Can the charity organizations see this? Can they arrest everyone?
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, but the cries of infants and the chirping of birds could already be heard.
A clear and peaceful scene at dawn.
If Lü Aolan were to get lost and be taken to a charity, that would be a good thing, saving us a lot of trouble.
Yan Huanyue blinked her bloodshot eyes, which had been burning from staying up for three days and three nights, and made a hand seal to summon back the two drops of blood and the talisman.
He swallowed a pill, sheathed his sword, and leaped from mid-air to the front of the charity hall.
Hearing footsteps and the sound of someone opening the door through the door, Yan Huanyue knocked on the door.
A few moments later, several trembling footsteps approached, and the wooden door creaked open after a while.
A kind-faced old woman peeked out, looking at the travel-worn and weary-looking woman outside the door. Seeing that she was alone, she couldn't help but ask, "Girl, what's wrong?"
Yan Huanyue originally wanted to say she was looking for someone.
But the other person spoke first: "Poor thing, come in first."
He opened the door a little wider, making room for her, and said, "Come in and have some hot water."
Yan Huanyue thanked her and then went inside.
After passing the screen wall carved with a hundred children in a reunion pattern, one sees only a large three-room building facing south inside the charity hall, with three small side rooms on each of the east and west sides, and a gatehouse near the main gate. Long bronze umbrellas hang in the four corners of the courtyard.
A tall, old locust tree in the courtyard blocked out the sun, silencing the intermittent cries of the baby in this small corner.
Several long ropes were tied one end to a tree and the other end to the eaves of the side room, where many children's clothes that had not been taken in yesterday were drying in the dim and damp shade.
There is a passageway next to the main house, and perhaps there is another courtyard behind it.
Yan Huanyue guessed that this charity must be taking in some infants whose parents are unable to raise them, or who are orphans.
So, has Lü Aolan been helping out here all this time?
Yan Huanyue walked a few steps and followed the old woman into the gatehouse. Before she could speak, the old woman pushed her to sit on a small stool and said affectionately, "Girl, sit for a while. Who introduced you?"
Yan Huanyue looked puzzled and said, "I'm not here to look for work..."
The old woman pulled up a small stool and sat down next to her. She then reached for a kettle on the stove, poured her a cup of hot water, and said kindly, "Haha, who else but us old folks would come here looking for work? Such a lovely girl, I wonder who introduced her. She's probably making quite a bit of money."
If I'm not looking for work, what am I doing here that requires introductions? And I can even make money from introducing people?
Yan Huanyue suddenly smelled a lingering stench of decay emanating from the old woman, a stench that even the strong aroma of fresh tea in her cup couldn't mask.
She glanced sharply at the small clothes under the shade of the trees in the courtyard, which were clearly damp with moisture, and tentatively touched her belly gently, only to sigh, "Alas... to tell you the truth, I came by myself."
The old woman's face instantly broke into a wide smile, her wrinkles rippling with joy. She reached out and patted the girl's shoulder, comforting her, "Good girl, so, are you married?"
Yan Huanyue nodded.
"Is it that he doesn't want it, or that his family doesn't want it?"
Yan Huanyue sighed, "This has nothing to do with him."
"Huh!"
Upon hearing this, the old woman's cloudy eyes immediately brightened, and her frail and elderly spirits instantly lifted.
She pulled the stool closer to Yan Huanyue, her face full of barely concealed curiosity. "So, you had an affair and got pregnant, and were kicked out?"
Yan Huanyue only glanced at the old woman beside her, then lowered her head again without saying a word.
Since entering the room, Yan Huanyue has not uttered a single lie. As for how the other party interprets it, that depends on what the other party intends for her to do.
"Alas... poor soul." The old woman smoothed her hair. "Who didn't fall for a few handsome young men when they were young? Your husband is also a bit dim-witted. If he could have taken better care of you, wouldn't you be supporting their whole family with the money you're earning?"
"Forget it, since you've come to seek refuge here, I might as well act as a middleman for you and talk to the head of the hall. That way, you'll have a roof over your head to shelter you from the wind and rain, so you can have the child and make other plans and save up some capital for yourself."
She was old and short-sighted, and her eldest grandson was still waiting for money to get married. In the past, those matchmakers made a lot of money, so she could only pick up individual customers who came to her door.
Yan Huanyue thought for a moment and asked, "When I came here, I heard about a young girl with dementia. People advised me to stay away from her so I wouldn't get hurt by her recklessness. What does she do?"
The old woman said, "You mean that stupid girl? Don't even mention it. People like that were originally useful, but there was a fool who passed on his stupidity to his children. The people who had placed orders refused to take them on, leaving about ten stupid children in the hall. So the hall master stopped using these idiots he picked up. When that stupid girl came, she was assigned to serve the hall master."
Yan Huanyue now fully understood what kind of shady business this place was doing under the guise of a charity.
She laughed and said, "Since you have dementia, can you take care of people?"
The old woman also looked puzzled, "That's right, the hall master always keeps her by his side."
Yan Huanyue asked, "What's her name?"
"You know, this guy is stupid, and his name is weird too, I think it's something like 'Ao Ao' or something."
Just then, a chime sounded from outside.
The old woman stood up, waved her hand, and gestured for Yan Huanyue to go out. "Come on, come on, I'll take you to see the hall master. In a little while, you have to agree to whatever I say. If you don't agree, I can't guarantee you can stay."
Yan Huanyue nodded gratefully.
A plump middle-aged woman sat on a high chair under a Buddha painting in the main hall of the house; this was the head of the charity hall.
Standing next to her was a fair-skinned, robust young woman who looked rather simple-minded.
The hall master, holding a colorful porcelain teacup, glanced at the two people standing in the hall without saying a word.
The old woman also seemed very reserved and dared not speak for the time being.
Finally, the head of the hall finished his cup of tea before looking directly at the old woman and saying in a nonchalant tone, "Sixth Aunt, you're making a fuss over nothing again. I've told you countless times, if anyone comes to investigate, we'll all be in deep trouble."
The old woman smiled apologetically and said, "I would never do such a thing. This is really because she is a distant relative who came to us for help. I really had no choice. She is pregnant. Everyone can give birth. Why don't you help your own relatives and let outsiders make money instead?"
The hall master then beckoned to Yan Huanyue, called her to his side, took her hand and looked her over again, his eyes filled with undisguised satisfaction.
"Nice clothes, and a good-looking woman, what brings you here?"
Yan Huanyue lowered her head and remained silent.
The old woman stepped forward with a smile and said, "She was married and living a good life, but she was seduced by a lazy young man. When she was about to get old, she was sent home. She was bored and came to my place."
The hall master casually placed his hand on Yan Huanyue's wrist, and Yan Huanyue drew upon a wisp of spiritual energy to disrupt her pulse.
The hall master smiled and raised his hand to touch her stomach.
Yan Huanyue gathered a wisp of spiritual energy and let it linger in her abdomen.
The hall master said, "The skirt is so wide, you can't tell she's this far along in her pregnancy. Is she five months pregnant?"
Yan Huanyue simply nodded in shame, and then glanced at the dazed maid, noticing that her features did indeed bear some resemblance to the couple she had seen the previous night.
Yan Huanyue glanced at her a few more times, and she happily tried to drag Yan Huanyue out to play.
The hall master seemed unable to do anything about her, so he could only pull her away himself and say, "Go play outside by yourself."
Lü Aolan happily skipped outside to pick leaves.
The hall master said to Yan Huanyue, "Are you going to keep the baby in your belly with you?"
Yan Huanyue shook her head.
The hall master said, "Please come down for now. The hall will help him find a family, but you..."
Yan Huanyue said, "I'll listen to you."
"Since you're new here, we'll help you find a place to stay in a village outside later, but you'll still have to pay us back afterwards."
"But don't worry, as long as you perform well, I will give you a chance if some people are willing to pay a high price. You don't need to worry about things that would tarnish your reputation. We have magic. As long as we stick the seed on your belly, it will grow on its own."
Yan Huanyue had never witnessed anything like this before.
As he spoke, the hall master took out another seal and stamped a blood-red image of a boy and girl holding a carp directly into her palm, laughing, "If you go out and complain, before you even open your mouth, I guarantee you'll explode and die."
Yan Huanyue opened her hand and looked at it; the blood-red eyes of the child in her palm seemed to move slightly.
Yan Huanyue was startled, feeling a faint breath creep into her palm through the seal and travel towards her abdomen.
She immediately used her spiritual energy to block it, and then pushed it out with her other hand.
After she followed the old woman who guarded the gate out of the charity hall, she secretly opened her hand and saw that it was a tiny gray insect, as fine as dust.
It was anxiously pacing around, desperately trying to squeeze into her palm; it was almost invisible unless you looked closely.
Yan Huanyue glanced back at the charity hall built of bluestone.
As soon as the seal touched his hand, insects went straight into his stomach. Coupled with what the hall master had just said, what exactly are these crying infants in this charity hall?
The old woman led her to a nearby, seemingly desolate village and handed her over to a man named Uncle Ge, who then took her to arrange accommodation.
Some early risers have already started taking walks around.
Along the village road, many pregnant women were chatting idly. Some houses had their doors and windows sealed, and it was quiet inside, but Yan Huanyue could hear breathing sounds as she passed by.
She overheard these women addressing each other as mother and daughter, discussing how their fathers, brothers, and husbands drank and gambled, and how they were recently pressuring them for money.
As she spoke, she mentioned that some unfortunate woman had given birth to a disabled child. The customer who had placed an order was unwilling to take the child in, and the charity wouldn't care for him either. She couldn't bear to part with him, so she took him home, only to be beaten by her husband's family.
Yan Huanyue suddenly remembered the scene last night at the inn, when Mother Lü suddenly and inexplicably started to insult her and the other three women.
Yan Huanyue asked Uncle Ge, "What's inside those houses with their doors and windows sealed off...?"
Uncle Ge smiled dismissively and said, "None of them are as open-minded as you. Tell me, how come there are still people who refuse to earn money on their own? Why do we have to resort to violence? They used to make a fuss, but now they're all quiet, aren't they?"
A lingering stench of blood hung in the air. Something churned in Yan Huanyue's stomach. She asked calmly, "So, are you willing to earn money on your own like this?"
Uncle Ge's expression turned serious, filled with the fury of someone who had been offended by such an extremely rude and absurd person. "You belly seller, who are you insulting? If you weren't brought by Lao Liu's family, I would have locked you up too!"
Yan Huanyue asked, "Please don't be angry. I'm young and don't know how to speak properly. I'm just shy and afraid of being found out. I hope no one from the immortal sect will come to investigate. If this gets back to my hometown, I'll be ruined."
Uncle Ge glared at her, displaying a somewhat arrogant air of old age in front of the young and beautiful woman, and said:
"There are thieves who can be thieves for a thousand years, but there's no such thing as a thousand years of guarding against thieves. If someone comes to investigate, we just move to another place and continue making money. This world is so big, can you even see a few fleas growing in the cracks of a clod of earth? Can you catch them all? What's there to be afraid of? The bold get rich, the timid starve. The incident in Tingnan caused such a big stir, but who knew that those criminals had also taken money from us before..."
As he spoke, he realized that he had fallen into his old habit of showing off and lecturing again, and immediately shut his mouth.
Yan Huanyue sneered and flicked the insect she was holding at Uncle Ge's neck, watching as the insect silently pierced his neck.
She saw a few of them here.
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