Chapter 146 -

Chapter 146: Chapter

Second Uncle Chengang and Third Uncle Chenghao stumbled forward like madmen, lunging straight across the hall to grab Qinqin by her shoulders.

"How are you here?!" Chengang yelled, his voice cracking in sheer panic as he shook the poor girl. "What are you doing here?! You’re supposed to be—"

"Who did we sell?!" Chenghao screamed right beside him, his eyes bloodshot and wide with terror.

Qinqin gasped, flinching as their rough hands clamped down on her arms. "L-Let me go! What are you talking about?!"

The entire hall went dead silent. Everyone stopped what they were doing, staring at the two uncles in absolute bewilderment.

Just then, the front doors creaked open further, and Madame Bai stepped into the main hall alongside Master Bai. They were carrying a heavy wooden basket filled with fresh apples they had just picked from the orchard outside. The moment they stepped inside, they froze, completely shocked by the chaotic scene unfolding right in front of them.

Before Master Bai could even open his mouth to demand an explanation, Yimei moved.

In a flash, Yimei stepped between the uncles and her maid. She raised her hand and delivered a sharp, heavy strike right to Chengang’s wrist, forcefully shoving his hands away from Qinqin.

"Get your filthy hands off my maid!" Yimei barked, her voice cold as steel as she pulled Qinqin safely behind her back. She glared down the two trembling men, her eyes flashing with dangerous contempt. "What on earth do you think you are doing, Uncles?"

Madame Liu ran over, utterly confused and starting to sweat. "Chengang! Chenghao! What are you two babbling about?! Who did you sell?! What are you talking about?!"

Chengang’s knees buckled, his face completely pale as he looked at Qinqin, then back to his wife, his mouth opening and closing like a dying fish.

Yimei stood tall, her posture relaxed yet radiating an overwhelming, dangerous pressure. She slowly lowered her hand after striking Chengang, her dark eyes shifting away from the two trembling men to land squarely on Madame Liu.

A cold, mocking smile curved the corners of Yimei’s lips.

"Aunt Liu," Yimei said, her voice clear and smooth, echoing into every corner of the silent hall. "You have been running around all morning screaming, asking everyone where on earth your daughter is... Why are you asking us? That question should be directed straight to your husband."

Madame Liu froze in her tracks. She looked at Yimei, then slowly turned her head toward Chengang, whose face was so pale he looked like a fresh corpse.

"What... what do you mean, Yimei?" Madame Liu stuttered, her stomach twisting into a hard knot. "Why would I ask Chengang? He just got back from the market!"

"Did he?" Yimei chuckled softly, taking a calm step forward. "He didn’t just go to any normal market, Aunt. Ask him. Ask him who he grabbed from Qinqin’s dark room in the middle of the night. Ask him who he wrapped in a heavy blanket, dragged through the back alleys, and handed over to the black market buyers for a pouch of silver."

The entire main hall went completely still. You could hear a pin drop on the stone floor.

Master Bai’s face instantly darkened like a thunderstorm, the heavy wooden basket of apples slipping slightly in his grip. Madame Bai gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth, while Zhengyu leaned forward in his wheelchair, his sharp eyes fixed on his sweating uncles.

Madame Liu’s eyes bulged wide. She lunged forward, grabbing Chengang by his collar and shaking him like a madwoman.

"Chengang! Speak! What is she talking about?!" Madame Liu shrieked, her voice cracking in pure horror. "Who did you grab from Qinqin’s room?! Who did you sell?!"

Chengang’s knees completely gave out. He fell hard onto the cold wooden floor, his hands shaking violently as he looked from Qinqin who was standing perfectly fine behind Yimei, to his hysterical wife.

"I... I thought... we thought it was the maid!" Chengang sobbed out in sheer panic, pointing a trembling finger at the empty air. "The room was pitch black! She was lying on the bed under the blanket! We didn’t look at her face! We just wrapped her up and took her to the buyer at the edge of the village!"

Third Uncle Chenghao dropped to his knees right beside his brother, slapping his own forehead in utter despair. "We didn’t know! We swear we didn’t know! We thought we were selling Yimei’s maid for quick money!"

Madame Liu stood frozen for a single second as the horror hit her straight in the heart.

Xuiying hadn’t been in her bed this morning. Xuiying had gone missing in the middle of the night.

"My daughter..." Madame Liu screamed, her voice tearing through the compound like a dying animal’s roar. "You foolish, useless monsters! You sold my daughter! You sold your own child to the human traffickers!"

Madame Liu threw herself onto Chengang, raining wildly furious slaps and punches onto his face and shoulders. "Give her back! Bring my Xuiying back!"

Master Bai slammed the basket of apples down onto the wooden table with a loud CRASH, the fruit rolling all over the floor.

"Silence!" Master Bai roared, his face red with fury as he pointed a finger at the two sobbing brothers. "You wicked, greedy fools! Selling a servant of this house was already a vile crime, but you dragged your own blood relative into the hands of black market buyers?!"

Yimei casually dusted off her silk sleeves, completely unbothered by the chaotic crying and beating happening right in front of her. She took a slow step back toward Zhengyu’s wheelchair, looking down at the two pathetic men on the floor.

"If you run to the village border right now," Yimei added in a light, almost conversational tone, "you might catch up with the slave cart before it leaves for the main city. But then again... who knows how far they’ve gone by now?"

Chengang didn’t even care about Madame Liu’s slaps anymore. Hearing Yimei’s words, he scrambled up from the floor, his face covered in tears and sweat.

"Chenghao! Get up! Run!" Chengang yelled frantically, grabbing his brother by the collar.

The two uncles turned and bolted out of the main hall like frightened dogs, sprinting toward the front gates with Madame Liu chasing right behind them, screaming and wailing at the top of her lungs.

As the loud, hysterical noise faded out down the road, silence returned to the main hall.

Master Bai stood breathing heavily, his hands clenched into tight fists. Madame Zhang and Madame Chen were trembling near their tables, utterly shocked by what had just taken place. 𝚏𝗋ℯⅇ

Yimei walked over to the dining table, picked up a fresh apple from the basket Master Bai had brought, and took a crisp, quiet bite.

Zhengyu looked up at his wife, a faint, dark glint of amusement dancing in his deep eyes. He realized now why Yimei had Qinqin sleep in their room last night, she knew someone was going to try something stupid, and she had deliberately set a trap for the greedy rats.

"Satisfied?" Zhengyu asked in a low voice meant only for her ears.

Yimei chewed slowly, looking down at him with a calm, unreadable face. "The meat is still hot on the table. Eat your breakfast, husband."