Thus, although the Bai family’s twin daughters were only eight years old, they held a status far above that of ordinary noble daughters. Were it not for this, the disappearance of two young girls would never have caused the Minister of Justice such distress, forcing him to anxiously scour the city inside and out in the middle of the night.
The matter of locating the two young ladies had to be handled with both speed and discretion to protect their reputations, making the search an even more challenging task.
Sighing, Song Lin stepped into the main hall of the General’s Residence.
As soon as he appeared, Madam Bai’s eyes lit up, but before she could speak, General Bai took a single step to reach Song Lin.
“Lord Song, do you have news of those two rascals of mine?”
Who refers to their own daughters like that—especially when one is betrothed as the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace?
Song Lin, an upright scholar, felt his mustache twitching in irritation. But knowing Bai Xun’s notoriously unrefined demeanor, he held his tongue and merely shook his head with a troubled expression. “General Bai, I regret to say that we have not yet found the young ladies.”
Seeing the change in Bai Xun and Madam Bai’s expressions, Song Lin quickly added, “However, someone reported seeing the young ladies in the southern district at dawn. I’ve already dispatched officers to search the southern part of the city.”
Hearing this, Bai Xun’s face grew even darker.
In the capital, noble families resided in the northern district, while the southern district was home to commoners and laborers. Even here, beneath the emperor’s feet, there were places where crime festered. The southern district was chaotic, filled with thieves, beggars, and other lowlifes. Xi’er and Shuo’er had been viewing lanterns in the northern district—how did they end up in the southern district?
Having grown up in the streets himself, Bai Xun knew that his precious daughters’ disappearance was no simple matter. He reassured his wife, then personally led his guards to the southern city to continue the search.
The sound of iron-clad hooves echoed on the official road deep into the night, rousing half the city’s residents. Song Lin, trembling with anxiety as he followed General Bai’s steed, felt a pang of regret.
After curfew, galloping on horseback within the capital’s walls was forbidden under imperial law. If General Bai’s actions tonight were reported by the Censorate at the morning court, he would face serious charges!
“Miss Bai, Miss Bai,” he thought desperately, “where in the world are you? If we don’t find you soon, the heavens in this capital will surely be overturned.”
Moments before the Ministry of Justice officers reached the southern city gate, a foul-smelling ox cart rolled smoothly out of the city through a side gate. The two men driving the cart were the Qian brothers from the South City, known for collecting slop from the Zuolin Alley. Every few days, the brothers would transport waste outside the city, carefully layering thick straw around the barrels to contain the stench and avoid disturbing the neighbors.
Having done this job for over five or six years, the brothers were on familiar terms with the guards at the gate, who were not inclined to inspect the rotten-smelling barrels. Today, as the brothers drove their cart out of the city, the guards casually nodded and allowed them to pass, just as usual.
No one noticed that although the sickly, emaciated Qian brothers wore their customary humble smiles, the hands gripping the cart’s reins were tense, veins bulging and tinged with a faint dark aura.
As the cart trundled away, an old guard sharpening his sword by the gate muttered to himself.
Didn’t he hear some strange murmuring coming from the cart? He glanced over at the cart but saw only the usual straw. Shaking his head, he thought nothing more of it.
After all, it was just slop and straw, just as it had been for years. What could be unusual about it?
The ox cart moved further from the southern city gate, and the noises of the street faded away. Inside one of the stinking slop barrels, the two Miss Bais were bound and gagged, stuffed into the barrels like dumplings, glaring at each other—one fuming with anger, the other cool and calm. Though their expressions differed greatly, their large, expressive eyes, full of spirit, were strikingly similar.
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