To be honest, Mei Hanrui's cultural background may not be much more than those guards in the Eastern Palace.

After Xiao Anzi mentioned this, Mei Hanrui finally realized that the poem was written in a rather explicit way, so much so that the words between the lines could make people imagine a lot.

Realizing this, Mei Hanrui kowtowed quickly.

"I did not mean to insult His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness the Crown Princess, but this is indeed the poem that my sister left behind. I would never dare to make up something so casually!"

Xu Xingyin guessed that she would not dare to tell a lie at this moment, but her poem was really embarrassing, and Xu Xingyin could not do such a thing as crossing the river and then destroying the bridge, so he waved his hand and gave orders.

"Forget it, take Miss Mei downstairs to rest first. Don't let her lack food, shelter and transportation."

The guards received the order and took Mei Hanrui away with Xiao Anzi.

There was no one around except Jing Zhichen and Xu Xingyin, which made the situation even more awkward.

The moment their eyes met, Xu Xingyin jumped up from his seat with a red face.

"Well, Your Highness, please eat first. I'll go to the kitchen to see how the medicine is going!"

After saying that, Xu Xingyin quickly walked out of the box. Jing Zhichen couldn't help laughing at her shy and timid look, but he didn't realize that his ears were also red.

When Xu Xingyin left, he handed over the task of serving Jing Zhichen medicine to Xiao Anzi, and he himself retreated into the carriage to sleep.

Firstly, the poem made her feel really embarrassed, and secondly, she was really very sleepy.

When the group finished their meal and set off, Jing Zhichen saw Xu Xingyin leaning against the carriage and sleeping as soon as he got in. Looking at the dark circles under her eyes, he couldn't bear to wake her up.

He asked Qiongguang to prepare a map of Baoling County and also asked someone to bring a thin blanket to cover the sleeping man.

Well, it just happened.

When Xu Xingyin woke up, the ink had been ground on the small table in the carriage, and eight large characters were written on the rice paper placed neatly on the table:

On the other side of the river, there are carnations nearby.

"What does this mean?"

Xu Xingyin asked with a frown.

Seeing Xu Xingyin waking up, Jing Zhichen was stunned for a moment, turned the page of the book in his hand again, and answered indifferently.

“The secret hidden in poetry.”

After Jing Zhichen reminded him of this, Xu Xingyin went over the poem that Mei Hanrui had recited in his mind again.

The eight characters written under Jing Zhichen's title correspond to the homophones of the fifth and sixth characters of the poem: "Farewell, the fragrance falls quietly, and the pearls become silent in the evening."

Looking at the location circled by Jing Zhichen on the map, Xu Xingyin already knew the answer.

There is a wide river between Yangzhou and Baoling County, so the literati and poets of Baoling County elegantly called Yangzhou "Bie'an". The "Bie'an" in Mei Hanxuan's poem is a metaphor for Baoling County.

There is a place called Ge Township in Baoling County, which happens to match the words in the poem.

Looking at "Shizhuwan Ji", it directly points to a place called "Shizhuwan". I think that place is where Liu Yongfeng imprisoned those people!

After determining the place of detention, the group no longer hesitated and rode at full speed straight to Shizhuwan in Ge Township.

The water towns in the south of the Yangtze River have always been famous for their misty rain. Ge Township is close to the border of Yuzhou, and the climate is more like that of Yuzhou, which is very dry.

The name Shi Zhuwan sounds elegant, but I didn't expect it to be like this...

Shizhuwan is a bit remote, located at the foot of a big mountain.

In the dilapidated courtyard, perhaps because the climate was too dry or something else, the plants were bent listlessly, and the huge house was dim and gloomy without a single bright color.

The ragged man was leaning against a pillar to rest, his exposed skin swollen and red from new wounds and old ones that had not yet healed.

Someone in the crowd couldn't help coughing, and the guard-looking man kicked that person as if nothing had happened.

"Be quiet."

The man hurriedly covered his mouth and shrank back in fear, fearing that the other party would get angry and he would end up with a torn flesh.

As the night deepened, everyone was just drifting into a light sleep when they heard several men in black falling from the eaves. They knocked the guards in the courtyard unconscious before they could react, and the situation was quickly under control.

The more timid girls screamed, hugged themselves tightly and trembled.

"Don't be afraid, everyone."

A man in black pulled off the veil with one hand and spoke in a comforting voice.

"We are government officials, and we are here to rescue you. Don't be afraid and don't make any noise, or we will attract more thieves."

After everyone inside was calmed down, Jing Zhichen and Xu Xingyin slowly walked in. Xiao Anzi and his men quickly found a few lanterns and lit them so that they could barely see everyone's appearance.

Jing Zhichen said a few words to comfort everyone, then ordered people to bring in food and distribute it to everyone. The investigation was not urgent, and they had to eat and drink their fill first.

Xu Xingyin also helped distribute food and recognized Mei Hanxuan at a glance.

Mei Hanxuan and Mei Hanrui look almost exactly the same, except that Mei Hanxuan's features appear more gentle.

Perhaps she had suffered a lot of injustice here, she looked like a frightened bird, standing trembling in the corner, not even daring to take the food handed to her by others.

Seeing this, Xu Xingyin walked over with her skirt lifted, took out a meat bun and a bowl of porridge and handed them to Mei Hanxuan. Mei Hanxuan looked at her in horror, her hands shaking.

"Don't be afraid, eat something first."

Xu Xingyin smiled at Mei Hanxuan.

Mei Hanxuan hesitated for a moment, then looked at the girl in front of her, who still had a smile on her face and did not show any sign of retreating from her outstretched hand. Then she nodded and took the food.

Xu Xingyin didn't want to disturb others while they were eating, so he prepared to go back and help.

After walking a few steps, I saw Jing Zhichen sitting on the ground with a group of trapped people without any hesitation, with a bitten vegetable bun in his hand.

This……

Is he still the Jing Zhichen who would get angry and say that the vegetables are not tasty?

Just as she was stunned, she saw Jing Zhichen waving at her.

Xu Xingyin walked over without thinking, and Jing Zhichen naturally moved to the side, leaving a small space for her.

She didn't think much about it, straightened her skirt and sat next to Jing Zhichen, listening to everyone complaining.

Jing Zhichen did not slack off because of everyone's chattering and illogical words. He even called someone over to record what was going on. Xu Xingyin stopped and roughly summarized it, and then he understood the cause and effect of the matter.

The people detained here can be roughly divided into two categories.

One category is those women who were trafficked to Yangzhou and then refused to cooperate or had poor talents, and the other category is those who offended Liu Yongfeng.

Their job here was to dig a secret room in the mountain behind the yard. Everyone was divided into two groups and worked day and night.

After all, digging a mountain is hard work. Moreover, most of the money Liu Yongfeng gave was taken away by the person in charge here. Not only did they not get paid, but they also couldn't keep up with their food. Everyone's life was very difficult.

Some people get injured while working. They have no medicine to take and have to do heavy work. It is common for them to die after a while.

But no one knows what these secret rooms are used for.

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