There was no need to go into detail about their negotiations with the Female Ghost. In short, by the time she drove them out with a look of disgust, they had already gotten what they wanted.
If Zhao Mou hadn't felt sorry for the Female Ghost's tragic past and her genuine concern for her still-living, unfortunate sisters—and if she hadn't been cooperative once they cleared up the misunderstanding—then, with the way she talked as if she'd swallowed a mouthful of firecrackers, Ghost Wine would have made sure she left missing a limb or two.
Fortunately, the result had been good. The Female Ghost had plenty of information.
Zhao Mou said, "The Female Ghost used to work in a brothel, too. She refused to tell us her name. She said her family was so poor they had nothing to eat, so her father sold her. She had a fierce temper and took quite a beating at the brothel. The other women told her not to be so stubborn—that no matter how humiliating it was, it was better than getting beaten to death."
And after getting beaten, she still had to serve customers.
"Later, she got smarter. She acted obedient on the surface, but while serving customers, she would worm their secrets out of them. She had plenty of dirt on people and quietly started blackmailing them. After a few years, she'd saved up some money and planned to buy her freedom."
As it happened, she really could have gotten out of the brothel.
Unfortunately, she had too much dirt on people, and some of it involved people she had no business crossing given her status. Her blackmailing was discovered by the Li family's young master. That's right, the Li family had a second young master. He usually stayed out of the