Chapter 770 Are You Still a Man?
"It was my fault!" Sun's face was deathly pale. "My sister-in-law had said she would go find someone, but I kept stopping her. If anything had happened to Donghua, I wouldn't want to live anymore!"
Chunhua quickly helped Sun up, saying, "Donghua is always clever; nothing will happen to her..."
"I'll report this to the authorities!" Old Zhao said in a muffled voice. "Who would have thought such a thing would happen in the capital? No one should blame themselves; the right thing to do is to find the person in charge as soon as possible."
Cheng Wanwan said with a solemn expression, "At the foot of the imperial city, in broad daylight, those people dared to arrest someone in the street. They must have something to rely on... Second Uncle and Third Uncle, you and Father go to report to the authorities. I'm going to General Ruan's residence. Da Shan and Er Gou, you continue to arrange for people to gather information..."
After arranging everything, she did not take a carriage, but rode directly to the Ruan residence.
It was almost midnight, and there were only a few people on the streets. The entire imperial city was asleep, and the sound of horses' hooves was particularly noticeable.
Cheng Wanwan didn't care about anything else and sped up to the Ruan residence. Cheng Jia dismounted, walked up the steps, and knocked on the door.
A servant came to open the door, yawning. Upon seeing that it was Madam Sui, he immediately bowed and then hurried inside to report.
The Ruan family was a family of military generals. General Ruan Jingwei, the Grand General of the Cavalry, held military power and was a person with real power, which was much better than her, a woman with only an imperial title.
With the help of the Ruan family's troops, the entire capital city was almost turned upside down.
As dawn approached, they still hadn't found any trace of Donghua.
"Madam Sui, don't worry," General Ruan reassured her. "I will use the pretext of inspecting the rebels to seal off the capital and search every household. I will definitely help you find Madam Sui's niece."
Cheng Wanwan looked exhausted: "General Ruan is probably going to offend quite a few people."
Last night, the search mainly took place in streets and alleys, ordinary people's homes, restaurants, brothels, teahouses, and other similar locations.
Next, they might have to search the residences of powerful and influential people, which would inevitably provoke their displeasure.
But Cheng Wanwan was at her wit's end; the longer it dragged on, the more dangerous it would be for Donghua.
When she first came into this world five years ago, she did not like Donghua, but after five years together, who could not have feelings for her?
As the two were talking, a servant rushed in to report: "Eunuch Ming has arrived."
Eunuch Ming arrived in a hurry, bowed, and said, "When His Majesty arrived today, he heard about Lady Sui's niece and immediately issued an imperial edict ordering General Ruan to find Lady Sui's niece. If the Imperial Guards are needed, His Majesty will send them immediately."
Cheng Wanwan was deeply moved: "Please ask Eunuch Ming to convey my gratitude to the Emperor. Once my niece returns safely, I will definitely go to the palace to express my thanks."
With the Emperor's decree in hand, General Ruan became even less concerned about the feelings of the powerful and influential. He led his men, knocking on doors and searching house by house.
As dawn broke, sunlight streamed in through the high windowpanes.
Donghua rubbed her eyes and sat up. It took her a while to realize what was happening, and her little face immediately drooped.
By the sunlight, she could finally see the boy who had talked with her for so long the night before. He looked about thirteen or fourteen years old and his face was very pale, probably because he had been starving for a long time.
He was quite good-looking, probably like the handsome young man described in books.
She nudged the boy: "Hey, Li Haoyang, wake up and get up to help."
Li Haoyang hadn't been asleep; he had just closed his eyes to rest. He opened them and asked, "What kind of help do I need?"
"See that window frame above? If we can break through the wooden frame, I'm small enough to squeeze through." Donghua stood up and looked up. "I'll sit on your shoulders and lift me up. After I get out, I'll bring people to rescue you. Don't worry, I'm not an ordinary person. If I say I'll come back to rescue you, I definitely will."
Li Haoyang: "..."
Last night, the girl said she was from the village. How unusual could a girl who grew up in the village be?
Before he could speak, Donghua pulled him over: "You squat down first, I'll ride on you..."
"Men and women shouldn't touch each other." Li Haoyang quickly pulled away from her touch. "No, you're wearing a skirt, this is bad for your reputation..."
Even if a woman is wearing trousers, it's still inappropriate for her to sit on a man's shoulders...
"What are you talking about?" Donghua rolled her eyes in anger. "Tell me yourself, which is more important, escaping or your reputation? Anyway, I've never heard of the word 'reputation' in the village. We villagers don't care about these things, so don't be so old-fashioned. If you keep dawdling, those people will be here soon. If I die here, I'll haunt you even as a ghost."
She forcefully pressed Li Haoyang down and straddled his shoulders, saying, "I'm sitting still, you can stand up now."
Li Haoyang's face darkened.
But what could he do now that things had come to this?
At worst, he can take responsibility after we get out...
He leaned against the wall and struggled to get up, but he was too weak and couldn't stand up no matter how hard he tried.
"Are you even a man?" Donghua was stunned. "A boy like you will never be able to find a wife in our village. Never mind, I'll squat down and you ride on my shoulders. I'll lift you up so you can escape first. Remember to find my aunt; she lives there..."
She fidgeted on Li Haoyang's shoulder, trying to jump down. Li Haoyang was already unsteady, and with her thrashing around, the two of them fell to the ground with a loud bang.
At that moment, the attic door was also kicked open.
"You brat, trying to escape!" A burly man rushed in, grabbed Donghua, and said, "Tie her up and take her away."
Donghua's face turned pale with fright, and she struggled desperately: "Where are you taking me? I don't want to go anywhere..."
Although she didn't understand the proper boundaries between men and women, nor did she care about her reputation or chastity, she knew that being sold to a brothel was definitely not a good thing, and she would never be able to get married in the future!
She grabbed Li Haoyang's leg and cried out, "Help! Help me!"
The burly man yanked her hard, and she grabbed Li Haoyang's hand and yanked it back, tearing his clothes to shreds and revealing the boy's pale thighs.
Li Haoyang disregarded all else and stepped forward to grab Donghua's hand, attempting to save her.
"I'd completely forgotten about you, you brat!" The burly man kicked Li Haoyang in the shoulder. "I was originally planning to spare your life, but things are too tense outside now. It'll be cleaner to kill you! Men, stuff this brat into the carriage, and hang this brat from the roof beam!"
"yes!"
Four or five burly men immediately rushed in from outside the door.
Donghua was still terrified of being sold to a brothel when she heard the big man's words and immediately turned to look at Li Haoyang.
Although it was their first meeting, they had spent a night together. If he were to die right before her eyes, she would be extremely saddened when she thought about it later.
But she's in dire straits herself now, what can she do...?
Donghua's brain started working at lightning speed.
Suddenly, she remembered that she seemed to have brought something with her...
While the burly men were preparing to deal with Li Haoyang, she quickly reached into her waist pouch, pulled out a money pouch, and took out a paper packet from it.
She shouted, "Li Haoyang, close your eyes!"
Li Haoyang didn't know what she was going to do, so he instinctively closed his eyes.
Donghua opened the paper package and blew hard in the direction of the burly man.
This is chili powder unique to Dahe Town, a secret recipe that makes it incredibly spicy. She heard that food in the capital tends to be sweet, so she specially prepared a lot to bring over. She never expected it would come in handy at a time like this.
She grabbed Li Haoyang's hand: "Don't just stand there, run away!"
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