Chapter 394

"Did you see that?" Pan Yun pointed to the county magistrate's gate and said, "I'll give you some money; you can wait here until dawn, then knock the drum and enter. Don't say you came from Wan Chun Pavilion—say you were kidnapped and trafficked here and want to return home. By law, the magistrate's office must send you back."

The girls had never entered a government office in their lives and were terrified, whispering, "What if they don't send us?"

Pan Yun said, "If they refuse, recite the law to them. I'll teach you a passage—they won't dare refuse."

"I'll also give you money—first strike a rod, then offer a sweet date. Give them a little money together, but remember—not too much."

Pan Yun pulled out money from her sleeve and gave each girl ten taels in silver notes—some one-tael, some five-tael—and a string of copper coins.

Pan Yun taught them to hide the silver notes on their bodies and keep the copper coins in their sleeves.

"Have you decided? Who will go to the magistrate's office?"

The girls exchanged glances, then four stepped forward.

All four had been kidnapped; their families loved them and were surely searching for them.

They were willing to trust the magistrate's office.

Pan Yun nodded slightly and taught them the legal statutes word by word.

In Lao Zhu's laws, penalties for human trafficking are severe: if a single person commits the crime once, they receive one hundred strokes and exile three thousand li, or three years imprisonment;

but if it's a group operation, the punishment is death;

if there is abuse, causing injury, disability, or acts like harvesting organs or cutting off ears, the sentence is death by slow slicing.

If all four girls report together, it counts as a group operation—death is certain.

Pan Yun warned them, "If they ask for details of your abduction, tell the truth—but don't say you were sold to Wan Chun Pavilion. Say you were locked in a dark room and didn't know where you were."

"But today, you heard commotion—someone shouted 'ghost!'—so you escaped in the chaos."

One girl, face twisted in pain, asked unwillingly, "Why can't we expose Wan Chun Pavilion?"

Pan Yun stroked her head and said, "To keep you alive."

"Remember this grudge. When you have power, destroy these brothels that buy people. Until then, your first priority is survival."

Pan Yun said, "The courtyard we passed through just now is reserved for high officials—I'm not sure you'd survive if you exposed Wan Chun Pavilion."

Pan Yun's words terrified them. "Then… then we won't go…"

They looked at Pan Yun in fear. "If we don't go to the magistrate's office, can't we go home?"

"No," Pan Yun smiled gently. "There are many ways to go home. Reporting to officials is one way; not reporting is another."

The girls didn't seem to understand.

"If you don't report, how do you go home?" A hoarse, weak voice spoke up.

Pan Yun turned to see a girl lying on the bedboard—she had woken without notice and was staring intently at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun smiled slightly and pointed toward the opposite side of the magistrate's office. "There's a security escort agency there. If you don't want to go through the magistrate's office, I can arrange for them to take you away."

Pan Yun said, "Besides the escort agency, there are brokers. In this world, as long as you have enough money, plenty of people will solve your problems."

Finally, Pan Yun brought all sixteen girls back to the inn.

She brought them back quietly, without alerting the shopkeeper or staff.

It stunned Wang Cong and Hu Jing.

There were too many; they filled one room completely.

Oh—Hu Jing's room.

Hu Jing spent the whole night tense, barely sleeping, and now he was fully awake with shock.

He stared in disbelief at the crowd in the room.

Fortunately, everyone was quiet—except for the sounds of opening and closing doors, they moved softly, trying not to make noise.

The girls all bore wounds, but their faces were clean—even the three who had nearly died in the torture chamber had no facial injuries. Now they stared wide-eyed at Hu Jing, who lay on the bed.

Hu Jing awkwardly looked away and whispered to Pan Yun, "You really stole them out… but why bring them to my room?"

Pan Yun: "Our room is already full, so your room has been requisitioned."

Hu Jing: "... Then what do I do?"

Pan Yun: "Wang Cong and Tao Yanbai will carry you to their room later."

Hu Jing didn't ask the foolish question of why they didn't just rent rooms for them—these girls were still on the run; Wan Chun Pavilion might come looking, and they must not be seen publicly, nor should the inn know.

He frowned and said, "I suggest you deliver them to the magistrate's office—and do it loudly. Only then will they safely return home."

Pan Yun: "That's exactly what I planned at first. I imagined placing them all outside the magistrate's gate at dawn, the war drum beating, the gates opening, and over a dozen pitiful young girls standing there—then the morning crowd would gather."

Hu Jing: "... Then why didn't you?"

Pan Yun: "Xiao Hong made too much noise."

Hu Jing looked confused. "Xiao Hong?"

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Pan Yun: "Oh—a friend. She's already met you, but you haven't met her yet. I'll introduce you later."

"The point is, the noise was too great, and some girls were sold by their families, so I gave them the choice—they can go home through the magistrate's office if they wish, or I'll arrange another way."

Right after she said that, all the girls chose to follow her.

Sigh—it seems the magistrate's office has no credibility. Compared to the county office, they trusted this stranger more.

Pan Yun shook her head inwardly.

Hu Jing: "Security escort agency?"

Pan Yun asked sincerely, "Hu Daxia, do you have a better plan?"

Hu Jing pursed his lips. "No. But… the escort agency will cost a lot."

Pan Yun said generously, "We're not short on money now."

The money came from Wan Chun Pavilion—today's haul from there is more than enough to arrange their passage.

Hu Jing looked at her with complex eyes and asked, "What about the girls sold by their families? Even if you hire an escort agency to send them home, they'll likely be sold again."

Selling sons and daughters was actually commonplace among the common folk; not only could parents sell their children, but brothers, grandparents, and even collateral relatives such as uncles and aunts could sell them off.

But there were many different places to sell people to.

The two most despicable were: women becoming prostitutes, and men entering the palace to become eunuchs.

For these two, the parents and family received the most money, but essentially the child's whole life was ruined.

What decent household would sell its own daughter into a pleasure house?

So Hu Jing never bothered with such matters.

Hu Jing said, "People of the jianghu basically don't meddle in affairs like this, because even if you save them, it's only an escape from one stretch of suffering. Afterwards, they'll be sold again, like a cycle of rebirth."

"After enduring so much pain, in the future they might even resent you for it."

Soft sobs rose inside the room. Seeing Hu Jing look over, the girls' shoulders trembled, and one girl said in a quavering voice, "Hero, we wouldn't resent the heroine—that would be ingratitude. Even if we were sold again, that resentment would be toward our families. What does it have to do with the heroine?"

Pan Yun, however, let out a mischievous laugh and said, "Who says I'm going to send you lot home too?"

She turned her head and told them, "You're different from them. You were sold by your own families, so that already repays your parents' grace of raising you. From now on, you have nothing more to do with that home. The rest of your lives belong to yourselves."

Good night.

(End of chapter)