Ma Wencai was startled by Xie Datou's sudden slam on the table, and even choked on his saliva, coughing violently a few times before he recovered.

He gave an awkward laugh. "I'm only in this position because I'm forced to do what I'm supposed to do.

Xie Datou wanted to curse a few more times, but Xu Jinhuan stopped him. She looked at Ma Wencai and asked, "After talking for so long, you still haven't told us who is behind you."

Xie Datou then realized what was happening and quickly pressed, "Yeah, tell me, which scoundrel orchestrated all this!"

Ma Wencai sighed before saying, "This is someone neither of us can afford to offend. Actually, knowing too much wouldn't do you any good."

Enraged by these words, Xie Datou slammed his fist on the table again. "What a joke! They've already put a knife to our throats, and you expect us to pretend we're deaf and dumb?"

Why don't you just suggest we all slit our throats and commit suicide? That would save that person the trouble of doing it!

Xu Jinhuan, however, showed no sign of anger. She placed her teacup on the table, looked directly at Ma Wencai, and said only softly.

“Ma Wencai, I didn’t bring you back here to hear you say these things.”

Having witnessed Xu Jinhuan's madness just now, Ma Wencai was afraid that she would come up with some other tortures to torment him, so he quickly slapped himself hard.

"It's my fault, I said the wrong thing!"

After saying that, he saw Xu Jinhuan looking down at the teacup on the table, not even glancing at him, so he could only grit his teeth and slap himself twice more.

While hitting him, he said, "I was wrong, I was really wrong, I will never say such things again."

After finishing, Ma Wencai cautiously looked at Xu Jinhuan again. Seeing that she still hadn't looked at him, he could only continue to slap his own mouth forcefully.

For a moment, the only sound in the room was the sound of Ma Wencai slapping someone.

Xu Jinhuan listened for a while before casually waving his hand, "Alright, stop, continue."

Ma Wencai immediately stopped what he was doing. He had just opened his mouth, wanting to say what he knew, when he heard someone knocking on the door, interrupting the interrogation.

For a moment, Ma Wencai was caught in a dilemma: to speak or not to speak, leaving him feeling incredibly frustrated.

Xu Jinhuan, however, looked at the constable outside the door with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong?"

The constable bowed respectfully before speaking.

"Boss Xu, we were in charge of cleaning up the battlefield. We suddenly remembered that we had tied a rope in the woods earlier, and guessed that there might be wounded bandits there, so we took a few brothers there, and then..."

Seeing the constable stammering and looking hesitant, Xu Jinhuan asked directly, "What happened? It's nothing, just tell me."

The constable, head bowed, replied, "We did find several wounded bandits, and, and..."

Seeing the constable stammering, Xie Datou became furious and scolded him.

"Is this how I've always taught you? A grown man like you're so hesitant and timid when reporting something. How am I supposed to assign you any more tasks in the future?!"

Upon hearing this, the constable lowered his head even further. If he could crawl into that crack in the ground, he probably would have tried it.

"Sir, Boss Xu, besides the bandits, there are also members of the Xu family there."

Xie Datou didn't react for a moment, and asked in a loud voice, "The Xu family? Which Xu family?"

Then, upon seeing Xu Jinhuan beside him, his pupils suddenly contracted, his voice abruptly softened, and he whispered, "You're not talking about Boss Xu's family, are you?"

The constable nodded silently and replied in a low voice.

"They are Boss Xu's family. When we arrived, one of them had already been tortured to death by the bandits. The others were injured, but they were still alive."

Xu Jinhuan found their cautious demeanor somewhat amusing and said directly, "You are probably aware of my discord with the Xu family."

Although my surname is Xu, I have no feelings for them. Whether they live or die is none of my business.

That's not quite right. If I had known of their deaths, I would still have sent a salute as a gesture of blessing.

The constable felt a sense of relief upon hearing this. He had just been worried that Boss Xu would blame them for the deaths of his family members, but after hearing these words, the pressure instantly disappeared.

"Brother Xu, we are relieved to hear that. The Xu family deserted when we were fighting the bandits. The brothers will definitely teach them a lesson."

Xu Jinhuan nodded indifferently, then suddenly asked, "Is Xu Youyou among these people?"

The constable shook his head. "She's not here. I suppose Xu Youyou has a room to herself. They probably didn't have time to call her when they ran away."

Xu Jinhuan scoffed, "It seems I overestimated Xu Youyou's importance in their hearts..."

After saying that, Xu Jinhuan looked at the constable and said, "It's more interesting when the whole family is together. Take Xu Youyou over and educate her together with the Xu family."

The constable bowed respectfully. "Yes, Boss Xu. However, Boss, someone tried to rescue Xu Youyou before, which is why we locked her up. What if they come again this time..."

Xu Jinhuan laughed and said, "That's exactly what we've been waiting for. Do you really think this is a place where they can come and go as they please? If they dare to come, then they'll leave their lives behind."

Xu Jinhuan suddenly felt that she was becoming more and more like a villainous female supporting character, doing everything she could to prevent the male and female leads from getting together.

However, while most villainous female supporting characters want the male lead's love, she wants the lives of both the male and female leads!

"Yes, Boss Xu, I'll take care of it right away!"

After the constable left, there was silence in the room for a long time. Xie Datou asked suspiciously, "Boss, do you have a grudge against the person who saved the person?"

Xu Jinhuan nodded and said only four words, "A blood feud."

Xie Datou patted his chest forcefully, "Boss, your enemy is my enemy. When he comes, I will definitely help you kill him!"

At this moment, Ma Wencai suddenly interjected, "Gentlemen, aren't you interrogating me? Why don't you take a look at me first?"

Xu Jinhuan smiled and sized up Ma Wencai. "Alright, go ahead and say it. We're listening."

Ma Wencai was only glanced at by Xu Jinhuan before he subconsciously sat up straight and started talking non-stop.

"Actually, at first I only knew that my superior was a military captain. Later, due to an accident, I discovered the real person behind me, which was the Consort's family, the Wu family, who had military power."

The Wu family not only wanted to hold onto their military power, but also wanted a lot of money. They secretly took over several brothels and gambling dens in Jiangnan, creating a real money pit.

At first, he only instructed us to forcibly take girls from poor families, but later the brothels grew bigger and bigger, and ordinary girls could no longer satisfy them, so…”

Xie Datou picked up where Ma Wencai left off, "So they set their sights on exiled young ladies?"