"Stop pretending to be dead. Tell me quickly which brothel you sold Chen Yuexin to. If you dare to lie, I'll cripple your manhood first." Zhu Lin's eyes were sharp, and her slender fingers were still pinching the thin silver needle.

Master Yang instinctively reached for his crotch, and mumbled, "I sold that girl to the prefectural city. She was beautiful, and I wanted to get a good price, so I sent her there."

"Which prefecture?" This time I need to ask for details, lest something unexpected happens again.

"Tong'an Prefecture is seven days' journey from Changping City." Master Yang was terrified, fearing that these people would suddenly kill him.

"Take him with us, we're heading to Tong'an Prefecture right away," Zhu Lin said calmly.

It's already dark, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow to set off. We don't need to go back to the inn; the whole group will stay at the Yang residence. Zhu Lin arranged for a few guards to stay in Changping City to continue investigating Chen Tu's whereabouts, while the rest of us will set off for Tong'an Prefecture tomorrow.

Zhu Qiuyu and several junior brothers and sisters rode quickly to Tong'an Prefecture first, while Xingxing and Zhu Lin and others took a carriage. The carriage was a bit slower, so they estimated that they would arrive a day or two later.

Master Yang was placed on the horse's back by Zhu Qiuyu and carried sideways all the way to Tong'an Prefecture. Master Yang was jostled so much that he vomited all the way, and his internal organs were completely displaced.

Zhu Qiuyu and his group had a smooth journey without any accidents. However, on the fourth day, Zhu Lin and his group were surrounded by a group of bandits while passing through a mountain road.

The bandits were numerous, estimated to be at least five hundred, and each of them looked fierce and menacing. They charged at us and attacked without uttering a single word, clearly there to kill and rob.

The people inside the carriage remained as steady as Mount Tai. Without them having to lift a finger, a group of guards rushed over and engaged the bandits in battle.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the bandit leader, seeing that the situation was not good, immediately led the remaining men to retreat. However, of the more than 500 men, more than 200 were killed in this battle.

Two of the guards were also lost, mainly because there were too many bandits, and the bandits were extremely familiar with the terrain, making them very difficult to deal with.

Seeing the bandits flee, the guards wanted to give chase, but Zhu Lin stopped them, saying, "Don't chase a desperate enemy. We need to get on our way. We can deal with the bandit suppression another day."

Zhu Lin ordered his men to bury the two missing guards before continuing on his journey.

When Zhu Lin and Xingxing arrived at Tong'an Prefecture, Zhu Qiuyu and his group were waiting for them at the city gate. Upon seeing this, Zhu Lin frowned, realizing that they had not found the person.

"What happened?" the boy asked in a low voice as he jumped off the carriage.

“That Miss Chen was bought away half a year ago and is no longer in Tongan Prefecture.” Zhu Qiuyu’s voice was low and his face was somewhat cold.

Two days ago, in the evening, they took Yang Er directly to the brothel where Chen Yuexin had been bought. With Yang Er confronting her, Zhu Yueran, looking menacing, held the madam hostage. The madam didn't dare to hide anything and confessed honestly.

"That girl was beautiful and well-educated, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She made quite a fuss during the days she was sold, but after I showed her what was what, she behaved herself. That girl was very clever and had a sweet tongue; she actually managed to win me over."

She said she had a hard life; she was originally a wealthy family's daughter, but her family fell on hard times and they fled together. On the way, they encountered bandits and were separated. She was desperate and was captured and sold. Now she had accepted her fate and begged me not to make her take clients too soon.

She was only thirteen years old then, which I thought was too young. I figured with two more years of training, she could definitely become the top courtesan in the brothel. Seeing how well-behaved and sensible she was, I was satisfied and valued her highly.

The original plan was to win the girl's virginity when she turned fifteen. For more than a year, the madam would occasionally let Chen Yuexin show her face. She played the zither and pipa well and had the scholarly air of a well-bred lady.

Many gentlemen and young masters in Tong'an Prefecture were completely infatuated with her. With Chen Yueru's coming-of-age ceremony just a few months away, the madam had already planned to hold a flower-grabbing banquet and raise the prices as high as possible.

Who knew that the young girl was so cunning, she actually captivated a young nobleman from out of town. Seeing that the nobleman was generous, the madam made an exception and allowed Chen Yuexin to drink with him a few times.

These two had only met four times in total, but the young nobleman was completely infatuated with her and insisted on buying her. The madam refused, wanting to keep her in the brothel as a cash cow.

Unexpectedly, the young nobleman had some connections and used his backer to exert pressure. It must be said that anyone who can afford to run a brothel must also have connections, but the brothel owner's connections were no match for those behind the young nobleman, so he had no choice but to compromise and give up.

This is what happened: the young nobleman spent five thousand taels of silver to buy Chen Yuexin and then took her away. The madam had no idea where the young nobleman came from.

This directly cut off the trail.

Bai Yushuang was so anxious that she lost a lot of weight and became almost unrecognizable. She muttered to herself, "What should I do? Where can I find her?"

"Sister, try to think positively. Xin'er is so smart; she knows how to find someone to redeem her. The person she finds must be reliable. It's better than her working as a prostitute in a brothel. As long as we put in a little more effort to inquire, we'll definitely be able to find her," Bai Yue'e quickly comforted her gently.

“Yes, on the bright side, everything will be fine. As long as we send more people to investigate, we’ll definitely be able to find out the young master’s identity,” Zhang Xiantao chimed in.

For now, we can only find an inn to stay in and wait for the people we sent out to gather information to return. Fortunately, Xingxing has a group of secret guards, and of course, there are also secret forces on Xianwu Island. With both approaches combined, we believe that news will arrive soon.

The group stayed in Tongan City for two days. During these two days, Xingxing and Zhang Xiantao wandered around Tongan City and bought a lot of snacks and trinkets. However, when they returned to the inn, they would suppress their smiles and their little faces would become very serious.

Bai Yushuang has been crying her eyes out these days, heartbroken beyond measure. How could they laugh so happily when she's so sad? That would be like tearing her heart apart.

Later, the news was brought back by people from below Fairy Mist Island, via carrier pigeon. No one showed up, but Zhu Lin took the note tied to the pigeon's leg and read it.

“That young master is from Hua’an County in Tong’an City. Hua’an County is ten days’ journey from Tong’an Prefecture. Let’s set off this afternoon.” Zhu Lin was very decisive.

So the group finished lunch and set off, hurrying towards Hua'an County. There were no unexpected incidents along the way, and they arrived in Hua'an County on time at noon ten days later.

After Zhu Lin and the others booked the inn, they also found out more details about the young master. Yesterday, ten secret guards arrived in Hua'an County ahead of them and found out about the young master's ancestors for eighteen generations in one day.

"The Hua family is considered well-off in Hua'an County, but not particularly wealthy. The young master the madam mentioned is the eldest son of the Hua family, who is eighteen years old this year. His birth mother passed away when he was young, and his father remarried. His second wife gave birth to two sons and three daughters. Hua Zan is not highly regarded in the Hua family." The guard finished his brief explanation.

"His family wasn't particularly wealthy, and he wasn't valued by his family, so where did Hua Zan get all that money to squander?" Zhu Lin wondered.

The guard added, "Hua Zan's maternal grandfather's family was wealthier than the Hua family; Hua Zan squandered his mother's dowry."