Chapter 535: Fear
Editor: Atlas Studios
There were two doors between the East Manor and the West Manor. Near the East Manor were Madam Wu’s people guarding the door, whereas on the West Manor’s side, it was Mu Yangling’s people. Every day, when the servants in the manor woke up, they had to open the door and only lock it at night. Today, the sun had risen for a long time, but not only did the West Manor not open their door, but there was also no response after knocking for so long. Clearly, something had gone majorly wrong.
It was unknown what the young lass thought of, but she was so frightened that her soul almost left her body. She rushed into the main courtyard and shouted, “Something is wrong! Something is seriously wrong!”
Madam Wu had been unhappy ever since Li Jinghua seized her power. When she heard the commotion outside, she snapped angrily, “What’s going on outside? What’s Eldest Madam doing when she’s supposed to be managing the household?”
Nanny Wu quickly walked in and said with a mixture of excitement and worry, “The young lass said that something happened in the West Manor. No matter how loudly she called out, nobody opened the door.”
“Oh?” Madam Wu’s eyes darted around as she stood up and said, “Let’s go take a look.”
She had always wanted to find something on Li Jinghua, but up till that point she had failed. Instead, Li Jinghua dug up a lot of old scores. So, she was rather delighted to hear that something had happened in the West Manor.
The group arrived at the entrance of the West Manor in a grandiose manner. Madam Wu asked someone to get the people inside to open the door, but when she realized that there was really no reaction, she turned around and asked, “Hasn’t anyone from the West Manor come out today?”
Although the Zhaode Hall had a small kitchen, it was only in charge of the food of the four masters. The servants’ food was still made in the main kitchen, so their daily routine was the same as the other courtyards in the residence.
“Madam, no one from Zhaode Hall and Zhaohua Courtyard came to collect food today, including the small garden. No one from the west side gate came to collect food either.”
Frowning slightly, Madam Wu waved her hand. “Get someone to kick the door open.”
After the door was kicked open, everyone rushed in. Only then did they realize that the maidservant guarding the door was still lying on the bed and sleeping soundly. It was clearly impossible for her to sleep so soundly with the commotion going on outside. Shocked, Madam Wu hurriedly brought her people to the Zhaode Hall.
In the Zhaode Hall, the servants were also sleeping soundly, but Li Jinghua and her waiting maid were gone. When she ran to the Zhaohua Courtyard to take a look, Mu Yangling and the two children had also disappeared with her waiting maid and the wet nurse. Thinking of the imperial guards guarding outside, Madam Wu’s legs trembled and her previous smugness disappeared. She turned around and glared at them fiercely. “You didn’t see anything today. If you want to live, shut your mouths tightly.”
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Madam Wu hurriedly got someone to call Qi Feng back.
Now that the entire court was busy, Qi Feng was extremely busy as well. Thus, his expression was very ugly when he was called back. However, he knew Madam Wu well. If not for something serious, she would not have gotten someone to ask for him.
Madam Wu waved the servants away and held Qi Feng’s hand, crying, “Master, something major has happened. Madam Li and Madam Mu ran away with their children.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Qi Feng reprimanded softly.
“It’s true. If you don’t believe me, go and take a look. The servant girls and maidservants of Zhaode Hall are all unconscious. Only they and the two children are missing.”
Qi Feng’s expression changed as he brought Madam Wu to the two courtyards. The West Manor remained quiet like before. Madam Wu knew that some things could not be made public, so although she was extremely terrified, she did not want to wake those people up. Otherwise, the commotion in the manor definitely couldn’t be kept under wraps.
After walking one round, Qi Feng lowered his head to think for a moment. “They were abducted.”
Madam Wu’s expression changed. She opened her mouth but did not say anything.
Qi Feng was terrified, not knowing if his two daughters-in-law had left by themselves or if they had been abducted. It was fine if they had been kidnapped, but if they had escaped by themselves…
What were Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran trying to do?
Rebel?
How could they leave him behind? The entire Qi family was here. Wasn’t this pushing them into a fire pit?
Qi Feng was angry and anxious now. He didn’t know if Qi Xiuyuan had such thoughts, but he thought about how the flames of war were rising everywhere. Not only did the rebel army reign supreme everywhere, but some generals also led their soldiers to rebel.
Those people were most likely below the third-grade and their families weren’t staying in Lin’an City. Meanwhile, Qi Xiuyuan already had nearly 180,000 troops. Did he have such thoughts?
Qi Feng felt tormented. At this moment, he regretted neglecting his two sons back then, resulting in him being totally clueless about their thoughts. But no matter how much he regretted it, in order to save his and his family’s lives, he could only categorize this matter as kidnapping. Otherwise, the entire Qi family would have no way out.
After sending Madam Wu back to the main courtyard, Qi Feng hurriedly ran out to find the imperial guards guarding the door and told them that Madam Li, Madam Mu, and the children were missing.
The captain of the imperial guards’ expression changed drastically. He rushed in with his men and hurriedly got someone to restrain everyone in the Qi Residence while he rushed into the palace to report.
By the time the Emperor sent people out of the city to chase after them, Mu Yangling and the others had already changed teams and left in a different direction. In the original convoy, there were two women with two children whose physiques were similar to Mu Yangling and Li Jinghua’s. Even if the people investigating became suspicious of their trade caravan and came chasing after them, it would most likely dismiss their suspicions when they saw the imposters.
The convoy headed north. Other than replenishing the necessary supplies, they did not stop at all. Mu Yangling and Li Jinghua did not know that Lin’an City had fallen into chaos because of their disappearance.
Before the Qi family reported their disappearance, the captain of the imperial guards who guarded three other generals had already reported that their families had more or less been abducted. However, most of those abducted were the direct descendants of the generals, and most of the women were left behind.
Compared to the other three families, there weren’t many people from the Qi family who had disappeared, but they were the most important ones. Everyone knew that Qi Xiuyuan and Qi Haoran didn’t get along with their father. To control them, the Emperor could only control their wives and children…
The Emperor asked in a low voice, “How’s General Yuan’s family?”
“No one from the Yuan family has gone missing.”
The Emperor nodded slightly. The reason why no one from the Yuan family went missing was because he had placed the most imperial guards in the Yuan residence, surrounding the Yuan family completely. The guards assigned to the other four families, including the Qi family, were only focused on guarding the main door. After all, their foundation was much shallower. Who knew that something would happen to even these four families?
The Emperor narrowed his eyes and asked, “Do you think they escaped on their own or were abducted?”
The imperial guards below lowered their heads.
The Emperor sighed. “You don’t know…” The Emperor didn’t have a clue either. It was impossible to find out who was the culprit amid the current chaos.
“Send someone to investigate and try to rescue the hostages back. The safety of the hostages is of utmost importance.” The Emperor waved his hand and said, “Don’t make this matter public for the time being. Keep it under wraps for as long as you can. Order the guards at the Yuan Residence to be on high alert.”
The few of them bowed and left.
The Emperor called the secret guards over and said, “Go and investigate why they all disappeared at this time.”
At the same time, Minister Qin became anxious and said in a low voice, “If things are brought forward, the Emperor might have sensed something.”
The person sitting opposite Minister Qin said irritably, “Who exactly attacked the families of the generals at this time?”
Minister Qin shook his head. “The situation is too chaotic now. I’m afraid it will take a lot of time to investigate. Our business is more important.”