Resplendent – Chapter 491

Chapter 491 — Missing!

“Leave this matter to me!” Ling Juechen was referring to the political marriage between the two nations, but Gu Ye understood it as: leave dealing with Prince Ning to me.

Outside the hall, the wind howled even more fiercely. Dark clouds drifted so low they nearly scraped the roof. Purple lightning flickered faintly within the clouds. Thunder rumbled—an intense storm was about to break.

Meanwhile, the Duke’s Manor was in utter chaos. 

In the reception hall of Mingzhu Pavilion, the Duke paced back and forth anxiously. Lady Jun sat on a carved huanghuali rosewood chair, weeping until her eyes were swollen. 

Even Chu Mufeng, who was on duty outside, had been summoned back; the five brothers all wore expressions darker than the clouds in the sky.

What had happened? Had the heavens collapsed?

No— the Young Miss of the Duke’s Manor had gone missing!

The Duke asked his second son, “Are you certain the gatekeepers at every gate said they never saw your sister leave? Could they have been negligent and simply missed her?”

Chu Mufeng replied heavily, “I’ve separated and interrogated the gatekeepers of the main gate, the side gate, and the corner gate over and over. The two gatekeepers at the side gate haven’t taken even half a step away since morning. The old servant woman at the corner gate said that apart from the steward who went out early to make purchases, she saw no one else go in or out.

The servants all understand how much the family values Little Sister. If she went out, they would never dare to hide it. Unless… unless she didn’t leave through any of the gates.”

The Duke frowned deeply and looked at the servants of Mingzhu Pavilion kneeling at his feet.

Xiaoliu, the youngest brother and the closest to his sister, visited her in Mingzhu Pavilion every single day. 

Today, the moment he entered, he discovered that aside from the rough-servant maids and old matrons serving outside, all the maids inside his sister’s rooms were unconscious on the floor.

They couldn’t find any trace of his sister anywhere. Afraid that something dangerous had happened to her, he quickly sent people to fetch their father and older brothers. 

Originally, they hadn’t wanted their mother to know about this. But as luck would have it, Lady Jun had just finished sewing a dress for her daughter and happily brought it over for her to try on—only to see the maids lying unconscious on the ground. She nearly fainted on the spot.

In Mingzhu Pavilion, there were four senior maids attending the young lady, six second-class maids, and more than twenty rough-servant maids and old servant women outside. 

Aside from the two maids Hua Hao and Yue Yuan, the other two senior maids were handpicked from Lady Jun’s own side.

Worried her daughter might be poorly attended, Lady Jun had sent over the most attentive and good-tempered ones—Liangchen and Meijing. The second-class maids, apart from Tang Xiaoxiao, had all been carefully selected by her as well. 

Now, all of them had been drugged. Fortunately, it was only a mild knockout drug; splashing them with cold water was enough to wake them.

When questioned about what happened, none of them could answer. They only reported that they had served the young lady during her morning wash as usual and hadn’t noticed anything unusual about her. 

As for how they ended up fainting, they had no idea.

Lady Jun cried until she looked like petals wet with rain. “Brother Fan, could Bao’er have been kidnapped?”

“It shouldn’t be that.” The Duke sighed. “Have you forgotten? Our daughter is skilled at making medicines. Would she be afraid of a few petty thieves? My guess is that these maids fell victim to Ye’er’s tricks.”

“Ye’er? Why would she drug Liangchen and the others? And where is she now?” Lady Jun trusted her husband more than anyone. Hearing this, she stopped crying but asked in confusion.

The Duke hesitated for a moment, then briefly explained the Fourth Prince’s proposal of sending their daughter for a political marriage.

Lady Jun’s tears burst forth again. “A political marriage? How could it possibly fall onto our daughter? Even if His Majesty is unwilling to send a princess, aren’t there still girls of the imperial clan? I’ve never heard of sending a minister’s daughter for such a thing!”

“It was the Fourth Prince of Yan who suggested it! He said Prince Ning saw our girl at the pharmacist exam venue and…” The Duke couldn’t continue. He clenched his fist tightly and took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to cry.

“Our Bao’er is still so young, still an innocent child! Why would Prince Ning take a liking to her? Don’t tell me… does Prince Ning have some hidden, unspeakable fetish? My poor Bao’er—Brother Fan, we absolutely cannot send our girl into a den of wolves and tigers!” Lady Jun sobbed so hard she could barely breathe, her body swaying as though she might collapse.

The Duke steadied her and spoke slowly, “Don’t worry. I will do everything in my power to refuse this on our daughter’s behalf. Ye’er once saved His Majesty’s life, and he harbors guilt toward our family. He won’t ignore our wishes. Let’s hope Prince Ning is merely momentarily curious about Ye’er.”

“Brother Fan, you must save Bao’er…” Lady Jun suddenly stopped crying, her eyes filling with fear. “Brother Fan, could it be that Bao’er couldn’t think things through for a moment and did something foolish?”

“No. Sister is not weak. She would never harm herself!” Gu Ming who was usually silent finally spoke with a grim expression, “She once said that anyone who makes her suffer, she will not let them go unpunished. Even if faced with a dead end, she would drag down whoever harmed her and perish together.”

The Duke’s brows relaxed slightly. “I think… I know where she went! Second and Third, come with me to the post station. Fourth and Fifth, search the manor again, thoroughly. Sixth, you stay here and accompany your mother…”

“Father, I want to look for Sister too! It was I who brought her home from the streets back then. This time I will definitely find her again!” Chu Mushan said, eyes red but gaze firm. 

He refused to stay home anxiously waiting for news. He believed there was some invisible connection between him and his sister—he was certain he would find her.

Lady Jun wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said between sobs, “Let Xiaoliu go with you! One more person means one more bit of strength. I don’t need anyone to stay with me. Bring more guards. If Bao’er is in danger, even if you have to fight for her, you must bring her back! This time, we cannot let her leave again. No matter how great the storm ahead, our family must face it together!”

The Duke nodded slowly but firmly. With three of his sons and Gu Ming, he gathered a team of men and hurried toward the Yan Kingdom’s post station at full speed.

The residents of the West District were all wealthy and high-status. Many saw the Duke riding through the streets with a full troop, murderous intent practically radiating off them as they rushed toward the relay station to the east of the imperial city.

“Huh? What could possibly require the Duke to mobilize personally? Has someone staged a rebellion? Or… is some remnant of the previous dynasty planning to stir up trouble during this Great Pharmacists Convention?” The Minister of Personnel, who lived not far from the Duke, watched in astonishment as the Duke, his sons, and dozens of guards thundered past his gate.

The Duke had once injured his right hand. Although he now held the position of instructor at the Xishan Garrison, he rarely involved himself in affairs. He only occasionally made rounds at the camp. For something to put him on high alert, it had to be a major incident!

Judging from the direction they were headed, it seemed to be the post station where foreign envoys were staying. 

Could an envoy from some country be harboring ill intentions and planning something under the cover of this event?