Chapter 2319: Their Hearts Sink

Shu Yu and Meng Yunzheng happened to have something to ask him, so they didn’t refuse and followed him to the Wang Family.

Sister-in-law Wang was already starting to prepare food with her children. Shu Yu asked Ying Xi to help in the kitchen while she stayed in the living room chatting with Wang Changdong, discussing each other’s recent situations. As they talked, she inquired about the young women.

"When I wrote to you asking for help to look after them, your wife didn’t mind, right?" After all, being a man and the others being unmarried young women, it could be somewhat inconvenient.

Wang Changdong waved his hand, smiling, "No, I talked to your sister-in-law about it. When she heard it was to help you, she was all for it. However, I actually didn’t do much. After all, I am in Heichang County, and those young women are in Qingxuan County. If they got into trouble, I couldn’t get there in time, so I entrusted my friends in Qingxuan County to look after them. Fortunately, they are doing quite well, and their life is pretty good."

Shu Yu was taken aback, "After they arrived, they didn’t encounter any trouble?"

"No." Wang Changdong shook his head, took a sip of wine, and ate a couple of peanuts, "I managed to squeeze in a visit to Qingxuan County a couple of months ago. I had a meal with my friend there, and he said the young women are quite capable, doing embroidery, gardening, and managing to sustain themselves."

Shu Yu and Meng Yunzheng’s hearts sank, realizing their suspicions were accurate.

Several young and pretty women, traveling thousands of miles from another place, even in relatively stable areas like Jiangnan or the capital, would unlikely face no trouble at all, let alone in the somewhat chaotic southwest.

Back then, when the Lu family followed Shu Yu to Heichang County, even they encountered trouble from local tyrants. At that time, the Lu family still had close ties with the Huifeng Escort Agency and had men in the household, giving them some form of backing.

It was precisely because of this that Shu Yu wrote to Wang Changdong, asking him for help.

The young women doing so well suggested that someone must be secretly assisting them; Shu Yu couldn’t think of another possibility.

After leaving the Wang Family, Meng Yunzheng furrowed his brows tightly.

"Are we still going to Qingxuan County to see Lord Qi?" Shu Yu asked in a low voice as she got into the carriage.

Meng Yunzheng nodded, "We must go, at the very least to inform Qi Lie of what’s going on so he can be mentally prepared. We also need to discuss the plan going forward, as we are currently in a passive position."

"Do we still need a reason to go to Qingxuan County?"

Actually, they didn’t need one. Since the other party knew they had seen the letter, they would also know they didn’t come to the southwest just for the Dongqing Temple master. Since they’re here, they will surely contact Qi Lie and be involved in the black market affairs.

Their visit to Qingxuan County must be within the other party’s expectations.

"Find one," Meng Yunzheng squinted his eyes, "We still have to at least go through the motions."

Shu Yu nodded, and after returning to the inn and tidying up, they once again headed to the alley where the Dongqing Temple master was staying.

This time, Shu Yu directly knocked on the neighboring courtyard door. The same woman who opened the door the other day appeared again, surprised to see them, "Do you have any business?"

"Auntie, here’s the thing. We haven’t seen my master come back for several days and feel uneasy. Someone mentioned seeing him in Qingxuan County, so we plan to head there as well, but we’re worried we might miss him here. Could you please pass along a message if he returns during this time? We’ll be back in a couple of days."