Chapter 105: A Clue Appears
Cui Baozhu only brought a young maid, appearing somewhat hurried.
“Second Miss Cui, it’s been a long time,” Wen Mingqian’s demeanor was very amiable.
“Madam, may I be so bold as to ask if something has happened at the mansion?” Cui Baozhu looked around.
“What have you heard, Miss Cui?” Wen Mingqian was a little surprised, how could Cui Baozhu be so vigilant?
“I noticed that the people coming and going in your mansion all looked quite anxious,” Cui Baozhu said, “it seems to align with what I encountered earlier.”
Hearing her say this, Wen Mingqian quickly asked, “What did Second Miss Cui encounter?”
“I went to the temple outside the city to burn incense today, and on my way back, I encountered a horse carriage halfway. This is a very common occurrence, so I didn’t pay much attention.
Unexpectedly, just as the two carriages passed each other, I heard a child cry for help from inside the carriage! But their mouth was quickly covered, and there was no more sound.
And the person driving that carriage whipped the horse fiercely, disappearing into the distance.
Feeling quite suspicious, I stopped the horse carriage and turned back.
Right where the carriage had passed, an amulet fell out. It looked familiar when I saw it, and upon closer inspection, it seemed to belong to your Fourth Young Master.” Cui Baozhu panted slightly at this point, “I wanted to chase after them, but the carriage was already far away, and besides, I only brought one young maid, and the coachman, Old Huang, is already old…”
Cui Baozhu had been close to Gong Changan before and had seen his amulet, and she was grateful for her good memory.
“That’s right! This is indeed our young master’s,” Zhang Ma snatched it over, holding it in her hands and trembling, “Miss Cui, where did you encounter it? I’ll take people to look for him right away.”
“It was in the southwest of the city, and there are many forks in the road ahead, so I don’t know where they went,” Cui Baozhu said.
“Did you get a clear look at who was driving the carriage?” Wen Mingqian asked.
“It was a young coachman, about twenty years old,” Cui Baozhu’s young maid said, “I was looking out the window at the scenery at the time, and I saw him very clearly.”
“That’s not right, the coachman who came was already over forty,” Old Huang quickly said.
“Second Miss Cui, did you get a clear look at the color of the horse pulling the carriage, and what kind of carriage it was?” Wen Mingqian asked about the horse and carriage instead of the coachman.
“It was a black horse with a small white spot on its forehead. The carriage canopy was green, and the curtains were crimson.” Cui Baozhu’s memory was indeed very good, “There were also wind and rain bells hanging from the four corners of the canopy.”
“That’s right, that’s right, it’s that carriage!” Old Huang said, “It’s exactly the same as the Duke Feng’s carriage.”
“Then it’s settled, they changed the coachman halfway,” Wen Mingqian said, “to avoid detection.”
She then said to Cui Baozhu, “Second Miss Cui, thank you for bringing us this news, our whole family is deeply grateful. To be honest, Changan was tricked and taken away today, and we are looking for him everywhere!”
“Actually, I considered reporting it to the authorities, but after thinking it over, I decided not to act rashly, so I came to your mansion first.” Cui Baozhu felt a little embarrassed by Wen Mingqian’s praise, “I can take you out of the city to the place.”
As they were speaking, Concubine Wu from the Duke Feng’s Mansion also rushed over. The weather was hot, and she was anxious, her face and forehead covered in sweat.
“Has Changan not been found yet? My heavens! What are we going to do?” Wu Shi had finally managed to calm Feng Tianzhu at home, and then she hurried to the Gong Family’s residence.
“Although he hasn’t been found yet, we have some clues,” Wen Mingqian then briefly recounted the clues provided by Cui Baozhu.
“My heavens! They’ve taken him outside the city, where are they going to hide him?” Wu Shi’s eyes were wide.
“Zhang Ma, take some people with Second Miss Cui out of the city,” Wen Mingqian said, “We can’t report to the authorities yet. I suspect that no matter the other party’s motive, they will make it look like a kidnapping. We can’t push them too hard, otherwise Changan will only be in more danger.”
“Madam, Master is back,” Ma Ping’an said while wiping his sweat, “It was I who invited Master back.”
Ma Ping’an felt that with such a major incident, Wen Mingqian shouldn’t be worried alone.
He then went to the yamen and explained the situation to Gong Xu. Gong Xu was indeed greatly alarmed and rushed back in a hurry.
When Wu Shi heard that Gong Xu had returned, she said, “I’ll go out and see.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out together,” Gong Xu’s first words were to comfort Wen Mingqian.
“Master, I suspect Song Xiang is behind this,” Wen Mingqian said directly, “This is all the lingering poison left by Consort Song.”
Wen Mingqian couldn’t be bothered to explain to Gong Xu that she wasn’t scared; in fact, it was all thanks to Gong Xu.
“I… I’ll go to his house and demand his return right now!” Gong Xu’s face changed drastically, his anger and shame rising.
He knew Wen Mingqian wasn’t talking nonsense; such audacity, to trick someone away in broad daylight at the mansion’s entrance, if there wasn’t a deep-seated hatred, they wouldn’t do such a thing.
“Master, are you trying to alert the enemy? If you go and demand him, will he give him up? Moreover, why would he be so foolish as to hide Changan in his own home?” Wen Mingqian’s tone was cold.
“Then… then what do you suggest we do?” Gong Xu asked, suppressing his humiliation.
“There are only two clues at the moment: one is Shao Si, who was dismissed by the Duke’s Mansion, and the other is that Second Miss Cui encountered the carriage that abducted Changan halfway and picked up Changan’s amulet.” Wen Mingqian didn’t even look at Gong Xu, “Currently, we can only investigate along these two clues.”
Sang Er, standing by, was so anxious she was in tears, but her status prevented her from speaking out of turn.
“Ma Ping’an,” Wen Mingqian called Ma Ping’an over, “Shao Si must have been replaced halfway. He must have been bribed to take such a risk.
But he is the only one who has shown himself, so we must hold onto him tightly.”
“Madam, what do you think we should do?” Ma Ping’an had no good ideas at the moment, but he felt that Wen Mingqian must have a plan.
“After Shao Si was replaced, there are two possibilities: one is that he immediately left the city to flee to another place, and the other is that he is hiding somewhere in the Capital City, taking advantage of the darkness under the lamp.” Wen Mingqian analyzed, “But I don’t think fleeing to another place is very likely. In broad daylight, only an hour or two has passed, where could he escape to?
Once a wanted notice is issued, even if he escapes for ten days or half a month, he can still be easily apprehended.
Moreover, he was being used. How could the person using him let him escape so easily? Wouldn’t it be a complete failure if he were caught? Therefore, hiding is the more likely possibility.”
“Madam’s analysis is indeed reasonable, but Shao Si moved out of his original residence more than half a month ago, and the people around him don’t know where he moved to,” Ma Ping’an said, “In this vast Capital City, finding one Shao Si is like looking for a needle in a haystack, isn’t it?”
