“Her clothes were a bit loose, and her sash was not tied the same way as before?”
Qing Mulan’s eyes widened involuntarily. “And then? After you returned to the village, did Wuyang have any more private contact with Sir?”
“After returning to the village, Sir started getting busy right away. It was not until the next morning that they met again…”
Qin’er then recounted what happened in the dining hall once more.
“He went too far, speaking to Wuyang like that!”
Qing Mulan almost exploded with anger when she heard it.
Although she was a straightforward girl, she had grown up in a noble family after all. Even Tang Xiaobei could pick up on the hidden meaning in Jin Feng’s words, so naturally she understood it too.
What Jin Feng said in the dining hall was clearly a warning to the Ninth Princess.
Qing Mulan had long known about the Ninth Princess’s feelings and had mentally prepared herself for the possibility that the Ninth Princess and Jin Feng might end up together.
But the Ninth Princess held such a noble status. Even if she married the son of a duke, he would still have to serve her carefully. Yet when it came to Jin Feng, after just a little probing, he had already given her a harsh reprimand.
Although Qing Mulan had a good relationship with Jin Feng and was grateful that he had taught her many things, she still felt indignant on behalf of the Ninth Princess.
“Qin’er, take good care of Wuyang. Follow the doctor’s instructions and decoct the medicine. I am going to find that Jin fellow and ask him clearly what exactly he is thinking!”
“Yes!”
Qin’er nodded repeatedly.
Seeing this, Qing Mulan could not help but give Qin’er a deep look, then turned her head to glance at the Ninth Princess.
She had a bold and careless personality and often acted impulsively, but she was not stupid.
Qin’er had received professional palace training. No matter what choice the Ninth Princess made, Qin’er had no right to interfere, let alone spread the Ninth Princess’s private matters everywhere.
If Qin’er could not even manage that much, she could never have become the Ninth Princess’s personal maid.
Yet the words Qin’er had just spoken clearly seemed to be nudging her to go and confront Jin Feng.
This made Qing Mulan wonder whether the Ninth Princess had instructed Qin’er to say those things.
“Forget it. I will go find Sir first and ask what he is thinking! As for Wuyang, I will ask her after she wakes up!”
Qing Mulan flicked her hair and walked out of the small courtyard.
But she had already wasted too much time earlier looking for a doctor to examine the Ninth Princess. By the time she reached the previous courtyard, Jin Feng and Qing Xinyao had already left.
When she asked where they had gone, Qing Xinyao’s aide would not say. He only told her they had gone to handle important business.
Qing Mulan had no choice but to return to her own courtyard and take care of the Ninth Princess.
Outside Xichuan City, Jin Feng and Qing Xinyao were leading a group of armed escorts as they galloped along the official road. They finally stopped outside a valley.
In front of them stood a huge and extravagant archway, Green Water Villa.
Green Water Villa was the most luxurious pleasure den in Xichuan City. It was also the favourite summer retreat for the city’s powerful nobles and wealthy gentry.
When Danzhu attacked earlier, although the place had been looted once by cavalry, the manager had received advance warning. He took his people and the valuable items and fled.
The cavalry burned down a few buildings, but when they found that the structures in Green Water Villa were made of brick and stone and hard to burn, they cursed and left.
After Jin Feng and the Ninth Princess defeated Danzhu, the manager returned with his people and rebuilt Green Water Villa.
It had only recently reopened not long ago.
Having learned from the previous cavalry raid, for the safety of the villa, the manager not only rebuilt the interior but also set up numerous sentry posts outside the valley.
If another cavalry raid happened, the guests inside the villa would have time to evacuate in advance.
However, those sentry posts had long been targeted by Qing Xinyao. To prevent the target from escaping, before setting out, Qing Xinyao had sent word to take control of all the outer sentry posts.
He had deliberately left only the ones closer to the villa untouched.
When Jin Feng and Qing Xinyao arrived, the villa manager had just received the news. He ran out from inside the villa, panting heavily, and asked, “Lord Qing, Lord Jin… what wind has blown the two of you here?”
Anyone who could run such a business was naturally slick and sophisticated in every direction.
Although Jin Feng had never been there before, the villa manager recognised him at once.
“Chen Lianqi, Zhou Anfeng, Liu Liqian are here with you, aren’t they?”
Qing Xinyao asked from atop his horse, looking down from above.
“Lord Qing, you know how it is. Green Water Villa cannot disclose information about our guests. Otherwise, how could we continue doing business in the future? I hope Your Lordship can understand.”
The villa manager replied with a face full of smiles.
“Speak quickly!”
Qing Xinyao, looking impatient, raised his horsewhip and lashed the manager once.
In Great Kang, the status of merchants was too low. Deep down, Jin Feng felt sympathy for merchants.
But that sympathy was limited to the small peddlers who endured wind and sun and risked being robbed and killed by bandits, not this kind of fat, greasy, big-time merchant.
In fact, this was precisely one of the reasons why merchants had such low status.
They clearly made huge amounts of money, yet they only grew more and more greedy.
Take the manager in front of them. He clearly knew Qing Xinyao’s identity, yet he still used the excuse of affecting business to block Qing Xinyao from entering.
Was he not openly defying the authorities?
A grand governor of an entire province personally led men to investigate and arrest people, yet he could not even enter a pleasure house. When official governance in Great Kang had decayed to such an extent, where else could it go but to ruin?
This also made Qing Xinyao feel he had lost face in front of Jin Feng, so that whip was struck with full force.
The manager’s silk outer robe was immediately torn open with a gash.
A trace of barely detectable anger flashed in his eyes, but his face remained covered in smiles.
“Lord Qing, are you not making things difficult for this humble one? The rules of the villa were set by Lord Zhou. They cannot be broken. Otherwise, how could this humble one explain things to Lord Zhou later?”
He was now throwing out his backer.
A pleasure den like Green Water Villa earned silver every month in amounts ordinary common folk could not even imagine.
The bosses behind it had very complicated backgrounds.
There were wealthy merchants and powerful gentry who provided the capital, greenwood villains who provided security, and naturally powerful nobles who handled the greasing of palms up and down the chain.
The manager knew that ordinary nobles could not intimidate Qing Xinyao, so he directly threw out the goat-bearded man’s card.
The Zhou family of the capital was the biggest backer of Green Water Villa.
It was also the reason Qing Xinyao had never moved against Green Water Villa before.
“There is no need to explain to Lord Zhou anymore. He colluded with bandits, maliciously hoarded grain, drove up prices and harmed the common people. His head has already been hung on the city gate tower by the Ninth Princess!”
Qing Xinyao turned his head and shouted, “If you do not want to say where Chen Lianqi is, that is fine. Meng Tianhai, take people and search the place for me!”
“Yes!”
Meng Tianhai immediately led a group of Weisheng troops charging into the villa.
The gate guards were so frightened that they pressed themselves against the wall and did not dare step forward.
“Lord Zhou was killed by the Ninth Princess?”
The villa manager’s head buzzed loudly.
Given Qing Xinyao’s position, he would certainly not lie about something like this.
If he said the goat-bearded man was dead, then he was truly dead.
The manager’s mind raced. With a thud, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Qing Xinyao.
“Lord Qing, this humble one knows his mistake. This humble one is willing to lead the way for Your Lordship!”
“No need. Today this old man wants to see for himself what kind of people are staying in Green Water Villa that make it so mysterious!”
Qing Xinyao said, “If you really want to explain things to Lord Zhou, I can send you to see him!”
With that, he urged his horse forward, leading Jin Feng and the escorts into Green Water Villa.
The rebuilt Green Water Villa was filled with carved beams and painted rafters, resplendent in gold and jade.
At any moment, one could see groups of young women with alluring figures and beautiful faces moving gracefully through the grounds.
