Su Qingtian was restless today, and his right eyelid kept twitching, giving him a sense that something was about to happen.
After lunch, he was in his study handling official documents when a small head peeked in from the doorway.
Su Qingtian rubbed his eyes, "Are there rabbits causing trouble in the mansion?"
Su Yunmo pushed the door open with a helpless sigh, "It's me."
"It's you, girl? Why are you here at this hour instead of napping in your room?" Su Qingtian put down his brush.
"I heard there's a market on East Street. Can General Su take me to see it?"
If possible, Su Yunmo didn't want to trouble him this time, but unfortunately, there was no better way.
Su Qingtian felt uncomfortable hearing her call him that, but he didn't correct her address, "What do you want to do at the market?"
"I want to get a pet," Su Yunmo fiddled with her fingers, "I'm scared when I sleep at night, but I can't have Mother accompany me."
This reason truly surprised General Su.
Su Yunmo's toes touched each other, her head lowered, looking a little wronged.
Su Qingtian paused, and the image of her looking limp and weak the night she was sick flashed in his mind.
He seemed to have heard before that girls her age were timid and always slept with stuffed animals.
He got up, walked over, and pulled the child up from the ground, hoisting her onto his shoulder, "Let's go!"
After all, the little one was now asking him for help, which was a good sign!
Su Yunmo blinked.
He agreed so quickly; she thought it would take more effort to persuade him.
The carriage headed towards the East Market.
The market was bustling at this time, with people coming and going, selling all sorts of fruits, vegetables, pastries, and candies.
Even people were for sale.
In the Zhao Yao Kingdom, the law did not prohibit the buying and selling of people, but such transactions between individuals were with their consent.
For example, like Luoluo, who voluntarily signed a contract to work for the mansion for her family, and during her work, she received wages.
Or some people who could no longer survive would be introduced to a mansion as servants through brokers, and the brokers would earn a profit from the transaction between the two parties.
During this period, brokers generally did not beat or abuse these people; rather than being bought and sold commodities, they were more like 'guests'.
After all, times were tough, and everyone needed a way to make a living.
However, the new policy improved by Ye Jingyu was fundamentally different from this.
True human traffickers would abduct women and children from other families and sell them to sordid places, making a fortune. It was common for them to be beaten to death or maimed during transportation.
In the largest case, an entire village's women and children were abducted, leading to the village's desolation.
The Emperor had long intended to rectify corrupt practices, and entrusting this matter to Ye Jingyu showed his trust.
Therefore, if he were framed and rumors spread that 'Prince Yu, while outwardly implementing new policies, was secretly involved in trafficking women and children,' he would be ruined.
"You've been looking around for a while, did you see anything you liked?" Su Qingtian carried Su Yunmo as they walked.
This area was where small cats, dogs, and parrots were sold.
Su Yunmo scanned her surroundings, her gaze settling on an alley, "Put me down, Momo wants to look herself."
"It's crowded here, and you might get lost. If you see anything you like, I'll point it out for you," Su Qingtian was a little worried.
"I don't want to, I don't want to, Momo wants to look herself~" Su Yunmo flailed her limbs and threw a tantrum.
Su Qingtian couldn't refuse her, "Alright, alright, you are truly a little ancestor."
You'er was spoiling this little girl too much.
Su Yunmo was put down and walked around the pet cages.
A person emerged from an alley, seemingly scouting, and quickly disappeared into the alley.
"Do you like this one?" Su Qingtian crouched down, frowning as he observed the wolfhound.
Although cute, it was too mismatched with the little girl. This breed could grow over a meter tall; what if it ate the girl in the future?
"Momo doesn't want to look at dogs anymore, Momo wants to play hide-and-seek."
Su Qingtian was helpless, thinking this child was a bit difficult to appease, always having whimsical ideas, "It's crowded here, let's play when we get home."
Su Yunmo jumped in front of Su Qingtian, revealing her six small white teeth with a mischievous grin, and slapped him on the forehead before turning and running.
"Come and catch me~ Come on, come on~"
Su Qingtian: "??"
"Slow down, stop immediately or you'll get lost!" Su Qingtian watched Su Yunmo dart into the alley and raised his foot to chase, but bumped into someone.
He stumbled a couple of times, helped the passerby, and when he looked up again, Su Yunmo had vanished. His heart tightened instantly.
"Momo, come back!"
Su Yunmo turned into the alley, which had many winding paths crisscrossing.
"Move faster, if anything goes wrong, I won't spare you!"
There was movement in the alley to the left, and Su Yunmo followed.
Outside a secluded alley, a scout stood there. Seeing Su Yunmo approach, he was about to scold her.
Su Yunmo leaped forward, and the man's vision suddenly went black, and he fell to the ground.
Inside the alley.
Qin Zheng was directing people to move an iron cage. The cage was small, but it contained at least six people, all crammed together.
"My lord, rest assured, the collection points have been arranged. We'll sell a batch of people first, and even if Prince Yu's people find out, it'll be fine."
Qin Zheng sneered, "Naturally, Prince Lian's foresight is impeccable."
Ye Jingyu was not in the capital; what could his subordinates do? Even if they found out, they would only know that someone was targeting Prince Yu's mansion, but not who specifically.
Let them be flustered first, then find a way to expose the people at the collection points.
At that time, someone would frame Ye Jingyu for this matter, and he would be absolved.
"Foresight? Then did he anticipate that I would interfere?" Su Yunmo emerged from the alley, blocking their path.
Qin Zheng was taken aback and frowned, "What little mouse are you, how did you get in?"
There should have been guards outside; how could a little girl have gotten in?
Su Yunmo's gaze swept over the cage, and she curved her lips, "Don't worry, I'm here to ruin your good deeds."
She leaped onto the carriage, kicked the servant who was locking the door off, and then opened the cage door.
Qin Zheng was shocked, "Guards, quick, guards, catch her!"
The servants stepped forward to grab Su Yunmo.
The people in the cage, startled, began to scatter.
Qin Zheng shouted in panic, "Useless, all useless! Hurry and catch those commoners! Quickly!"
This was a busy market; if they ran out of the alley, they wouldn't be able to catch them!
As the servants lunged to grab people, Su Yunmo casually picked up a stick and swept it across.
"Ah!" Many of them were knocked down.
During this chaos, the captured women fled.
Seeing his plan foiled, Qin Zheng roared in anger, "Catch this troublemaking brat and lock her in the cage!"
If they couldn't sell those people, they would sell her!
Two servants circled behind Su Yunmo and pushed her into the cage.
The stick fell to the ground.
Anxious footsteps were rapidly approaching from the alley.
Su Yunmo clung to the edge of the cage and suddenly burst into tears, "Daddy, woo woo... Daddy save Momo, Daddy!"
She was completely like a helpless child, a stark contrast to her earlier cunning and mischief.
Everyone was caught off guard by her behavior.
Qin Zheng also frowned, cursing the girl for being strange.
The scout Su Yunmo had knocked out earlier ran in, his eyes filled with panic, "My lord, it's bad! General Su is here!"