freenovelworld Chapter 476: Sold to the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau)
Chapter 476: Sold to the Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau)
The door was flung open with a bang, and Zhang San strode in arrogantly.
Fang Xiaoxiao glared angrily and questioned, "Zhang San, how dare you kidnap us? Aren't you afraid of the law?"
Zhang San sneered and said nonchalantly, "The law? Hmph, I'm not afraid of it now! I'm going to sell you all into the brothel and let you taste what it's like to be worse than dead!"
Fang Xiaoxiao was furious and cursed at Zhang San: "You shameless scoundrel, you'll die a horrible death! Someone will definitely come and get you!"
Li Wan'er trembled with fear, clutching tightly to Fang Xiaoxiao's clothes.
Enraged, Zhang San stepped forward and slapped Fang Xiaoxiao across the face, saying viciously, "You brat, still dare to talk back!"
Fang Xiaoxiao's cheeks were swollen and red from the beating, but she still cursed Zhang San without fear.
Zhang San couldn't stand it anymore, so he grabbed a rag and stuffed it into Fang Xiaoxiao's mouth.
"Hmph, let you curse!" Zhang San snorted coldly, turned around and left the room.
Fang Xiaoxiao desperately spat out the cloth stuffed in her mouth, and Li Wan'er hurriedly asked with concern, "Xiaoxiao, are you alright?"
Fang Xiaoxiao, panting heavily, said with a determined look in her eyes, "Princess, don't be afraid, we must find a way to get reinforcements."
Meanwhile, Pei Yan and Ouyang Tuoba were anxiously searching for Fang Xiaoxiao and her companion around the capital city.
Pei Yan frowned, looking worried, and said, "We've been searching for so long, but we still haven't found a single clue. What should we do?"
Ouyang Tuoba was also extremely anxious: "We can't give up, we must find them."
The two searched every corner, inquiring everywhere and leaving no stone unturned, not overlooking any possible clue.
As darkness fell, Pei Yan and Ouyang Tuoba's mood grew increasingly heavy.
“Let’s go take a look over there,” Pei Yan said, pointing to a small alley.
They continued groping in the darkness, silently praying that they could find Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er, who were locked in the room, were racking their brains to think of a way to escape.
"Princess, please look around and see if there's anything we can use," Fang Xiaoxiao said in a low voice.
Li Wan'er cautiously groped her way in the darkness.
With their hands bound, Li Wan'er could only grope around with difficulty, but after searching for a long time, she found nothing. Her eyes were filled with frustration and despair, and she couldn't help but sob.
Fang Xiaoxiao gently comforted her, "Princess, it's alright, there must be another way."
Li Wan'er leaned against Fang Xiaoxiao, choking back tears as she said, "It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have been dragged into this."
Fang Xiaoxiao said firmly, "Princess, don't say that, we'll be fine."
Time passed slowly amidst the torment. Early the next morning, Zhang San reappeared, followed by a heavily made-up madam from the brothel.
The madam's beady eyes lit up the moment she saw Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er. She grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and said happily, "Oh my, these two girls are absolutely gorgeous! I'll offer a hundred taels of gold for them."
Upon hearing this, Zhang San's eyes immediately lit up, and he agreed without hesitation: "Okay, deal!"
The madam gave a signal, and several burly men behind her stepped forward and took Fang Xiaoxiao and her companion away.
After a bumpy journey, Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er were taken to the Fuxiang Courtyard of the Jiaofangsi (a brothel). The madam ruthlessly locked them in a dark, damp little room.
Li Wan'er trembled with fear and hugged Fang Xiaoxiao tightly: "Xiaoxiao, I'm scared."
Fang Xiaoxiao gently patted her back and comforted her, "Don't be afraid, Princess, we will definitely find a way to get out."
On the other side, Pei Yan, along with Ouyang Tuoba, finally found the courtyard where Fang Xiaoxiao and the other person had been imprisoned after a long and arduous search.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, a strong stench of blood assaulted their nostrils. Pei Yan and Ouyang Tuoba felt a chill run down their spines as they saw four or five corpses lying haphazardly in the courtyard.
Pei Yan frowned and stepped forward to check on one of them. Upon seeing him, he couldn't help but gasp. It was Zhang San, an acquaintance.
Ouyang Tuoba also came over, and when he saw Zhang San's corpse, he gritted his teeth and said, "This must be because the person behind this was afraid that things would be exposed, so they killed him to silence him."
Pei Yan's expression was grave: "It seems the situation is more complicated than we imagined. We must find Xiao Xiao and the princess as soon as possible."
They searched the courtyard carefully for clues, hoping to find out where Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er had gone.
Meanwhile, Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er, still in the dark room, hadn't given up hope; they were desperately searching for any possible chance to escape...
Three or four days passed in this way. Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er were too stubborn and refused to obey the madam's arrangements. As punishment, the heartless madam withheld food from them, and they had been starving for several days.
Li Wan'er was in very poor health at this time, her face was pale, and she was barely breathing. Fang Xiaoxiao was not in much better condition either; she was weak and powerless, but her eyes remained firm.
Li Wan'er weakly said to Fang Xiaoxiao, "Xiaoxiao, how about I agree to the madam's request and go out to greet customers? That way, at least we'll have something to eat."
Fang Xiaoxiao immediately stopped her, saying, "Princess, you mustn't! We can't bow down to such evil forces. There will always be a way."
Just then, the door to the room creaked open and the madam swayed in, carrying a plate of spoiled food. She threw it on the floor and said viciously, "If you want to eat well, agree to go out and entertain customers. Otherwise, you can just wait to starve to death!"
Fang Xiaoxiao gave the other person a cold laugh and said firmly, "Even death is impossible!"
The madam was so angry that her face turned blue. She pointed at Fang Xiaoxiao and said, "Fine, you've got guts. Just wait to starve to death in this room!" After saying that, she threw down a harsh remark and strode away.
Fang Xiaoxiao struggled to pick up the swill-like food from the ground and handed it to Li Wan'er, saying, "Princess, eat something first to conserve your strength."
Li Wan'er looked at the nauseating food, hesitated for a moment, but still accepted it. The two of them endured a few more difficult days like this.
Meanwhile, Pei Yan and Ouyang Tuoba still had no news of his wife, Fang Xiaoxiao, or Princess Li Wan'er. Pei Yan's spies searched everywhere, but to no avail.
The same was true for Ouyang Tuoba; his men also failed to bring back any useful clues.
Inside the room, Pei Yan was frantic. He slammed his fist on the square table, shattering it, and angrily berated his subordinates for being useless: "A bunch of good-for-nothings! You can't even find a single person! What use are you!"
The men lowered their heads in fear, not daring to utter a sound.
Ouyang Tuoba, who was also very anxious, said, "Pei Yan, now is not the time to lose your temper. We need to think of another way."
Pei Yan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down: "Yes, we can't lose our composure. Expand the search area, send more people, and we must find them."
Ouyang Tuoba nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll make the arrangements right away."
Meanwhile, Fang Xiaoxiao and Li Wan'er, who were in the dark room of the Jiaofangsi, were becoming increasingly weak.