"Meifeng, have you found Meixiu's whereabouts yet?" Yu Yong asked her the moment she arrived at the house, acting as though he didn't have a single clue.
"Unfortunately, I have not." Meifeng said, and she continued, "I tried calling her every day, but she hasn't responded to a single call."
"Are you sure you don't know?" Tang Lee asked again, narrowing her eyes.
"I don't understand. Are you implying that I know her whereabouts? That I am lying to you?" Meifeng then asked, feeling something was off about their atmosphere.
Yu Yong then retrieved a photo and placed it on the table, showing a picture of Meixiu and Yuan on the street.
It was the same photo given to them by Mister Johnson.
"Your daughter is currently taking care of that trash, and she left the family shortly after he was disowned. This doesn't seem like a coincidence, and I refuse to believe that you, her mother, didn't know about this." Tang Lee said.
And she continued, "You know what I think? I think you knew about her whereabouts this entire time and purposefully kept it from us. In fact, you probably even helped them."
"..."
Meifeng remained silent after hearing Tang Lee doubt her loyalty, even suspecting that she had something to do with Meixiu's disappearance.
However, she didn't panic.
"With all due respect, Madam Tang, I have worked for the Yu Family for nearly my entire life, and I had sacrificed everything in order to do so. Why would I risk all of that over something like this?"
"The last time I spoke with Meixiu was right before she left. She told me that she wanted to leave the Yu Family to explore other options in life. Meixiu isn't bound to a contract, nor did I have any reason to convince her to stay since she's already an adult, so I didn't say anything and allowed her to leave." Meifeng said, subtly reminding them that Meixiu wasn't under a contract so they cannot force her to stay.
Meifeng then continued without giving the Yu Family a chance to speak, "Allow me to be blunt, Masters."
"Meixiu has admired the Young Master ever since he was adopted into the family, and she'd even endured countless hours of training from me just to become his servant. However, because of what happened to the Young Master, she was reassigned to the Young Lady. I am not saying that she doesn't care about the Young Lady, but she has always dreamed of being the Young Master's servant."
"Since the Young Master got removed from the family, Meixiu, who is not bound by a contract, most likely decided to leave the family so that she could finally fulfill her dream as the Young Master's servant. Of course, this is all speculation, but other than logical reasoning, I am also her mother, so I know what she thinks."
Yu Yong and Tang Lee were left speechless by Meifeng's words.
After a moment of silence, Yu Yong said, "I don't doubt you, Meifeng, but just to be safe, let me see your cellphone. Since you claim that you call her every day, you must have a record of it in your phone."
The Yu Family expected Meifeng to make an excuse to get out of this situation, but to their surprise, Meifeng said, "I understand."
She then retrieved her cellphone and handed it over to Yu Yong without making any excuses or showing even the slightest sign of being worried.
Yu Yong then opened her phone and checked the call record.
His eyes widened with surprise when he saw that Meifeng had actually been calling Meixiu's phone number every single day without fail ever since Meixiu left the family, and she would sometimes even call Meixiu multiple times in one day.
However, there was not a single successful call within the call records.
"I-I apologize for doubting you, Meifeng… Really… If we'd offended you, please forgive us." Yu Yong immediately apologized to her.
Yu Yong valued Meifeng's loyalty and presence in the Yu Family very highly— probably only second to his own wife.
This is mostly because of Meifeng's contribution to the Yu Family throughout the years. It could be said that without Meifeng assisting them, their family wouldn't have survived for this long.
While Yuan have boosted their wealth to a significant amount, they have always been rich. However, Meifeng had helped them stabilize their position within the entertainment industry and much more, hence why Yu Yong couldn't afford to anger or offend Meifeng.
Even though Meifeng was under a contract with their Yu Family, she could actually leave the family if she truly tried, and Yu Yong couldn't afford to lose someone like her, especially not when the entire world was changing at a rapid pace because of the cultivation craze.
"I am neither mad nor offended, just slightly disappointed that I don't have all of your trust just yet," Meifeng said.
"D-Don't worry! You have my complete trust starting now!" Yu Yong reassured her.
However, Tang Lee wasn't happy with the results, and she was still suspicious of Meifeng, but she didn't say anything and merely kept a frown on her face.
Meifeng then asked, "If you don't mind me asking, why are you so fixated on finding Meixiu?"
Yu Yong sighed and decided to tell Meifeng everything.
"To tell you the truth, we're not really the ones who are looking for her— it's Chairman Zhao, the current chairman of the Cultivators' Association. Apparently, Meixiu has incredible talents in cultivation, which attracted Chairman Zhao's attention, and he wants to buy Meixiu from us."
"What?" Meifeng's eyes widened upon learning the truth, showing a little surprise for the first time.
"Therefore, we have hired investigators to look for her. They have recently found her whereabouts, and they are planning on bringing Meixiu back soon."
"What about Meixiu? What if she doesn't want to join the Cultivators' Association?" Meifeng asked.
"Meifeng, you should know by now that if someone is powerful enough, they can do whatever they want. Chairman Zhao is definitely someone powerful enough to do as he pleases. If he truly wants Meixiu, there's nothing you nor the Yu Family can do about it." Yu Yong sighed again.