Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 571 Meeting with Zhihua
In the master bedroom of the villa.

"Zhihua will host a banquet for you at Tingxuan Tower by the Qinhuai River tomorrow to thank Zhima for saving me yesterday." Yue Ruyan passed the invitation letter sent by Zhihua to Chen Mo after reading it.

"Zhi Hua." Chen Mo raised his eyebrows slightly. Although he was surprised by Zhi Hua, he did not take it too seriously. However, today's invitation made him feel that the whole thing was full of weirdness.

"It seems that Zhihua wants to throw herself into your arms. The incident of the carriage being frightened yesterday must have been planned by her on purpose." Yue Ruyan said in a clear voice.

She still regarded the matter of Zhihua as a deliberate encounter in order to attract Chen Mo. Tomorrow's invitation should mean taking practical action.

Chen Mo rolled his eyes at her, then looked at Xiao Yunxi: "What is this Tingxuan Tower?"

"It's a high-end restaurant, opened on a ship. It's owned by the Qin family. Only high-ranking officials can afford to go there. It seems that Miss Zhihua is willing to spend money to thank you, her husband." Xiao Yunxi said with a teasing smile.

"I see you all think this is a romantic encounter. What if it's a beauty trap to target me?" Chen Mo said, glaring at the two women.

"So do you want to keep the appointment?" Yue Ruyan said.

"Go, I want to see what she's up to." Chen Mo said.

Yue Ruyan glared at Chen Mo and said, "That's it."

Chen Mo ignored her and looked at Xiao Yunxi: "How is the matter you asked Xiao Quan to investigate?"

“I’ll go ask later.” Xiao Yunxi said.

The Xiao family has a great influence throughout Jiangnan, so it doesn’t take long to investigate a person.

Soon, Xiao Yunxi came over and told Chen Mo what she had investigated.

"The situation is similar to what Zhihua said yesterday. Zhihua's original name was Xiaohua, which was given by a human trafficker. After being sold to Huaxianglou, her name was changed to Zhihua. There are still slave documents of Zhihua in the case library of the government office." Xiao Yunxi said slowly.

"Can we still find that human tooth?"

"My cousin said that the human trafficker is not a local and is not in Jiangnan at the moment. According to the information from the current investigation, the human trafficker specializes in trafficking underage girls. He brings some orphans from all over the Song Dynasty and brings them to Jiangnan to sell them." Xiao Yunxi said.

Yue Ruyan frowned and interjected, "The government in Jiangnan doesn't care?"

Xiao Yunxi sighed, "There's nothing we can do about it. The world is in such a mess right now. The government has no way of knowing whether the girls in the hands of the traffickers are from legitimate sources or trafficked."

"Can this be done in a proper way?" Yue Ruyan frowned, and then said in a cold voice: "The innkeeper should be killed even if he is innocent."

"Yes, when Emperor Taizu first founded the dynasty, the country was in ruins and the economy was in decline. There happened to be a great famine, food prices soared, people began to eat each other, and more than half of them were killed or injured. So Emperor Taizu issued a decree that people could sell their sons and daughters in exchange for life-saving food. Moreover, slaves could be bought and sold freely. In today's chaotic world, even if a girl is from a good family, if she has no background but is favored by the powerful, they can collude with the government, directly enslave her, and then forcibly take her for themselves." Xiao Yunxi said.

"If that's the case, there's no way to investigate." Chen Mo said.

The next day, Tingxuan Tower.

The location where Tingxuan Tower is docked is one of the most beautiful places on the Qinhuai River. As one of the only two brothels in Qinhuai City, many literati and ladies surrounded Tingxuan Tower.

According to Chen Mo, they all gathered here to "check in."

Although the same dish only costs tens or hundreds of coins in an ordinary restaurant, it costs more than ten times as much in Tingxuanlou. But even so, customers still flock to it. The three-story boat is almost full every day, and the private rooms are in short supply and require reservations.

At this moment, a carriage slowly drove over from not far away. Everyone looked at it, not because of how luxurious the carriage was, but because they had seen this carriage yesterday.

"It's Miss Zhihua's carriage."

They were a little surprised. You know, Zhihua was a girl from a brothel, no matter how high-end she was, she was still selling her body.

Tingxuan Tower is a truly high-end place, where dignitaries go.
As the Xiahe cocktail party was approaching, Zhihua did not stay in Huaxiang Tower but ran to Tingxuan Tower. It was inevitable that people would think that some nobleman had asked Zhihua out in advance and destroyed her virginity.

After all, the big families have strict traditions, so they can only meet in Tingxuan Tower to keep it secret.

The carriage stopped on the shore, and the horseman got off first, moved a small wooden step down from the door curtain, placed it in front of the carriage, then lifted the curtain, and a graceful woman slowly walked down from the carriage.

She was wearing a gorgeous golden dress, she was tall, her eyebrows were like crescent moon, her eyes were as clear as lake water, her figure was slender and graceful, like a willow, her hair was black and curled into a high bun.

Tingxuan Tower hired three eighth-rank warriors as guards, one of them stepped forward and lowered the deck of the ship.

"Has the distinguished guest arrived?" Zhihua stepped forward and bowed, then asked softly.

The guard of Tingxuan Tower was about to speak.

Not far away, the sound of "da da da" footsteps could be heard, in an orderly manner.

Everyone on the shore looked over.

I saw a team of armored soldiers walking slowly. As they walked, the sound of armor plates rubbing against each other could be heard. The sunlight shining on the brightly colored armor made them look extremely majestic and eye-catching.

The soldiers cleared the way, and a carriage with the Xiao family emblem printed on it drove up, and the passers-by blocking the way made way one after another.

"It's the Duke of Anguo."

There were exclamations from the crowd. In Jiangnan, the only family with troops and horses was the Xiao family. Although this carriage belonged to the Xiao family, the armor worn by the soldiers and horses leading the way indicated that they were the personal soldiers of the Duke of Anguo.

"Why is Duke Anguo here? Could it be that the noble person Zhihua mentioned is Duke Anguo?" someone whispered.

The soldiers stopped in front of Zhihua, then swept to the left and right, sticking their spears into the ground. The tips of the spears emitted a chilling light, and the young girls all retreated three feet.

Zhihua stepped forward to greet the carriage.

The carriage stopped and Chen Mo got out.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting." Chen Mo glanced at Zhihua and said with a smile.

"I just arrived too." Zhihua bowed to Chen Mo.

"Duke Anguo, please." Zhihua said softly.

Chen Mo nodded, and the two of them walked towards Tingxuan Tower one after the other.

Sun Meng followed with his soldiers. Chen Mo suddenly turned around and said, "Wait outside. Do not come in and disturb us without my order."

Sun Meng glanced at Zhihua and said yes.

However, when outsiders saw this scene, they naturally believed that Zhihua was favored by Duke Anguo and was planning to have a romantic relationship in Tingxuan Pavilion today.

"Duke Anguo really likes Zhihua."

"Zhihua is about to fly up to the tree and become a phoenix."

(End of this chapter)