Chapter 361: Trafficking

　　“Head Chief, did we bother you?” Xue Ningyu laughed and said, “That group of people are so boisterous just by just doing their job, they put all of their efforts into their voice!”

　　Chu Li made a closed fist salute and smiled, “Princesses, why are you two are awake so early?”

　　Song Liuying gently nodded in greeting.

　　Xue Ningyu said, “It is not early anymore. How about you, Head Chief, did you not sleep well yesterday?”

　　Chu Li shook his head and said, “I went back to sleep when it was almost dawn.”

　　“Sigh…” Xue Ningyu said, “You stood guard here for the whole night, sorry for bothering you, but it will be better today. I already asked Commander Zheng to come over, he will distribute the work to the people, so you don’t have to worry about it anymore, Head Chief.”

　　Chu Li smiled, “Where is Commander Zheng?”

　　“He is on his way.” Xue Ningyu said.

　　Just as they were talking, Zheng Lide strode towards them and made a closed fist salute. He greeted them with a bright voice, “Greetings, Princess Xiao, Princess Song, Princess Xue and Great Chief.

　　Chu Li waved his hand as a sign of not having to be over courteous.

　　Zheng Lide was in high spirit, seemingly in a good mood.

　　Xue Ningyu said, “Commander Zheng, you came here right on time, did the Protector come?”

　　“Report, Princess Xue,” Zheng Lide smiled, “The Protectors will be here soon, there are a total of six Grandmasters, even if the assassin comes they will definitely not even be able to disturb all three Princesses from talking!”

　　“Six of them …” Xue Ningyu gently nodded her head, “That is not exactly little, what about the Prince’s side?”

　　“There are eight of them at the Prince’s side.” Zheng Lide answered.

　　Xue Ningyu smiled, “Not bad, I can finally not worry. If we can’t defend this place even with six Grandmasters, then it must be fate.”

　　Zheng Lide laughed subtly, “Do not worry, Princess Xue, we will definitely defend you well this time!”

　　“Hmph, I do not trust your words!” Xue Ningyu said unpleasantly, “You said we would defend well the last two times too, but we really did then we would not have needed Great Chief to settle it on his own!”

　　Zheng Lide immediately felt embarrassed. He laughed sheepishly and lowered his head.

　　Song Liuying said, “Alright, you can go now, Commander Zheng, our safety is completely in your hands, do not be careless.”

　　“Understood. Please rest assured, my three Princesses.” Zheng Lide quickly bid goodbye, as if he was granted a favor to leave.

　　Song Liuying gave Xue Ningyu an unpleasant stare, “Why did you have to make it hard for him, it is not like he released the assassins on purpose.”

　　“He is incompetent!” Xue Ningyu said in anger and continued to scoffed, “If you assign someone like that to fight on the battleground, you have no idea how many innocent lives will be lost!”

　　“There’s no point talking about him leading the force!” Song Liuying lightly said,

　　Xue Ningyu smiled cheerfully and said, “Sister Song, you cannot be blindly compassionate, or others will not be afraid of you. If they are not afraid, then they will not sell their power to you. Take Elder Zheng for example, his skin is as thick as a wall. No matter how much you scold him, he definitely will not take it to heart, he is not committed to anything!”

　　“I do think that he is committed,” Song Liuying said lightly, “his abilities just cannot keep up. Furthermore, there is not enough manpower in the Residence.”

　　“Then why did he not bring up this idea earlier?” Xue Ningyu scoffed, “He did not dare to go against His Highness’s wishes, he did not take up responsibility at all, and even needed Head Chief to be the one to mention the idea. He really is incompetent!”

　　“It is not as if you do not know His Highness’s temper. Even if we were to mention it, the Prince would have gotten angry.” Song Liuying shook her head and said, “Elder Zheng not daring to bring it up is expectable.”

　　Chu Li smiled, “The Prince got angry at me, but on account of the Princesses’ reputation, he did not say anything severe. It is only natural to be given the cold shoulder.”

　　“We will try to persuade the Prince, everything will be fine after some time.” Song Liuying smiled and said, “His Highness is benevolent and forgiving, he will be able to understand the Head Chief’s hardships.”

　　Chu Li closed fist saluted, “Thank you, my two Princess.”

　　Xue Ningyu laughed delicately, “Sister Song, what leniency will we be trying to plead for? As long as Sister Siao is here, nothing will happen to Head Chief!”

　　Siao Shi laughed lightly, “Sister Xue, you are mistaken. My words are not as effective as Sister Xue and Sister Song, I am unable to meet the Prince at all.”

　　“Sigh… this time His Highness is really in a fix,” Song Liuying sighed softly, “it was supposed to be a day for celebration, but Fairy’s Capital has not been peaceful at all. A bunch of human traffickers suddenly started to run rampant, a number of children from the courtiers’ families have been taken away, and there has been no sign of them until now.”

　　“That has nothing to do with His Highness though?” Siao Shi frowned.

　　Song Liuying said, “His Highness holds a position in Fairy Capital’s prefectural magistrate. Although he is only half as powerful, he still has responsibilities!”

　　“Human traffickers?” Siao Shi lowered her face, “They have no humanity, their sins should be punished by death!”

　　“Those people know that they deserve to die too, which is why they are extremely cautious when they act. They appear and disappear unpredictably, and until now we still have not found any leads.” Song Liuying said lightly, “The Chancellors have been making a fuss about it. If this case is not solved soon, I fear His Highness’s position in Fairy’s Capital prefectural magistrate will be lost!”

　　According to the law from the Ji Dynasty, even if it is the prince, he cannot be aloof from the world and ignore matters of the court. The Imperial Court will not raise such useless trash.

　　Even a Prince could not suddenly get a high ranking position. He would have to rise up the ranks like a regular officer. Unless he succeeded the throne and reached the heavens with a single bound, he would have to slowly work his way upwards. Nobility is bestowed upon by the imperial family, but official positions would have to be earned through one’s own efforts.

　　Prince An was able and efficient, and already managed to rise to Rank Four when he was still young. In the post in Fairy’s Capital prefectural magistrate, he was responsible for Fairy’s Capital’s public security.

　　However, the popular candidate to ascend the throne, Prince Jing, was younger than Prince An and yet was already a Rank Two senior officer and was a ruler which could take over the world. He far surpassed Prince An.

　　Around this time, a maid from outside suddenly came inside to report, “Princess, Eldest Master has sent someone here.”

　　Song Ningyu frowned at the maid from her house, “What is it?”

　　The maid said softly, “It seems that Eldest Master’s youngest son went missing.”

　　Song Liuying’s expression changed drastically, she bolted upright, “Went missing?!”

　　The maid nodded her head carefully, delivering the report in a soft and meek voice, “Should we let him in?”

　　“Tell him to come in quickly!” Song Liuying hurriedly said.

　　Xue Ningyu and Siao Shi’s expressions also became somber, something happened in Song Liuying’s parents’ home!

　　A middle-aged man entered with a heavy face, his footsteps calm and unhurried, and closed fist saluted, “Greetings, my Lady!”

　　Song Liuying took a deep breath, “Uncle Sun, what exactly happened?”

　　The middle-aged man sighed, “Last night the Young Master went out. He bought two Protectors and two maids, but he ended up snatched away!”

　　Song Liuying scoffed, “What about those two Protectors?”

　　“They are alright, they have been locked up. Apparently, they got surrounded by four masters and was hit in their sound acupuncture, and then they took away Young Master and left.” The middle-aged man shook his head, “By the time they cleared the point, the people were nowhere to be found!”

　　“Didn’t I send a messenger to instruct you not to leave the house for now?!” Song Liuying long eyebrows raised together, as if a phoenix was trapped in her eyes.

　　The middle-aged man said calmly, “The Protectors were unable to hold back the Young Master. My Lady should know very well what the Young Master’s temper is like. No one except Eldest Master is able to manage him.”

　　Song Liuying continued her steps, pacing back and forth, “When did this happen?”

　　“Last night,” the middle-aged man said, “but because it was late in the night, we did not want to bother the Lady.”

　　“So much time has passed, of course you have to notify me!” Song Liuying said viciously, “Does His Highness know about this?”

　　“His Highness has been notified,” the middle-aged man said.

　　Xue Ningyu scoffed, “If His Highness was able to do anything, they would have been captured already!”

　　Song Liuying turned her head to glare at her.

　　Xue Ningyu’s expression turned regretful, “Sister Song, now that it has come to this, we can only pray to the Heavens that he is safe. It must be the work of that group of people again!”

　　Song Liuying said impatiently, “I know that without you telling me!