Hong Xiaoduo returned to the inn and took the children out for lunch. Noticing that she was thinking about something, even the youngest Yaoguang ate her food quietly without making a sound.
Tian Shu no longer overthinks things like before, wondering if they did something wrong, if they upset her, or if she wanted to abandon them.
After they finished eating and returned to the inn, Hong Xiaoduo followed the children to the entrance of the dormitory and gestured for Tian Shu to stay behind while the other children went in first.
"I have to go out for a bit and I don't know when I'll be back. You have to take good care of them, okay?" Hong Xiaoduo instructed.
Tian Shu nodded, stepped over the threshold, and closed the door.
Hearing the door bolt close, Hong Xiaoduo smiled with satisfaction and left, heading to Uncle Zhou's courtyard.
There was a beggar wrapped in a tattered blanket squatting at the entrance of the courtyard. When he saw Hong Xiaoduo, he did not stand up to stop or question her, but nodded and greeted her.
Hong Xiaoduo entered the courtyard but did not go to see Uncle Zhou. Instead, she went straight to the back to see Madam Shen and her daughter. Similarly, there was a beggar guarding the door of the storeroom, the same one who had led the way earlier.
The Shen mother and daughter inside must have just had dinner. The two meetings were less than an hour apart, but the Shen mother and daughter's mental state was completely different from before, and their eyes were shining.
"Could you please get me some paper and pen?" Hong Xiaoduo said to the beggar.
The beggar didn't ask any more questions and immediately turned around to get it.
While waiting, Hong Xiaoduo asked Shen Shi about things like where people from the Nie family's eldest branch usually kept their gold and silver, and how many servants kept watch at night.
Upon hearing this, Madam Shen thought for a moment and guessed what she wanted to do.
He wanted to advise her against taking the risk, but after glancing at the sword at her waist, he thought he might be overthinking it. So, he told her everything he knew, as well as what he was unsure of but guessed.
Before long, the beggar returned and placed what she needed on the small table.
Hong Xiaoduo then asked Shen to draw a topographical map of her own residence, including the location of the side gate.
The beggar watched Shen Shi paint, then looked at Hong Xiaoduo: "Young lady, do you need any help? Someone to keep watch?"
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiao did not respond immediately. Instead, he pulled the beggar outside and asked him in a low voice, "Your Beggars' Clan must be full of hidden talents, right? Do you have any sleeping potions?"
Upon hearing this, the beggar looked at her with a somewhat complicated expression. Did this young lady have some misunderstanding about the Beggars' Gang? They were just beggars who made a living by begging together, not scoundrels who did bad things. How could they have something like sleeping potion?
"Huh? No? Oh well, that's a shame. If we had that, things would be so much easier." Hong Xiaoduo guessed from the beggar's reaction that there was no such thing and muttered with some disappointment.
"Should I go ask?" the beggar said quickly when he learned that she needed that kind of thing.
Sure enough, the man's eyes lit up: "Okay, thank you."
As the beggar walked towards the front yard, he wondered to himself, "How could such an upright and righteous young woman use such a thing? Or is she the kind of person the gang leader described, someone who is both righteous and wicked?"
Zhou Bo, who was drinking in the room, laughed when he heard his subordinate's words: "Go find Ku Shan and ask him to come up with a solution."
The beggar responded and went to look for the person in the main room. Uncle Zhou put a salted peanut in his mouth and chewed it: "Interesting."
When Hong Xiaoduo, carrying the map of the house that Shen had drawn for her, walked to the front yard, the beggar who had been looking for her came over, holding a tube wrapped in cotton cloth in his hand.
"Huh? It really is?" Hong Xiaoduo said happily.
"No, we don't have this. It was the gang leader who heard that you needed it, so he had someone make it for you," the beggar quickly explained.
Fearing she might misunderstand, this thing is used in our gang.
Then, remembering Ku Shan's instructions, I quickly explained to her how to use this thing.
After I finished explaining, I asked her to repeat it to make sure it was correct before I finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Ku Shan said that if this thing is used improperly, it can cause the user to get sick.
"Please thank your leader for me, and also thank the people who made this. I'll treat you to meat buns after it's all done," Hong Xiaoduo said before walking out.
It was already dark, and she needed to prepare to cause some trouble.
"Young lady, have you forgotten something?" the beggar quickly asked.
"What have you forgotten?" Hong Xiaoduo thought about it seriously for a moment, then realized and lowered her head to untie her purse to get some money.
The beggar sighed: "Young lady, as I asked you before, do you need any help, someone to keep watch for you? Or do you want to go inside with you?"
Oh, this is something? Hong Xiaoduo was a little embarrassed. After all, it was her first time trying to stir things up, and she was so excited that she forgot about this.
"No need, I think it's better to go by myself, thanks." After saying that, she hurriedly left.
The beggar watched her retreating figure with great regret, wanting to follow her, but what should he do?
However, she said she didn't need any help, and it wouldn't be good if I secretly followed her and ruined her plans!
After leaving the beggar's den, Hong Xiaoduo did not return to the inn. Instead, she strolled to the main street and the alley leading to the Shen family's house. There she saw a teahouse with a storyteller inside.
Going to do business at this hour is too early. There's a saying, "A dark and windy night is the perfect time for murder and arson!"
Of course, she didn't intend to kill or set fires; she just wanted to rob some ill-gotten gains to fund the Shen mother and daughter's trip to the capital.
Although it's unknown whether the person who framed Nie Qing was from the eldest branch of the Nie family, as Nie Qing's uncle, it's one thing for him not to help his sister-in-law's family after his brother's death, but to resort to such despicable means to seize their house and property, and even try to marry Xue'er off to a sixty-year-old man as a second wife.
Finally, out of guilt, he viciously buried the Shen mother and daughter alive.
Uncle Nie Qing's family is really wicked.
Hong Xiaoduo felt frustrated if she didn't do something!
She entered the teahouse, found an empty seat, and sat down. A waiter came over to ask what she wanted. She ordered a pot of leaf tea and a plate of peanuts.
The tea drinkers inside were engrossed in listening to an exciting story, and no one noticed the young woman who had just entered.
Hong Xiaoduo seemed to be leisurely pinching peanuts, eating a few, and when her mouth got a little dry, she poured herself a cup of tea. She didn't listen to a word of what the storyteller on the stage was saying. In her mind, she was rehearsing how to get into the house when the time came, and what to do first once inside.
A young man at the next table noticed her when she came in; he recognized her from before when she was with seven children.
Now, she comes alone to drink tea and listen to stories. What about the seven children?
Also, she doesn't seem like she's here to listen to a story; she seems more like she's plotting something...
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