to come find me!"

"Got it!" Xiao Ran didn't even turn his head, and darted back to his own room in a flash.

Luo Hongjiang snorted a laugh, "You really ran fast." He turned and left.

Early the next morning, the group ate breakfast together at the inn.

Xiao Ran scooped porridge, still muttering about yesterday, "She still expects me to go find her! She even said, 'What the Ghost Market knows, the Bridgehead Gang might not be unaware!' I just…"

"She has a point," Xiao Ningxun interrupted, placing a crisp biscuit into Tuan Tuan's small bowl, "Jiangzhou's water network is dense; there are more than a hundred bridges."

"If indeed all bridges fall under the Bridgehead Gang's jurisdiction, then their information is probably no less than the Ghost Market's."

Xiao Ran: "..."

Xiao Er stifled a laugh, "Third Young Master is right, but for the Bridgehead Gang's intel, Ninth Young Master must go himself!"

Lu Qi shoved a yellow bridge pastry into his mouth, nodded vigorously, showing wholehearted agreement.

Xiao Ran's eyes widened, "You all!"

Tuan Tuan lifted her tiny head from the porridge bowl, "Jiu Gege, why don't you want to go find Luo Jiejie? She's a good person, and she's so pretty."

Xiao Ran nearly choked on a spoonful of porridge, completely losing his appetite, "Kids, stop meddling in adults' affairs!"

Xiao Ningxun smiled, "It's not like I'm sending you alone; after we finish, we'll go together."

Xiao Ran exhaled, "That's better. But who knows where the Bridgehead Gang's headquarters is?"

Lu Qi rolled his eyes, "Just find any bridgehead, ask around, and you'll know."

Xiao Ran slapped his forehead, "You're right, why didn't I think of that? No wonder you're an old veteran."

After breakfast, the group left the inn; Lu Qi found a vendor selling bamboo trinkets on a bridge, inquired, and indeed learned the location of the Bridgehead Gang headquarters.

A few of them strolled along the riverbank forward.

The street side seemed to have a morning market, pedestrians, porters, and vendors jostling each other.

A girl in coarse cloth dress, about eleven or twelve, squatted by the road selling fish.

In front of her were two wooden buckets, the clear water inside holding several lively crucian carp.

Tuan Tuan's eyes were instantly drawn to the hopping fish, tugging Xiao Ningxun's sleeve, "Third Brother, look, little fish!"

She hurried to the bucket's edge, crouched, her small hand gripping the rim, watching with relish.

A few older kids chased and frolicked, charging from a nearby bridge; one tripped, shrieking, and barreled straight into the fish bucket!

"Splish—!"

The bucket tipped over, water splashed everywhere, several carp streamed out, flailing desperately on the damp slate.

The fish‑selling girl, quick‑eyed and swift‑handed, lifted the bucket, preventing all the water from draining.

Xiao Er swiftly scooped up Tuan Tuan, keeping her completely dry.

"Ah—!"

A young woman let out a startled cry, stepping in the spilled water, retreating repeatedly, nearly slipping.

A fish leapt from the ground, landing on her skirt hem before sliding off, leaving a wet trace.

Her maid hurriedly steadied her, bending to smooth the skirt hem.

The woman flung the maid's hand away, shouting, "Clumsy! Didn't you see my skirt got dirty?"

She lightly pressed her chest, clearly shaken, her pale pink long dress striking, the hem embroidered with intricate floral‑bird patterns that glimmered with a pearly sheen in the sun.

Now, however, a large part of the hem was soaked and specked with mud.

"Oh dear Miss! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" the fish‑selling girl's face turned ghost‑white as she hurried to catch the fish on the ground, apologizing repeatedly.

The maid narrowed her eyes, shoved her aside, shrieking, "Blind as a dog! Look at the mess you made!"

The woman replied coldly, disdain dripping, "A wretched life, worthy of touching my skirt? If you can't pay today, she'll be sent to the magistrate!"

The maid huffed, "My lady's dress is made of Tian Shui Bi! One piece costs a hundred gold! It's unique in Jiangzhou Prefecture! Even if we sold you together with the fish, we couldn't afford to compensate!"

Suddenly, she spotted something lying in the puddle, "Ah! Miss, that's the sachet you just bought from the Nixing Hall!"

The woman looked down; it was the very sachet she had just carefully chosen, her face turning angry:

"This sachet cost me twenty taels! You not only dirtied my dress, but also ruined my sachet?!"

"Fine, I'm kind‑hearted; I'll give you two options."

She looked down from her height at the trembling fish‑selling girl, "First, you go to the yamen yourself, be charged with 'colliding with a noble, damaging my property', receive twenty lashes, and serve a few months in prison."

"Second," she smiled cruelly, "you sign a death contract, become my maid, labor as a beast until death, and that will count as repaying my dress."

"Let me tell you, my father and the lord of the mansion are drinking tea; with a single word I can decide your whole family's fate!"

The maid, smug, said, "My lady has already shown you the clear path, choose quickly!"

Their voices attracted many onlookers.

"What's going on?"

"This little girl dirtied Miss Qian's dress!"

"Ouch! What terrible luck? This miss is not easy to provoke!"

Miss Qian covered her mouth and nose with a brocade handkerchief, her face full of disgust as she stared at the stain on the hem, looking extremely displeased.

The fish‑selling girl was shoved, landing on her bottom; she looked up at the soiled luxurious dress, terrified and fearful, her eyes instantly reddening.

"Everyone said it wasn't intentional! It's just a dress! Why bully like this!"

Tuan Tuan frowned, slipped from Xiao Er's arms, went to the little girl's side, and stretched out her small hand to pull her up.

She turned her head to look at the woman's skirt hem.

"Huh?" She raised her hand, pointing at the stain on Miss Qian's skirt hem: "Hey! Your skirt is fading! My mother said that real good fabric won't fade even if it gets wet!"

The surroundings suddenly grew much quieter.

Everyone's gaze instinctively turned to Miss Qian's skirt hem.

Where the water had soaked, the pearly sheen that had shimmered in the sunlight disappeared completely; the bright pale pink faded to a dull earthy yellow, forming a stark contrast with the surrounding bright and splendid parts.

Miss Qian's face turned white: "What nonsense are you spouting!" She hurriedly tried to cover it with a handkerchief, but couldn't conceal it.

How could this happen?

She shot up her head, glaring at Tuan Tuan and shouted: "Where did this wild girl come from! Keep spouting nonsense, and I'll have you both dragged to the magistrate's office!"

The maid also panicked, shouting loudly: "You filthy girl! How dare you slander my young lady!"

"Do you know who my young lady is? She's the daughter of the Qian family, the biggest salt merchant in Jiangzhou Prefecture! What do you know about such expensive fabric?"

Tuan Tuan walked around Miss Qian, then shook her head solemnly: "My mother has several pieces of this fabric! You must have been deceived by someone!"

"It's clearly cheap goods, yet you thought it was genuine heavenly water blue—how pitiful! Right, Ninth Brother?"

Xiao Ran had long taken a dislike to this master and servant; hearing this, he nodded seriously: "Indeed, a fake can't be washed away—once splashed with water, its true form shows."

Xiao Ningxun looked at his sister and Xiao Ran, shook his head helplessly; that heavenly water blue fabric is delicate, gets stained by dirty water like this, but washing and drying it will restore it.

The two of them were clearly trying to make Miss Qian suffer a great embarrassment.

However, the biggest salt merchant in Jiangzhou? And that Qian young master from last time are from the same family, both equally spoiled—giving her a lesson wouldn't be bad.

The onlookers let out low chuckles and began to point and whisper.

"No way, Miss Qian doesn't even know good fabric?"

"Looks like it really is."

"The Qian family is filthy rich, so how could they treat their own daughter like this?"

"Miss Qian must not be living well at home!"

Miss Qian's face flushed red and white, she stamped her foot, and glared fiercely at the maid: "What are you standing there for! Go!"

She glanced at the fish-selling little girl: "Don't let me see you again!"

She wished she could leave in a single step, no longer caring to maintain any decorum, covering her face halfway with a handkerchief, she shoved through the crowd like fleeing, and left in disgrace.

The onlookers gradually dispersed.

"My fish!" the fish-selling little girl suddenly cried out.

Hearing the sound, several people turned toward the wooden tub, their hearts all jolted.

Only to see that the crucian carp, which had been lively and jumping moments ago, now all lay stiff and floating on the water's surface.

What's even more horrifying is that the fish's bodies are rapidly spreading a uniform, eerie bluish-purple color.