At dawn, the first light of day emerged.
Qi Huan slept in until she naturally woke up. She got up, dressed herself, applied light makeup, and skillfully tied her hair into a bun while holding the hairband in her mouth.
After she finished grooming, Li Shuchen put down the scroll he was reading and stood up, approaching her.
"The culprit has been caught. Do you want to go see them?"
Qi Huan nodded her head rapidly like a chick pecking grain: "Of course! I want to go ask them myself what grudge they have and why they acted so maliciously."
Although the Li Country had an open-minded culture, for most commoners, a woman's loss of virtue was still considered a disgraceful matter. They wouldn't try to discern whether she was a victim, but would arrogantly criticize her for lacking propriety and being fickle.
Moreover, the mastermind had hired five burly men all at once, which infuriated Qi Huan to the core.
They crossed the bustling market, turned into a small alley, and knocked on the door in front of the courtyard they had been to the day before. Yan Jiu soon came out to greet them.
In addition to him, there were two unfamiliar faces in the house - they were Yan Qinghe and Yan Wu, who had come to replace the bound five brothers.
Yan Jiu kicked the constantly writhing Fifth Brother, scolding, "Stay still."
Then, he led Qi Huan and Li Shuchen into the inner room, respectfully saying, "Your Highness, last night we followed the clues they gave us and traced it back, ultimately identifying the wet nurse of Miss Rong as the target. Under severe interrogation, she confessed that it was Miss Rong Xue who instigated her.
Before dawn, taking advantage of the darkness, I, as per your instructions, had her abducted."
"Wake her up."
"Yes."
A bucket of cold water was poured over Rong Xue's head, waking her up. Her gaze was first bewildered, then fearful, but lit up when she saw Li Shuchen.
"Mmm... Mmm..."
She struggled to break free from the ropes binding her hands and feet, but to no avail. The gag in her mouth was too tight, and she could only let out muffled moans.
Qi Huan carefully examined her, finally remembering where she had seen this slightly familiar woman before. On the opening day of Qi's Noodle Shop, this woman had tried to persuade Li Shuchen to marry into her family, but was rejected, and they had no further interactions since then.
If the instigator had been Lady Mei, Qi Huan could have somewhat understood, as she had tricked her out of 500 taels of silver. But this woman in front of her had no grievance, no enmity in the past, so why would she target her like this?
Removing the gag from her mouth, Qi Huan coldly stared at her and demanded, "Explain your reasons."
Turning to her, Rong Xue's beautiful face was covered in jealousy: "Don't think I don't know, the reason why Lord Li rejected me was because of you. He follows you around all day, do you have my beauty? My wealth? What gives you the right?"
"Because he likes me, hehe."
Qi Huan's one sentence left Rong Xue's mind in a complete blur.
Ever since their first brief encounter, Rong Xue had secretly visited Qi's Noodle Shop a few times just to catch a glimpse of Lord Li's handsome features.
Gradually, she realized that Lord Li's gaze was always secretly following that little girl Qi Huan.
Feeling deeply frustrated, when Rong's Father then urged her to find a son-in-law, Rong Xue had no choice. The Rong family only had her as their sole daughter, and she didn't have any business acumen, so Rong's Father could only hope to find a son-in-law to take over the gambling house and other businesses.
After examining several young men, Rong's Father was quite satisfied, so he told Rong Xue to choose a husband she liked and seal the engagement.
However, she either found this one too short, or that one had pockmarks on his face - she picked and chose, but in the end, none of them could catch her eye.
Compared to Li Shuchen, they were like shoddy pearls compared to precious gems, the gap was too great.
Rong Xue was furious to death. She was as beautiful as a flower, and had a large family fortune to inherit, so why did she have to settle for these crooked and wrinkled men?
Later, she accidentally overheard the manager of the Rong Easy Gambling House reporting to her father that some gamblers with less severe addiction were being snatched away by the Worry-Free Mahjong Parlor, and Rong Xue was secretly delighted, hoping that her father would take action against Qi Huan.
But her father didn't care at all, instead saying that those gamblers still had a glimmer of clarity in their hearts, and even if they were kept, they wouldn't ruin their families or sell their children for gambling, so it would be better to put more effort into those who were crazy for a quick fortune.
Rong Xue was unwilling to give up, and secretly instructed the wet nurse to collude with the manager, getting someone to ruin Qi Huan's reputation.
In this way, Lord Li would certainly no longer want Qi Huan, and she could then take advantage of the situation.
On the other hand, if Qi Huan lost her virtue, she would certainly not dare show her face again. As long as the noodle shop's business went downhill, the gamblers who had left earlier would have to obediently return.
It was a perfect plan.
Who knew that her beautiful dream would be shattered, and she would become Qi Huan's prisoner instead.
The wet clothes soaked by the cold water made Rong Xue's teeth chatter, and her rationality gradually returned. She slowly realized the situation.
Adopting a pitiful appearance, she pleaded to Qi Huan: "Miss Qi, I didn't mean to, I was just impulsive.
Besides, you haven't been harmed, so why don't we turn swords into plowshares? How about this? We'll live in peace, you be the principal wife, and I'll be the concubine. Lord Li can marry into my family, and you can go with him. The Rong Mansion is vast and prosperous, I can guarantee you both will live in luxury."
Qi Huan burst into mocking laughter, not bothering to waste more words with her, and directly said, "At dawn, you're already daydreaming, wake up! Marrying Shu is impossible, because he's mine alone.
However, I can return the 'kindness' you sent me."
She moved a bit towards the wall, then turned and pointed to the main room: "Miss Rong, enjoy yourself."
With that, she took Li Shuchen and walked out to the courtyard.
After they left, Yan Jiu instructed Yan Thirteen and Fourteen to untie the five men and lock them in the room.
Soon, the angry curses of the woman, the sound of torn clothes, and the gasps of the men echoed one after another.
Qi Huan's face darkened. As a woman herself, she was deeply disgusted by these vulgar methods. But thinking that these filthy acts were aimed at her, she steeled her heart and was determined to let Rong Xue reap what she had sown.
The commotion in the room continued until the dusk fell, and finally began to subside. Yan Jiu cleaned his ears and went to report to Li Shuchen.
"Your Highness, afterwards Rong Xue has committed suicide by throwing herself against the wall, as for the remaining five, how should we proceed?"
Li Shuchen looked at Qi Huan: "How does Huan wish to handle this?"
Qi Huan had heard of their notorious deeds, the Five Womanizers had a long list of evil acts, but the women they harmed either committed suicide or kept silent without reporting to the authorities, so the gang continued to run rampant in Mo County.
Filled with disgust, she said decisively: "Report them to the authorities. Rong Xue's death is enough for them to be executed at the town square, and the women they've harmed can also quietly throw some rotten vegetables to vent their anger.
But before reporting them, their 'tools of the trade' must be confiscated first, so they can't die too painlessly. Castration is the eternal punishment for such a crime."
Yan Jiu complied, but secretly planned not to soil his own blade.
After leaving, he immediately went to the blacksmith's shop to buy a new one, sharpened it meticulously, and one by one, castrated the five brothers.
The next morning, an unsigned letter was silently thrown onto Constable Yan's desk.
After reading it, he immediately summoned the constables, found the house mentioned in the letter, and arrested the ghastly pale-faced five brothers, then sent someone to the Rong Mansion to arrange for Rong Xue's burial.
After being imprisoned, the five brothers lay in a row against the wall, their wounds having already stopped bleeding, but the pain was still excruciating.
The more they wailed, the more it hurt, the more they moved, the more it hurt, so they simply lay on the ground without moving.
Looking through the wooden bars, the prison warden saw them seemingly ready to ascend to heaven at any moment, fearing they wouldn't last long, so he immediately reported the situation to Magistrate Chen.
After learning the details, Magistrate Chen made a decisive judgment, sentencing them to be executed at noon the next day on the town square.
That evening, the five men were utterly exhausted and had no appetite even for prison food.
As they lay on the ground gasping for air, the sound of shuffling footsteps echoed down the narrow passage. A stooped figure slowly approached.
After receiving the silver ingot, the prison warden weighed it with satisfaction, inserted the key into the lock, and curtly instructed them, "Mind the time, you only have a quarter hour."
