The person they found to help was an officer in the town garrison, one of Rappor's men.
He led more than a hundred soldiers in surrounding Ten Thousand Flower Grove. Officially, they were there to conduct an inspection, but in reality they attacked without warning, arresting all the bouncers in the establishment and never releasing them.
Without their protection, there was no way to deal with trouble if it arose again. The owner decided to seek help from the senior town officials he knew, only to find that none of them dared get involved.
In this town, nobody dared cross Rappor's men.
Business got worse by the day. Even many of the workers left, and gradually only the owner and six young women remained.
They had grown up here and had nowhere else to go. Because of their age, none of the other establishments would take them in.
The owner had some savings, but after constantly repairing the courtyard, she had spent nearly all of them. Eventually, even her most loyal customers stopped coming. The few who showed up now and then were mostly there to take advantage of them. And that was how things had ended up like this.
The owner had always been good with words. Now she spoke with emotion, and Riven wept as she listened, seemingly forgetting that this woman had beaten and scolded her throughout her childhood.
The other young women had all watched Riven grow up and treated her well, often sneaking her food behind the owner's back. How could Riven not feel heartbroken to see them bullied like this?
"I'll go find them! I'll smash the Hundred Flower Garden!"
"Don't go! We can't afford to cross them!"
The owner was still holding Riven back when people arrived at the entrance. Good grief, they