Crisis Approaches

Outside Yujing City, the Imperial Estate.

The steward eunuch, Jia San, was the adopted son of Jia Jin, the ninth leader of the Black Cloaks, giving him a powerful background.

In reality, Jia San was already forty-six years old, while Jia Jin was only thirty-two.

Jia San lay on a soft couch, surrounded by beauties, with two maids massaging his legs and another using her red lips to feed him purple grapes.

The scholar Xiao Sanchuan stood below him cautiously, reporting on the affairs of the Dongan Escort Agency.

"After Zhao Xuan was beheaded, Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine stitched him up to give him a complete corpse, and now his wife, An Ya, has buried him."

Jia San spat out a grape seed, frowning in disgust. "Where did these grapes come from? Why do they have seeds?"

Xiao Sanchuan quickly smiled obsequiously. "They were sent from the Western Regions, said to be the finest grapes of the year, very sweet."

Jia San didn't even raise his eyelids. "Sweet they may be, but they have seeds. Can His Majesty eat grapes with seeds? Spitting out seeds would be disrespectful to the Emperor. Have the person who sent the grapes beheaded."

"Truly outrageous!"

Xiao Sanchuan bowed in agreement.

Only then did Jia San wave his hand again, and the maid used her red lips to hold a lychee and feed it to Jia San. Jia San rolled it around in his mouth, spat out the pit, and the maid used her red lips to catch it and spit it aside.

"Wasn't the Corpse Seamstress House disbanded some time ago?"

"How is it that Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine is still stitching corpses?"

Xiao Sanchuan explained, "I inquired, and the Corpse Seamstress of Number Nine borrowed fifty taels of silver from a relative and bought the Number Nine Corpse Seamstress House from a minor official in the Ministry of Justice, starting a business of stitching corpses."

"Not only that, my lord, but I also found out a big secret."

"Li Lan'er and her daughter, who escaped from our estate, are hiding in Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine."

"I heard that the mother and daughter were selling themselves in the market, and then the Corpse Seamstress of Number Nine bought them back to be his wives."

Jia San, who had not opened his eyes until now, finally opened them, looking at Xiao Sanchuan with a fake smile. "Sanchuan, are you saying that the woman our family hasn't gotten our hands on has become the little Corpse Seamstress's wife?"

Xiao Sanchuan smiled carefully. "He doesn't have that kind of luck. Originally, we couldn't interfere since he bought the Corpse Seamstress House and the Ministry of Justice sold it, but since he's harboring the wives and daughters of tenants of the Imperial Estate, that's a major crime. We can take him down with our men, and it's only right. No one can find fault with it."

Jia San chuckled and waved his hand. "Go."

He really didn't take a small Corpse Seamstress to heart.

Xiao Sanchuan quickly retreated.

Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine. After stitching up Zhao Xuan, Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine gained some fame.

Many people knew that there was still a Corpse Seamstress in the row of Corpse Seamstress Houses at Caishikou Execution Grounds.

Wen Qingkong had done some marketing, and he wouldn't have to worry about business in the future.

"Caw! Caw! Caw!"

Little Nine flew into the room from the second-floor window, then came to the first floor, constantly calling out to Wen Qingkong, and jumping back and forth on the branches set up in the corner, appearing extremely anxious.

Wen Qingkong frowned slightly.

He quickly went to the second floor and looked out the window.

At this moment, Little One flapped its wings, letting out a screeching caw.

Wen Qingkong looked down along the roof ridge where Little One was, and his pupils contracted. It was the scholar who appeared in Zhao Xuan's revolving lantern, and also Eunuch Jia, the steward of the Imperial Estate's confidant.

Wen Qingkong's heart stirred, and he immediately deduced that this scholar was coming for him.

Within the entire Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine, the most likely people to be targeted by the Imperial Estate's eunuch were Li Lan'er and her daughter.

Wen Qingkong immediately said to Li Lan'er, "Come with me."

Time was of the essence. He didn't have time to send Li Lan'er and her daughter elsewhere. He tucked the mother and daughter under his arms, one on each side, scrambled onto the roof ridge, walked along the riverbank behind the house, snuck into Corpse Seamstress House Number One, and instructed Li Lan'er and her daughter not to make any noise.

If they were really caught, they shouldn't resist, just obediently follow the scholar.

He would find a way to save them.

Li Lan'er nodded eagerly.

She hadn't expected that staying in the Corpse Seamstress House would lead to the Imperial Estate's eunuch finding them.

Wen Qingkong settled Li Lan'er down and snuck back into his Corpse Seamstress House Number Nine.

Not long after he returned, he heard the door being pounded loudly.

Wen Qingkong opened the door and looked at the scholar and the others.

"Do you need stitching?"

"Get out of the way!"

One of the Imperial Estate's thugs kicked Wen Qingkong to the ground, and the group quickly searched the place.

Unfortunately, they didn't find Li Lan'er and her daughter.

The scholar Xiao Sanchuan frowned. It shouldn't be like this. The information he had gathered couldn't be wrong.

Soon, Xiao Sanchuan saw Li Lan'er and her daughter's room on the second floor and found their clothes.

Xiao Sanchuan sneered, bringing the clothing before Wen Qingkong.

"Where are the people?"

"You dare to touch Eunuch Jia's people?"

"Young man, a newborn calf fears no tiger, eh?"

Wen Qingkong feigned fear, saying, "Someone came this morning to pick them up and even gave me a fifty-tael silver note."

As he spoke, he pulled out a fifty-tael silver note from his chest, his hands trembling as he offered it to Xiao Sanchuan.

Xiao Sanchuan frowned deeply. Someone had taken them?

He carefully examined the fifty-tael silver note; it was indeed genuine.

Fifty taels wasn't a small sum.

A Corpse Seamstress wouldn't have that much money.

Who would take Li Lan'er and her daughter?

Li Lan'er and her daughter knew about the four brothers from the Imperial Estate accusing Eunuch Jia. Could someone be trying to make a fuss about this?

At this moment, in Xiao Sanchuan's heart, the little Corpse Seamstress Wen Qingkong was of little use.

"What did the people who took them look like?"

"Big and burly, with particularly fierce eyes. One look at me, and I was sweating all over."

"Just like those military gentlemen I used to stitch up."

Xiao Sanchuan's heart skipped a beat. He pressed, "Where did they leave from?"

"Strangely, they left from behind the house, by water. There was a boat waiting specifically for them."

Xiao Sanchuan felt a chill.

Because Wen Qingkong was just a small Corpse Seamstress, Xiao Sanchuan didn't take him seriously at all, not even bothering to have someone watch him. This meant he couldn't verify the truth of Wen Qingkong's words.

Similarly, because Wen Qingkong was just a small Corpse Seamstress, Xiao Sanchuan didn't think he was capable of making up such a lie.

Military men, traveling by water, hidden...

Several keywords quickly connected.

Xiao Sanchuan's expression grew even uglier.

He thought of one person—Marquis Fubo Ma Guangyuan.

As the only influential marquis besides the military marquises to hold military power, Marquis Fubo was not only good at fighting battles but also well-versed in the affairs of the court.

Marquis Fubo Ma Guangyuan must have noticed Zhao Xuan's imprisonment and beheading.

If he could find Li Lan'er and her daughter, Ma Guangyuan could certainly find them too. Taking Li Lan'er and her daughter away a step ahead was clearly a move against Eunuch Jia.

Xiao Sanchuan couldn't stay any longer.

He immediately took his men back to the Imperial Estate to inform Eunuch Jia of this matter.

As for Wen Qingkong, a small Corpse Seamstress, there was no need to care about him.