Before the house was raided, the maidservant of the Prime Minister's residence absconded with t

Fifteen minutes later, the courtyard of the Toll Money Inn was quiet, with only the dim light still on in the west wing.

Peach huddled close to the wall, crouching low, and slowly made her way toward the light.

She was wearing soft-soled cloth shoes, which made no sound when she stepped on the blue brick floor.

When she first entered the shop, she noticed that the shopkeeper kept glancing at her, which made her wary.

The shopkeeper looked all smiles, as if he believed in making money through amiable means.

The waiter was also very attentive, serving tea and water and helping with luggage.

Tao'er immediately sensed something was amiss, because the shopkeeper's eyes kept glancing at her bundle, and the waiter's attitude was overly attentive, or rather, excessively enthusiastic.

She became more cautious and didn't actually fall asleep.

Sure enough, these two men not only wanted to seize her wealth, but also their lives.

Since that's the case, she has to demand interest back!

As the saying goes, "I will not offend others unless they offend me; if they offend me, I will retaliate twofold."

She was crouching by the window, and every word they said inside reached her ears.

"...Where did that brat and that little kid go?"

I haven't seen them go out either.

The gate isn't even open...

That's the shopkeeper's voice.

"Brother, what you're saying is also strange to me. Not even a fly can get out of our shop. How did it get out?"

When did the siblings go out?

The waiter chimed in, and you could tell from his voice that he was full of doubt.

Tao'er's heart skipped a beat. It turned out they were two brothers, one pretending to be the shopkeeper and the other pretending to be the waiter.

I didn't look closely when I first went into the store, but now that I think about it, the two of them do look somewhat alike.

"Yeah, second brother, you were guarding the door, didn't you really see them go out?"

Did you doze off and not notice?

"Brother, how is that possible?"

I'm not sleepy at all, how could I possibly be drowsy?

I guarantee they didn't go out through the front door.

The shopkeeper cursed his bad luck, saying he had thought he could make a killing.

The waiter didn't care and advised his brother that it didn't matter if one ran away, because another might come tomorrow. Besides, they had already pulled off quite a few heist and saved up enough money.

As Tao'er listened, her hands slowly clenched.

She remembered the shopkeeper asking them where they came from, where they were going, and who else was in their family, and how kind he was.

It turned out that he was subtly probing to find out her background.

The shopkeeper's voice rang out again: "Second brother, we have saved quite a bit of silver, but for some reason, my left eyelid is twitching badly."

This time it's really too strange; this person just inexplicably ran away right under our noses.

Also, we can't do this job for too long.

After all, with the number of missing persons increasing, I'm also afraid of trouble from the authorities.

We'd better be cautious.

"Brother, what are you afraid of? We've already taken care of the officials. They'll just turn a blind eye once they've received the money."

Besides, the people we rip off are all out-of-town merchants passing through, not locals.

You're getting more and more timid.

We've killed at least a dozen people!

Is everything alright?

Even if the government becomes suspicious, it's useless if they can't find any evidence.

Don't worry, brother, let's finish this little bit of wine and get a good night's sleep.

About ten?

Peach's eyes shone frighteningly bright in the darkness.

A dozen or so living people were gone just like that.

Those two bastards are truly heartless and ruthless, black inside and out.

Did they have parents? Did they have wives, children, and elderly parents? Did they beg for mercy as they faced death? Did they hope someone could save them?

The innkeeper was still saying, "Alright, let's drink. It's just that you're being cowardly, brother."

However, we can't just kill them all; otherwise, we won't be able to explain it to the authorities.

"Okay, I'll listen to you, brother."

From now on, we'll only fleece the rich and powerful; we'll leave the poor behind.

What a pity today. I should have known better than to have poisoned their food directly.

"Cheers!

Second brother, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's just consider it bad luck today!

Tao'er didn't listen anymore.

She quietly slipped away, crept to the woodshed in the backyard, and found two sturdy hemp ropes.

When I returned, the lights were still on, and there was no more talking inside, except for the occasional soft clinking of glasses against the table.

She waited for another half an hour until she heard even snoring from inside before gently pushing open the door.

The two of them were slumped over the table, completely drunk.

The wine pot was tilted to one side, and the peanuts from the plate were scattered everywhere.

The dim light of the oil lamp illuminated their unguarded, sleeping faces.

The shopkeeper was in his forties, with a round face, and looked like a friendly and prosperous businessman.

The waiter was younger, and there was still a trail of drool at the corner of his mouth.

It seems that appearances can be deceiving; a person who looks honest is not necessarily a good person.

Tao'er was quick and efficient; in no time, she had tied the two people securely to the chair, making a tight knot.

Then she went to the well in the backyard and drew two buckets of water, the kind of well water that was icy cold even in the hottest days of summer.

She returned with the bucket, aimed it at the two people's heads, and poured it over them.

"Cough cough cough..."

The shopkeeper woke up first, coughing violently from the choking, water dripping down his hair and beard.

He opened his eyes and saw Tao'er standing in front of him. His eyes were wide open like saucers, and his mouth opened and closed repeatedly before he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "You..."

How could you…?

The waiter also woke up, frantically shaking the water off his head. When he saw that it was Tao'er, his face turned pale.

Tao'er finished speaking for them, then smiled and said, "You mean to ask why I'm back again?"

Let me tell you, I never left at all.

The shopkeeper looked down and found himself tied up tightly. His face twitched, and he forced a smile: "Miss... what are you doing?"

It's all a misunderstanding!

Let's talk this out...

"Misunderstanding?" Tao'er walked to the table, picked up the wine pot, looked at it, and then put it down. "I heard everything you were saying right under the window."

"What 'fat sheep,' what 'more than ten' were slaughtered, what 'the government has been bribed'—you think it's all a misunderstanding?"

The two men's expressions changed completely.

The waiter struggled, but the rope remained unmoved.

He changed his tune and glared fiercely at Tao'er: "You brat, you better let us go!"

Otherwise, once we get away, we'll sell you to a brothel, where you'll be ridden by a thousand men and slept with by ten thousand!

And your younger brother, with his fair and delicate features, could fetch a good price if sold to those gentlemen with particular fetishes…”

Before he could finish speaking, Tao'er pulled a dagger from her waist.

The dagger was short, about the size of a palm, but it gleamed coldly under the oil lamp.

"What did you just say?" she asked.

The waiter looked at the knife in her hand, his throat bobbed, but he didn't dare repeat himself.

The shopkeeper quickly tried to smooth things over: "Miss, miss, he has a foul mouth, please don't take it to heart."

We can talk this over.

How about this: I'll refund you double... no, ten times the amount you and your brother spent on lodging and meals!

If you let us go, we'll pretend nothing happened.

You go your way, I'll go mine, how about that?

The shopkeeper spoke ingratiatingly, but in his heart he was thinking, "Once I'm free, I'll tear you to pieces!"