Chapter 315

Gu Xixi stood facing He Jinglan, fell silent, not knowing why she felt a bit guilty.

"... "En."

From your description, it should…… be beyond doubt for us.

He Jinglan said matter-of-factly, "Then you also know who is looking for you?"

Gu Xixi rarely speaks to people with a wandering gaze, "I guess…… maybe it's Fan the Senior Councilor."

He Jinglan gasped, leaning back, "I knew it!"

"You, Gu Xixi, doing anything, how could you be so muddle-headed!"

He Jinglan took a deep breath, quickly composed herself, grabbed Gu Xixi's hand and went downstairs.

"Come on, let's talk in my car!"

The two girls held hands and hurried through the inn's lobby.

An Qinghe and Jiang Mingyuan stared, raising their heads, before they could ask, He Jinglan, without looking sideways, threw out, "I've taken the person, you do as you please," and pulled Gu Xixi out of the inn.

The carriage moved slowly along the street.

He Jinglan stared at Gu Xixi, "Speak up, what's the deal with that girl traveling with you? When I'm not by your side, you're out there picking up random people again?"

This time Gu Xixi's trouble was a bit big, knowing she was in the wrong, she could only mutter softly, "What again picking up random people? I've never picked anyone up."

He Jinglan said, "Isn't Mu Qixiu the one you picked up? Right there under the big locust tree at the village entrance!"

Gu Xixi straightened her back and reiterated, "That was buying someone for one cash coin under duress, not picking them up!"

He Jinglan waved her hand, "Enough, enough, one cash coin! What's the difference between that and picking someone up?"

Gu Xixi fell silent.

He Jinglan looked at her again, exasperated, "You say you, every time you pick up someone the commotion is earth-shaking, how can you not learn your lesson?"

"That old Fan with the kind appearance is actually ruthless, loves to stab in the dark, the number of lives in his hands is surely not small."

"If it weren't for my brother constantly watching the Fan family, sensing something odd, and finding your trail first, I'd still have my heart pounding when I think of it now!"

Gu Xixi raised her head with an embarrassed smile, "I know you're worried about my safety, you're anxious, you're anxious."

She then turned serious, "Has your brother still not figured out why the old Fan is targeting us?"

He Jinglan, upon thinking, forgot to be angry and nodded, "Indeed."

"You, a farming girl from the northwest, could neither interfere with his affairs nor have a chance to offend him."

"An Qinghe is a foreign merchant, even less likely."

"As for Jiang Mingyuan, the old Fan might possibly win him over, intending to later make him his own."

Gu Xixi laughed, "You're actually right, I did offend him."

He Jinglan startled, displeased, "The three of you temporarily have no possibility, so it must be because of that girl you picked up?"

"We're almost being watched by that dead old man, and you can still laugh!"

Gu Xixi spoke softly, "If you heard my reasons, you'd feel the same as me."

He Jinglan assumed an attentive posture, listening to Gu Xixi explain everything.

The time it took to finish a cup of tea passed.

Bang!

He Jinglan slammed the table, flew into a rage, "Outrageous! Dog thief!"

"Corrupt officials and bullies are in cahoots, they deserve to be sliced a thousand times!"

Now it was Gu Xixi's turn to persuade He Jinglan to calm down.

He Jinglan said, "A young lady actually encountering such a thing, daring to go to the capital to seek justice for her parents, what courage she must have!"

She turned to Gu Xixi, "Where is she now?"

Gu Xixi said, "Lv Jing left after arriving in the capital."

"The old Fan's men failed to intercept us on the first day we entered the city; now it's probably not so easy to find us."

He Jinglan nodded, "After all, the Fan family's order is: a group of young people, two men and two women, one carriage, containing one foreigner, one scholar, and two beautiful girls."

"They have no portraits, only the aforementioned orally described features."

"Therefore, Miss Lv living separately from you is indeed safer for both sides."

"The populace of the capital from all walks is as numerous as the sands of the Yellow River."

"Even if Gu Xixi, An Qinghe, and Jiang Mingyuan appeared together openly, no one could be certain they are the persons the Fan Senior Councilor is seeking."

He Jinglan pondered, "According to what you said, that bully is merely a commoner from Nan Yi Xian, with no official rank; then what about his parents? Who are in his family? Has Miss Lv said anything?"

Gu Xixi recalled, "Lv Jing said his household servants are numerous, nothing like an ordinary gentry wealthy family."

"Besides, he is only twenty-two or so, clearly having parents alive, yet he decides everything himself."

"Even when he goes out with his parents, he never rides in the same sedan chair, and many have seen him shout at his own parents, while the old couple just keep their heads down, allowing his disrespect and unfilial behavior."

"Lv Jing said, the people there privately say that the Fan old couple have raised their son to be a grandfather."

Upon saying that, the two looked at each other simultaneously.

He Jinglan asked, "You also noticed something's off?"

Gu Xixi nodded.

He Jinglan said, "Being able to let the surname Fan's dead old man personally send people to resolve the trouble, perhaps Fan Dongping is indeed not an ordinary distant relative of the Fan family."

"Hmm, worth digging into!" She nodded, flashing a confident smile, "I think someone will definitely be very interested in this news!"

"Let's go tell him now."

Gu Xixi startled, stood up bending over, "I'm not going! If you want to go, you go yourself! I want to get off the carriage!"

He Jinglan glanced sideways, "What are you thinking? It's not to go to the Regent Prince's mansion."

"Mu Qixiu is currently handling official duties; if it's not public business, even my brother couldn't find him."

Gu Xixi sat down weakly.

He Jinglan said teasingly, "How do I feel that you seem a bit disappointed?"

Gu Xixi flatly denied, "I definitely didn't."

"I've made up my mind to cling to your He family's thigh. But..."

She looked seriously at He Jinglan, "You also said the Fan family aren't good people; wouldn't this make things difficult for your brother?"

He Jinglan also grew serious, "No, it might involve secrets; I only know that the Fan family's good days won't last long."

"Besides, there's Mu Qixiu! I know! I know you don't want to hear about him, nor care how he is."

Gu Xixi broke out in a cold sweat; she's doing this on purpose, huh!

He Jinglan gave a sly smile, "It's just me casually chatting; everyone knows the Regent Prince and Fan Grand Secretary are on bad terms; initially the Fan family wanted to show goodwill to ease relations, thinking the Regent Prince was lonely, they sent twelve extremely beautiful song-and-dance performers, plus two pretty concubine daughters."

"So, what do you think happened?"

Gu Xixi didn't even think, "What else could it be? As you wrote in the letter, they all got turned away at the door."

He Jinglan laughed while shaking her finger, "No no no, he indeed didn't let these people enter the mansion, but he also didn't let them leave."

The Prince's mansion's guards took these people overnight to the largest brothel in Peace and Health Ward.

Gu Xixi stared wide-eyed, "A brothel?"

He Jinglan vividly described, "At that time of night, Peace and Health Ward was at its liveliest, with officials and nobles coming and going."

The guards loudly announced outside the brothel these women's origins, and said that if the Fan family didn't come to take them away by dawn, they could only sell them for a penny each into the brothel.