Chapter 169
Chapter 169
The two little girls walked hand in hand toward the inn.
A crowd of servants followed behind them.
None of the servants dared stop their two little terrors. They had no idea where the girls were going this time, but servants were constantly reporting their movements to the Xiao Family.
The moment they saw Jin Bao lead Suisui to an inn, one servant turned and ran back to the Xiao residence.
“Look, Suisui. This is the place. Let’s go inside.”
Suisui obediently bobbed her little head, though she looked a little worried.
“Little Auntie, what are we doing here? Are there bad people inside?”
Jin Bao stuffed the last bite of chicken into her little mouth and thumped a hand against her chest.
“Don’t worry. Bad people are all scared of your Little Auntie. If anyone dares bully us, I’ll pound him into mush!”
Pride covered Jin Bao’s soft little face.
Suisui immediately showered her with praise.
“Wow! Little Auntie is so stwong! Little Auntie is a big hero, a big hero who can protect Suisui!”
Jin Bao’s face blossomed into a smile. But before the two girls could enter the inn, a waiter stopped them.
“This is an inn. If you two children want a room, an adult must accompany you.”
Their expensive clothes made it clear they were not from ordinary families, so the waiter spoke to them quite politely.
“We’re not staying here. We came to save someone. That big sister upstairs is being bullied. We have to go rescue her.”
With a solemn expression, Jin Bao pointed toward the room Zhou Wanyi had entered upstairs.
There were many people in the inn’s main hall, and Jin Bao did not lower her voice. If anything, she spoke rather loudly.
Every eye turned toward the room on the second floor.
The waiter felt humiliated. Even if these two children came from powerful families, they could not be allowed to slander the inn’s reputation.
“Little girl, you can eat whatever you like, but you must be careful what you say. We run an honest business. How could anyone be bullied here? If you have no other business, you should leave. Otherwise, I will have to throw you out.”
His voice had turned cold, without any of its former friendliness.
Jin Bao did not care. She winked at Suisui, and the two children immediately understood each other.
Jin Bao suddenly pointed behind the waiter and shouted, “Ah! Fire! Hurry and put it out!”
The waiter panicked and turned to look.
Jin Bao grabbed Suisui and raced upstairs.
She moved too quickly for Suisui to keep up. The little girl tripped and fell flat on the floor.
Jin Bao promptly scooped Suisui up and put her on her back.
One tiny child was carrying another while running at incredible speed. Everyone stared in disbelief, their eyes nearly popping from their heads. Had the little girl swallowed a pill of superhuman strength and grown a pair of flying legs?
All they saw was a blur streaking from the first floor to the second. Then came the crash of a door being kicked open.
When the waiter recovered, his legs tangled in his haste and he nearly fell. He stumbled to the stairs, desperate to catch Jin Bao.
At that moment, a shriek from the room upstairs pierced everyone’s ears.
The main hall erupted into chaos.
“What happened?”
“Could something shameful really be happening at this inn?”
“Should we go take a look?”
The travelers and lodgers downstairs swarmed up to the second floor, packing the staircase until there was no room to move.
The waiter reached the guest room first and was stunned by the sight before him.
A completely naked man lay sprawled on the floor where Jin Bao had thrown him.
A half-conscious woman lay on the bed, her face obscured by her disheveled hair. A cloyingly sweet fragrance filled the room. A single breath made the heart race and stirred restless agitation.
The waiter immediately understood. Someone had been committing an indecent act inside the inn.
But such things were none of the inn’s concern. Plenty of wealthy men brought women here for pleasure. Perhaps this woman was a prostitute from some brothel.
Once the waiter reached that conclusion, he knew what to do.
“Nothing to see here! He’s just a customer who hired a prostitute. Go back to your own business, gentlemen.”
Hearing that, the people upstairs lost interest and prepared to disperse.
“You’re lying! This big sister was being bullied. The room smells bad.”
Jin Bao wrapped Zhou Wanyi completely in a quilt so that no outsiders could see her body.
She did not like this big sister, but the woman was that auntie’s younger sister, so Jin Bao had decided to help her. Besides, being seen without a stitch of clothing would surely make the big sister sad.
Mommy had said that girls had to know how to protect themselves. They could not let other people see their bodies, especially their private parts.
Jin Bao’s words exploded through the crowd once more.
Everyone who had been about to leave stopped again.
The waiter wanted to settle the matter as quickly as possible. Since he had already given his explanation, all he had to do was insist that the woman was a prostitute. Then he could minimize the scandal and somehow survive the immediate crisis.
Just then, the innkeeper arrived.
The waiter reacted as if he had seen his savior and immediately recounted everything that had happened.
The innkeeper frowned and looked at the unconscious man on the floor. He did not recognize him.
The man was probably not local, though the innkeeper vaguely remembered him. He had spent lavishly and reserved the finest room, so he likely possessed some status.
The innkeeper did not dare offend him. As for the woman, she had willingly come out with a man and behaved so shamelessly in broad daylight. She could hardly be a respectable lady.
After rapidly weighing his options, the innkeeper decisively sided with the man.
“Everyone, disperse. This is nothing more than a man hiring a prostitute. This young gentleman has a wife and children at home and came here seeking excitement. He burned aphrodisiac incense in the room. As fellow men, surely you can understand.”
At that, someone raised a doubt.
“Then why is the woman unconscious? To be safe, we should report this to the authorities.”
“What authorities are there in Baishui Town? You must be from out of town. The Xiao Family is the only authority here. If anyone deals with this, it will be them. The government office would never bother with such a minor matter.”
Jin Bao heard every word.
She leaned close and whispered into Suisui’s ear, “Suisui, is Uncle Xiao in charge of Baishui Town?”
Suisui nodded. “That’s right. Mommy said so too. Little Auntie, should we find Eldest Granduncle? Mommy says he manages all of Baishui Town.”
Jin Bao nodded. “Let’s find your Eldest Granduncle and have him arrest all these bad people.”
The crowd outside argued noisily while the two little girls inside discussed how to leave and summon help. One of them would have to stay behind and protect the scene.
As they were making their plans, a commotion sounded outside the inn.
Jin Bao quickly climbed onto the table beside the window and poked her head out. She saw Xiao Che and Xiao Lan below, followed by Zhou Wanting, another woman, and a contingent of guards.
The procession was imposing. Commoners bowed and moved aside wherever they passed.
Jin Bao excitedly waved to Xiao Che below.
“Daddy! Daddy! Look up here!”
Jin Bao’s voice was loud, and Xiao Che had keen hearing. He picked it out even through the noisy crowd.
When he looked up and saw half his daughter leaning out the window to greet him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A servant had reported that Jin Bao was trying to force her way into an inn while shouting that she needed to save someone. Sensing trouble, Xiao Che and Xiao Lan had hurried over.
Along the way, they happened to encounter Miss Zhou and Miss Xiao as the two women prepared to go out, so everyone came to the inn together.
At the sight of Xiao Lan arriving in person, the innkeeper panicked.
He abandoned the mess upstairs and rushed down.
“What brings the family head to inspect my humble establishment? Please, come inside.”
Xiao Lan entered the inn shoulder to shoulder with Xiao Che.
Zhou Wanting and Miss Xiao followed them inside.
Zhou Wanting still had no idea what had happened upstairs. Her thoughts were entirely occupied with gathering information about the Star Maiden.
At the Xiao residence, she had heard rumors that Jin Bao could foresee the future and accelerate the growth of crops. Combined with what she had witnessed herself, including Jin Bao’s immense strength, the stories convinced her that the girl was extraordinary in far more than one way.
The instant Xiao Lan entered, the inn fell silent. Most of the people present were traveling merchants, and none wanted trouble.
They all came downstairs and tried to make themselves inconspicuous. Avoiding trouble was always best. They had only come to watch the excitement, not to become involved, and the new arrivals clearly were not people to provoke.
They had also heard the innkeeper address the newcomer as Family Head. That meant he was Xiao Lan, master of Baishui Town.
These merchants depended on the Xiao Family to conduct business here. They dared not offend him.
“Innkeeper, a small but honored guest recently arrived at our residence. I heard your waiter stopped her and made things difficult. Where is she now?”
Cold sweat poured from the innkeeper’s forehead. He had not seen any little guest.
“Waiter! Get down here! The family head has questions for you.”
Unable to explain and unwilling to offend Xiao Lan, the innkeeper could only shift the blame to the waiter. He prayed the fool had not truly offended the Xiao Family’s honored guest.
The waiter hurried downstairs.
“Innkeeper. Family Head.”
“Is our little guest here? I heard you made trouble for her.”
The waiter was so frightened that he dropped to his knees and pressed himself to the floor. “Family Head, that isn’t true. No children are staying at our inn.”
As soon as he said it, he remembered the two little girls upstairs. A chill ran down his back. Could those two little terrors be the guests in question? He had known they could not be ordinary children, but he had never imagined they belonged to the family head’s household.
“Uncle Xiao! Daddy! Hurry up here! Oh, Auntie, you come too! I found your little sister. She was bullied, and now she’s asleep.”
Clinging to the railing on the second floor, Jin Bao beckoned to the people below.
Zhou Wanting was confused at first. Then her legs began to weaken. She had sent people to search for her fifth sister, but the girl was nowhere to be found, and she had even dismissed her own maid.
Zhou Wanting instinctively glanced toward the guards outside.
Zhou Sheng stood not far from the entrance.
His brows were tightly furrowed, but his expression remained relatively calm. He discreetly signaled Zhou Wanting to go upstairs and see what had happened.
After receiving the signal, Zhou Wanting hurried to the second floor with support from her maid.
Xiao Lan also seemed to realize the severity of the situation. He immediately ordered his men to remove everyone uninvolved and seal the entire inn.
The group proceeded upstairs.
The moment Zhou Wanting entered the room, she noticed a distinctive scent. It was faint but cloyingly sweet, and it stirred an inexplicable restlessness within her.
Miss Xiao immediately realized something was wrong.
“Wanting, cover your nose and mouth.”
She took out her own handkerchief and covered her face, then ordered the servants to open every window and air out the room.
Zhou Wanting was no fool. By now, she understood what had happened.
Her face turned deathly pale. She practically ran to the bedside and lifted the thin quilt with trembling hands. A familiar face appeared beneath it. A storm of emotions surged through her, and she covered the woman again without a second thought.
Only one idea remained in her mind: no one else could ever learn about this. From this day forward, the Zhou Family’s Fifth Miss might have to die suddenly.