Feng Zhaoxuan carried the dazed thief as easily as lifting half a slab of pork.
With a light tap of her toes, she leapt over the high wall of the Zhou residence.
After a few successive bounds, her figure melted into the flow of the street crowd.
The woman in the torn cloth dress who had been robbed was still sitting where she was, silently wiping her tears with her sleeve.
Feng Zhaoxuan walked up to her and tossed the money pouch into her arms.
The woman froze, hurriedly opening it. Seeing that every coin was intact, her tears flowed even harder as she bent down to kowtow.
“Thank you, benefactor! Thank you, heroine!”
Feng Zhaoxuan waved her hand.
“It’s nothing. Go home quickly.”
Sharp-eyed passersby on the street recognized her, and whispers quickly spread.
“It’s the Northern Frontier Prince!”
“The Prince personally came out to catch a thief—this is the first time!”
Feng Zhaoxuan turned away and dragged Liu San into an empty dead-end alley.
With a loosened grip, she threw him against the wall.
Liu San slid down to the ground along the wall.
His eyes were blank, mouth slightly open, his mind still replaying the earth-shattering scandal he had just witnessed at the Zhou household.
Feng Zhaoxuan tapped his acupuncture point lightly with her toe, then kicked his leg.
“Snap out of it! Did you get dumb from watching gossip?”
The thief jolted and instantly came back to his senses.
He looked up and met Feng Zhaoxuan’s half-smiling gaze, shuddering in fear.
“What’s your name, where are you from, and why did you steal?”
Feng Zhaoxuan crossed her arms, her tone calm.
Liu San did not dare lie.
In front of this terrifying figure, he felt as if every part of his body had been seen through.
He confessed everything like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.
“My name is Liu San, I’m twenty years old, from the capital. My parents are dead, I only have a younger sister, Liu Si.”
At the mention of his sister, Liu San’s eyes instantly reddened, his voice filled with suppressed hatred.
“My sister… was taken as a concubine by Manager Qian of the rice shop in the west of the city last year.”
“The madam of that household was jealous. She framed my sister for stealing a golden hairpin, and had her sold by human traffickers to the Yihong Courtyard.”
His fists clenched tightly, nails digging into his palms.
“I wanted to redeem her, but that old madam demanded five hundred taels!”
“I’m just a porter at the docks—I couldn’t possibly raise that much… I was left with no choice but to start stealing.”
【Oh? A man of loyalty, risking his life for his sister.】
【Those wall-climbing moves just now were quick and clean—good core strength and flexibility. What a waste to be a thief.】
【My future ‘Manly Men Manufacturing Bureau’ is just missing a top instructor to train rich young nobles in real skills.】
The system chimed in: 【Host, I think he’s quite suitable.】
Liu San, hearing the clear inner monologue, looked completely confused.
Manly… manufacturing bureau?
Was that a new government office?
Why did it sound so strange?
While he was still lost in thought, the terrifying woman in front of him relaxed her interrogation stance.
Feng Zhaoxuan raised her chin.
“I’ll help you redeem your sister.”
Liu San’s eyes instantly lit up.
He looked up, lips trembling.
“But you must work for me.”
Feng Zhaoxuan held up five fingers.
“Five years. Food and lodging included, salary guaranteed. Do you agree?”
“I do! I do!” Liu San nodded repeatedly without hesitation, afraid she would change her mind.
“Not five years—ten years is fine too! As long as you can save my sister! My life belongs to you!”
He was so excited he could barely speak coherently.
【Hmm, quick thinker. Not bad.】
【Yihong Courtyard, huh? Fine. Today I’ll go meet that madam myself—I want to see how black her heart really is.】
Yihong Courtyard
One of the capital’s most famous pleasure houses.
As lanterns lit up, the scent of makeup powder mixed with alcohol filled the air, making one dizzy.
The madam swayed her thick waist, her face coated in heavy white powder.
Her sharp triangular eyes scanned the incoming guests, calculating how much profit each “moving piece of meat” could bring.
Feng Zhaoxuan led Liu San straight through the noisy hall.
Her expression was calm, her steps unhurried—completely out of place among the drunken revelers.
“Oh my, miss, are you here to find someone, or… did you come to the wrong place?”
The madam approached with a smile.
“Find someone.”
“Find someone?” The madam’s eyes rolled as she smiled behind her embroidered handkerchief.
“Our girls are all top beauties. I wonder which one you’re looking for?”
Liu San stepped forward urgently.
“I’m looking for Liu Si! My sister!”
The madam’s smile froze for a moment.
Then it turned into contempt as she looked Liu San up and down.
“Oh, Liu Si? That unruly girl. Stubborn and disobedient. She offended a guest recently and is locked in the woodshed in the back.”
“You want to redeem her?”
She raised five fat fingers covered in gold rings, greed written all over her face.
“Five hundred taels of silver. Not a single coin less.”
Just as she was about to call the attendants to throw them out, her peripheral vision caught a token hanging from Feng Zhaoxuan’s waist.
Black iron, engraved with a qilin, bearing the flamboyant character “Feng”.
The madam’s triangular eyes tightened instantly.
She looked up at the young woman.
Those eyes were cold—like a bottomless ancient well.
A cold sweat broke out on her back.
In all her years in this line of work, she had seen all kinds of people.
This woman, though simply dressed, carried an aura that no ordinary family could produce.
And that token…
Someone she could not afford to offend.
Her expression changed immediately into a bitter smile.
“Oh my, honored guest, forgive this old mouth of mine—I spoke wrongly just now.”
“To be honest, that Liu Si girl is too fierce. She hasn’t been easy to keep here. I’ve actually been troubled about her.”
She cautiously raised two fingers.
“How about twenty taels? Consider it making a friend. You take her, and we part cleanly.”
Feng Zhaoxuan glanced at her, took out twenty taels of silver from her sleeve, and placed it on the table.
“Lead the way.”
The madam was overjoyed and quickly agreed, personally leading them to the back courtyard.
Soon, a thin girl in coarse cloth was brought out.
Her face was pale, her hair disheveled, but she still stood straight with stubborn pride.
The moment she saw Liu San, her eyes turned red.
Liu San rushed forward, grabbing her shoulders, scanning her up and down.
“Fourth Sister, did they… do anything to you?”
“Brother!”
The girl could no longer hold back and burst into tears.
She buried herself in his arms, her suppressed sobs muffled.
Feng Zhaoxuan stood with her hands behind her back, silent.
After a while, the siblings composed themselves. Liu San introduced Feng Zhaoxuan.
“Fourth Sister, this young lady paid your ransom. She is our benefactor!”
Liu Si walked up to Feng Zhaoxuan, straightened her clothes, and bowed deeply.
“Thank you for saving me. I will never forget this kindness.”
Her voice was clear and steady.
She did not sound like a girl just released from a woodshed at all.
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