Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu was also thinking, who would be interested in such a girl? In addition to human traffickers, there is also the legendary secret society Ziguang Society, which is dominated by women. Qi Xuansu even had a hunch that the two cases might be merged into one case in the end.

As for Ziguang Society, although it has some unclear relationship with Zhengyi, it does not mean that Ziguang Society is a good person. "Tianting" is also related to Taiping Dao. Whether it is to kill the Yuan family or attack Zhenwu Temple, there is no such thing. A little soft-hearted.

However, whether it is human traffickers or Ziguang Society, Mei Mei will not be in any danger in a short period of time.

Needless to say about the Ziguang Club, they like to develop members, not engage in blood sacrifices. As for the human traffickers, they will not directly sell Meimei to a brothel to pick up customers.

Because Qi Xuansu saw the "portrait" that Ke Qingqing created based on Zhou Qingshu's description. She was a beautiful embryo. Given her age, it was not cost-effective to sell her directly to a brothel to receive customers. In the words of the brothel, it would ruin the good young lady; secondly, it was not cost-effective. The risk is high. The court's supervision of child prostitutes is still relatively strict, and it is difficult to obtain a certificate. From the perspective of a trafficker, it is best to avoid the limelight before taking action; thirdly, not everyone can do this business, and training is required before that. The process also sharpens a woman's temperament, just like boiling an eagle.

So it is more likely that it is hidden somewhere.

When Qi Xuansu traveled around the world, he heard about this kind of business. Some old prostitutes changed their profession to train new people after their beauty faded in old age. The process was to find the daughters of poor families and raise them as foster mothers. According to the rules of wealthy families, The standard of concubinage is to cultivate talents, etiquette, speech and behavior, etc., and those with good qualifications and appearance can even live the life of a wealthy lady, with rich clothes, fine food, and maids to serve them.

This is what is called raising a thin horse. In the future, she can be sold to a wealthy family as a concubine. Compared with many famous prostitutes, her appearance and talents are as good as those of many famous prostitutes, but she is also "innocent", which is in line with the moral obsessiveness of some poetic and ritual families. After all, only Taoist sects are not allowed to take concubines. Outside Taoist sects, the system of monogamy and multiple concubines is still the rule.

In this regard, Li Qingnu is no different from many thin horses, except that Li Tianyue has greater ambitions. She only has His Majesty the Emperor in her eyes, and looks down on the so-called gentry and powerful families. Later, after discovering that this road was blocked and having some feelings for each other after getting along for many years, Li Tianyue considered letting Li Qingnu join the Li family as an adopted daughter. Li Qingnu knew this very well and must have resentment, otherwise he would not have chosen to work for Qiniang. Although Qiniang was greedy for money, she never had anything to say to her family.

Or selling it to a brothel is a similar process, no different from raising a thin horse. Of course, when it comes to tempering, a woman has to endure some hardships. At the beginning, she often suffers physical pain and is treated extremely poorly. Coupled with verbal humiliation, the purpose is to destroy the woman's psychological defense line, and then she comforts her with kind words and treats her tenderly. The method is to give a sweet date a slap in the face. Finally, pretend to be good for you, "tell it with emotion, move with reason", and explain the pros and cons. In fact, there is only one way. If you go against the brothel, you will only suffer. If you obey, the brothel will treat you well, and you will enjoy good food and drink here. She is spicy, wears silk and satin, and is in contact with rich people. She may have the opportunity to be a good concubine of a rich man, which is far better than a poor wife. In the end, the woman will have to accept her fate and bow her head.

As a woman's attitude changes from hard to soft, the brothel will gradually arrange various "courses", such as piano lessons and singing lessons. If the girl doesn't learn, or doesn't learn well, the process will naturally start again until the girl Completely stopped.

This process will not be short, so Qi Xuansu did not rush to find someone in the middle of the night, but made a decision before taking action. Because Mei Mei lives in Beicheng, he checked Beicheng first.

What really gives Qi Xuansu a headache is that rabbits don’t eat grass near their nests. If Mei Mei is sold to a first- or second-class hospital in Nancheng or the inner city, it will be difficult to find her. After all, Shi Bingyun also said that the people behind these hospitals They all have big backers and backgrounds. For example, the famous first-class courtyard Wutong Garden, the boss behind it is Li Tianzhen's cousin Li Tianyue. They may not come forward to embarrass Qi Xuansu because of this trivial matter, but it is a tricky matter after all.

At this moment, Shi Bingyun came from the direction of the imperial city with a spring breeze on his face.

Qi Xuansu immediately knew that she was not at the Jade Palace last night. She also had a mansion in the imperial city. After all, she was a Taoist disciple and had quite a lot of confidence. It was precisely because of her existence that "Old Qin" had not renewed his relationship. , even many times it was "Old Qin" who came to visit her on his own initiative, instead of her going to "Old Qin's" palace. This was not an outside chamber, it could only be said to be a special situation. The Taoist sect did not allow a real person to become a princess. The imperial court also did not approve of members of the clan marrying high-quality Taoist priests, so the two of them lived together like this.

Qi Xuansu stepped forward and briefly explained the situation. Shi Bingyun was also startled. She didn't expect that someone would dare to use the name of Wanxiang Taoist Palace to cheat in the Imperial Capital. However, this was not the place to talk, so she didn't say anything more. Ask Qi Xuansu to investigate first and let her know when he has any clues. Then she entered the gate of the Jade Palace with the salute of the gatekeeper.

Qi Xuansu sighed. In the past, it was clear who the enemy was. But when we arrived at the Imperial Capital, everything became blurry, as if we had all our energy but didn't know where to hit it.

In the evening, Song San came to see Qi Xuansu again.

Because the Jade Palace is a huge Taoist palace that occupies an area, there are many people coming in and out on weekdays. Song San has a public status, and the Taoist sect has many contacts with the court, so it is not very conspicuous. After the report, Song San was quickly led to Qi Xuansu's custody room.

By this time, Song San no longer had any doubts about Qi Xuansu's identity.

Qi Xuansu asked directly: "Any clues?"

"Replying to Master, we don't know much about the thieves who defrauded people in the name of Wanxiang Dao Palace. However, we accidentally heard something about the brothel." Song San replied respectfully.

Qi Xuansu said calmly: "What is it specifically?"

Song San said: "The abduction and trafficking of girls is nothing more than a few sales channels. Brothels are the top priority, especially a few half-open businesses. I asked the brothers below to inquire about it, and unexpectedly, I actually gained something. , there is a half-open business that received a group of young girls a few days ago.”

Qi Xuansu thought for a moment. He happened to be responsible for monitoring the moral atmosphere. Since he encountered it, there was no reason to ignore it, so he nodded: "The specific location."

Song San had already prepared and handed over a simple map. The specific location had been marked by him, and he said with a hint of confusion: "Master, this family dares to act so boldly because they have a strong background, but I am not good at it." Show up."

Qi Xuansu nodded: "I know. If you mark all the other half-open doors, I will search them all. In this way, they will not be able to guess that anyone has leaked the information."

Song San breathed a sigh of relief and quickly marked the other houses. In fact, the specific location of these "ajar doors" is not a secret. After all, if you want to open the door for business, no one knows how to do business? The key is that the old people in the Imperial Palace were almost wiped out, and the newcomers who were added later would inevitably have a black eye. It was precisely the cooperation of local snakes like Song San that was needed.

After Qi Xuansu looked at the map, he said: "Well done, keep asking. I have reported this case to the second deputy palace master. After the case is solved, I will ask the deputy palace master to give you two a Taoist priest with the same background."

The so-called "born from the same Taoist priest", the highest is the second-grade Taiyi Taoist priest, and the lowest is the ninth-grade Taoist priest. Each one enjoys the treatment of the Taoist priest of the corresponding grade, and because he is "born from the same Taoist priest", he does not have to obey the orders of the Taoist sect in name. Being under the control of a high-quality Taoist priest has only advantages and no disadvantages.

Of course Song San knew the meaning of this. He was no longer flattered, but he was so grateful to Qi Xuansu that he almost knelt down to kowtow to Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu waved his hand to indicate that he did not need to be polite, and took out a secondary card under his token name: "You deserve this. You will leave from the southeast corner door later, where there are few people. Take this waist badge." , you don’t need to inform me when you come to see me again in the future.”

As the actual leader, Qi Xuansu has great power, far better than the empty leader in the past.

Song San took the sign and left in a hurry.

Qi Xuansu opened the "sound transmission array" on the table again, and Wang Chongnian's voice came from inside: "Chief, please find me."

Qi Xuansu said: "Old Wang, please call the three spiritual officials to come to my place. I have something to arrange."

"Okay, sir." Wang Chongnian said.

Not long after, Wang Chongnian and three spiritual officials came to Qi Xuansu's signing room.

Qi Xuansu did not let the four people sit down, but also stood up and said straight to the point: "The task given to us by Deputy Palace Master Shi is to rectify the atmosphere of the imperial capital and focus on rectifying gray industries such as brothels. We must eat one bite at a time and do things step by step. I decided to start with Beicheng.”

Except for Qin Lingguan, who is a local, the other four people were transferred from outside and have nothing to do with the various monsters and ghosts in the Imperial Capital. However, Qin Lingguan has already led people to follow Ke Qingqing to investigate Mei Mei's matter, so Don't worry about someone tipping you off in advance.

Qi Xuansu took out the simple map: "Specifically, there are four businesses commonly known as half-open doors. We are divided into four groups, Lao Wang all the way, Zeng Lingguan all the way, Gao Lingguan all the way, Zhou Lingguan and I all the way, at the same time, unified Operation, conduct raids on these four so-called half-closed businesses, identify the clients, give them reprimands and punishments, detain a group of people including ordinary maids, turtle slaves, and thugs, make sure to find account books and rosters, and conduct strict searches inside and outside the brothels. There are no dark rooms or dungeons. Check carefully to see if there are any other illegal affairs. Do you understand?"

"Understood." The four of them responded in unison.

Qi Xuansu waved his hand and said: "Act immediately."

About a stick of incense later, more than two hundred Ling officers and soldiers divided into four groups, left the Jade Palace and headed straight for the North City.