"I beg you, my daughter is only fourteen years old, please let her go... just take me away..."
"Bah! Arrest you? What can we do with you? Asking you to wash dishes and feed pigs is just because you are too old. What we adults want is young girls who are about to bloom."
"Mother...save me..."
Shangguan Wanning watched as several yamen runners forcibly separated the mother and her son. Seeing that the mother was still holding her daughter's sleeve tightly, the yamen runner pulled out a steel knife and was about to chop off the mother's hand.
A figure flashed by, and a young man in white kicked the steel knife in the yamen runner's hand away and stood in front of the poor mother.
Shangguan Wanning saw from the corner of her eye that Huo Gang took a few steps back, as if he was deliberately trying to hide in the crowd.
"Oh, Mr. Tie, it's you." The guard rubbed his wrist which was sore from being kicked. He was not angry at all, but walked over to him in a flattering manner. "Actually, there's no need for you to waste your energy. If you just yelled, we would stop, wouldn't we?"
"Can't you even do this little thing that the prefect asked you to do? Why do you have to attract so many people to watch?"
A sharp light flashed in the eyes of the young man in white, frightening the bailiff and making him a little timid.
"No...no, it will be fine soon...soon..."
The young man in white looked at the bailiff coldly, snorted softly, and suddenly slapped his mother on the top of her head.
Poor woman, she didn’t even have the chance to say another word to her daughter. The blood slowly flowed, leaving her face a bloody mess.
Shangguan Wanning was terrified.
She never imagined that the purpose of this young man in white was not to save people, and his methods were even more cruel than those of the yamen runners.
The young man in white took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and wiped his hands, then threw it on the dead woman and looked at the bailiff.
"Isn't this solved?"
The bailiff was stunned. After swallowing, he pretended to be calm and gave the young man in white a thumbs up.
"Mr. Tie is wise, and you are good at getting things done."
"Mom..." The girl threw herself on her mother's body and burst into tears.
Shangguan Wanning's heart was in a knot.
This is outrageous and totally disregards the law.
"Take her away, take her away." The bailiff shouted at his companions to take the girl away by force. The girl fainted from excessive grief.
The young man in white took out a folding fan from his sleeve and walked away as if nothing had happened.
All the onlookers automatically made way for him.
"This is too much. Not only did he rob a woman in broad daylight, he also openly killed someone..."
Shangguan Wanning was so angry that she was shaking all over. If she were in the capital, she would have stopped the beast in white clothes immediately.
"Hush, young master, don't talk nonsense." A kind person reminded him, "He is the new leader of Wuji Sect. He is ruthless and kills people without blinking an eye. If he knew that you said bad things about him behind his back, it would be terrible."
Wujimen?
Shangguan Wanning paused and looked at Huo Gang curiously.
She wanted to ask Huo Gang about the situation of Wuji Sect, but found that Huo Gang's face was ashen, his fists were clenched, and the veins on the back of his hands were bulging, as if they would burst and break at any time.
His expression made Shangguan Wanning calm down instantly and she didn't dare to ask any more questions.
"It's not like this... Wujimen is not like this. Wujimen shouldn't be like this." Huo Gang's voice was hoarse, and he seemed to be heartbroken.
After hearing this, the people around shook their heads and sighed.
"Yes, Wuji Sect was not like this before. When the previous leader was in office, Wuji Sect was a chivalrous sect. They even dared to fight against the government... I don't know why the old leader was so blind and actually found Tie Shijie to succeed him. What a sin."
The crowd gradually dispersed, but Huo Gang still stood there, his chest heaving violently.
"Brother Huo, are you okay?" Shangguan Wanning stepped forward and asked cautiously.
Huo Gang came back to his senses, took a deep breath, and his solemn expression gradually relaxed. "I'm fine. Miss, we have to do serious things."
"Um."
Huo Gang took Shangguan Wanning to a secluded inn to stay overnight.
In the evening, when the waiter came to deliver the food, Shangguan Wanning gave him a few strings of copper coins as a reward and asked, "Brother Xiaoer, when I entered the city, I saw some yamen runners robbing decent women. Does your prefect not care?"
The waiter's face changed when he heard this. He hurried over to close the door and said in a low voice, "My dears, please be careful. Don't go out and ask or tell anyone. They didn't just rob one or two girls. They robbed them for the prefect."
It was the first time that Shangguan Wanning heard of such a kind of official.
"Here, two counties ahead, is the border. I heard that the enemy has gathered a large number of troops at the border, ready to make a move. Therefore, the prefect has also increased the security at the border. Look, it is said that these girls will go to the front line to help with logistics support. In fact, they are just being abused by those people."
Shangguan Wanning was a little bit unbelievable.
If there are any unusual movements at the border, they must be reported to the Ministry of War.
However, she had never heard Mu Jingrui mention this matter.
"Little Second Brother, who is the general guarding the city now?"
The waiter shook his head and said something that shocked both Shangguan Wanning and Huo Gang.
"No generals."
"What?" Shangguan Wan Ning didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "How come there are no generals?"
"The person who controlled the military power before was the governor of the southeast, but he went back to Beijing to report on his work a few days ago and has not returned since. I heard that the court sent a successor general, but I haven't heard that he has taken office. In short, the border defense is lax now, and we are very worried that the Turks will attack at any time."
After the waiter left, Shangguan Wanning and Huo Gang looked at each other.
"I didn't expect such a thing to happen." Shangguan Wanning couldn't even imagine it. If there were no generals to defend the city, wouldn't the Turks be able to attack at this time with unstoppable force?
"I have to find a way to tell my father and Jing Rui about this."
"Miss, you should have a good rest tonight. I will take you to see someone tomorrow. Maybe she can testify against Ling Yuwen."
Shangguan Wanning was stunned for a moment, then suppressed her curiosity and didn't ask any more questions.
Huo Gang said before that all the evidence related to Ling Yuwen’s case had been destroyed. How come there are suddenly more witnesses now?
Shangguan Wanning didn't sleep well the whole night and got up early the next day.
After breakfast, Huo Gang took her across the street, walked into the depths of the alley, and came to a small farmyard.
Huo Gang walked forward and knocked on the door gently. After a long time, he heard an old voice responding.
"Who is it?"
The wooden door opened and an old man with a cane walked out.
"Uncle Chen, it's me."
The old man excitedly held Huo Gang's hand, his lips trembling and unable to utter a word.
"Agang, I...I'm sorry..."
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