Clouds and Moon Shadow

Chapter 24 Rich, Landy, and Sweetheart

In this life, she wants to live a carefree and easy life, just like an ordinary peasant girl, preferably with a little money, a little land, and a sweetheart—no, countless sweethearts.

This absolutely does not include the constant life-or-death situations, the anxiety, and the high levels of tension.

Of course, I'll also carry on my grandfather's wishes by opening a small clinic or something, and peacefully wait until the day I pass away...

Ahem, my imagination is running wild again, let's stop!

Gu Qingyue snapped out of her daze, looked at the situation before her, and realized that rescuing Wen Qinghong's brother was the most important thing to do first.

Gu Qingyue ran in the direction she remembered, preparing to climb over the wall again.

Before even reaching the base of the wall, I unexpectedly spotted the same group of people who had just been at the gate next to the garden.

After thinking for a moment, Gu Qingyue tiptoed after them.

"How are those girls being trained? Master Pan is waiting for them at the other courtyard!" the middle-aged man asked an old nanny in front of him.

The old nanny rolled her triangular eyes. "What are you saying, Master Zhao? You don't trust this old woman?"

As she spoke, she put her hands on her hips, straightened her plump body, and whispered to Master Zhao, "Don't you know what kind of goods we have this time? They're top-notch. The figure, the eyes—let Master Pan enjoy them."

After saying that, he glanced smugly at Master Zhao.

Master Zhao sized up the old woman, a greedy and sinister smile on his face. He couldn't help but reach out and touch her ample breasts, but the old woman slapped his hand away.

"Get out of here! You're not qualified to show your face in front of my mother, Zhang Mama!" With that, she turned around and swayed her fat body toward the inner courtyard.

Master Zhao chuckled, completely unconcerned. He put the hand that had been slapped under his nose and smelled it, looking quite pleased with himself. Gu Qingyue felt a strong urge to vomit at the sight.

How come this Pan family is full of such lewd and perverted people!

How disgusting! Gu Qingyue felt her pure heart had been insulted a thousand times, and she was heartbroken!

Although she had seen even more shocking scenes in her past life, she was still a child and didn't want to see them.

Hearing Master Zhao instruct the people and carriage behind him to head towards the backyard, Gu Qingyue held back and continued walking.

Upon entering a courtyard with three sections, they saw three young girls dressed in almost transparent gauze dresses. They had curvaceous figures and appeared to be fourteen or fifteen years old. They all lowered their heads, moved gracefully with light steps, and followed a woman of about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old as she came out of the main house and walked towards the black felt-covered carriage.

The woman was more mature, with an extremely beautiful figure, dressed provocatively, and her large eyes exuded charm and cunning.

Her appearance was slightly different from that of the women of the Great Chu; she had a high nose bridge and deep-set eyes, somewhat resembling a member of a certain ethnic minority whom she had seen in her previous life.

At the same time, a group of guards suddenly appeared from the side courtyard and surrounded the car.

During this time, not a single word was spoken.

Gu Qingyue climbed to the side of the courtyard wall and saw everything in the courtyard.

Is this the girl I mentioned earlier who's been "trained"? This Pan Xiangye is truly a scumbag; he could actually lay a hand on such a young girl.

However, after looking around, Gu Qingyue frowned. There were at least twenty guards. Seeing that Master Zhao was ordering his men to drive away quickly, Gu Qingyue thought for a moment, then turned around and ran out of the mansion.

Avoiding the guards, after many twists and turns, they finally climbed over the courtyard wall and jumped out of the mansion a quarter of an hour later.

Even when she stood in front of Wen Qinghong, Gu Qingyue's expression was still not good.

"Hey, Qingyue, I just saw that black felt-covered carriage come out, followed by more than twenty black-clad guards. They all look shifty and are definitely up to no good," Wen Qinghong quickly reported what he had seen as soon as he saw Gu Qingyue, afraid that Gu Qingyue would not believe him.

He felt he had discovered something truly remarkable.

Gu Qingyue looked serious, as if she was thinking about something.

Wen Qinghong grew anxious and continued, "If you hadn't come out just now, I would have followed you. Who do you think was that important person in that car? They even sent so many people to protect them—" Wen Qinghong was very excited. He felt this was an important clue and wanted to investigate it. He stood up and looked at Gu Qingyue with questioning eyes.

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyue only glanced at the gate not far away.

"You go back first."

After Gu Qingyue finished speaking, she turned around and left the alley, walking quickly in the direction the carriage had left, her eyes cold.

Wen Qinghong had never seen Gu Qingyue with such a sharp look in her eyes before. He stiffened, somewhat confused. He felt that this clue was very important and wanted to investigate. He was eager to know where his younger brother was, but looking at Gu Qingyue's cold back, he hesitated. After thinking for a moment, he gritted his teeth and secretly followed her.

An hour later, at the inn.

Gu Qingyue returned with Wen Qinghong, whose head was drooping.

Of course, she found Wen Qinghong on her way back from the villa; he had gotten lost again.

Gu Qingyue felt a little heartbroken.

Especially when thinking about the scene in that separate courtyard, a sense of restlessness gradually rose in my heart.

She searched the courtyard for a long time but couldn't find Wen Qinghong's younger brother or Pan Xiangye. She overheard the patrolling guards saying that Pan Xiangye seemed to have suddenly gone on an urgent trip and wouldn't be back for a few days.

She only found a cellar in the other courtyard, which contained a dozen or so girls, all of whom were drugged. She couldn't bring them all out by herself.

Although it wasn't her fault, and it had nothing to do with her.

But seeing that scene and feeling powerless to do anything about it was truly awful.

She couldn't accept this feeling of defeat.

She likes the feeling of being in control of everything.

Back at the inn, Gu Qingyue told Rong Qingqing and Wen Qinghong everything she had seen.

The two fell silent.

It seems the Pan family is a dangerous place; rescuing them will be very difficult without outside help.

Moreover, we must take advantage of the time while Master Pan is away and rescue the person as soon as possible.

Remembering Uncle Zhou who was injured during the day, Gu Qingyue and the other two decided to go and check on his condition first, and then think of another way.

As for the women locked in the detached courtyard, Gu Qingyue anonymously delivered a letter of denunciation to the county government the next day, providing some clues, but not very clearly, in case the county magistrate and that Master Pan were in cahoots, it would alert them and harm those girls instead.

Two days have passed without any sign of trouble.

Gu Qingyue stared at the county government gate from afar, her brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a mosquito.

It's confirmed; these people are in cahoots. We can't expect the county government to save them.

North-South General Store.

Zhou Changming lay on the bed, oblivious to everything. If it weren't for the rise and fall of his chest, one would almost think he was dead.

The young manager, Liu Jun, sat on the edge of the bed, looking distressed.

He had just picked up Manager Zhou from Huichun Medical Clinic that morning, and he couldn't imagine how to face Manager Zhou's family.

The old doctor at Huichun Medical Clinic said that Manager Zhou had lost too much blood and suffered a brain injury, so he might never wake up again. What would happen to all of them? What would happen to the general merchandise?

This was the first branch that Manager Zhou and his friends had just opened together. It had only been open for half a month, and it was already ruined.

Recalling the threats made by the servant boy from the Pan family, he felt like crying.

He was also an orphan, with no background or support. His only savior and employer was lying in bed, his life hanging in the balance. Liu Jun almost saw himself back in that miserable life, not knowing where his next meal would come from, being bullied and humiliated without any scruples. It was truly miserable!

Liu Jun held his head in his hands, squatted down, leaned against the bed, and looked utterly hopeless.

This is the scene that Gu Qingyue and Wen Qinghong saw when they came in.

Liu Jun was momentarily taken aback when he saw the two teenagers enter.