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nThe light in Liu She’s eyes faded and he ordered, “Take her to Lanting. She’ll handle it.”

nUpon hearing Liu She’s instruction to hand her over to Liu Xi, his confidant suddenly had a bitter look on his face. He hesitated in speaking.

nUpon seeing his confidant’s reaction, Liu She said, “Say it all at once. You don’t have to hide it.”

n“I don’t mean to hide it from you on purpose. It’s just that… I feel that it’s inappropriate to let Langjun handle her…” His confidant hesitantly got close to Liu She and spilled everything out. “…Her identity is ambiguous. If Langjun is angry because of her, I can hardly absolve myself from the blame even if I die…”

nLiu She understood the implied meaning of his confidant’s words in an instant. His facial expression was suddenly very fascinating. He hesitated for a while and said, “Come with me.”

nHis confidant kept up with Liu She’s pace, carefully keeping a foot’s distance away from Liu She. He kept his head down and did not dare to look around.

n“Tell me in detail––what’s wrong with her identity?” Although Liu She had guessed it, he still had to confirm it for himself.

nHis confidant knelt on the ground. Their surroundings had already been cleared, so there was no need to worry about eavesdroppers. “The person that I’ve found is only 14 years old. Her mother is a low-grade prostitute and her biological father is unknown.”

nHis confidant was very helpless. They secretly searched for people according to the portrait given by Liu She. The girl was the most similar in appearance to the one in the portrait. Although the other candidates had decent identities, their similarities with the portrait were not as high as that of the girl. After much consideration, they recommended the girl.

n“A low-grade prostitute?” Liu She knitted his brows fiercely. He was very unhappy with her identity. “Has the girl engaged in prostitution?”

nLiu She was not sure about what his daughter really wanted to do, but he knew that the girl should not be used to ensnare a man.

nHis confidant’s face twisted and he chose his words carefully. “Master, you know that these prostitutes… generally live in shady slums. Most of their customers are small tradesman, porters, and local hooligans. Unlucky girls who grow up in such places would have already participated in prostitution so when they were five or six years old… Not to mention that the girl is already 14.”

nLiu She had a grave look on his face upon hearing what his confidant said.

n“Take her to Lanting and let Lanting make the decision. Continue to investigate in secret to see if there’s any candidate who’s more suitable.”

nHis confidant received his order and stepped back with a bow.

nLiu She sat in the same spot. He was entirely immersed in the shadows of the room.

nAfter a long time, he seemed to have understood something. He covered his forehead with his hand and he looked like he was neither smiling nor crying. There was the vague pleasure of vengeance, which washed away his gentleness. He was surrounded by a cold and deadly aura.

n“What’s wrong with the daughter of a prostitute?” he mumbled spiritlessly. His voice sounded sinister, which made people tremble with fear and sent chills up their spines. “If she could someday turn Dongqing upside down with her face and body alone, that’d be so satisfying!”

nAcao was born in a slums as a pauper. She was born on a day that it snowed heavily. Many adults were frozen to death, but she survived. Her mother was a prostitute and now Acao was also one.

nWhat was a prostitute? It was the most degrading of jobs, and they could be used at will with just a few coins.

nShe welcomed and sent off local hooligans. Even if she was very afraid, she had to pretend to be polite and compliant and serve them well in order to stay alive. Otherwise, not only would the customers not let her go, but the old lady on her head, her mother, would not let it slip, either.

nShe was always wearing linen clothes, which had been starched until they were torn and patched up over and over again. Every day she had to clean the house, starch clothes, wash the dishes, cook, and please her mother and the other prostitutes. Then, she would lay on her mat and wait for customers.

nWhen she was a child, she was inadvertently taken advantage of by several hooligans and lost her virginity. Her mother beat her madly and forced her to take in customers to inherit her business. She lived without any aim. In those years, it was not known as to how many times she was forcefully beaten.

nShe clearly had only lived for 14 years, but she felt as if she had lived for half her life. Even if she was born with natural beauty, she had a lot of white hair now. She looked worn out and her eye sockets were deep.

nShe initially thought that it would be her life forever, but she did not expect to be taken away from the slums by a man who was dressed in a mighty manner two days previous. She knelt on the ground, trembling, and her extremely skinny body shivered.

nShe was dying to crawl into the ground, and did not dare to look around. After a long time, the sound of the door being pulled open was heard from behind her. A stranger, whose footsteps she was unfamiliar with, walked past her.

nAfter a series of rustling sounds, the person who came into the room sat on the bed.

n“What’s your name?” According to the voice, the person was young. He might even be younger than Acao. She had heard a lot of hoarse voices and all sorts of malicious yelling, but she had never heard such a clear and soothing voice. She could not help but quiver uncontrollably. Acao felt that her mouth was not hers anymore. She even forgot how to speak.

nUpon seeing her behavior, Jiang Pengji did not rush to say anything. Instead, she asked Taxue to serve Acao some tea to calm her down.

nThe audience in the streaming room had been eagerly waiting. They did not know what the streamer had up her sleeve.

nWho was so important that it was worthy of her to leave the chess game, abandon Feng Jin, and come over immediately? Looking at the person, she seemed like nothing.

nLaosiji Lianmeng: “I don’t think the streamer will do anything extra. She must have an impressive identity for the streamer to value her so much.”

nTusiji Zhiwu: “#grins. She may be the streamer’s sister who has been living on the streets.”

nYinyuejia Zhuge Qinmo: “There’s no hint. I can’t guess what the streamer’s intention is. I’ll just watch this slowly.”

nAfter a while, Jiang Pengji felt that her mood had become stable, so she asked again, “What’s your name?”

nAcao’s ears turned red. She felt an inferiority that made her want to crawl into the ground. “I’m Acao.”

nAlthough it was not a nice name, it was a proper name.

n“Acao?” Jiang Pengji asked. “Do you know who wanted you to come here?”

nAcao’s skinny body trembled and she answered in a very soft voice, “I don’t know. I roughly remember that it was a wealthy man.” For Acao, people who wore neat and tidy clothes were rich. She had never seen the clothes worn by Liu She’s confidant before. Such a decent-looking man was a wealthy man to her.

nJiang Pengji asked, “Then do you know what you’re going to do here?”

nAcao bit her lower lip and there was a hint of embarrassment on her bony, small face. She then slowly sat up straight. She kept her head down and rested her hands on her waist. She looked like she was about to untie her waistband.

nUsually, Acao would just wear a piece of tattered clothing at most with nothing underneath; it was because she was poor and she could not afford to wear anything else. Furthermore, it was useless to wear more clothes as a prostitute. She had to strip her clothes off to serve the customers anyway.

nLiu She’s confidant took her there and asked the servant to prepare a complete set of clothes for her. She washed her body with soap from head to toe several times.

nAcao felt that she had been the cleanest in her life the few days.

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