After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Shen Ying explained, "She has four children to take care of at home, so she can't keep running around. It was already very kind of her to come and help last night."

"That's true!" Seeing that nothing was wrong in the village, Liu Tiechui turned around and asked about the children's situation.

Just then, Shen the Cripple and his family returned with the children, so they quickly went over to report back.

In front of the town official, Shen the Cripple cried his heart out, "Sir! You must do justice for us commoners! My child has never suffered like this in her life. Her skin, which was perfectly fine, is now covered in bites, and she has a fever and is unconscious. She's my only precious daughter! If anything happens to her, I won't live anymore, sob sob sob."

The others were similar to Shen the Cripple, crying and cursing Rong Lao Si and Qiu Shi, while the one who was emotionally agitated kept shouting that he wanted to kill Rong Lao Si and Qiu Shi.

Liu Tiechui's men tried their best to stop them.

Shen Ying and Liu Guangyao used every trick in the book to persuade the person to stop.

Chunxiang listened silently to the commotion outside, tears streaming down her face. She felt a pang of envy for the rescued children. How wonderful it would be if she had a loving family too! Alas, different people have different fates.

She shook her head with a wry smile, not daring to go out even though she couldn't hear the commotion outside, for fear of incurring the wrath of the angry villagers.

On the third day, Lu Tong finally led a group of officials into the village.

Upon receiving the message, Su Tai hurriedly went out to pay her respects.

After learning her identity, Lu Tong's expression softened considerably. He simply nodded slightly to her and then turned his attention to Liu Tiechui. "What's the situation now?"

Liu Tiechui recalled Rong Laosi's arrogant and domineering manner yesterday, and his face instantly darkened. "He's a shameless scoundrel who fears neither heaven nor earth. He even threatened me, saying that his brother-in-law is the owner of a big gambling den in the county. Lord Lu, what do you think?"

Lu Tong sneered, "A county-level gambling den? Just a rabble! Lead the way!"

When Rong Laosi and Qiu Shi were brought before Lu Tong, they were still oblivious to their own mortality and were spewing profanities.

Enraged, Lu Tong smashed the teacup against Rong Laosi's head, finally calming him down.

"Rong Laosi, I'm asking you, do you admit to stealing the villager's child?"

Faced with Lu Tong's stern face, Rong Laosi began to protest, "Sir, I'm innocent! I'm just a commoner who travels around with my opera troupe to make a living. How could I possibly do something so illegal and disorderly? If I really had that kind of talent, I wouldn't be living such a hard life all this time!"

"Hard work? As far as I know, you've always used the excuse of performing operas to frequently travel to other places to abduct local children and hand them over to brothel madams for training, isn't that right?" Lu Tong immediately exposed Rong Lao Si's secret.

Rong Laosi felt a little guilty, but still stubbornly argued his way out of it.

Lu Tong shook his head. "The actors under your command have all confessed. They even told you when and where you stole the children. According to the laws of Langya Kingdom, unless the biological parents sell their children or the children voluntarily sell themselves, no one can be forced to sell themselves. You used illegal means to force them to comply. Now they are accusing you of wrongdoing. What do you have to say about that?"

"I...I...I didn't! I didn't! They volunteered! They volunteered! And if we hadn't chosen them, they would still be in the brothel, probably already defiled. They should be thanking us!" Rong Laosi said righteously, almost cursing Chunqin and the others as ingrates.

Chunxiang, who was being watched over in the courtyard, looked pale. Faced with the villagers' encouragement, she could only smile bitterly, "The troupe leader is right about this. We were taken out of the brothel by them. We don't remember anything before that." "Chunxiang! Just because you have a bad memory doesn't mean we do!" Chunqin and the others rushed over and knelt in the courtyard, shouting loudly, "Sir, I remember. I was four years old when I was playing in the village and someone drugged me and took me away. I don't remember the situation in my hometown, but I remember jujube trees. There were many, many jujube trees in our village."

Liu Tiechui pondered and said, "Lord Lu, it seems that only Qilian County in the northeast of Lizhou grows jujube trees. It looks like that girl's family is from Qilian County."

Lu Tong deeply agreed.

Dong Ri also said loudly, "I was young when I was abducted, but I remember my parents treating me like a precious jewel. Our family was quite well-off, and we often ate meat when I was a child. I don't think my parents would sell me willingly. I must have been abducted by human traffickers."

"And us."

The others rushed to tell their origins, trying their best to prove that they had been trafficked and not sold by their families.

Rong Laosi and Qiu Shi's faces turned paler and paler, and they could only grit their teeth and shift the blame, "Even so, it has nothing to do with us. We redeemed them from the brothel."

Chunqin retorted excitedly, "Pah! You're in cahoots with the brothel madam. Once we're no longer of any use, you'll send us back to the brothel to serve customers, or you'll beat us to death. You two heartless bastards will get your retribution sooner or later!"

Chunqin was prepared to go all out from the moment she came out to testify; she was completely reckless.

"What? They've even killed people?" Mrs. He was so shocked that her face turned pale and she swayed as if she were about to collapse.

Ms. Xu, who was standing nearby, quickly helped her up.

Chunqin said with certainty: "As far as I know, they killed six actors, all three years ago. One of them was forced to lose his virginity by Rong Laosi and was beaten to death by Qiu Shi out of jealousy. The other two were caught after running away and were also killed by them."

The other three were younger and didn't do well in school; they died as punishment. They were demons, not human at all!

"Chunqin! You filthy hussy, just you wait, I'll skin you alive when I get back!" Qiu threatened and cursed in a fit of rage.

Chunqin was shocked and frightened, but also felt a little gleeful. "You all heard that, didn't you? It's commonplace for her to shout for violence and killing. If she treats people in the opera troupe like this, imagine what happens in the brothel. Every day, girls who refuse to serve customers are beaten to death there, and those who get sick are thrown into mass graves to fend for themselves. It's all the work of these beasts!"

The others, perhaps sharing the same plight, huddled together and wept bitterly.

Lu Tong's purpose in coming here today wasn't so pure; it was more about his own future plans. He never expected to hear so many shocking and sordid things, and he was furious. "Guards! Arrest Rong Laosi and Qiu Shi and punish them severely!"

In addition, I ordered the brothels and gambling dens to be raided, and all the people inside were detained pending further interrogation by this official.

Su Tai gave Shen Ying a meaningful look.

Shen Ying hurriedly stepped forward and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Excellency loves the people like your own children, which is a blessing for our Zhaohua County! I have a request, and I hope that Your Excellency can allow us to go to the county town to wait for news."

Su Tai stepped forward and chimed in, "Lord Lu, this matter actually started because of our village. If it weren't for our village putting on a big show, so many children wouldn't have suffered like this. Everyone may not say it out loud, but they're definitely angry with us. The village chief just wanted to do it personally so he could give the other villages an explanation later." (End of Chapter)