Last night, as the burning desire finally subsided and Shen Qing's confused consciousness gradually cleared, she tried to sit up but felt a sharp pain in her right wrist. She then realized that she was tied to the headboard with ropes, and her wrist was already rubbed raw and swollen.
He frowned, and by the moonlight streaming through the window, he saw a person lying face down beside the bed. Her long, black hair cascaded down her tired shoulders. Although he couldn't see her face, Shen Qinghe instantly recognized her from her familiar figure.
His breath hitched as fragmented memories flooded back, giving him a splitting headache. For a moment, he couldn't tell whether those lingering scenes were real or just absurd dreams induced by the drugs.
Just as he was trying to sort out his thoughts, Meng Zhao, who was lying on the edge of the bed, suddenly groaned softly and unconsciously changed her position. Shen Qinghe suddenly came to his senses, first enduring the pain to untie the ropes on his wrists, then cleaning the filth off his body, carefully bending down, putting one hand under her knees and the other supporting her shoulders and back, and steadily lifting her up.
The sudden lift almost woke Meng Zhao up, but he was exhausted after a busy night and his eyelids were too heavy to open. He instinctively found a comfortable position, and his forehead rested right against the crook of Shen Qing's neck. Shen Qing stiffened and his breathing became lighter.
As Shen Qinghe stepped out of the room carrying Meng Zhao, the people waiting in the courtyard immediately surrounded them. Wei Ze was about to speak when Shen Qinghe stared at him with a sharp gaze, and everyone immediately fell silent.
"Are there any clean rooms available?" he asked in a low voice.
Wei Ming immediately understood and pointed to a side room on the west side. Afu jogged forward, gently pushed open the wooden door, and Shen Qinghe carried Meng Zhao across the threshold to the bedside, where he gently put Meng Zhao down.
Seeing the mottled red marks on Meng Zhao's wrist hanging by the bedside, Shen Qinghe's breath hitched. She knelt on one knee in front of the bed, carefully lifted the wrist, took out a plain white handkerchief, soaked it in warm water, and gently wiped away the marks.
But when he saw that no matter how he wiped, the teeth marks on his wrist could not be completely removed, he felt both guilty and worried. The first time he expressed his feelings, she avoided him for two years. The last time he was abrupt with her, he was not allowed to enter the Meng residence for nearly half a year. This time, he was afraid that she would hold a grudge for the rest of her life.
Footsteps came from outside. Shen Qinghe knew there were still important matters to attend to, so he gently put Meng Zhao's hand down and then quietly withdrew.
The moment he stepped out of the room, the gentleness on his face vanished, replaced by barely suppressed anger, especially when he saw the woman in the courtyard; his eyes flashed even colder.
The woman was so frightened by his imposing aura that she kept backing away. "My lord, please understand! I didn't come of my own accord. These two gentlemen paid a large sum of money for me to come."
Shen Qinghe's sharp gaze swept over Wei Ze and Wei Ming, who immediately knelt down, cold sweat beading on their foreheads. Shen Qinghe gritted his teeth and asked, "Where are you from?"
"I... I'm from Zuiyuelou, my name is Rumeng," the woman answered tremblingly, not daring to even lift her head.
Shen Qinghe's cold gaze swept over Afu beside him, and he ordered in a deep voice, "After dawn, send someone to Zuiyue Tower to redeem her." After speaking, he turned to Rumeng, his eyes sharp as knives, "Today, if you reveal a single word of what you saw and heard here, you don't want to know the consequences."
Ru Meng trembled and knelt down with a thud: "Your Excellency is wise! I didn't see anything today!" She bit her lip and mustered her courage to say: "However, the girls of Zuiyue Tower cannot be redeemed."
Why?
She gripped the hem of her dress tightly, her knuckles turning white. After much deliberation, she said in a trembling voice, "Because most of the girls at Zuiyue Tower are relatives of disgraced officials..." She didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning was already clear.
Shen Qinghe's eyes instantly became unfathomable, and he said to Wei Ming, "Go and find out who is backing Zuiyue Tower."
He then said to Rumeng, "You should stay here for now. We'll make a decision after we've investigated the matter thoroughly."
Official prostitutes were a group of people of low social status directly under the jurisdiction of the government. Most of them were the relatives of officials who had committed crimes. Although there were often loopholes in the enforcement, according to the law, although official prostitutes were of low social status, they were only allowed to provide singing and dancing services for officials' banquets, military camp rewards and other occasions. They were strictly prohibited from selling themselves to customers.
The fact that Ru Meng, as a family member of a disgraced official, appeared at Zuiyue Tower suggests that local officials colluded with brothels, operating as private brothels for personal gain.
Zhao De'an dared to lay a hand on the imperial envoy, and Zuiyuelou dared to harbor official prostitutes. Every single incident showed that the officialdom of Huai'an was already riddled with holes. Shen Qinghe stood in the courtyard with his hands behind his back, his expression cold and stern. He asked Wei Ze beside him in a deep voice, "Did those servants reveal any useful information?"
Wei Ze bowed his head and reported, "My lord, the investigation is still ongoing, and there has been no news yet."
"Let's go take a look." Shen Qinghe started walking outside.
As dawn approached, Shen Qinghe stepped out of the dark room, slowly took the handkerchief Wei Ming handed her, and wiped the bloodstains from her slender fingers one by one, her face full of disgust.
Wei Ming stood respectfully to the side, not daring to utter a sound. As a secret guard, he had seen all sorts of torture methods, but after witnessing Lord Shen's interrogation techniques, he still couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine. He couldn't understand how this top scholar, who should have been aloof and arrogant, could be so ruthless.
Shen Qinghe straightened his clothes and said, "Let's go and meet that Prefect Zhao."
***
After Shen Qinghe came out of the government office, he looked up at the sky and hurried back to the inn. But when he got to the door, he suddenly hesitated and didn't dare to knock, like a child who had done something wrong and was afraid of being scolded by his parents.
He waited until he heard angry voices coming from inside before gently pushing open the door.
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