Chapter 222

222. Chapter 222: Account Book

"She rented a horse carriage to Xuzhou."

Jiang Wei's voice came from ahead.

Jiang Xiaoxiao froze at the words.

What? With this distance, even her mother could hear?

Holy cow, this Ninth-Rank Ability isn't fake.

"Probably realized the truth was exposed and wants to flee," Jiang Xiao sneered.

"Mom, don't let her go!" Jiang Xiaoxiao said at once.

If she and Li Shoude leave, the children kidnapped from the village will never be found again.

"I understand." Jiang Wei cracked her horse whip and caught up with Yun Ying.

Yun Ying passed through the Horse Market and, unlike her earlier urgency entering it, now moved with surprising lightness, as if she'd resolved a major matter.

But just as she reached the corner of the lane, a large hand yanked her violently inside.

Seeing this, Jiang Xiaoxiao silently exchanged a glance with her mother.

Then the two of them silently dismounted from the carriage and stealthily followed.

Inside the lane.

Huang Suntian surrounded Yun Ying with a group of burly men.

Yun Ying trembled, voice shaking: "Young Master Huang, the girls I brought you have already been delivered. We've settled payment and goods—what are you…?"

"Pah!" Huang Suntian spat. "Those girls you brought? All skin and bones, dark as charcoal—and you charged me Twenty Taels each? You really think my money fell from the sky?"

Yun Ying dared not offend Huang Suntian, so she stammered: "Then… what do you want…?"

"I want the girl from the Jiang family," Huang Suntian said bluntly.

Yun Ying's face turned pale: "This… this is really… difficult."

That Jiang girl stays home every day—there's no way to trick her out.

"I don't care!" Huang Suntian snorted. "Those four girls you brought were young, sure, but I hadn't even had my fun before they died—damn it, bad luck! If you don't get me a fair-skinned one, your Li family won't live to see tomorrow!"

The girls Yun Ying abducted from the village all came from poor households, raised on insufficient food and clothing, emaciated and malnourished, used to hard labor—even if any had decent features, their skin was sun-darkened and ugly.

Though Huang Suntian had a near-pervert obsession with little girls, he wasn't willing to take just any trash.

"Young Master Huang, why not let me find you a fair-skinned girl from another village? That Jiang girl really…" Yun Ying tried.

But Huang Suntian refused outright: "I want that Jiang girl!"

Every time he recalled meeting Jiang Xiaoxiao on the street, his insides itched like a cat's claws—he couldn't shake her image from his mind.

He'd already sent men to confirm: the girl was Jiang, lived in Yuhe Village, with only a widow for a mother and no one else.

"You'll drag her here by force if you have to!" Huang Suntian pulled out his trump card—a hundred-tael silver note. "Bring her to the Huang family, and I'll give you another hundred taels!"

Seeing the silver note, Yun Ying's breath hitched.

A hundred taels…

She'd planned to sneak away from Li Shoude with the money and vanish—this sum would secure her entire future. Why need any protector?

Yun Ying swallowed hard, her trembling hands clenching into fists.

If she's leaving anyway, what's one more job?

…

At the lane's entrance.

Jiang Wei, watching silently, had eyes colder than ice—her gaze seemed ready to carve Huang Suntian into a thousand pieces.

Jiang Xiaoxiao watched her mother's expression and swallowed hard.

"Xiaoxiao."

Just as Jiang Xiaoxiao thought her mother would pull out her machine gun and blow Huang Suntian's head off, Jiang Wei spoke calmly: "Let's go. Send a letter to Shen Que."

"Huh?" Jiang Xiaoxiao was caught off guard.

Just… leave?

Just… let Huang Suntian off?

Jiang Xiaoxiao, bewildered, was led away by Jiang Wei.

The mother and daughter hurried to the Post Station to send the letter, then returned straight home.

As soon as they arrived, Jiang Wei knocked on the Ear Room door: "Shen Que, let's continue our talk from last night."

Then she turned to Jiang Xiaoxiao and coldly uttered: "Killing Huang Suntian alone is too kind."

Anyone who dares covet my daughter—I won't spare a single soul in the Huang family!

Jiang Xiaoxiao: "…"

Okay, she was pretty sure Huang Suntian was finished.

Huang Suntian, why not lust after anyone else? Why her?

In the main chamber.

The three sat around the table.

On the table lay a sheet of Xuan Paper covered in maps.

"This is the Huang family's topographic map—I've marked every courtyard clearly."

"So, what exactly do you want me to find in the Huang family?" Jiang Wei asked Shen Que.

Shen Que traced the blueprint, speaking slowly: "An account book."

The Huang family's ancestors once held office in the Capital; their network of alliances was intricate, one thread pulling the whole web.

That ancestor who served in the Capital was a cautious man—otherwise he wouldn't have retired to Yong'an Town, a backwater.

However, it was precisely because of this cautiousness that he had an Account Book.

The monstrous crimes recorded within, one after another, would be enough to put those fellows in the Capital to death a thousand times over!

The Huang Family ancestors had originally intended to use this Account Book to keep those fellows in the Capital in check, to avoid themselves becoming fish and meat under those fellows' blades in the end…

But this Account Book—Heaven rewards the diligent—had finally been uncovered by Shen Que.

Once this Account Book was obtained, those fellows in the Capital would have no chance of turning things around!

Shen Que lowered his brows slightly and said slowly: "Since you've already helped me send the letter, Lord Xie will arrive at Yong'an County within five days. By then, once the Account Book is handed over to him, dispatching troops against the Huang Family is only a matter of time."

The reason he had never dared to lightly send troops against the Huang Family was largely because of this Account Book.

If those people in the Huang Family sensed something was amiss and destroyed the Account Book directly, then all the effort would have been for nothing.

Jiang Xiaoxiao narrowed her eyes slightly: "So, you had long anticipated that we would help you?"

Otherwise, he wouldn't have had her go send that letter.

"Heh, I never expected we'd been schemed against by Lord Shen from the start." Jiang Wei let out a Cold Smile. "Now I'm rather curious—were those people who tried to assassinate you also part of your calculations from the very beginning?"

"Little Lady Jiang, you think too highly of me." Shen Que spread his hands helplessly. "No one would joke with their own life."

Jiang Wei scoffed: "Heh, given Lord Shen's scheming mind, one can never be sure."

Seeing the two about to argue again, Jiang Xiaoxiao hurriedly changed the subject: "Lord Shen, where exactly is the Account Book you want us to find? You'll have to give us some hint." (End of Chapter)