"Xiao Kui, give me back Yang Hong! How much money do you want? Isn't that enough?" Sun cried out.
Seeing that Madam Sun was losing her temper, Prefect Shen ordered her to be taken away.
After Sun was taken away, Prefect Shen spoke:
“According to the laws of the Great Northern Dynasty, anyone involved in human trafficking, whether a principal offender or an accomplice, must be beheaded. Xiao Kui, tell me, in Yang Hong’s case, are you a principal offender or an accomplice?”
"Your Excellency, spare my life!" Xiao Kui was terrified and kept kowtowing and begging for mercy.
"Xiao Kui, let me ask you, how many times has that ship come to the dock, and how many slaves did it take away each time? How many people have been taken away in total over the years?"
Xiao Kui was shocked. The prefect knew about this matter. It seemed that the prefect might know about the bad things he had done at the dock.
"Your Excellency, that small boat came here two years ago and transported more than eighty people."
They came twice last year, once in the first half of the year, transporting over seventy people, and once in the second half of the year, transporting one hundred and ten people. In total, they transported over two hundred and sixty people across the three trips.
In just two short years, so many people in Qing'an Prefecture were trafficked, yet the government was unaware of it, which greatly shocked Prefect Shen.
"Where did so many people come from, and where will they be transported to?"
"These people were all brought here by Master Tiao. Most of them are idiots and fools, and some are vagrants and refugees."
I heard from Uncle Tiao that all these people are going to be sent to Yuanxi to mine jade.
Prefect Shen certainly knew where Yuanxi was. It was a vast Gobi Desert, rich in jade, but sparsely populated and with a very harsh environment.
Since no one was willing to mine there, some mine owners spent a lot of money to buy slaves. This had been the case for many years, and although the imperial court had explicitly prohibited it, this phenomenon could not be stopped.
“The area to the west was originally a desolate and wild land, thousands of miles away from here, with no waterways. How could a boat possibly reach there?”
"Although there is no waterway, one can travel by boat to Yuanshui. From Yuanshui to Yuanxi, it is only five hundred li away, and it will take only a few days to reach the destination."
"Alright, let's not talk about this for now. I'm asking you, when did you meet Brother Tiao? Tell me about him, don't hide anything."
"Yes, Your Excellency, I will not hide anything. Master Tiao's name is Jiang Baitiao, and he lives in Jiangjiadun. This village is not far from Yingkou Town, less than an hour's journey away."
I've known him for three or four years. Back then, he was just a small-time hoodlum in the village who often led a few people to cause trouble at the dock in Yingkou Town.
Our relationship wasn't very good at first, but it only improved after I acquired shares in the docks.
Later, his business grew bigger and bigger, and he became very generous to me. He was very loyal and often helped me solve problems, doing me a lot of favors.
Until one day, he wanted to use my dock, saying that a group of people wanted to board a ship from here, and I readily agreed.
It was from that time that I learned he was a human trafficker who had been involved in human trafficking. I was terrified. I knew that if you were caught by the authorities for human trafficking, you would be beheaded.
Uncle Tiao comforted me, saying that most of the people who were trafficked were abandoned by their families, and that most of them were mentally challenged or homeless.
These people were sent to work in the west, where they were at least given food to eat; in fact, they were doing a good deed.
Although I don't think this is a good thing, I still got involved. Your Honor, I will never dare to do it again. Please give me a chance to make amends.
Prefect Shen began to ponder: if Jiang Baitiao could run such a large-scale human trafficking business, his organization must be enormous.
The slave-trading ship and the mine owners who received these slaves were also involved in the human trafficking operation and must be apprehended.
Even if Xiao Kui and Jiang Baitiao are captured and punished accordingly, it will not bring the real masterminds to justice.
To completely apprehend this human trafficking ring, a meticulous plan is essential; rash actions are unacceptable.
Thinking of this, Prefect Shen looked at Xiao Kui and asked:
"Xiao Kui, you have committed a capital crime by participating in human trafficking. Do you have anything else to say?"
Prefect Shen's words terrified Xiao Kui so much that he collapsed to the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.
"Your Excellency, please spare my life! I promise I will never do it again!"
"I can spare your life, but I don't know if Yang Hong is dead. If he can be rescued, you can certainly be spared the death penalty."
Upon hearing this, a glimmer of hope flashed through Xiao Kui's mind, and he quickly said, "I am willing to fully cooperate with the government to capture those human traffickers, rescue Yang Hong, and make amends for my past mistakes."
“That works too. I can let you go back first. You can continue doing what you used to do. I will arrange for someone to stay by your side, like your attendant. We can’t let anyone else see through our disguise.”
"The government will tell you what they need you to do; just do as they say. If you dare to try anything funny, you'll be executed immediately."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Kui's eyes lit up as if he had grasped a lifeline, and he immediately kowtowed to express his gratitude.
"Then you can go down now. I'll arrange for someone to take you back later. Whether you live or die this time depends on yourself."
After Prefect Shen finished speaking, he ordered his men to take Xiao Kui away.
Next, Prefect Shen summoned everyone to discuss important matters, and after an hour, they finally reached a detailed action plan.
At this moment, Prefect Shen looked at Bao Ping beside him and said:
"Bao Ping, the success of the plan depends mainly on you. I believe you can complete this mission and bring all these criminals involved in human trafficking to justice."
"Please rest assured, sir, Bao Ping will definitely complete the mission."
"Okay, go and make some preparations. We'll arrange for someone to take you and Xiao Kui to Yingkou Town later."
The next morning, Xiao Kui appeared at the dock as usual, and his henchmen immediately followed him.
People were already used to this; whenever Xiao Kui appeared, he was always surrounded by a large entourage.
But their leader wasn't in a good mood today, yawning constantly.
His underlings, of course, knew that Xiao Kui had a vibrant nightlife, so this situation was perfectly normal.
While the henchmen were secretly gloating, Bao Ping, who was standing nearby, glared at them and roared.
"presumptuous."
His voice was powerful and domineering, and the henchmen trembled in fear. Only then did they realize that there was a young man next to their boss, dressed in similar clothes to them. When did their boss get another henchman?
Xiao Kui was very clever and immediately understood what was going on. He then spoke:
"This is my cousin. He came to stay with me last night and will be following me from now on. I hope you'll give him some face and call him Second Brother, understand?"
"Understood, brother."
"Hello, Second Brother."
Bao Ping glanced at them, completely ignoring them, and remained standing behind Xiao Kui.
This guy has such a big attitude, he doesn't give them any face at all, but they can't show it in front of Xiao Kui.
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