The Girl Sent to His Highness the Ninth Prince

　　The fat granny thought that the words “one of the ninth prince’s people” would definitely frighten the other side. After all, throughout the entirety of Da Shun, regardless of whether it was officials or merchants, whenever the name of the ninth prince of hell was invoked, they would become a bit evasive. Although it would not reach the point of trying to hide in a corner while trembling, they would become more submissive and would definitely be unwilling to put up a fight.

　　However, she never thought that her own “bold announcement” would not only have no effect, but it caused everyone to burst into laughter. There were even people that held their bellies while laughing. It was as though they had just heard the funniest joke in the world.

　　She was completely confused, “Have you all gone stupid? If you’re a group of idiots, this old one arguing with you is a waste of time.” As she said this, she guiltily took a couple steps back then turned to leave; however, she was stopped by one of Feng Yu Heng’s hidden guards. “What are you doing? You want to flaunt your superiority in numbers and cause trouble, right? I see that you’re either stupid or deaf. Did you not hear what this old one just said? We are people from the ninth prince’s palace. Do you know what sort of outcome awaits someone that opposes the ninth prince? Or do you just not understand what the ninth prince means? That would be the ninth son of the current emperor, His Highness Prince Yu!”

　　She put on quite a show of speaking; however, it was met with even more laughter from Feng Yu Heng’s group. Wang Lin loudly said: “Old woman, it’s fine if you speak poorly and have bad intentions, but why are you throwing around the ninth prince’s name? You even dare to pretend to be one of the Yu Palace’s people? Are you crazy?”

　　The fat granny rushed to say: “You’re the crazy ones!”

　　Wang Lin wanted to reply once more; however, Feng Yu Heng was the first to speak up, asking the granny: “Since you said that you are one of the ninth prince’s people, where is your group headed? I see that you aren’t headed in the direction of the capital.” While she spoke, she looked toward the carriages in the back and asked: “What sort of people are in the carriages?” She could see that the carriages were swaying, and it was clear that there were people struggling inside.

　　“That’s none of your business!” The granny rolled her eyes, “Not even considering the weight of your own status, you actually dare to inquire about the ninth prince’s affairs? Who do you think you are?”

　　Feng Yu Heng smiled, “Who am I? If I say it, I’m afraid you’ll die out of fear. I had no intention of arguing with you, but since you have thrown out the ninth prince’s name, if I don’t do anything about it, it really would be too improper.”

　　“Hm?” The granny was puzzled, “What do those words mean?”

　　“It’s as I said.” Feng Yu Heng stood up and walked forward. Suddenly stopped, she looked toward someone in her own group. It was a doctor from Hundred Herb Hall that was rather young, in their 20s. Before setting out, everyone had made various preparations, and that person happened to be wearing some very nice clothing. He was dressed as the son of a wealthy family. She came up with an idea and suddenly saluted to that person, saying: “Your Highness the eighth prince, this granny says that she is from His Highness the ninth prince’s palace. I wonder if you have ever seen her before?”

　　The doctors from Hundred Herb Hall were all people that Feng Yu Heng and Yao Xian had personally taught. Not only were they skilled in medicine, but they were also quite quick to react. Hearing Feng Yu Heng suddenly say this, that person was able to understand the situation almost immediately. Thus he curled his lips into a smile and did his best to act a bit more like a prince. Without even looking up, he coldly said: “What a joke, how come this prince has never seen this sort of fat and dark bear in ninth brother’s palace before?”

　　These words nearly caused the fat granny to die out of anger, as she immediately said: “Where do you get the nerve to be so impudent, actually daring to pretend to be His Highness the eighth prince? Just someone like you dares to pretend to be His Highness the eighth prince? Are you not afraid of being skinned if His Highness the eighth prince finds out! This old one is one of His Highness the eighth prince’s favorites, and I do not recognize anyone else. His Highness’ dignity is something that could be noticed even with my eyes closed! Is there any room for you pretending like this?”

　　“A favorite of His Highness the eighth prince!” Feng Yu Heng had accomplished her goal, and she did not continue to act out the play with the doctor, as she coldly looked at the granny, “Favorite of His Highness the eighth prince, what are you doing, pretending to be a granny of His Highness the ninth prince’s palace? Could it be that you’re doing some business that should not be done and wanted to splash this dirty water on His Highness the ninth prince’s head?”

　　The granny’s heart was filled with shock and knew that she had exposed herself; however, the words had already been said. Taking it back now would be too late, thus she straightened herself out and loudly said: “Is there any difference between whether I am one of His Highness the eighth prince or His Highness the ninth prince’s people? Either way, we are a prince’s palace. A lowly group of commoners like you should move aside. Do you know what sort of outcome awaits someone that opposes a prince’s palace?”

　　Feng Yu Heng nodded, “I do. The outcome is very simple. It’s death. But death would be too easy for people like you. Moreover, I still want to know what sort of business you have conducted under the name of His Highness the ninth prince.” After saying this, she walked forward and headed straight for the carriages.

　　The large men at the granny’s side moved forward to stop her, but their abilities were far worse than Ban Zou and the other hidden guards. Before they could even raise their arms, their arms had been dislocated by the hidden guards, causing them to cry out in pain.

　　Feng Yu Heng used qinggong to increase her pace and arrived in front of the carriages without any delay. Pulling out a whip from her sleeve, she swung it at the devilish driver, knocking him to the ground. Waving it once more, the curtain of the carriage was opened up. Looking inside, there were seven to eight girls squeezed in one place. All of them had their hair scattered, and their faces were thin and pale. There were also signs of their clothing having been torn. When the curtain had been cut open, the girls curled up into a ball out of fear, as they stared wide-eyed in fear at her. There were also braver ones that had already stood up to try and knock the carriage over. It was just that their hands and feet had been tied, and their mouths had been stuffed, thus they could not exert much force. Now that they saw Feng Yu Heng, their eyes were filled with hope, and it looked as though they had something that they wanted to say.

　　Wang Chuan and Huang Quan followed her over, and they followed Feng Yu Heng’s intention by removing the restraints on the girls. In the back, Wang Lin brought the doctors to the other carriages to help out the girls in the back. Once their feet touched the ground, some immediately tried to flee. The hidden guards moved quickly and stopped them. They then formed a circle to stop them from thinking of running away.

　　With the cloth that had been stuffed in their mouths removed, some of the girls began to cry. One asked in a horrified daze: “Are you all part of the same group? Why do you let us down but not let us go? We want to go home. We are all children from good homes, and we were kidnapped by that old woman!”

　　“My ass!” The granny had become anxious. The girls that she had spent a great deal of effort on finding had all been let out. Even if she did not die here today, she would definitely be killed by her master after she returned! Anxiously pointing at the girls, she threw a tantrum and began cursing: “Shit! Daughters of good families? You’re just girls from a brothel. This old woman taking you to the South to serve the army’s officers is a blessing for you. Don’t assign blame when you’ve gained a benefit.”

　　“Going to the South to serve the army’s officers?” Huang Quan was confused and asked: “Serve the army officers? Act as military prostitutes? There are red tents in the military camps, but why send military prostitutes from so far? Why not just find them from the area.”

　　“Hmph!” The granny glared at Huang Quan, “What do you understand? Right now, there are 300 thousand troops in the South, and they have been handed to His Highness the ninth prince. His Highness the ninth prince is the darling child of the capital. The little sluts in the South can play around with the soldiers. His Highness the ninth prince is a prince. How could he possibly pick up someone else’s scraps? We needed to pick some from further places and send them to the South. Once they have arrived, His Highness the ninth prince’s army will also have arrived, and they will be able to make use of them.” The more she said, the happier she became. She had once again begun referring to herself as one of His Highness the ninth prince’s people.

　　Feng Yu Heng, however, began to frown upon hearing this, “His Highness the ninth prince’s army will be going to the South? His Highness the ninth prince is currently in the capital. There still has not been any reports of battles coming from the South. Where did you get this information? What is it, does His Highness the eighth prince already know that something will happen in the South? What sort of person will be causing the problem? It shouldn’t be something that was arranged by His Highness the eighth prince, right?” She coldly looked at the granny, her gaze was as sharp as knives. This scared the granny into unconsciously taking a step back; however, she ended up bumping into a dagger that a hidden guard had already pulled out.

　　“Wha… what sort of people are you?” The granny finally realized that something was off. It sounded as though they were very familiar with the situation in the capital. They would not happen to also be from some prince’s palace, right?

　　“Young Miss! Save us!” At this time, someone from the group of kidnapped girls suddenly kneeled and said: “Don’t listen to that granny’s nonsense. We sisters are not girls from a brothel. I am the fourth young miss of the prefect of Peng Zhou. I am the daughter of a concubine. Although I am not well-liked by the family, I am the daughter of a proper family. On the 15th of the first month, I went out to see the lanterns and got separated from my servants and got kidnapped by these people. Young Miss, I’m begging you to save us. As long as you can send me back to Peng Zhou, my family will definitely reward you greatly.”

　　With her taking the lead, the other girls also began to report their family’s names. What caused Feng Yu Heng to feel surprised was that a number of these girls were daughters of officials. Even those that were not were daughters of merchant families. Not a single one was a daughter of a commoner. She gradually came to understand. Only the delicate bodies of girls from noble families would be in such good condition. Their appearances would also stand out more. Of course, it was inevitable that there would be something fishy about all of this. The granny repeatedly used the ninth prince’s name, and the families that had lost their daughters would definitely need to go and search for them. Even if they did not investigate openly, they would investigate secretly. Once they found out that it was related to the ninth prince, perhaps things would not be so easily resolved.

　　She had no desire to debate with the granny, as she just said to the girls: “I can save you, but I can’t just let you go right now. This is the outskirts of a town. Even if we let you go, you could not get very far. It’s hard to say that you won’t be jumping out of a pan and into the fire. Just come with us for a while. When we reach Shu Zhou, I will arrange for you to return home.” After saying this, she did not wait for the girls to reply. She gave the hidden guards a look, and the hidden guards immediately stuffed the granny and large men into the carriage. The driver had been swapped out for a hidden guard, and they began preparations to set out once more.

　　The grandparents and grandchildren of the tea stall were dazed from everything that they had seen. Fearing that the little girl would be frightened, she thought for a bit then pulled out some candy for her. She then gave the old couple a banknote worth 50 taels, “You’ve also heard it. The fat granny is one of the eighth prince’s people. Today’s matter is a result of the eighth prince kidnapping girls from respectable houses to be sold as prostitutes in the South. It’s completely unrelated to His Highness the ninth prince. You must not speak nonsense and ruin the ninth prince’s reputation.”

　　The old couple was very obedient; however, they were not foolish. They understood the entire chain of events, thus they quickly nodded: “Young Miss, don’t worry. We definitely will not speak nonsense. The ninth prince was innocent. If anyone asks, we will reply based on today’s matters.”

　　Feng Yu Heng nodded and did not say anything else. Turning around, she climbed into her carriage and ordered the driver: “Full speed toward Shu Zhou. We won’t be stopping along the way.”