5: Abducting the courtesan without restraint

“Miss Wan'er never met His Highness Prince Chu yesterday, so how can she be a suspect?” The Xianle Tower proprietress frowned, finding the problem thorny.

Losing a day's revenue was harmless to the Xianle Tower's scale; it was tolerable.

But wanting to take Mu Wan'er away, that touched upon a matter of principle.

Mu Wan'er was the Xianle Tower's signboard; without her, the Xianle Tower would be half-finished.

If it spread that Miss Wan'er, who had always guarded her purity, was taken into Prince Chu's Mansion and then came out, would anyone still believe Miss Wan'er was the same Miss Wan'er as before?

The forces behind the Xianle Tower were vast; to be the number one in the Imperial Capital, it naturally wouldn't be a paper tiger.

Seeing Xia Xuan offer no explanation, the Xianle Tower proprietress was a bit anxious. She still wanted to resolve the issue peacefully and proactively showed goodwill, saying:

“It was our Xianle Tower's inadequate security that nearly caused His Highness Prince Chu harm yesterday, and we are solely to blame. All relevant personnel of this Tower have now been brought to justice.

However, such a heinous incident has had a significant impact on His Highness Prince Chu, and this Tower is willing to make amends by compensating Your Highness with one million yuan stones.”

The Xianle Tower proprietress's words had a hidden meaning, both admonishing Xia Xuan and showing sincerity.

One million yuan stones were an astonishing value, enough to purchase dozens of mansions in prime locations in the Imperial Capital.

Even for the Xianle Tower, it was a significant Bleeding.

Xia Xuan nodded slightly, agreeing, “You are right, I should indeed be compensated.”

Before the proprietress could show delight, he changed the subject, “But, private matters are private, and public matters are public.

The murderer who sought my life has not yet been found; how can I be negligent? Not a single clue can be overlooked.

Today, I must take Mu Wan'er with me!”

The Xianle Tower proprietress's face flickered, and she secretly gritted her teeth. If soft methods didn't work, then hard ones would.

“Your Highness Prince Chu, our Xianle Tower is not full of weaklings who can be bullied. Arresting and interrogating people requires evidence, and even if there is evidence, it still requires the Minister of Justice to send people... You probably don't have the authority to detain and interrogate privately, do you?”

“Minister of Justice? You want the Minister of Justice's seal? Easy, I'll have someone send it to you immediately.”

The Minister of Justice was in charge of punishment, similar to the Ministry of Justice. The Crown Prince's uncle was the Minister of Justice Chief. As a temporary member of the Crown Prince's faction, it wouldn't be difficult for Xia Xuan to make things legitimate.

Even if the Crown Prince didn't want the matter to escalate and didn't help him, he didn't care.

The Xianle Tower proprietress was a bit anxious; Prince Chu was determined to take the person away.

She glanced at the male steward beside her, giving a signal.

The male steward, bracing himself, brought out their backing: “Your Highness Prince Chu, please reconsider. The backer behind our Xianle Tower is a Super Sect and Prince Qi. If you insist on this, you may bring dire consequences upon yourself...”

“Noisy, slap him!”

Xia Xuan was slightly impatient.

Upon hearing this, Wu Zhong stepped forward swiftly, delivering a slap that produced a sonic boom, directly sending the teeth of the person who dared to threaten flying, like a pile of mud on the ground, letting out a heart-wrenching scream like a pig being slaughtered.

“You, you actually dare...” The steward, covering his mouth, trembled as he extended his hand, pointing at Wu Zhong, his eyes full of venom.

Crack!

Wu Zhong stomped down, the sound of bones shattering was piercing, completely silencing him.

Everyone present at the Xianle Tower felt a chill run down their spines.

Xia Xuan folded his arms, scanned the room, and finally fixed his gaze on Mu Wan'er, saying coldly, “I don't want to say it a second time.”

The Xianle Tower proprietress bit her lips until drops of blood appeared, yet she dared not utter another word.

It was her first time witnessing Prince Chu's domineering nature. In the past, though Prince Chu bore the reputation of a dissolute playboy, he always maintained a bottom line, especially in the Xianle Tower, where he was refined and elegant, at least like a hypocrite.

But now, perhaps the life-and-death crisis of last night had completely enraged this mad lion. Anyone who dared to defy him would not have a good end.

“Third Brother, oh Third Brother, summer has just passed, getting so angry is not good.

Whatever grievances you have, just tell Second Brother, and Second Brother will surely give you justice.”

At this moment, a gentle voice came from the eighteenth-floor staircase.

Everyone in the Xianle Tower breathed a sigh of relief, as if they had seen a savior. The Second Prince, Prince Qi, had arrived!

With him in charge, even Prince Chu would surely not dare to be presumptuous.

“I'm taking the person!”

Xia Xuan coldly uttered four words. His gaze towards Prince Qi was as sharp as a knife. After all, the incident happened on his territory, and he couldn't escape responsibility.

This Second Brother of his was too shrewd and extremely good at managing. He had always bided his time and developed his network.

Xia Xuan didn't have the confidence to see through him.

With the incident happening on his territory, his suspicion was both the greatest and the smallest.

Perhaps it was a poisoning he deliberately orchestrated to mislead others and create an illusion of innocent involvement.

What slightly surprised Xia Xuan was that after some thought, Prince Qi actually nodded in agreement.

“Third Brother, don't worry. This matter is of great importance, and I, your Second Brother, know what is more important.”

“Still, the same words: Second Brother always welcomes you to his mansion for a chat. In this search for the culprit, Second Brother will never refuse anything he can help with.”

Prince Qi's words, however, made the Xianle Tower proprietress anxious, but she understood she had no right to interject.

“I hope you won't disappoint me, Second Imperial Brother.”

Xia Xuan gave Prince Qi a deep look and left with his people.

Watching the Prince Chu's Mansion group leave the building, the Xianle Tower proprietress couldn't help but ask, “Master, we clearly did nothing, why did we have to compromise with Prince Chu? Without Wan'er, what will become of the Xianle Tower in the future?”

Prince Qi rubbed his temples, answering irrelevantly, “I always thought my only opponent was the Crown Prince, but now a third-party force has joined... Who could it be? Fifth Brother? Seventh Brother? Or is Third Brother himself acting?”

“None of these matter anymore.”

He sighed, “The truth of the matter doesn't matter either. The Great General is returning to court, and I don't want to take the blame for this.”

“Besides, sacrificing Wan'er is not a bad thing. If we can use this to connect with Third Brother and make him sincerely convinced, the great cause can be achieved!”

Outside,

The entire Red-Light District erupted.

The news of Prince Chu taking away the courtesan queen spread like wildfire.

It made countless people envious, wishing they could be reborn into the royal family.

“I retract my previous words. Prince Chu is not righteous at all; he actually ate alone behind our backs... Wuwuwu...”

“Prince Chu is simply a bastard! If I had the chance, I'd rather be that bastard!”

“Oh, my Miss Wan'er, I believe you were not willing, and even though you are in a demon's den, your heart yearns for light. How sad, how regrettable, that I am powerless to rescue Miss Wan'er...”

Literati and refined scholars all denounced Prince Chu, each shedding tears of envy.

Xia Xuan sat in the carriage, with his eyes closed, resting, completely indifferent to the rumors outside.

This trip was quite fruitful.

He calmed his mind, and lines of golden text appeared in his thoughts.

【Openly visiting a brothel, tyrant points +10】

【Inviting a group of literati and refined scholars to listen to music in a brothel, arranging flowers and playing with jade, tyrant points +30】

【Forcibly abducting the Imperial Capital's top courtesan queen, causing public outrage, tyrant points +300】

Xia Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, a look of joy on his face.

Goodness, his main purpose in abducting Mu Wan'er was to resolve his predecessor's obsession, and investigating the case was secondary. He didn't expect such abundant unexpected gains.