kvmb Chapter 171 Where did the people go?
Chapter 171 Where did the people go?
"how is this possible?"
The eldest princess looked at the crown prince in shock, "A-Que, you must be mistaken? How could this be? How could Qinglian Temple be involved in a human trafficking case?"
"Isn't this...isn't this a bit too absurd?"
It wasn't that the eldest princess didn't want to believe it; it was simply too unbelievable to her. Qinglian Temple was a place of quiet cultivation for members of the imperial family and their wives. Because the dynasty was quite lenient towards women, some imperial concubines who didn't want to stay in the palace would choose to live in Qinglian Temple.
The palace receives annual funding, and the Empress Dowager has also bestowed considerable amounts of official land, so it is not short of money. Especially in recent years, with its flourishing incense offerings, it is even more flush with cash. Given this, who would risk getting involved in such a major case?
Without saying much, the Crown Prince gestured for Pei Ji to bring the dossier that had just been transferred, as well as Uncle Cheng's confession, to the Princess for review.
"There is another witness in the contact's statement. I have already ordered people to search for him. Whether he is related to Qinglian Temple or not will be known after an investigation. Until then, I would appreciate your help, Aunt." The Crown Prince said to the Princess.
The eldest princess was flipping through the files in her hands, growing increasingly horrified with each page. "How could such a thing happen? This is utterly heinous and unforgivable! But..."
The eldest princess frowned. "I still can't understand how Qinglian Temple got involved in such a thing. What are they doing abducting these children? The servants at Qinglian Temple are either homeless palace maids or girls from poor families nearby. Even if there are children occasionally, they are abandoned babies picked up from the street. There are no children who came halfway through their lives!"
This was also what puzzled the Crown Prince.
"Go ahead and investigate. I can buy you some time, but as you know, this matter is very complicated. If you can't find out the truth, I'm afraid..." The princess sighed softly.
"Don't worry, Aunt, I know what I'm doing," the Crown Prince replied.
“You,” the eldest princess said with a hint of helplessness, “you’ve always been like this since you were little, fearless and always thinking you’re right! But…”
The Crown Prince looked towards the door, and the Eldest Princess gently closed her eyes as well.
It concealed the pain in my eyes.
But can this hole really be broken through?
"Pei Ji, take the criminal over for identification," the Crown Prince ordered.
"Yes."
Pei Ji accepted the order and went out. On the other side of the crowd, Lu Yangyang and Princess Li Duan finally arrived.
Looking at the dense crowd in front of the main hall, Lu Yangyang suddenly stopped. "Wait a minute."
"What's wrong?" Princess Liduan asked.
Lu Yangyang asked the imperial guards at the gate, "Are all the people from Qinglian Temple here?"
"Those currently registered are all here," the Imperial Guard replied.
Lu Yangyang said to Princess Liduan, "Let's go out first."
Princess Liduan was puzzled, but she still followed her out. "Yangyang, what did you find?"
"There's something I've been wondering about. Qinglian Temple shouldn't be short of people, right? So why are they buying children? Where are those children sent after they're bought? Fifty taels of silver each, that's much higher than the market price. It's impossible for them to be sold to other places, or even to the capital. If they're not selling them, where are they being held? Even if we find out that someone at Qinglian Temple is suspected of trafficking children, without direct evidence, this case will probably just be dropped in the end, right?"
Lu Yangyang kept wondering what they did with those children. She couldn't figure it out. They couldn't have been raised in the temple. Where did all those children go?
She had just glanced around and noticed that the servants and young nuns in Qinglian Temple did not match the abducted children. So why did they need so many children?
too weird.
Lu Yangyang turned to Luyao and asked, "Do you know where those children who were bought by Qinglian Temple were sent?"
Lü Yao shook her head: "Uncle Cheng probably doesn't know either. It seems that each time they just send them out of the capital, and someone else will take over. The other party is very cautious."
Were there any children who were sent back because of injuries?
"No, Uncle Cheng always selects the healthiest and cleanest children to send over every month. I've never seen any return. Those that are returned are mostly abducted from other places. Some were injured on the way, some were sick, and they were difficult to handle, so they were locked up first. If they accidentally died, they would be dragged out and thrown into a mass grave. If they survived, they would be sold to be maids or servants or something," Green Yao replied.
"Could the person be at Qinglian Temple?" Sheng Yunjiao said. "Don't the stories say that the most dangerous place is the safest? Here, no one can find out, and the government can't possibly find this place either."
Lu Yangyang and Princess Liduan both turned to look at her.
Sheng Yunjiao asked weakly, "Wh-what's wrong?"
“You’re right. If we can find where they’re hiding those children, that’ll be solid evidence, and we’ll definitely be able to bring the culprits to justice!” Lu Yangyang said.
She had rushed over with Lüyao because she was worried that Uncle Cheng's testimony alone might not be reliable. But just now she suddenly realized that even with Lüyao's testimony, there would still only be witnesses, and the other party could be exonerated at any time.
We must find those children who were bought in order to obtain conclusive evidence.
And those children who were bought are very likely still in Qinglian Temple.
Lu Yangyang hurriedly asked Lüyao, "Do you know when their last transaction was?"
“It’s been almost half a month. Uncle Cheng was very anxious a few days ago, saying that he’s been ordering a lot of goods lately and we need to think of a way to pick out some good ones,” Lü Yao said, recalling the past.
"Half a month, according to their rule of once a month, it is very likely that the child sent last time is still in the temple. We have to find a way to find them."
Lu Yangyang asked Princess Liduan, "You are most familiar with this place. Do you know if there are any forbidden areas or secret places that people are not allowed to go to? Places where people might hide?"
“There are too many! This entire mountain belongs to Qinglian Temple. Hiding people here wouldn't be difficult. But I think they definitely won't come through the main gate. Qinglian Temple is guarded everywhere; it won't be easy to get in. There is a cliff on the back mountain, but it's too dangerous, so it's usually unguarded and nobody goes there.” Princess Liduan's eyes lit up: “Could they have come in from there?”
"Come on, let's go take a look!"
Lu Yangyang urged her.
“But you can’t hide anyone there. It’s a cliff, a bottomless abyss, it’s deadly!” Princess Liduan shook her head, thinking it was unlikely. Lu Yangyang grabbed her and ran.
Princess Liduan had no choice but to resign herself to leading the way.
The cliff was right behind the mountain. Just as Princess Li Duan had said, this place was indeed steep and precipitous. It didn't look like a place where people could hide. However, even here, the people sent by the Crown Prince had surrounded the place.
Upon seeing them, he hurriedly stopped them: "His Highness the Crown Prince has ordered that no one is allowed to move around freely within the Qinglian Temple!"