Did you have any idea how thick a stack of more than a hundred indentured servitude contracts would be when piled together?
It was impossible to tear apart with bare hands. At best, one could only twist and fray the edges slightly. To rip through them completely, one would need the legendary "Qilin Arm" of a thirty-year bachelor.
Zhu Piaoling clearly did not possess such an arm.
He tugged and pulled with all his strength, but the papers stubbornly refused to budge.
Finally, he stopped, panting heavily. "Good heavens," he gasped. "Turns out trying to look impressive is also a technical skill."
Just as he was about to try again, Li Daoxuan stepped forward and took the stack of contracts from him.
"Stop showing off," Li Daoxuan said in a low voice. "If you free them here, they will most likely be bullied again once they return home, and their final outcome will not be good. We need these contracts to keep them under protection, bring them back to our territory, and then grant them freedom. That is the responsible way to help them."
"But…" Zhu Piaoling hesitated. "They just tried to kill themselves. If they really die, then everything is meaningless."
"If they truly wanted to die," Li Daoxuan replied calmly, "they would have done so seventeen or eighteen times already when they were first sold into the Pear Garden. Do you think someone with a weak spirit could survive that place, let alone master music, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"
Zhu Piaoling's eyes widened.
Understanding dawned on him.
The way women were trained in the Pear Garden involved beatings, insults, hunger, humiliation, and relentless psychological pressure. Anyone who could endure that environment was not someone who would lightly seek death.
Zhu Piaoling lowered his voice. "Dao Xuan Tianzun… then their jump just now…"
Li Daoxuan nodded. "It was an act. They wanted to pretend to commit suicide so they could escape by swimming away. They simply did not expect the suction beneath a massive ship. That nearly killed them for real."
Zhu Piaoling inhaled sharply. "So that's how it was. These women look delicate, yet their minds are frighteningly sharp."
Li Daoxuan smiled faintly. "You know Zhou Daya from the News Department, right? She is now a war correspondent in Henan. She looks fragile, but she uncovered the Rushing General's green-hat scandal. Never underestimate women who come from brothels."
Zhu Piaoling finally stopped trying to tear the contracts.
He carefully smoothed them out, placed them back into the wooden box, then turned toward the women and coughed awkwardly. "Ahem. I am only a humble steward. I cannot make such decisions. I would love to tear up these contracts, but I truly dare not. If I did, the higher authorities would skin me alive."
The women exchanged glances, completely speechless.
Their hopes fell straight to the bottom.
With soft murmurs, they gradually dispersed.
For a moment, silence settled over the deck.
Several women supported Xue'er and Chen Yuanyuan and escorted them into the cabin to change into dry clothes.
Li Daoxuan's heroic attire was also soaked through. He himself felt nothing, since his avatar did not experience physical discomfort. However, the Gao Family Village militia could not tolerate it. To them, Dao Xuan Tianzun's physical manifestation was sacred, and allowing it to remain damp was unthinkable.
A group of soldiers escorted him into the cabin. An orderly brought clean clothes, and before long, Li Daoxuan emerged once again immaculate and dignified.
Zhu Piaoling, on the other hand, became cautious. He instructed his personal guards to keep a close watch on the women near the ship's railing to prevent any further attempts to jump overboard.
This time, the guard was strict.
After changing clothes, Xue'er and Chen Yuanyuan returned to the deck and immediately saw the "monster's minions" standing watch at the rail. They understood at once that their chance to escape was gone and could only wait in silence.
After a long voyage, Anqing Dock finally came into view.
The Black Pearl had not come to Jiangnan solely to transport women. It had arrived to reinforce the Wanli Sunshine. As soon as it docked, the marine soldiers disembarked in formation, lined up neatly on the pier, and saluted Shi Kefa, Jiang Cheng, and Tie Niaofei.
"Reporting," a marine called out loudly. "Xiaolangdi Militia Marine Third Battalion, one hundred and fifty men, has arrived to support the front lines by order. The ship also carries provisions, gunpowder, and ammunition. Please inspect."
Shi Kefa was delighted. "Excellent," he said. "We are badly short on manpower. Your arrival is a true blessing."
Then his gaze shifted to the women still standing on the Black Pearl. "Who are those women dressed so brightly?"
Zhu Piaoling jumped down from the ship and laughed. "They are unfortunate women rescued from brothels by order of Dao Xuan Tianzun. They are resting here temporarily. When the Black Pearl returns, I will take them back to Shaanxi."
Shi Kefa nodded. "I see."
Lowering his voice, Zhu Piaoling added, "These women have… complicated thoughts. They keep trying to escape, and I am not good at calming them. Does Lord Shi have any suggestions?"
Shi Kefa laughed without hesitation. "That is simple. Let them stay for now with the women we rescued from pirates last time. They will quickly understand whether we are villains or benefactors."
Zhu Piaoling's eyes lit up. "An excellent idea."
Two hours later.
More than a hundred brothel women, escorted by Shi Kefa's men, arrived before a large manor inside Anqing Prefecture. The manor was old, once the ancestral home of a local gentry family. After their decline, it had been sold, and Shi Kefa purchased it.
At present, it housed eighteen women who had been bought back from pirates.
As Xue'er and Chen Yuanyuan entered the manor, unease filled their hearts. They knew that escape was easiest while moving. Once they stopped, their chances would vanish completely.
Unfortunately, the guards watched them closely, leaving no opportunity to "commit suicide" again.
With heavy hearts, they followed the others through the gates.
The towering entrance and deep courtyards made them feel as if, once inside, they would never be able to leave.
They feared what awaited them beyond the doors. In their worst imaginings, they expected to witness some horrifying scene involving the monster.
Instead, the moment they reached the front courtyard, they froze.
The scene before them was unexpectedly peaceful.
More than a dozen women were busy working in the yard. Some were carefully reeling silk from cocoons, while others wove the threads into cloth.
The brothel women stood dumbfounded.
Xue'er and Chen Yuanyuan nearly thought they had entered the wrong place.
"Huh?" Xue'er murmured. "Is this… a silk workshop?"
The eighteen women saw the newcomers and assumed they were also rescued victims. They immediately greeted them warmly.
"New sisters."
"Have you suffered hardships as well?"
"These people are truly kind. They rescue unfortunate women wherever they go."
Their enthusiastic voices overlapped, leaving the brothel women completely stunned.
Xue'er stepped forward and raised her hand to quiet them. "Sisters, may I ask how you came to be here?"
One of the women explained, "We are from a coastal fishing village. Pirates raided our home, killed all the men, and captured us. They took us onto their ships. On the way back to their lair, we encountered a giant ship. The gentlemen aboard intervened and bought us back."
"Bought back?"
Xue'er and Chen Yuanyuan's hearts tightened.
So these women had once faced the same fate as them.