Ever since Zou brought the Lou family father and son to their door and made a scene without any reason, deeply hurting Zheng Huaiyu and Zheng Fenghui's feelings, she has repeatedly tried to send messages to the siblings in private, hoping to meet them, but Zheng Huaiyu and Zheng Fenghui have ignored her.
Zou was clearly afraid that the two siblings really harbored resentment towards her, so she couldn't wait to use the pretext of visiting the sick to achieve a face-to-face communication with Zheng Huaiyu and Zheng Fenghui.
Gu Qinlan said firmly, "After rejecting Madam Zou's request, we announced to the public that the eldest daughter was not fit to receive guests. We instructed the servants to carefully tidy up the old lady's courtyard in preparation for her glorious return to the mansion."
Jiang Ye suggested, "Perhaps we should send someone to inform the old lady so that she can be prepared."
Gu Qinlan gently shook her hand and calmly replied, "There's no need for that. She can't keep secrets. Once we tell her, it's the same as announcing it to everyone. We'll tell her when she returns to her residence."
At this moment, she had only one urgent wish: that the Jin family could successfully find Zheng Huiyi within three days.
...
Zheng Huiyi was emaciated and huddled in a corner. Only she and two other women remained in the room. One of them was Ms. Zhao, who had previously revealed the truth to her. Her accent was completely different from that of the locals. The other woman, Ms. Wei, spoke fluent local dialect.
The other girls have all been chosen by Mother Luo one after another.
As the sun set, sunlight streamed through the narrow window, casting an even heavier shadow over the hearts of the three women.
With a sob in her voice, Miss Wei asked desperately, "What should we do? They'll be coming to choose again in a little while. I don't want to be taken away, but I don't want to die either. What should we do?"
Miss Zhao remained silent, her eyes tightly closed, leaning against the wall with her hands clenched into fists.
Although Zheng Huiyi did not respond to Miss Wei's question, she had already made up her mind.
As night deepened, the already dimly lit room became even darker.
Zheng Huiyi clung tightly to the two girls, Zhao and Wei.
Based on the pattern of the past few days, Mother Luo will reappear to select women soon.
They are now the only three remaining. They may be spared for now, but what about tomorrow or the day after?
Miss Zhao said in a desperate tone, "When Mother Luo comes again later, I will offer to leave with them. That's all I can do."
Zheng Huiyi cried, tears streaming down her face: "Sister Zhao, what are you doing? Please don't do anything foolish!"
She knew that Miss Zhao came from a prestigious family and could not accept the fate of becoming a prostitute.
Miss Zhao smiled bitterly: "In this situation, what choice do I have? Rather than suffer humiliation and a fate worse than death, I would rather leave cleanly and neatly, at least to keep my chastity, and perhaps I can have a better place in the next life."
Upon hearing this, Miss Wei covered her face and wept bitterly.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. Zheng Huiyi instinctively gripped Zhao's hand tightly, her eyes shining with determination.
Despite the threat of death, Miss Zhao smiled as if it were an everyday occurrence and gently patted her shoulder: "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
The door creaked open, and Mama Luo led her men in, each carrying a swaying lantern.
Miss Zhao slowly withdrew her hand from Zheng Huiyi's grasp and stepped forward, saying, "Then go with you."
Zheng Huiyi hurriedly stood up and firmly shielded Miss Zhao behind her: "This is outrageous!"
As a daughter of the Zheng family, how could she be afraid of death and hide behind others!
Mrs. Luo gave them a cold glance and said sarcastically, "Do I need you to decide who I want to take away?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she turned her head, her gaze falling on Miss Wei, and ordered her subordinates, "Her it is."
Immediately, one of his men stepped forward and roughly grabbed Miss Wei.
Miss Wei screamed in terror and struggled desperately. Suddenly, she pushed Zheng Huiyi away and said in a trembling voice, "Aunt Luo, take her away. I... I'm not feeling well. Don't disturb the guests anymore. Give me two days to recover, and then I'll help you receive guests."
Caught off guard, Zheng Huiyi was pushed and staggered, her head slamming hard against the wall, her forehead instantly splitting open.
Fresh blood gushed out immediately.
Seeing this, Luo's mother was so angry that she raised her hand and slapped Miss Wei hard across the face: "You bitch, you hurt her head, are you trying to ruin my good time?"
Miss Wei was so shocked by the slap that she saw stars and begged for mercy with tears streaming down her face: "Mom, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to. Please don't hit me anymore. How can I entertain customers if I get hurt?"
Mrs. Luo was furious, but she did not lay a hand on Zheng Huiyi again. She grabbed Zheng Huiyi and carefully examined the wound on her forehead.
A thumb-sized wound was visible on her forehead. Mother Luo glared at Miss Wei angrily and then turned to her subordinates, ordering, "Quickly fetch some wound medicine and scar-reducing ointment."
After making the arrangements, she gently pinched Zheng Huiyi's cheek, her tone reassuring: "Don't worry, Mom won't leave any scars on your face."
Zheng Huiyi turned her head away forcefully, disregarding Luo's mother's good intentions.
They might be trying to prevent her from having a scar on her face, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have good intentions!
Mother Luo didn't care about her indifference. She had already expected that in this place, no matter how hard the bone was, she would have a way to soften it.
She gestured to her men to drag Miss Wei out, then said to Zheng Huiyi and Miss Zhao, "Don't be foolish anymore. Living is better than dying. With your looks, you're sure to make something of yourselves in the future."
After saying that, she said to one of her subordinates, "Bring the medicine and have them take it."
In an instant, a thug hurried over, carrying a medicine bottle, and poured out two pills.
Zheng Huiyi's intuition told her that this was no good thing, and she immediately nervously protected Miss Zhao and tried to retreat.
But where could the two frail women go? In an instant, the thug grabbed their chins and forced the pills into their mouths, compelling them to swallow them.
The thugs only released their grip after confirming that they had swallowed the pills.
The two hurriedly tried to vomit the pills out of their throats.
Mother Luo smiled gently and comforted her, "Don't panic, this is not poison, it's just a medicine that temporarily renders you powerless to resist."
She could clearly sense that these two girls were not from ordinary families. Such women valued their reputation extremely highly, and if she was not careful, they might eventually choose to die to preserve their chastity.
She was counting on them to bring her substantial profits, so she couldn't bear to let them die so easily.
Therefore, as soon as she received the medicine, she immediately sent someone to deliver it.
After Luo's mother and her group locked the door and left, Zheng Huiyi and Miss Zhao both collapsed to the ground.
Their physical strength rapidly declined, and soon they even lost the strength to sit up.
Miss Zhao smiled sadly: "I originally planned to defend my innocence with my life, but now it seems that even death has become a luxury."
Zheng Huiyi was also filled with despair.
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