I am aging gracefully in the world of famous books

At night, the streets and alleys are dim, covering up countless entanglements of money and desire.

Mrs. Vera's house is located in the middle of a certain lane, and it is the most luxurious building in this area.When night fell, the house, which many London men called "Villa Gardens", was always full of guests.

The open and closed doors and the half-covered windows leak out the ambiguous lights, and the men and women who tease and drink under the lights laugh heartily. Their eyes are explicit, their actions are presumptuous, and their words are bold.

——As long as you have money, this is a paradise for men to have fun.

However, accidents always come suddenly.Tonight's Villa Garden did not light up the lights for entertaining guests as usual. This gold-selling cave that sings every night is now pitch-black, which puzzled many guests who came here on a whim.

Some people left in disappointment, some lingered, and some simply knocked on the gate, trying to ask if Villa Garden was still open.

Not long after the knock on the door, the black door creaked open, and a one-eyed woman with a kerosene lamp walked out of it.

"Sir, what's the matter with you?"

The knocker was a frequent visitor to Vera Garden. He had seen this one-eyed woman working in the kitchen once in a while. He had some impressions, so he asked directly:

"What's the matter with you to-night? Why are you answering the door? Is Mrs. Vera there? I'm calling on her."

The woman held the lantern higher so that they could see each other's faces more clearly:

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Vera is ill, and I can't entertain all the distinguished guests tonight."

"Sick? That won't be closed, what about Teresa?"

"Miss Teresa is sick too."

"What a coincidence?" Smith muttered, and then said, "Let me go and see them."

"Mr. Smith, ladies are pale and pale after illness, and they don't like to make a bad impression on you."

The one-eyed woman's refusal was so obvious that Mr. Smith frowned unhappily.

His companion advised:

"Okay, Smith, since Mrs. Vera's place is inconvenient, let's go to Mrs. Edvard's. Didn't you say a few days ago that there are two fresh faces around that lady? Let's just go and have a look."

"But I'm not interested in fresh faces, I have an appointment with Serena..."

"Oops, as long as your purse keeps puffing, you can still meet your little Serena next time. Come on bro, don't waste time in the London night wind, we need a drink in the warm house whisky."

After a few words, Smith was dragged away by his companions.Later, he became a frequent visitor to Mrs. Edvard...

As his companions said, there are no Villa Gardens, and there are countless "gardens" for pleasure-seeking men to "visit".In the city of London in the nineteenth century, there were too many places of entertainment like this.Although Villa Garden has always been famous, it is not irreplaceable.

There were several other regulars like Mr. Smith that night, but they were all dismissed by a one-eyed woman.

On the second day, Mrs. Vera still complained that she was sick, and none of her girls showed up.In the days that followed, whether it was day or night, Villa Garden remained silent.

Some wondered, but they soon thought they had found the reason for Mrs. Vera's sudden closure of Vera Gardens.

——A lot of gossip revealed that Mrs. Vera's biggest backer, Wood, the gang leader who controlled the nearby neighborhoods, had disappeared.

"Wood is gone? Killed?"

"I don't know, I just found out that Wood disappeared the day before Villa Garden closed."

"How did Wood's subordinates react?"

"On the surface, they are trying their best to find the leader, Wood, but in private... they are all waiting and watching right now? After all, they have only been missing for a few days."

"That will not close the Villa Gardens."

"This...doesn't it mean that Mrs. Vera is Wood's most important lover? If something happened to Wood, that lady will probably be sad and anxious? In order to find Wood, she will definitely ask for help everywhere. She has no thought Entertaining guests? Besides, she can't go around looking for Wood with great fanfare, isn't it just convenient for her to act in private if she says she's sick and doesn't see customers at this time?"

"There is some truth in what you say."

"Hey, do you really care about this? Hahaha, it's just a brothel. If it's closed, just close it. We'll always have a more comfortable place to go at night."

"Okay, if you don't keep losing money, we can go to Sister Jinli's for a few nights..."

Apart from the immediate stakeholders, no one really cares why a brothel has suddenly closed its doors for business.And the people who are most closely related to Villa Garden don't have the extra energy to worry about it now.

The gang leader Wood, the brothel owner Mrs. Vera, Mrs. Vera's right-hand man Teresa and Monica, and the accomplices who participated in the kidnapping and extortion of innocent people are now being imprisoned by Pei Xiang one by one.

She didn't spend too much time and energy torturing these people, but divided them into three groups and imprisoned them in that kind of empty dark room, and then locked the door, and temporarily ignored everything.

——Let’s go hungry for three to five days first.

Afterwards, she disguised herself as the one-eyed woman in the kitchen who rarely appeared in front of people, and spent a few days dealing with inquiring guests, trying her best not to surprise outsiders too much about the closure of Vera Garden.

Of course, she would sometimes disguise herself as Teresa to facilitate contact with several of Wood's confidantes.She revealed some false news to them, implying that Mrs. Vera had gone to seek help from some important people, and she needed to cover up her whereabouts recently, so she said she was sick and would not go out.

In view of the fact that the relationship between Mrs. Vera and Wood is both good and bad, Wood's confidantes will not doubt Teresa's statement.

They believed that Mrs. Vera was the last person who wanted anything to happen to Wood.

Moreover, under the hint of Pei Xiangruo, they also automatically made up some things in their brains.For example, the so-called seeking help is actually threatening a gentleman with some disgraceful excuses, and "asking" the other party to mobilize some strength to help find Wood.

Therefore, Mrs. Vera's whereabouts must be kept secret, so that no one can notice who she has been in contact with in recent days.In order not to really affect the reputation of that gentleman, and finally become self-defeating and become a deadly enmity.

In this way, Pei Xiang played the role of a one-eyed woman to appease the uninformed inside and outside of Vera Garden, while using Teresa's identity to fool Wood's subordinates.

When everyone's attention was drawn away by the disappearance of Wood, Pei Xiang began the second step of the plan.

The prisoners who had been starving for four days were weak-willed, and interrogation was particularly easy. Coupled with Pei Xiang's medical assistance and threats of force, they quickly explained all the details.

In the tearful confession of Wood and Vera, Pei Xiang not only learned some secrets in the city of London, but also figured out how many women from good families the two had harmed.

What they enjoy now is soaked in the blood, tears and despair of dozens of innocent people. Even though those wailing and shouting have disappeared, the crime is forever engraved on the souls of these executioners.

"I was wrong, please, let me go!"

Mrs. Vera lay prostrate on the ground, dripping with tears, her face no longer had the usual tenderness and elegance.

"Lucy, Lucy, I didn't intend to starve you to death, really, I swear to God! I just, just thought the life you were living before was too hard to even have a piece of white bread. I love you , that's why I want to keep you by my side. Really, Lucy, I didn't want to hurt you, it's because I have no shame, I didn't realize that it's not good to do this business..."

Pei Xiang interrupted Mrs. Vera's pleading, and asked coldly:

"Since you don't want to harm me, what did you do to my brother when he found you here, huh?"

Suddenly hearing Pei Xiang mention Edward Hoffman, Mrs. Vera's eyes flickered a few times.

Pei Xiang pursed her lips, pointed at Teresa who was on the other side with a whip, and said slowly:

"If you don't want to be pumped again, you should know how to answer questions. Vera, your minions have already explained everything in order to get a sip of water. She said, on the third day I left here, my brother I found it. But you did something very despicable to him, you framed him, didn't you?"

"No, no, listen to my explanation." Vera was extremely flustered, her eyes rolling around.

Suddenly, her gaze was fixed on Wood who was weak and unconscious, like a drowning man grabbing driftwood.

"It's him!"

The voice that was once gentle and amiable and easy to give people a sense of trust has now become extremely rough and harsh:

"It's Wood, Lucy, it's all Wood's idea. When your brother came to me, I just wanted to drive your brother out. Anyway, he just suspected, without evidence, and he might give up after a while.

"However, Wood said that your brother has some brains, and he will definitely keep an eye on Vera Garden. That's why he asked me to frame your brother as a thief. Lucy, I swear, I'm telling the truth, it's true of!

"By the way, the person who stole the guest's wallet and put it quietly in your brother's pocket is Wood's subordinate. If you don't believe me, ask other people, they all know about it."

Pei Xiang glanced at Wood, who was in a coma, then turned around and continued to interrogate Vera:

"Of course I'm going to interrogate the others, and in the end, I'll always know who told the truth. Vera, stop playing tricks, and if you want water and food, you have to be careful with the confession that follows, you know? It How true you are determines your final outcome."

"Will you let me go? Lucy, I repent, I'm guilty, I'm willing to forgive, and I'm willing to forgive for those poor girls! Lucy, you are so kind and beautiful, a good girl, don't do it for me Such a vile man has committed a crime. Please, Lucy, forgive me."

Pei Xiang ignored Vera's begging for mercy, but directly ordered:

"Tell me the whole process of how you framed my brother, and if you talk nonsense, I will throw you back into the dark room, that is, the dark room with no light, no sound, and nothing."

Speaking of the dark room, Vera's eyes showed more obvious fear.Her limbs were convulsed due to tension, fear, hunger and other reasons, but she ignored the twisting pain and confessed what she knew like pouring beans.

"Lucy, when your brother came here for the first time, he said that someone saw you coming back with me, and he was holding an old pocket watch of good workmanship and wanted to redeem you..."

Pei Xiang closed his eyes, and learned from Yuanshen's memory that the old pocket watch was the only valuable property of the Hoffman brothers and sisters, and it was also a precious relic left by their parents.

The original Lucy Hoffman is 19 years old and grew up in a family of four with poor economic conditions.

His mother, Mrs. Hoffman, was in poor health and took medicine all the year round.She has been recuperating at home and can't usually do too much housework.And Mr. Hoffman is just a small clerk, who goes out early and returns at night every day with a modest salary, barely supporting his family.

Yuanben's older brother Edward Hoffman was a smart and motivated young man who started doing odd jobs early on to subsidize his family.Later, Edward became a crew member and began a life of drifting at sea.He sent most of his salary to his relatives, hoping that his parents and younger sister living in England would live a prosperous life.

However, just two months ago, Mr. Hoffman was hit by a startled horse on his way home from get off work and died.After hearing the bad news, Mrs. Hoffman didn't come up in one breath, and died that night.

When the tragedy happened, Edward was still in a foreign country, and 19-year-old Lucy buried his parents with the help of neighbors.After that, she waited in the old house for more than a month, but she never heard the news of her brother's return, so she had to bid farewell to her hometown and go to her uncle and aunt in London.

When Lucy arrived in London, her uncle was busy with a business and couldn't arrive at the station to meet her in time, which made the young girl a little bit at a loss for the first time traveling alone.

Immediately afterwards, she met the malicious Mrs. Vera. With her gentle and kind smile, Lucy boarded the carriage of the "good lady" without much hesitation...

What Lucy didn't know was that her brother Edward returned from the sea just a few days after she left her hometown.Then, the young man first learned the bad news of the death of his parents, and then he was told by his uncle and aunt in London that his sister Lucy Hoffman was missing.

It is almost self-evident what it means for a young and pretty country girl to disappear in the city of London.

The uncle and aunt of the brother and sister tended to give up looking for the niece. After all, their reputation would be ruined after they were found, so why bother to embarrass their relatives?

Edward Hoffman left without a word, and began to scout around London for news.He spent all his wages for the voyage, borrowed some money, and finally managed to pry some people out of his way to Mrs. Villar's lodgings.

At that time, Pei Xiang was hiding in the hotel to recuperate her body. She had to recover her strength as soon as possible and avoid the pursuit of local snakes such as Wood and Vera, so she was always careful not to reveal any clues.Of course, she didn't intend to rashly contact her uncle and aunt who were not close when she couldn't protect herself.

At the same time, Edward Hoffman took the last valuable thing on his body and begged Mrs. Vera to return his sister to him.

It's a pity that Mrs. Villar's heart can be as cruel and vicious as sweet as her smile is.While claiming she never met Edward's sister, she had the brothel thugs throw Edward Hoffman out.

At this time, the arrogant Mrs. Vera sat on the ground in embarrassment, not daring to hide anything about Edward.

"Two days after that, your brother, Mr. Hoffman, sneaked into Villa Garden. After you, you left, we stepped up our patrol, so we found your brother's trace very quickly.

"I ordered someone to beat him up and throw him out. But Wood said he had a cleverer idea that would, would lure you out. So we arranged for someone to steal a customer's wallet, and then Put that wallet on your brother's body, um...Teresa suddenly called out that there is a thief, attracting everyone's attention..."

Speaking of this, Mrs. Vera was a little bit exhausted. She had been hungry for many days, and she really didn't have any more energy to speak.

She begged and looked at Pei Xiang, but Pei Xiang did not give her food because of this, but walked to Teresa's side.

Teresa's eyes lit up. She got a sip of water for confessing about Edward before, so she was very active at this time:

"I said, I said, they surrounded your brother at once, and then pretended to find a wallet from him. Hey, it was stolen and stolen, but the person who had the wallet stolen The guest has been pretending to be sober, but he was already drunk. When we asked him, he was talking nonsense, and there was no way to claim the wallet, and of course, your brother never admitted it. "

Hearing this, Pei Xiang suddenly interrupted Teresa, and asked softly:

"What is the name of that drunk guest? What is his identity?"

Teresa thought for a while, and replied hesitantly:

"They call him Captain Butler. Oh, yes, Rhett Butler, well, seems to be a business Yankee, who came to see us in England."

Pei Xiang's eyebrows twitched, and he temporarily suppressed some guesses and concentrated on dealing with the matter in front of him.

"I see. You continue to say that if a drunk customer cannot admit that he lost his wallet, it means that there is no owner. Then, the crime of stealing is not sufficient. Then?"

"Later, Vera had Sergeant Victor sent for, saying that your brother not only stole the wallet of a drunken guest, but also her jewelry. Now only the wallet has been found but no jewelry, it must be It was your brother who hid those expensive jewellery.

"Miss Lucy, your brother was taken away by Sergeant Victor because of the false accusation of the bad woman Vera. Also, I heard Wood say, well, he will let Sergeant Victor detain your brother all the time , In this case, if you don't want to see your brother go to jail, you will definitely come forward to save him.

"Oh, by the way, Sergeant Victor is a frequent visitor to our place. He has a good relationship with Wood and Vera. You must be careful of him."

Teresa is very good at playing around the wind. Seeing her life being controlled by Pei Xiang, she completely changed her attitude, as if she had been caring for Pei Xiang with genuine affection.

She even boasted that if she hadn't spoken kindly to Mrs. Villa, Lucy Hoffman would have suffered more.

Pei Xiang shook his head secretly, thinking that no matter how this woman tried to please her, the fact that she personally forced the three young girls to death is a certainty, and it is totally unforgivable.

——Didn't the original body starve to death under this woman's surveillance?

Ignoring Teresa, Pei Xiang exited this interrogation room expressionlessly, turned and walked towards the other one.

— there are others out there who can corroborate Teresa and Vera's words.

——At present, Edward Hoffman was locked up by a sheriff, and his life is not in danger for the time being.

——However, I have to check on him tonight in case of accidents.