Chapter 329 Choice
After Lin Changning finished speaking, he strode towards the three rooms in the second courtyard. As soon as he opened the door, he smelled a musty, damp smell mixed with the fragrance of photinia flowers.
The rooms in the second courtyard were noticeably better furnished than those outside, but not by much.
In the simple side room, an eight-immortal table was placed in the center, and three or four disheveled girls were huddled together under a large red floral quilt.
Their exposed skin was covered in bruises. When they saw Lin Changning kick the door open and come in, the girls screamed and huddled together in the corner of the bed.
Lin Changning glanced at it briefly before looking away, his hand gripping the door frame tightly, his fingertips turning white from the force.
Lin Changning softened his voice and said to the girls huddled in the corner of the bed, "Don't be afraid, put your clothes on."
After saying that, he took a step back and closed the door tightly, then turned to look at the fat, big-eared Mr. Liu on the ground.
At this moment, a commotion could be heard outside the door. Lin Changning sighed, assuming that the commander had arrived at the door.
As Lin Changning passed by the fat, big-eared Mr. Liu, he couldn't help but kick the man in the groin, and a particularly pitiful scream came from the courtyard.
Lin Changning rubbed his shoes on the ground, his gaze filled with disgust as he looked at the groaning man on the ground and said coldly, "I've already brought people here. You'd better pray that your cousin can protect you!"
Qi Rong had just stepped into the courtyard when he noticed several people groaning on the ground. He frowned and walked inside, glancing at the little boy leading the way, then at the small heads of all sizes perched at the entrance.
"Where is Commander Lin?"
The little boy saw Qi Rong and the soldiers behind him and hurriedly pointed to the second courtyard: "Sir, the lord you mentioned is inside. You should go quickly. That Master Liu is a relative of Prince Qi, and he can be quite fierce when he beats people."
The little boy subtly sowed discord among the others as he spoke; these children from the orphanage had learned to read people's expressions from a young age.
Moreover, many of them were originally beggars from the streets who were brought here. They naturally understood what was happening today and realized that the young man who sent them to find someone must have some influence behind him.
Moreover, judging from his behavior today, he must have come to seek help from this Master Liu.
These people had long disliked that Master Liu, especially the girls. Once they reached the age of 12, which one of them wasn't terrified?
Especially in the last two years, this Mr. Liu, under the guise of taking concubines, has been sending these girls to various high-ranking officials and nobles. The slightly prettier ones have been kept in the second courtyard to serve people.
The younger ones who weren't old enough were only given a mouthful of food each day and left carelessly in the yard outside. The man would also help them find odd jobs, and all the money he earned went into the pockets of the skinny man.
The orphanage has been in a state of chaos for the past two years, and the children all hate these men.
The little boy was clever. Today, he realized that Lin Changning seemed to be looking for trouble, and that he knew this person was not simple since he had arrived at the capital with a token in his hand. He added fuel to the fire among the group along the way.
Qi Rong, his face grim, followed the little boy directly into the Second Hospital, where Xiao Liu was standing right in front of him.
As for the seven or eight men lying haphazardly beside Xiao Liu, Qi Rong quickly walked over, glanced at Lin Changning's face, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the man did not seem to be injured.
"Xiao Liu, did your wound reopen? Why did you start fighting when you're injured?"
Lin Changning sighed, his gaze towards Qi Rong somewhat complicated. He kicked the fat, big-eared man beside him who was still groaning, and asked, "Commander, do you know this guy?"
Qi Rong looked down, somewhat puzzled, and after a cursory glance, shook his head: "I don't recognize it."
The man on the ground also sensed something was wrong and suddenly grabbed Qi Rong's leg: "Young Master! It's me! I'm your cousin!!! I am Liu Zhengyang!! My wife's aunt is the Lady of the Duke's Mansion!!! By seniority, you should call me cousin!!"
Qi Rong frowned, somewhat puzzled as to who this person was. Wen Zhi, who was following behind Qi Rong, suddenly stepped forward and whispered.
“The Duke’s second wife’s family has a legitimate daughter, whom you should call your cousin, who has indeed married into the Liu family of Taiyuan.”
Lin Changning didn't react for a moment when she heard Wen Zhi say this, but after thinking about it for a while, she realized what Wen Zhi was talking about. The eldest daughter of her stepmother's family had married into a family in Taiyuan. According to seniority, she should only call her cousin, so the person her cousin married should be called her cousin.
Just as Lin Changning was about to say what kind of unrelated relationship this was, Qi Rong's eyes sharpened, and he kicked the man surnamed Liu several meters away.
She was speechless; she hadn't even said what it was about yet, and the commander was already getting angry.
Hearing this, she silently approached Lin Changning, covered her mouth, and whispered in Lin Changning's ear, "Our commander's nominal cousin passed away three or four years ago, sigh."
Lin Changning turned her head and looked at Wen Zhi with some surprise: "How do you know so much?"
Hearing this, I coughed lightly, glanced at the commander surnamed Liu who was looking at me coldly, and raised my head with a little pride: "The commander naturally can't remember these messy relationships. At critical moments, someone still needs to remind us."
Lin Changning nodded, indicating that he understood, and stepped forward to tug at Qi Rong's sleeve: "Commander, come with me."
Qi Rong's face was somewhat gloomy as he followed. Lin Changning pushed open the door to the second room and stepped aside: "This man is using your name to do despicable things here. He's already ruined countless women, Commander..."
Looking at the women inside the door, who were dressed but still huddled together and trembling, Qi Rong's face was ashen, his hand gripping his sword, his fingertips turning white.
"Guards! Drag this man out and take him to the military headquarters. I will personally interrogate him!!!"
Seeing that Qi Rong was angry, Lin Changning patted Qi Rong's hand holding the knife: "Commander, what should we do with these children?"
Qi Rong's anger subsided a bit, and he regained his composure: "I'll go back to the Prince's mansion and find two stewardesses to come over. I'll take good care of them."
Lin Changning shook his head: "Commander, it's just treating the symptoms, not the root cause. Even if we take good care of them now, what good will it do? When they reach a certain age, they will still have to go out. Without a skill to rely on, even if they go out, they will eventually become appendages of others."
Upon arriving, Lin Changning looked around and said, "When I came here, I took a quick look around, and it seems that these young girls and the children in front of them are not doing very well."
The silver allocated by the Prince's Mansion most likely ended up in the pockets of certain individuals. Many common people knew about this, but because the place was run by the Prince's Mansion, no one spoke of it.
As for these women and children, they are all orphans; for them, simply surviving is a blessing, they have no other choice.
At this point, Lin Changning lowered her eyelashes, a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
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