It rained at night, and the weather in the capital finally began to cool down. It was especially chilly in the morning. The door of Baoding Tower opened early. The second brother rubbed his eyes sleepily and couldn't help stamping his feet: "I don't know what's wrong with these vendors. Although they came early in the past, they didn't come so early. Why are they so early today?"
The servant leaned out to take a look, then smiled at him, "You, you're such a pity that you work in our most prosperous Baoding Building. You didn't even know about the recent excitement. Madam Chen's case is going to be heard today! Why do so many people come to set up stalls in advance?"
Of course it’s because there are so many people coming to watch the fun!
The second brother sighed, scratched his head in sudden realization, and said, "I've been investigating for so long, but I don't know if I've found anything."
The servant took a handkerchief and began to clean and tidy up the tables and chairs. When he heard everyone start to discuss this matter, he said, "We just checked Juhai Manor. At least we found something, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't have detained the owner as well."
Even the boss was detained
The second brother uttered a suspicious "ah", feeling that this was a little unbelievable and a little bewildered: "Could it be that Juhai Manor really...really wants to buy people from those human traffickers?"
No one talked to anyone, everyone just smiled and said nothing.
What's so strange about buying people from human traffickers? That's the Jiaofangsi, where the wives and daughters of officials who committed crimes were confiscated. There was no shortage of good seedlings or beautiful girls. But how could you buy good seedlings that satisfied your needs every time in these ordinary brothels
Of course, it is easier to just order the kidnappers to kidnap those pretty girls.
There are even brothel madams who go to the countryside to select young girls themselves and abduct them. This is not uncommon. There were such legal cases in the past few years, and it is not a one- or two-day thing.
But the situation in Juhai Manor seems to be even bigger now.
Juhaizhuang was indeed thoroughly investigated.
Gao Ping personally sent an order to get Zhang Tui Guan from Shuntian Prefecture and asked him to go with him to run errands. Zhang Tui Guan was a hot-blooded person who would not give face to anyone. He led his men straight to Juhai Manor and interrogated Hua Niang and the heads of the staff one by one.
Those small leaders and several brothel owners in charge were all clueless when asked and refused to admit that Hua Niang had any unusual background.
The Hua girls themselves didn't know why. Even though they had been rescued by the government, they didn't dare to speak, and none of them dared to respond.
An official in charge of the Ministry of Justice frowned and said, "I think what Madam Chen said is wrong. The steward and these prostitutes do not admit that someone came from an unknown source. How can it be as sensational as Madam Chen said?"
Upon hearing this, Tuiguan Zhang glanced at him, lowered his head and thought for a moment, and did not answer. He just asked the interrogation to continue and turned to go to where Hua Niang lived.
He did not go to the residences of the top girls, but only to the residences of the new girls. After checking them out, he took a lot of small things and turned back to ask the prostitutes who these things belonged to.
The little girls looked at each other one by one. No one dared to speak at first. After a long while, a girl about thirteen or fourteen years old raised her hands and whispered: "Sir, that's mine..."
Zhang looked at the blackened silver bracelet in his hand, uttered an "oh", and said to her softly, "Since it's yours, come and take it."
The girl looked around and saw that everyone was lowering their heads and dared not say a word. Zhang Tuiguan spoke in a gentle tone. After hesitating for a while, she finally mustered up the courage, bit her lip, stood up, walked up to Zhang Tuiguan like a rabbit, reached out and took the bracelet in her hand.
Zhang Tuiguan asked her softly, "Who gave this to you?"
The little girl's eyes were red, she held the bracelet in her hands, tears welling up in her eyes, and spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "My mother left it to me."
As soon as she finished saying this, she couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She almost died of tears and looked at Zhang Tuiguan: "Sir, please be kind and let me go home? My mother must..."
The person in charge frowned and shouted: "We are investigating a case now, what do you think we are?!"
The little girl was silenced immediately after being scolded by him, and the beautiful girls around her also lowered their heads.
Zhang Tuiguan looked at the person in charge deeply, then walked up to the little girl and asked softly: "Where is your home? If you still remember, it is not difficult to send you back. As long as we find out clearly that you were not sold voluntarily by your parents..."
"I'm not!" The little girl knelt down and kowtowed to Zhang Tuiguan as if she had grabbed a life-saving straw: "Sir, I was not sold by my parents, I was kidnapped, my home is by the Daming Lake... I lost my parents when I entered the city, sir, please, please be kind and let me go home..."
Those who were taken away ended up here.
Tuiguan Zhang looked at the person in charge with a smile, but the person in charge had already turned his head away.
"Scribe!" Zhang Tuiguan called out, and seeing the scribes following him quickly came out, he ordered: "Write down the girl's name and hometown, where she was abducted from, and what happened to her."
As he spoke, he looked at Hua Niang who had all raised her head to look at him, smiled slightly and emphasized his tone, "Anyone who is confirmed to have been abducted by kidnappers will be sent back to their hometown!"
Suddenly, the whole room was in an uproar.
The little girls looked at Zhang Tuiguan in disbelief, held each other's hands in surprise and joy, looked at each other, and couldn't help crying out of joy.
Then, people started speaking one after another.
"I was kidnapped. My parents never sold me. It was that kidnapper who abducted me!"
"Me too! If I didn't come, they would beat me and scold me, and even throw me into the river..." A little girl shuddered as she spoke, "The one who came with me was thrown into the river and drowned because he was disobedient and made a scene on the road!"
Once someone opens his mouth, the rest will be easy.
More than half of the twenty or so young girls present said that they were kidnapped. Some of them even had their parents beaten when they were kidnapped, and their lives or deaths were unknown.
The room was suddenly filled with cries. Zhang Tuiguan quickly walked up to the person in charge and asked him quietly, "Sir, do you have any evidence now?"
The head of the office had a livid face and was unable to speak for a moment. After a long while, he managed to force a smile and said, "Look at what Magistrate Zhang said. Isn't it obvious whether there is any evidence? Since they all say that he was abducted, then let's investigate."