Lin Shu quickly gave chase and soon subdued the old woman.
Qin Wu saw another burly man trying to escape, so he stepped forward and quickly pinned the man to the ground.
The old woman, who was dragged back by Lin Shu, was pale-faced and shook her head violently. "I don't know, I don't know anything, girl, please let me go."
When Lin Shu and Qin Wu saw Qiu Yan again, they both looked apologetic.
Qiu Yan said, "I haven't even asked you a question yet, and you're already saying you don't know? What don't you know?"
"I'm just an ordinary person, and you arrested me for no reason. How am I supposed to know what happened..." The old woman looked at the crowd with pleading eyes.
The crowd had no idea what had happened and all wore expressions of schadenfreude.
"You have abducted and illegally traded children; your crimes are unforgivable!"
Child abduction?
As soon as Qiu Yan said this, the people around her immediately erupted in an uproar.
"This old woman looks kind and gentle; she doesn't seem like a bad person."
"That's hard to say; there have been several cases of children and women going missing recently."
"Human traffickers are despicable. In my opinion, they should be handed over to the authorities and let them handle it."
"My child, my child is missing, have you kidnapped him...?"
"..."
At this moment, the noble lady who had been quietly observing finally spoke up, "I've seen you before, you're that matchmaker."
"Who are you? I don't know you." The old woman's body went limp; she had long forgotten about the noble lady.
She found it strange; they had sent the trafficked women, children, and infants elsewhere, so how could she still run into someone she knew here?
Human traffickers have always been severely punished, and she knew that once they were caught by the authorities, they would never be able to get out alive.
Upon being identified by the noblewoman, passersby began to shout and send the three men to the authorities.
The human traffickers' actions are outrageous and have provoked public outrage.
The three tried to run, but with Lin Shu and Qin Wu there, they couldn't escape.
One of the women who lost her child lost her mind and shouted for these people to return her child.
Qiu Yan whispered a few words to Lin Shu, and Lin Shu turned around and disappeared.
When Lin Shu came over again, a patrol of officers followed behind her.
After briefly inquiring about the situation, Zheng, the county magistrate in charge, revealed an angry expression.
"hateful!"
At the same time, he looked gratefully at the people in front of him, who had helped them a great deal.
A series of recent missing children cases have given Mr. Tang a real headache.
The old woman was still vehemently protesting, "We're not human traffickers, you've misunderstood..."
"Let's talk about this when we see our adults!"
Before leaving, County Commandant Zheng looked at Qiu Yan and said, "Take your child and come with us."
Qiu Yan nodded in agreement, and as a witness, she pulled Gu Xiaoran along behind her.
Qiu Dayu, Zhou Zifang, and the others wanted to follow, but Qiu Yan told them to go back and greet the guests.
As the officials walked, the pedestrians behind them followed closely, especially the woman who had lost her child.
Along the way, Qiu Yan taught Gu Xiaoran how to respond in court. It's unclear whether Gu Xiaoran listened or not, but she just nodded obediently.
Upon hearing that someone had caught a human trafficker, the county magistrate rushed to the county government office and brought the criminal and witnesses to the court.
Two burly men and an old woman, their hands bound, were led to the hall. Zheng, the county magistrate, struck them hard in the back of the knees, forcing them to kneel on the ground.
Then, Qiu Yan led Gu Xiaoran to the courtroom.
Outside the courtroom, a large crowd of onlookers had gathered.
"My lord, I am innocent..."
"I'm innocent!"
Tang Yi glared fiercely at the three people below the hall. "Silence!"
Then, he squinted at Qiu Yan and asked, "It's you again? You're the one who arrested these human traffickers?"
Qiu Yan bowed and explained the matter to the magistrate, adding at the end,
"It was thanks to the people of Xingyue Tower that we were able to capture all three of them."
The fact that Xingyuelou was assisting the government in handling the case made Tang Yi secretly develop a good impression of the restaurant.
Gu Xiaoran pointed at the old woman and said in a childish voice, "That old lady said she would take me to find my mother and gave me candy, but I don't know her. She's a bad person and wants to take me away..."
This was the first time Tang Yi had ever encountered such a small witness.
He never expected that a three-year-old child would be so fearless in court.
The old woman said urgently, "Sir, you can't believe what children say!"
“Children don’t lie!” With a woman’s voice, the noblewoman stepped into the courtroom.
The noble lady was none other than Madam Ding, the wife of the former county magistrate.
Madam Ding glanced at Gu Xiaoran, who was so frightened that she immediately shrank into Qiu Yan's arms.
That's right, Gu Xiaoran ran out of Xingyue Tower because she saw her.
Tang Yi inquired, "May I ask what brings Madam Ding here?"
His former position as county magistrate died in the line of duty, so he was always kind to Madam Ding.
Madam Ding bowed and replied, "Sir, I don't know if they are human traffickers, but like human brokers, they are engaged in the business of buying and selling people. You can find out by investigating."
The woman behind him who had lost her child suddenly rushed into the courtroom, knelt on the ground, and begged the magistrate to help her find her child.
Tang Yi waved for her to leave and immediately ordered the three of them to be taken to prison.
Afterwards, he sent the current county constable to investigate the matter, determined to bring all human traffickers to justice and rescue the abducted people.
...outside the county government office.
When Gu Xiaoran saw Madam Ding walking towards him, he shrank closer to Qiu Yan.
Madam Ding caught up with the two of them. "You brat, you've been eating and staying at my house for free for quite some time without a single word of thanks. Now that you see me, you're so afraid of me. I'm not some tiger from the mountains, I'm not going to eat you."
Gu Xiaoran looked at her timidly, her small eyes filled with rejection.
When Qiu Yan saw Madam Ding again, it was a different situation. "Madam, thank you for speaking up for me earlier."
Madam Ding said, "I'm just telling the truth, you don't need to thank me." She also hated human traffickers.
Having just witnessed Qiu Yan subdue those three men, Madam Ding felt a surge of admiration for her. Such a girl was a rare find.
"Qiu Yan, Madam Ding, what are you doing together?" Jiang Liu had heard that the people from Xingyue Tower had caught human traffickers, so out of curiosity, she came to check it out. As soon as she came out, she ran into Qiu Yan and Madam Ding.
Qiu Yan briefly explained what had happened, and Jiang Liu looked helplessly at Gu Xiaoran, this mischievous child, "Xiaoran, thankfully you're alright."
Madam Ding looked at the two of them, somewhat puzzled, "Madam Tang, do you know each other?"
Jiang Liu nodded. Madam Ding was a reserved person, so Jiang Liu didn't have much contact with her. But now that they had met, and thinking about the Zhang family's cloth shop business, she had something to discuss with her, so she took the initiative to speak:
"Madam Ding, Qiu Yan, would you be interested in having a casual meal together at Xingyue Tower?"
A minor incident occurred halfway through the journey. Madam Ding, who was already quite hungry, said, "Alright, let's go together."
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