HLnovel Chapter 215 Find a solution
Chapter 215 Find a solution
The clerk frowned deeply, thinking to himself that this was going to be difficult. If the murderer was after money, he would definitely try to contact the parents of these missing daughters to extort money. But the murderer had kidnapped the women for a transaction, so the clues would be hard to find.
Seeing the long queue ahead waiting to report to the authorities, Shen Qianchuan was extremely anxious and couldn't wait a moment longer.
Having never seen much of the world, and disregarding the gentlemen and ladies in line, he rushed to the front and placed his hands on the desk where the clerk was taking notes.
"My lord, my niece has also gone missing. She is only seven years old. If she encounters a heartless beast, the consequences would be unimaginable. Please send soldiers to search for her immediately."
The clerk suddenly looked up and sized up Shen Qianchuan, who was dressed in a pudding-colored dress. He said irritably, "There are plenty of people waiting to report to the authorities here. Which family doesn't line up properly? Your niece is only seven years old. Maybe she just got lost on her own. You should search for her properly first. The missing young ladies are all sixteen or seventeen years old. Even the youngest is twelve or thirteen. Don't cause me any more trouble."
In short, the missing women were quite old and were most likely abducted and forced into prostitution, while Shen Qianchuan's niece was only seven years old and relatively safe; it was unlikely that she would have been abducted so coincidentally.
Shen Qianchuan was furious when he saw that his advisor didn't take Xiaotang's disappearance seriously.
“Master, my niece is indeed a bit young, but she is extremely sensible and never runs away. We agreed to meet at the market today, but I waited for her there for half a day. Some of our staff went to search the neighborhood, searching all the streets. She knows the way and would never get lost. She must have been kidnapped by bad people, just like those other lost young ladies.”
The gentlemen were so anxious that they kept sighing and cursing the murderer as inhuman.
The women wept uncontrollably, worried that if their daughters remained missing for too long, their families' reputations would be ruined, and that their daughters might meet with misfortune and never return.
One of the ladies cried so hard she fainted, causing a commotion in the crowd. The unconscious lady was helped by her servants to find a doctor.
A richly dressed gentleman, wearing a jade thumb ring, rushed up to the clerk in three strides. He pushed Shen Qianchuan aside and grabbed the clerk's collar, threatening him.
“My lord, I am a man of some standing in Dushui County. Out of respect for the magistrate, I will give you some face. But my daughter has gone missing. Such a serious matter cannot be recorded in detail by you.”
"You must immediately mobilize manpower to seal off the ferry crossing and conduct a thorough search. We cannot allow the murderer to leave by boat with the missing women. Furthermore, mobilize more manpower to search house to house. I refuse to believe that they can escape with so many women."
The remaining gentlemen and their wives chimed in, “Yes, sir, don’t ask anymore. All those who came to report to the authorities today are people who have lost their daughters. Our daughters are in the prime of their lives, not yet married, but they have been kidnapped by those damned bastards. If you don’t send people to search for them soon, and if they are found, how will they face the world?”
A woman's reputation is of paramount importance. In this world, if one loses her innocence, she will suffer endless gossip and slander, and life will be worse than death.
"Master, please have the soldiers block the ferry crossing quickly. If the county government's soldiers are not enough, we have servants. Everyone can split up and search house to house."
The clerk, pale with fright and sweating profusely, had no authority to arbitrarily block the ferry crossing; it required a letter personally written and stamped by the magistrate.
Unfortunately, the county magistrate went to Tongzhou to meet with the governor. Alas!
He gritted his teeth and stamped his foot, saying, "Everyone, please be patient, I'll be right back."
The clerk broke free from the wealthy man who was grabbing his collar and hurriedly returned to the county government office. He went to the magistrate's study, found the magistrate's seal, put it in his sleeve, and then mobilized his men, dividing them into two groups.
One group searched house to house in the streets and alleys of the county, while another group followed him to block the ferry crossing.
The old man and his wife, who had lost their daughter, were eager to find her and followed her everywhere.
Shen Qianchuan and Xiao Jiu had no choice but to go together with the carriage.
……
Lin Xiaotang and the other young ladies were tied up and sat on the ground, leaning against the surrounding walls. Since Lin Xiaotang was the last one to be tied up, she had eaten breakfast, so even though it was already noon, she wasn't starving.
The young ladies were brought back earlier and hadn't eaten for two or three meals. The men would only give them water once or twice at most, and on top of that, they had been whipped, so their bodies couldn't take it anymore.
One of the young ladies was weak and had begun to feel dizzy.
Lin Xiaotang's mouth was stuffed with cloth and her body was tightly bound, so this time she couldn't break free no matter what.
She tried to lower her head, clamp the cloth in her mouth between her knees, and pull it out.
"call……"
If her mouth isn't freed soon, her jaw will dislocate!
The two young ladies next to her, dressed in coarse cloth, immediately followed her example and pulled the cloth out of their mouths, but the other young ladies dared not follow suit.
After all, everyone followed Lin Xiaotang's advice and used a wooden frame to break down the door. The door did break open, but not only did they fail to escape, they were also whipped.
It can be said that once bitten by a snake, one is afraid of a rope for ten years!
"My name is Xiaotao, what's your name?" a young lady in a gray coarse cloth dress asked Lin Xiaotang in a low voice.
"Sister, my name is Lin Xiaotang. I'm sorry, I couldn't lead everyone away and I even made you all get whipped."
Another young lady in a brown coarse cloth dress chimed in, “It’s not your fault. If we can’t escape, our fate will be a thousand times worse than being whipped. You meant well by trying to get everyone away. We didn’t succeed just now, but we’ll find another way. My name is Jiang Yue. Let’s look after each other.”
Lin Xiaotang was touched that her two older sisters didn't blame her.
With tears welling up in her eyes, she nodded emphatically, "Yes, let's keep thinking of ways. There's always a way out."
Jiang Yue frowned slightly, looking worried, and said, "Xiao Tang, you are still young and may not know that so many of us women have been captured and will inevitably end up being sold to brothels. These people clearly did not act on a whim and will probably move us before the soldiers arrive. I'm afraid that if the soldiers arrive a little too late, we will be left with no one to turn to."
Lin Xiaotang knew this principle perfectly well.
If it were kidnapping for ransom, they wouldn't kidnap so many people at the same time, nor would they dare to trade them all at once for their families to ransom them.
However, although she had visited Dushui County many times, and Uncle Shuisheng and Xiao Jiu had been delivering supplies to her daily recently, they had not mentioned anything about the unrest in Dushui County.
Why did those people suddenly become so bold?
Forget about that for now. The most urgent thing is to find a way to get out of here, or buy time to wait for rescue.
She looked around but couldn't see anything special about the room or know its general location. She couldn't jump out of the window and couldn't swim. How could she save herself?
She glanced at the ladies and noticed that two of them kept twisting their bodies and occasionally leaning against the wall, arching their backs as if scratching their backs. They looked like they were scratching themselves.
Could those two delicate young ladies be allergic to this damp environment?