Chapter 22: He has some male virtues Song Youning...
Song Youning hid behind the screen and watched the two servants enter the study.
Two pairs of bean-sized eyes looked around until they were sure that there was no one around, then they turned the white jade candlestick on the desk three times to the left and half a turn to the right.
“Click.”
With a slight sound of a mechanism, a square secret door slowly opened in the ground, revealing a deep staircase.
The two of them walked down the stairs, their figures gradually swallowed by the darkness.
Song Youning held his breath and waited for about half a minute before he saw two people coming out with empty trays. After the mechanism was restored, the two of them chatted and laughed as they went towards the banquet.
She waited quietly for a while, until the corridor was completely quiet, then she slipped over.
This Zhou Xian actually pressed the secret passage in the study. It seems he has a lot of secrets!
She held the candlestick and followed the boy's technique, turning it three times to the left and then half a circle to the right.
"Click."
The floor tiles opened with a sound, and as the door opened, a damp and moldy smell mixed with the smell of blood hit me in the face.
She drew the dagger from her waist, covered her mouth and nose, and slowly walked down the stone steps covered with damp moss.
The staircase was lit only by a few dim oil lamps on the four walls. It was quiet and narrow, and nothing could be seen clearly.
Only when you walk completely in do your views become wider.
At the end of the stairs is a dark room with several iron pillars standing in it. The iron pillars are covered with red rust, and it seems that they are quite old.
Song Youning felt his stomach churning at the stench of rust and blood.
She suppressed her urge to vomit and walked forward a few steps. She vaguely saw several dark shadows on the pillars. She took a few more steps forward and found that there was a woman chained to each pillar.
Their hair was disheveled as they squatted on the damp ground. The air was filled with the smell of urine and fishy odors, along with the smell of rotten food that had not been taken away after eating.
Song Youning even felt that she would never be able to eat again in her life.
Those who were locked up all had their hair tied up in a bun. Only the women had their hair tied up during sex. It was just as Xiao Si said, this Li Xiang had really strong tastes...
Their hair was tied up in a bun, but large clumps of hair hung down in front of their chests. Their bodies were in a mess, their mouths were tied with cloth strips, and there were a few grains of white rice stuck on their faces. The front of their clothes was covered with rice grains and soup stains.
Judging from their appearance, they must have been force-fed by the two servants just now. One of the younger women was wearing a bracelet on her wrist.
At this moment, he was frantically rubbing the iron chain with the bracelet, making a "sizzling" sound.
Hearing someone coming, he was so frightened that he immediately stopped what he was doing and shrank back, with the movement so large that he knocked over the ceramic bowl next to him.
"Shh, don't be afraid"
Song Youning comforted: "I am here to save you"
Before he could finish his words, he suddenly heard the sound of a mechanism turning above his head.
She hurriedly stood against the nearest pillar in the dark.
A drunken voice came from the stairs: "...This batch of goods will be sent to Li Xiang's villa tomorrow... You must take good care of them and don't let them die."
Song Youning secretly stuck his head out and saw a middle-aged man with a wealthy face coming down the stairs and walking to the pillar. There was a servant beside him to help him. He looked so imposing in the dark room of the Zhou Mansion. It seemed that this man was Zhou Xian.
He slowly approached with the oil lamp in his hand, illuminating the women huddled in the corner.
With the help of Zhou Xian's oil lamp, Song Youning could clearly see this group of ladies. All of them had a look of despair on their faces. Each of them had pale lips and blue face. Although they were not very old, they revealed the look of old age and fatigue.
“Crash!”
A woman suddenly jumped up and rushed towards the man. The iron chain in her hand hit the ground with a loud noise, but due to the length of the chain, she couldn't touch Zhou Xian at all.
The wealthy man, seeing the woman's resistance, flew into a rage and kicked over the ceramic bowl in front of her, cursing, "Damn it! Tomorrow I'll break the legs of these bitches and see how they resist!"
"Uh-huh......"
The woman's mouth was tightly blocked with a cloth, so she couldn't speak. She could only stare at him fiercely, her eyes like a mad beast.
"Wow, you're quite a tough girl, I'm going to break your legs today, and see if you still dare to be so arrogant."
The governor waved his arm and called over several servants. Just as he was about to step forward, a man in official robes behind him spoke out to stop him.
"Governor, Prime Minister Li must keep the baby alive. If you kill it, I won't be able to report to you."
Song Youning looked in the direction of the voice, wanting to see the person clearly, but the light where she was was too dim, and she could only see a dark shadow in the distance.
"Sir, these wicked women don't know what's good for them. I just want to teach them a lesson..." Zhou Xian bowed respectfully to the man in black. It seemed that the man in black was from a powerful background.
"What Prime Minister Li wants is a live fetus."
The man's voice was hoarse. "If you hurt them and the fetus is unstable, how will you explain it to the higher-ups?"
Governor Zhou muttered unwillingly: "Breaking the leg won't affect the fetus..."
“Bang!”
The man slapped Governor Zhou in the face, causing him to stumble back. "Fool! If a pregnant woman goes into labor prematurely due to pain, the medicine will be useless before the seventh month!"
He glanced coldly at the women in the cell. "These women have been carefully selected. Each one is of great importance and cannot afford any mistakes. Treat them well. If one dies, you will bring her head to me."
After saying this, he turned away angrily.
"My lord, my lord..."
The governor Zhou knew that he had said the wrong thing, so he chased after him like a dog, and a group of young servants followed behind him in a triumphant manner.
After everyone left, Song Younian stayed behind the pillar for a long time. After making sure that everyone had left, he stuck his head out from behind the pillar.
"Live fetus?" She walked slowly to the pillar.
His voice tightened as he glanced at the women's abdomens, which actually were slightly bulging.
When she came in just now, the lights were dim, and they hadn't eaten for many days, so they were pale and thin from hunger. So she didn't think about this at all, and murmured to herself: "Why does this governor want to keep the baby alive?"
"hiss......."
A young woman suddenly ripped open her clothes, revealing her purple belly. She gestured with trembling fingers, first pointing at her belly, then making a cutting motion, and finally pointing to the medicine jars piled in the corner.
"They...are going to perform a caesarean section to deliver the baby?" Song Youning suddenly realized.
I just felt my stomach churning again.
Song Youning stepped forward and ripped the cloth from the woman's mouth. The young woman immediately grabbed her wrist tightly and said, "Go away, girl! That old beast wants to eat our child..."
"Take your time."
Song Youning calmed her down, patted her back gently, and asked in a low voice, "Why did they arrest you specifically?"
The woman trembled and pointed at her belly, revealing the word "Li" branded on her purple belly. "We were all good women who were five or six months pregnant."
Song Youning looked at the word "Li" on her belly and pondered.
"I heard from those people that Prime Minister Li wants to take our child's placenta and make it into an elixir that can prolong life and make us immortal..."
The young woman was about to cry, and the other women trapped on the pillars nodded in response.
"The governor also said... that when our baby is full-term, it will take about three months to travel from Lingnan to Bianjing by train... just in time for the birth... to get a fresh placenta..."
"It's said that the placenta is called purple river cart, and it has extremely powerful nourishing properties. Taking it regularly can improve hearing and vision, blacken hair, and prolong life... If it's used to make medicine..."
Song Younian opened her lips but could not utter a word. Li Xian, the prime minister of the current dynasty, her uncle Li, the emperor's right-hand man, Li Funing's father...how could he do such a heinous thing?
A woman who had just been beaten and tied to a pillar in the corner crawled over, her eyes bloodshot as she cursed, "That...that Li Xiang. I thought he was an honest man, but I didn't expect him to be so vicious. He doesn't care about the lives of others just for his own longevity."
"girl..."
The young woman in front of her suddenly grabbed her sleeve and pushed her forward: "Go quickly!"
Song Youning shook her head. She would never leave until she understood what was going on. "Sister, do you know who that person in black is?"
Song Youning thought of the man in black. She felt that his back looked familiar. If she could start with him...
The young woman's expression darkened. "I don't know..."
"But I once heard the governor mock him behind his back, saying that he had six fingers and was an unlucky person, and that sooner or later his superiors would abandon him."
"I guess he is a high-ranking official." Her eyes flashed, as if she remembered something.
She was shocked. The official of Li Mansion also had six fingers!
Coincidentally, Li Funing had talked to her about this matter, saying that Li Hai was his father's favored disciple, who passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi at the age of twelve, but because of his unusual appearance, he was regarded as unlucky by everyone and was excluded by everyone. Li Xiang took pity on him and accepted him as his disciple.
Later it was discovered that this person had some talent. Although he had passed the imperial examination, in order to repay Prime Minister Li's great kindness, he was unwilling to enter the officialdom and was willing to stay in Li's mansion as a housekeeper.
But why would Governor Zhou talk about such a private matter in front of all these women and children? This Governor is really too nosy...
Also, the engraving of the character "Li" is a bit too deliberate. Who would write their own name when doing something bad? It seems intentional.
And she was clearly dressed as a man, so how did this woman know she was a girl? Unless...
Song Youning's eyes darkened, and he asked tentatively, "Does Governor Zhou often tell you these things?"
Song Youning looked carefully at the woman in front of him. The woman had sunken cheeks and tattered clothes, but her voice was full of energy, and every word she said touched people's hearts.
He doesn't look like a victim...but rather like a leader. I don't know if he is really angry or just putting on an act to instigate others.
The woman seemed to realize something and pretended to be pitiful: "When Governor Zhou gets drunk, he sometimes speaks without thinking. All the sisters have heard it."
"Yes, yes," the others echoed.
Song Younian said nothing, looked up at the oil lamp on the wall, which had burned out quite a bit.
If he didn't leave now, Li Funing would probably destroy the governor's mansion.
She didn't plan to stay any longer, so she lowered her head, pulled out the dagger from her waist, and put it into the woman's hand.
"Hide it."
She lowered her voice very low: "Since they want to use your fetus to make medicine, they will definitely provide you with good food and drink. There is no need to struggle. Let them treat you well."
"There are too many of you now. Taking you all with me will attract too much attention. Let me go out and find a way to rescue you all."
A pregnant woman next to her suddenly sobbed, "But, but after the baby is born, we..."
"Don't worry, it won't take long," Song Youning comforted, taking off his shirt and covering the woman with it.
The young woman looked up at her slowly and said, "Thank you, young lady."
Song Youning decisively left the prison, walked out of the backyard carefully along the same route, and headed straight for the banquet in the front hall. Perhaps because she had stayed in the dark room for too long, the sunlight outside made her squint slightly.
When they found Li Funing and Xiao Lin, a group of young ladies from official families were surrounding them in the corridor, chatting and laughing.
Li Funing was wearing a conical hat and standing under a wisteria trellis not far away, admiring the painting. Even his shadow looked distant.
Xiao Lin was surrounded by the female relatives and sat on a stone bench, drawing for them. His lively personality made the young ladies laugh.
"Mr. Li?"
A woman in purple called him, and Li Funing glanced sideways.
Seeing that he responded, the woman became bolder.
"Mr. Li is a distinguished man. I didn't expect he was also knowledgeable about ancient paintings. I have quite a few ancient books and paintings at home. I wonder if Mr. Li would be so kind as to visit you for a chat?"
A young lady in a purple dress came to Li Funing's side, her delicate white hands tightly clasping a small fan, and she looked at him shyly.
"I am not very knowledgeable and I dare not show off. If you are really eager to learn..."
He looked at Xiao Lin who was wrapped tightly and said: "I heard that Master Xiao is very accomplished in painting."
Li Funing held his hands and bowed, then took a step back, revealing Xiao Lin who was surrounded by a group of beautiful women.
Song Youning smiled secretly. Xiao Lin's attainments in painting were at best slightly better than that Xiao Liuzi who painted erotic paintings...
Xiao Liuzi: Don't slander others...
"You're sensible," Song Youli Fu Ning was so sensible, she nodded calmly. It turned out that when it came to a man's character, her father was the most reliable.
Song Youning rolled his eyes at Xiao Lin. It was obvious that someone was busy dealing with young women and didn't notice.
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The author has something to say: [Come on][Come on]
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