Chapter 182 The Dream of the Red Chamber
Upon hearing the girl's cries, the group of women all thought she was incredibly foolish, and the woman who had initially cried for help even rolled her eyes in disgust.
After witnessing the horrific state of their confinement, why did she still beg this woman for help?
Whether it's a desperate last-ditch effort or mindless crying and complaining, it's all incredibly foolish.
The woman in the floral dress curled her lips into a smile. She looked down at Mu Jianjian and asked, "Oh? Is what you're saying true, young lady?"
"It's true! It's true!" Mu Jianjian nodded hurriedly. "They followed me here. They're people hired by my stepmother. If you can send me back, I'll give you a lot of spirit stones after I take down my stepmother!"
"Rain and Dew, wipe her face clean." The woman glanced at the maid behind her.
"Yes." Yu Lu's movements were very skillful. She took out a damp cloth and wiped it hard on Mu Jianjian's face.
"No, no! What are you doing? Let me go!" Mu Jianjian sensed the true energy emanating from the maid and knew that she had made the right bet.
Mu Jianjian's weak struggles and cries had no effect whatsoever, until a moment later a stunningly beautiful face appeared before the woman.
"Didn't you not want to marry the lame coachman?" The woman's smile widened. "Isn't this helping you achieve your wish?"
"Wh...what do you mean?" Mu Jianjian stepped back, but Yu Lu didn't give her the chance.
"Take her over there and get her sorted out, then lock her up with these people." The woman didn't answer her, instead shifting her gaze to Yulu.
I never expected to get such a good deal when I left Yingzhou and Kyoto.
If that face were to appear in the Dream of the Red Chamber...
But it can be sold for a good price.
“But the two cultivators who came down…” Yu Lu hesitated.
"If it doesn't work, then kill him." The woman frowned but then calmed down. "The situation in Yingzhou has changed drastically. We mustn't make any mistakes when we leave."
"Yes," Yulu replied.
Mu Jianjian played the role of a naive and ignorant girl from beginning to end. She was responsible for creating atmosphere by crying and sobbing during the conversation between the two. After the other party decided where she was going, she finally fainted with relief.
——
When Mu Jianjian woke up again, she was in a moving carriage.
She was surrounded by women dressed in white, all with white veils covering their faces except for their eyes. When they saw her wake up, they all looked at her with different expressions.
"Crackling sound—"
Mu Jianjian only realized that her hands were bound by iron chains after she raised them, and not only her hands... but also her feet.
She carefully recalled what had happened from beginning to end.
Mu Jianjian initially thought it was just a simple case of "human trafficking," but now that she's calmed down, the fact that such a large space was set up underground in Yingzhou Kyoto, coupled with the woman's lack of fear towards the cultivators, is enough to prove that the forces behind it are not simple.
"She didn't want to marry the lame stableman before, but now she's made her situation even worse. I don't know what she was thinking," a woman in a corner said with a disdainful expression.
It was the woman with her hair up who had caught a glimpse of her predicament from behind the vermilion door.
Mu Jianjian ignored her, but the woman beside her tugged at her sleeve and said softly, "You don't need to take it to heart. Sister Zhuang is just all bark and no bite. She's actually a very nice person."
“Okay, thank you,” Mu Jianjian looked at the masked girl with bright eyes, her voice softening, “So, do you know where we are now?”
"I...don't know..." The little girl shook her head in disappointment.
“We’ve already left Yingzhou. We’ve been traveling for three days and three nights after crossing the sea, and you’ve been sleeping for quite a while,” Zhuang Mei said. “What? Did your stepmother have you beaten so badly?”
Those words were really unpleasant to hear.
Mu Jianjian lowered her eyes indifferently, "Instead of putting me down here, you should think about how to get out of here."
"Get out?" Zhuang Mei scoffed. "Once you're in here, don't think about how to get out. You should think about... how to survive."
Zhuang Mei lowered her voice further and further. Seeing that Mu Jianjian's expression remained as calm as ever, while the little girl beside her was so frightened that she shed tears, she softly said, "Boring."
Surprisingly, this "lady" who was abducted halfway through the journey actually had some courage. Now that she's awake, she hasn't cried or made a fuss, and she's completely different from how she was when we first met her.
"Do you know where we're going?" Mu Jianjian grasped the meaning behind Zhuang Mei's words, which also attracted the attention of the women in the carriage.
Zhuang Mei smiled and asked, "Do you really want to know?"
The women all nodded in agreement.
Although I was scared, I was more eager to know what would happen next, so that I would have more time to plan and prepare.
“Duyunfang,” Zhuang Mei said clearly, “Red Mansion.”
Duyunfang!
Women who had heard of those three words turned pale, let alone those in the area behind them.
"Sister Zhuang... what kind of place is Duyunfang?" the little girl next to Mu Jianjian asked. "Is the Red Building in the back... a red building?"
Zhuang Mei was no longer the cold and aloof girl she had been before. For the first time, she looked troubled, unsure of how to tell the young girl in front of her the cruel truth.
“Yes, the Red Mansion is a red building,” Mu Jianjian replied, raising her hand to ruffle the little girl’s hair. “What’s your name?”
"Sister, my name is Shan Chuxue! My parents call me Xue'er." Shan Chuxue's face was flushed.
"Xue'er, my name is Mu Yuanyuan. It's nice to meet you." Mu Jianjian calmed Shan Chuxue down and lowered her eyes.
So it's the Red Mansion in Duyunfang...
As one of the seven major powers on the continent, Duyunfang has a slightly better reputation than Yingzhou, where most demonic cultivators reside. This is because the status of common women in Duyunfang is extremely low, and the resale of female slaves between official families is commonplace.
Unlike other forces that are controlled by major cultivation sects, all resources of Duyunfang are concentrated in the hands of the imperial power, resulting in extremely uneven distribution.
The Red Mansion, on the other hand, was a place similar to a brothel in Duyunfang.
"My name is Zhuang Mei." Zhuang Mei said, raising her eyes to meet Mu Jianjian's gaze. She noticed that Mu Jianjian's clear eyes looked somewhat unnatural.
This is completely unrelated to his previous foolish appearance.
Upon hearing Zhuang Mei speak, the other women also announced their names, numbering about twenty or thirty.
Amidst their confusion and fear about the future, they could only find a sliver of warmth by banding together, which encouraged them to keep going.
"Shut up! What's all the noise about!" A man's shout came from outside the carriage, interrupting the woman who was telling her story. She immediately fell silent and looked terrified.
"Clang—" The carriage door was opened, and the man's figure appeared in everyone's sight.
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