Bai Su hurriedly caught up with Lu Yanzhao, wiping the sweat from her forehead: "Hey, why are you running so fast? I haven't finished speaking yet! My young master has already gone after him. Come with me."

Lu Yanzhao's eyes were chillingly cold. He had never been so panicked before, fear gripping his limbs like vines.

Gu Nanjiao, you absolutely cannot get hurt.

...

Gu Nanjiao bit the reins in her hand and groped along the wall in the dark, discovering that it was a room with no airflow and a foul smell.

Gu Nanjiao rubbed her head, feeling a little dizzy and nauseous.

She glanced around in the dim light and discovered that she wasn't alone in the room; there were several pairs of dark eyes watching her.

There were a few girls in the room, and they were all terrified, huddled together, trembling and hugging their shoulders.

Gu Nanjiao found a spot against the wall to rest for a while. Feeling less dizzy, she asked the girl next to her, "Were you also captured?"

"..."

Silence fell, and no one answered her.

She asked several more times, but still no one answered. Gu Nanjiao sighed, "Have your mouths been gagged too?"

It was still completely silent. If it weren't for her trembling figure, Gu Nanjiao would have thought she had encountered a ghost.

Perhaps they were afraid of being beaten!

Gu Nanjiao got up and began to feel the wall, looking for any clues to find a way out.

"It's no use. Even the windows are sealed off, and the main gate is guarded. Not even a fly can get out."

Gu Nanjiao turned around and saw a girl about her age, who appeared more mature and composed among the group of girls.

Gu Nanjiao continued to explore: "How will I know if I don't try?"

To everyone's surprise, the girl sneered, "If you're looking to die, don't drag us down with you."

Seeing the bruises all over her arms, Gu Nanjiao couldn't help but ask, "They beat you up like this."

"Otherwise what? If you even think about escaping, you'll get a severe beating."

Gu Nanjiao's eyes darted around, trying to find something.

We can't just sit here and wait to die!

Gu Nanjiao asked, "Do you know why they arrested us?"

The girl scoffed, "What else can I do? Be a prostitute for the rest of my life. I'll never escape anyway."

She seemed to have resigned herself to her fate, since both options were worse than death anyway.

Gu Nanjiao didn't say anything and started groping on the ground. When she found a broken stick, she was overjoyed.

It seems this was a small section of the stick that broke off when someone was being hit.

She held it in her hand, biting her brow with her teeth and hiding her gaze in her bosom.

The girl just now made a sarcastic remark: "You really are incorrigible."

Gu Nanjiao didn't think so. Having something was better than having nothing; at least she would feel safe with it on her person.

Time passed second by second, and after an unknown amount of time, the door creaked open.

A man with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks and a flirtatious, middle-aged madam walked in.

The madam scanned the crowd's faces and asked, "Who's the newcomer?"

The man with the pointed snout and monkey-like face pointed at Gu Nanjiao: "It's her."

The madam's gaze fell on Gu Nanjiao's face, and after looking her up and down, she clicked her tongue and said, "She really is a beauty. She's the one for tonight."

Gu Nanjiao was puzzled. What did they mean by "her"? Before he could figure it out, the weasel-faced man interjected, "This newcomer has a really fiery temper. She gave us guys a real run for our lives, and we almost let her escape on the way here."

He paused for a moment and then said, "Why don't we train them for a few days first, so as not to offend the guests?"

The madam gave Gu Nanjiao a cold look, and Gu Nanjiao looked up to meet her gaze. The madam suddenly smiled meaningfully and said, "She's the one. Young Master Wang likes women with strong personalities."

Then she selected a few more girls, who were trembling with fear and followed the madam away meekly.

Gu Nanjiao followed behind, glancing around out of the corner of her eye, searching for a place to escape.

The madam, as if she had read her mind, sneered, "Don't waste your energy. Once a girl comes to me, she can't escape even if she dies."

After she finished speaking, she winked at the men on either side of her. The men picked up the reins, grabbed Gu Nanjiao, tied her up, and pushed her into a room.

There was a person in the room wearing a cloak, completely covered up, with their back to Gu Nanjiao.

Hearing the noise, the person turned and glanced at Gu Nanjiao. The veil was hazy, and Gu Nanjiao couldn't see her face clearly, but from her figure, she vaguely resembled a woman.

"Gu Nanjiao, how have you been?"

Upon seeing the person who arrived, Gu Nanjiao's heart skipped a beat: "So it really is you?"

...

Lu Yanzhao saw Bai Luochen at the alley entrance, strode forward and grabbed his hand: "Do you know where Gu Nanjiao is?"

Bai Luochen's expression was serious, his voice unusually cold: "My carriage followed them here, and then they disappeared. As far as I know, there's a brothel here. If Gu Nanjiao was kidnapped by them, I'm afraid..."

When he heard the word "brothel," Lu Yanzhao's eyes turned frighteningly cold: "Where is the brothel?"

Bai Luochen frowned: "This place is very hidden and probably hard to find. They dare to arrest people openly, so they must have some backing in the county. If we go looking for them rashly, we might alert them."

Lu Yanzhao said in a deep voice, "I can't worry about that anymore. Please help me inform the people in the Cabbage Gang that I, Lu Yanzhao, need your help."

Bai Luochen narrowed his eyes: "You really are familiar with the Cabbage Gang." It seems his guess was right; the hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress incident last time was indeed orchestrated by Lu Yanzhao himself.

Thinking about this, Bai Luochen suddenly looked down on Lu Yanzhao.

Because he's so incredibly unsophisticated!

They actually used such corny plot devices that you only see in comic books.

Lu Yanzhao ignored the mockery on Bai Luochen's face. He originally did not want to reveal his relationship with the Cabbage Gang, but now, for Gu Nanjiao's sake, he had to put this relationship into the open.

If people were to find out that the learned scholar from Nanxiang Academy was forming cliques, it would likely have an impact on his future career.

Now, he can't care about anything else.

...

The room was filled with the sweet aroma of cigarette smoke, which made one's head spin.

Wang Fu removed his veil, glanced at Gu Nanjiao who was bound hand and foot, and sneered, "Didn't expect to see me here, did you?"

Gu Nanjiao calmly met Wang Fu's gaze: "What are you doing? Do you know this is illegal? Yang Meiqin brought you here, didn't she?"

"Who cares who brought me here? Are you scared?" Wang Fu now loathed Gu Nanjiao's face and wished she could slash it. Thinking of all the things Gu Nanjiao had done to her before, Wang Fu gritted her teeth in hatred and slapped Gu Nanjiao across the face: "Where is your arrogant face from before? You should have thought of your fate when you dared to oppose me."