One by one they began to beg for mercy. Mingman was tired of beating them, so he handed them over to the guards who arrived.
The guards quickly reported the matter to the prince, who was sitting in a teahouse waiting for news.
After listening to the report from the servants, he spat out a mouthful of tea. It seemed that he would not have a good night tonight.
The prince immediately took his men and rode towards the outer city.
Li Jingchen said, "Tuantuan, are you okay? Let me take a look."
Li Jingchen looked up and down, "Oh, I'm fine, no need to look, how could I be in trouble!"
Ming Man was a little anxious, "You are her husband, right? Tuantuan is injured. Someone hit her on the back with a stick."
Then he pointed at the robber and said, "Look, the one who's been beaten up."
Li Jingchen's eyes seemed to be filled with blood, and he wished he could kill the robber with a knife right now. This look scared Jiang Tuantuan, because Li Jingchen was usually very gentle.
"Alright, alright, it's nothing serious. The guards are here anyway, so let's go."
Mingman also echoed: "Yes, yes, let's go."
Seeing the carriages nearby, she grabbed one and was about to leave, but was stopped by the guards. "Princess, the prince will be here soon. Please wait a moment, otherwise we will be in trouble."
When Ming Man heard the word "Crown Prince", she immediately panicked and wished she could find a hole to hide in. If the Crown Prince knew about it, it would mean that his father would know about it, and he would definitely be criticized.
Mingman wanted to run out again, but was stopped again. She turned to look at Jiang Tuantuan, who also said that she was powerless. Even when they wanted to leave, they were stopped by the guards, who said they had to wait until the prince came.
There was no choice but to wait in the yard.
Ming Man had a dejected look on her face, and Jiang Tuantuan consoled her, "Well, you could also say you're doing this for the safety of the capital."
"What's the meaning?"
Jiang Tuantuan: "Although you ran away secretly, you saved five kidnapped girls. That's equivalent to saving five families. Isn't that a great achievement? Think about it carefully."
Mingman's eyes lit up, "Tuan Tuan, I understand!"
After waiting for a while, the prince finally arrived, glanced at the robbers, and went to find Mingman.
The prince said angrily, "Explain it."
Ming Man thought of a bunch of excuses, but immediately forgot them all when she saw the Crown Prince. "Brother Crown Prince, I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. I shouldn't have sneaked out, but I saved so many people tonight!"
The prince held his forehead helplessly. "Do you think I don't know the whole story? You were kidnapped. If Jiang Tuan Tuan hadn't come running over, you wouldn't even know where you are now!"
After saying this, he turned and walked towards Jiang Tuan Tuan and Li Jingchen, bowing and thanking them: "Thank you both for your bravery in rescuing me, especially Madam Ling. I will report this to His Majesty."
Jiang Tuantuan said, "Your Highness, thank you for the compliment. Princess Mingman was also very helpful in this matter. She helped subdue several people."
Mingman nodded vigorously in the distance.
The prince glared at Mingman directly.
The kidnapped girls, Mingman, and the robbers were taken away by the prince, leaving only Jiang Tuantuan, Li Jingchen, and Yubao.
There was a carriage inside, but Jiang Tuantuan didn't want to ride it and just wanted to stroll around the street.
On the way, Li Jingchen asked with concern: "Does your back hurt? Let's go see a doctor right away."
Jiang Tuantuan actually still felt a little pain, but still said: "I'm not in pain, it's okay."
Li Jingchen was a little depressed. "I always feel like there's a wall between you and me. No matter what we do, you're not willing to rely on me. I'm not your man anymore."
Jiang Tuantuan said calmly, "No, I just feel like I can do it well, so I don't want to bother others."
Li Jingchen held the sleeping Yubao in one hand and grabbed Jiang Tuantuan's hand with the other, saying angrily, "I am someone else!"
"It's not someone else, you are my husband." After saying that, she tilted her head and smiled sweetly at Li Jingchen.
Li Jingchen lost his temper and had to walk towards the inner city holding Jiang Tuantuan's hand in frustration.
The prince handed the girls over to the county magistrate. The people outside the county government office finally found their daughters, stopped crying, and gradually dispersed.
The robbers were directly handed over to the Dali Temple by the prince, but there was no mention of the princess's involvement in the matter.
Upon receiving the news, the Grand Secretary of the Dali Temple immediately rushed over to try the case overnight, and the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple and the Deputy Secretary of the Dali Temple, who were strolling on the street with their families, were also urgently recalled.
A good thirty-day holiday was ruined by these robbers. The three of them were very angry and immediately used all kinds of tricks on each other. In less than two hours, they confessed everything.
It turned out that this gang had been committing crimes in and around the capital all year round. They would take advantage of the crowds on the streets to abduct girls of marriageable age, ranging in age from ten to sixteen, and then transport them to remote and backward mountain villages to sell them. These villages were extremely patriarchal and believed that girls were cheap embryos who would bring disaster to the family and food when they were born.
So there are almost no girls in the entire mountain village, and all the older women in the village are bought. This has formed a vicious cycle, and the human traffickers have made a lot of money from this.
These girls will be priced differently according to their age and appearance. They are bought home to carry on the family line and give birth to children. If they are disobedient or want to escape, they will be whipped and locked in a pigsty. Once the matter is settled and the child is born, the girls will give up on escaping and start settling down here to raise their children.
Especially the young ones, who know nothing and are even more persecuted, may start having children at the age of fourteen.
The worst thing is that they are bought by the old bachelors in the village. These people will abuse the girls even more and do not treat them as human beings at all. They are just tools for venting their anger.
Beating women has become the norm in this village.
Over the past three or four years, this group of kidnappers has sold forty or fifty girls. One girl could be sold for as little as fifteen taels of silver, and as much as twenty-five taels of silver.
It is said that there are many such gangs across the country, and the matter was immediately reported to the emperor by the Dali Temple.
At this time, the prince also pulled Mingman to tell the emperor about this matter.
After hearing what happened, the emperor praised Jiang Tuantuan greatly, and then criticized Mingman.
Ming Man quickly grabbed the emperor's arm and said, "Father, please don't be angry. I have made a great contribution this time."
Emperor: "What great achievement?"
Ming Man said, "If it weren't for me, how would they have discovered this gang? Besides, I knocked out three or four of the gangsters, tied them up, and taught them a lesson."
The Emperor: "It was Jiang Tuan Tuan who came over to wake you up and gave you the drug. Otherwise, you wouldn't be where you are now."
Ming Man murmured, "But I still did something meritorious."
Seeing this situation, the prince could only try to dissuade him, "Father, Mingman did help, please don't be angry."
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