Yun Duoduo frowned. What kind of perverted hobby is this?!

Honghua snorted coldly, "I couldn't take it anymore. The thought that one day I would be sold to some rich merchant's family made me not want to be slaughtered like this anymore, so I managed to escape."

"So, when I saw you in the corner of the clinic that day, you had just escaped from there?"

Honghua shook her head and sobbed softly, "I wasn't so lucky back then. When I escaped, I was discovered."

“The thugs beat me half to death. When Madam Liu saw that I had wicked intentions, she was afraid that if I was sold to a rich businessman, I would ruin her reputation.”

They sold me to Medicine King Valley.

"Medicine King Valley?!"

Yun Duoduo's pupils suddenly dilated; it was Medicine King Valley!

"In Medicine King Valley, people are needed to test the poisons in order to test the medicines. So, Mother Liu sold those who were disobedient to Medicine King Valley to become Gu people."

"They tested drugs and detoxified us, then tested drugs on us again..."

“When our bodies can no longer withstand it and we are no longer of any use, they will throw us into a well or dump us in a mass grave.”

"So it was done by people from Medicine King Valley."

Yun Duoduo was furious. It turned out that in Nanyang, there was a group of people who didn't treat people as human beings, but rather as objects to be bought and sold at will, and tortured at will.

“Look.”

Honghua lifted her clothes, revealing a small mark on the inside of her thighs. "People like us all carry marks and have all sorts of injuries. I suppose Ping'er also has such a mark, but it's very small and you can't see it if you're not paying attention."

Honghua sighed softly: "Judging from Ping'er's mother's worried look, she probably wasn't sold to Yangzhou or Shengze, but was tricked into going there."

A look of envy and longing flashed in Honghua's eyes.

She also longed for her parents' love, but in order to earn some food for the family, her parents sold her without hesitation.

"If you go to Shengze, could you take me with you?"

Yun Duoduo nodded, seeing the eager look in Honghua's eyes.

"Get ready, we're leaving for Shengze tomorrow."

"Okay." Honghua wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and regained her usual expression.

Yun Duoduo examined Ping'er's wound, applied medicine, and then left Huichuntang. She and A Xiang went to find Granny Xue. After explaining their purpose, they decided to let Zheng Ningxiang go first to investigate the situation.

...

Summer passed quickly, and the weather gradually cooled down.

The hawthorn tree in front of the courtyard was growing well and had already begun to bear fruit. Just thinking about Shengze and Yangzhou made Yun Duoduo feel bad, and she lost her appetite as a result.

Seeing that small hawthorns had already formed on the tree, she thought of picking some fresh hawthorns to whet her appetite.

Thinking of this, Yun Duoduo looked around and, seeing no one, used her light footwork to fly up and sit on a thick tree trunk. She picked some hawthorns, wiped them with her sleeve, and began to eat them.

The hawthorns weren't very big and were a bit sour, but eating something sour would make her feel better right now. Ever since she heard Liao Ziwan talk about what happened in Shengze, she had started feeling nauseous.

While enjoying her hawthorns on the tree, Yun Duoduo thought about asking the servants to pick more hawthorns to make a sweet and sour hawthorn soup.

The hawthorn tree stood in the front courtyard, its branches thick and tall. When the servants in the courtyard saw the princess sitting in the tree, they couldn't help but exclaim in worry, "Your Highness?!"

Hearing the shout, Yun Duoduo was startled. Her body swayed, and she lost her balance. Her feet began to slide down involuntarily, and her body felt incredibly heavy. She was about to fall. Yun Duoduo tightly closed her eyes. "Oh dear, slow down! Let me roll over so I don't fall face-first!"

Just as I was anxiously worried, I realized that my body did not touch the cold surface, nor did I feel the pain I had imagined. Instead, it felt warm, and I smelled a familiar fragrance at the tip of my nose.

The fragrance reassured her and made her feel very comfortable; the nausea she had felt earlier gradually disappeared.

She longed to stay in that embrace a little longer.

"What, is the princess enjoying my embrace so much?"

Jin Jinzhi looked at Yun Duoduo and found it amusing that Yun Duoduo had her eyes tightly closed.

The maids beside him covered their mouths and chuckled.

"With all your martial arts skills, how come you don't even know how to land safely after falling from a tree?"

Yun Duoduo opened her eyes and found herself in Jin Jinzhi's arms. "Your Highness is back! You're always teasing me."

Jin Jinzhi said, "Be careful next time. What would I do if I didn't come back to catch you?"

"Okay, I understand."

Yun Duoduo stuck out her tongue.

"We'll head to Shengze early tomorrow morning. My third brother and Sun Huohuo are getting married soon, and we need to get back before their wedding."

Jin Jinzhi nodded, "Uncle Fu, have the kitchen prepare more dry food and fruit for the Princess to take on her journey!"

"Yes, Your Highness."

...

The next morning, Yun Duoduo and A Xiang went to Huichuntang and took the red flowers with them to Shengze.

They walked and stopped along the way, asking around until they found the well Liao Ziwan had mentioned.

The well was under a large, ancient tree, and there wasn't a soul around. Everyone said the well was unlucky, and that anyone who went near it would surely suffer bad luck.

According to the villagers, this well was originally the source of water for the villagers to live on, but since when, the bodies of young girls have started to appear in the well one after another.

The well was no longer usable, so the villagers had to fetch water from neighboring villages.

Yun Duoduo peered into the well, but saw nothing inside. It was clear that the body had already been taken away.

"Any discoveries?"

Ah Xiang looked around and asked.

Yun Duoduo and A Xiang shook their heads. "There are no traces left here. They must have been cleaned up."

"Let's find an inn to stay in first and wait for Ningxiang's news."

Zheng Ningxiang had worked in the Plum Blossom Pavilion for many years under Granny Xue's tutelage, saving countless women and possessing far more experience in this area than they did.

...

In the evening, the group settled into the inn.

"Knock knock knock..."

Hearing the knock, Ah Xiang peeked through the crack in the door and said, "Yes, Miss Ningxiang."

"Come in quickly." Ah Xiang opened the door and let Zheng Ningxiang in.

"How did it go? Did you find out anything?" Yun Duoduo handed Zheng Ningxiang a glass of water.

"Mama Liu, who trades in thin horses in this area, lives in a teahouse five miles to the east."

"It's ostensibly a teahouse, but they're secretly doing this kind of shady business there."

"I've checked that teahouse. It seems to be just a place for transactions. I don't know exactly where those girls are hidden yet."

"teahouse……"

Yun Duoduo pondered for a moment, then said, "I will go myself tomorrow."

"But do we have to use ourselves as bait?" Ah Xiang looked at Yun Duoduo with a mixture of nervousness and worry.