"Is there something that Miss Peng still needs?" Manager Bai asked with a confused look on his face.
"Do you happen to know what the identities are of the eight dead men?" Peng Mingzhu questioned with serious eyes.
Seeing that she was only asking this, Manager Bai sighed, "I have heard a few rumors here and there, but I still do not know the exact identities. Perhaps...I can make a few guesses, but that will only have to be in what their social status is in society. However, if you want to know, you will have to go look at the city board where all the notices are posted."
"Where is the city board?" Peng Mingzhu asked.
"If you head towards the market area, at the very center, is the city board," Manager Bai answered respectfully, not at all questioning or weirded that she did not know where the city board was located in the least.
"Which market area are you referring to?" Peng Mingzhu inquired as she knew from reading the books that there were multiple market areas: meat, fresh produce, fish, jewelries and clothes, and exotic goods that were imported from other countries.
"The fresh produce market area," Manager Bai said before bowing to take his leave. "Then, I shall take my leave."
"Mm, thank you," Peng Mingzhu said in return after he finished his bow, and was about to turn around and leave the entrance door.
Once Manager Bai left, a woman that was also a customer of the inn walked up to Peng Mingzhu.
Judging from her clothes and the people following her, Peng Mingzhu could tell that she was an important madam from a big noble family.
"You go by Miss Peng?" the madam asked politely.
"Yes, is there something that madam needs?" Peng Mingzhu replied back to her in a polite voice.
"Even though Manager Bai has helped you today and that you will remain safe in the inn if you continue to stay here, that young master will try to find ways to make contact with you. Even if not to force you to be his wife, he will come back for revenge," the madam warned with a kind tone.
"Thank you for the warning, Madam. However, you have no need to worry about me. I know how to protect myself and in the case that I do not know how to protect myself, I still have guards that are protecting me," Peng Mingzhu informed her humbly and politely since she knew that the madam was truly worried about her. "However, I have a question: Despite the bad actions that he has caused over the years, why is it that none of the nobles has yet to bring problems to him?"
As time passed by, Peng Mingzhu eventually began to start using a formal way of speaking compared to her usual casual and informal speech. Maybe because the majority of the people that she was speaking to spoke formally, so she found the need to change and speak the same way as them.
Even though in her world she was someone with lots of power and very famous in the business empire, she did not feel the need to speak formally as there were very few people who spoke as such. In fact, the only people who spoke formally were all people who were trained from a young age by their families that apparently had "noble or royal blood" in them.
However, to the rest of the world and rich families, as long as they knew and understood what each other were saying, they did not feel the need to speak elegantly and intricately.
At the same time, while Peng Mingzhu was getting used to speaking more formally, the madam was surprised. She found it surprising that someone - especially a young lady - would know that there was something hideous going on in the background.
"His family has bribed many of the nobles that he has angered," the madam answered while disguising her shock. "Even though the reputation of their daughters were ruined, they felt that it was not such a bad trade to gain so much money overnight and yet only have to marry their daughter into a family of lesser value than them while still gaining lots of benefits from the family of the groom."
"Is it that easy to get married here?" Peng Mingzhu asked curiously.
"As a virgin and beautiful girl, it is hard to get married if you have a noble family on your back," the madam answered. "However, if you are deemed to be a ruined girl, many men will want to marry you because they know that they will still receive lots of support from your family even if you made the family lose face in public."
"But, what can the men give back?" Peng Mingzhu continued to ask as she could not see what was the benefit.
"The men will be their dogs," the madam uttered with a dark expression on her face.
Just based on her expression, Peng Mingzhu could feel that this madam held a huge resentment for those men that were willing to wed "ruined" girls. In fact, out of all the words that she has spoken, "dogs" was the only insulting word that she has said thus far.
Peng Mingzhu did not know bitterness was going on with the madam and her private life, but she did not want to know as they were not familiar with each other.
Aside from that, if she asked, was she not just hitting her sore spot? She was not fond of being such a horrible person.
"I see…" Peng Mingzhu mumbled, about to raise her hand to her chin before stopping herself since her action might be seen as rude. "Thank you for your advice. I will surely watch my back."
"No need to thank me," the madam said to Peng Mingzhu. "I just did not want to hear another story of a ruined girl being forced to marry just any adequate man because she is ruined."
"Even if the world were to fall down, there would not be a single person who can force me to get married," Peng Mingzhu assured her with a light smile.
"..." the madam opened her eyes in shock before putting on a big smile. "Throughout the entire time that I was watching you, I did not see a single smile on your face, so I thought you were too cold. Now that I see you smile, I truly understand why you do not like to smile so much."
"Huh?" Peng Mingzhu moaned in a confused tone and tilted her head.
"Such a beautiful smile would surely cause all the men in the city to swoon for you. Your smile is enough to start a war," the madam stated with chuckle. "Though, if you were a manipulative and scheming woman, I am sure that you would have loved to see that happen."
"I am not fond of attracting attention to myself," Peng Mingzhu told her with a blush. "Also, you are also a pretty person yourself when you smile…"
Once again, the madam was shocked. Peng Mingzhu may not be the most expressive, but she was surely the most humble and kind person she has met thus far. Even the maids that worked for her were not as good-natured as her.
The madam lightly chuckled and gave another warning before leaving, "Be careful of the women around you. With your beauty, I would not be surprised to hear news of you dying from poisoning in the future."
Peng Mingzhu laughed at her words as she shook her head and spoke inside her mind, 'If I could die from poisoning, that would be so great. It's too bad that despite all the time I've tried to kill myself, none of them worked."
It was not that she had the ability to adapt better than others, but that she was the only one out of all the eggs to survive because she could never die.
As Peng Mingzhu watched the madam walk out of the inn along with her entourage, she realized that there was a dark halo that she could see from the back.
A darkness that she was very familiar with. More familiar with than anything else in the world.
Pain... Depression... Death…
However, she once again shook her head. Those were none of her issues, so why should she worry about them?
Instead, she should be walking to the fresh produce market to see the city board. At the same time, she also needed to applaud the two old men and Wei Li for working fast. Otherwise, she would not be able to identify which of the families she needed to avoid.
Since she also needed to go out, she did not return to her room or go to take a walk in the garden, but also left the same way as the madam since the fresh produce market was towards the same road.
Before she could walk past ten steps from the inn entrance though, she was stopped.
Stopped by a rather loud and sarcastic, but full of bitter voice, "So this is why I could not find you no matter how much I looked for you."