Chapter 9: Missing (1)

After bandaging Old Master Meng’s wounds, Zhong Xu got up and returned to the Yangchun Mansion.

When he arrived at the entrance of the mansion, he saw the old steward standing outside, his expression extremely anxious as if waiting for someone.

“Master Zhong, you’ve finally returned!” The old steward spoke somewhat incoherently, clearly frightened out of his wits.

Upon hearing this, Zhong Xu was startled and immediately worried, asking, “What happened?”

“Miss Di... Miss Di is missing!” The old steward said with a worried face.

“Missing?! Where is she?” Zhong Xu was shocked and quickly followed him inside.

The old steward walked beside him, explaining as they went, “Madam was called by the Great Elder to talk. It was only about an incense stick’s time, but when she returned, she couldn’t find Doctor Di anywhere. After asking around, no one could locate her! Madam remembered the strange events that had occurred recently and became deeply troubled, so she sent me to wait for you at the gate to notify you as soon as possible.”

“As soon as possible? Then why didn’t she send someone to my shop?”

“She did! But it might take them a while to reach your place. Fortunately, you arrived back here before the message could even be delivered.”

“Where was Di Jiang last seen?” Zhong Xu asked.

“The maids in Madam’s courtyard said they saw her under the screen wall of the Second Madam’s quarters.”

“How did Madam’s maid see her in the Second Madam’s courtyard?”

“The Second Madam isn’t feeling well, so Madam often brings her tonics, and she happened to see her there.”

“...”

Zhong Xu followed the steward along with more than ten maids and servants, searching every door and courtyard of the Yangchun Mansion.

In the past, he only knew how to catch ghosts and eliminate demons; he never thought about the treachery of human hearts. There was no demonic aura in the Yangchun Mansion, so he didn’t know where to start. Whatever the steward suggested, he followed.

But after searching all night, they still found nothing.

By the early hours of the morning, everyone was exhausted from a full day of searching. Several people couldn’t hold on any longer, so the steward let everyone rest.

“Master Zhong, we have prepared a guest room for you. Please rest for a while. Tomorrow, I will accompany you to search outside the courtyards,” the steward said.

“Thank you.” Zhong Xu looked dazed, his mind a chaotic mess, unsure of what to do next.

After the steward left, Zhong Xu remembered a method for finding people that was rumored in the jianghu. This method was detrimental to one’s karma but very effective. It required just a strand of hair or a piece of nail from the person being sought.

With no other options, Zhong Xu had to rush back to the Su Medical Hall at night and sneak into Di Jiang’s boudoir.

He rummaged through the dressing table and found a strand of hair on the comb. Immediately, he used this hair as a guide to track Di Jiang’s whereabouts.

The hair led him to sense the impermanence of the three realms. Following the guidance of the hair, Zhong Xu discovered that her approximate location was still near the Jiudu River. No matter how much the hair burned away, he couldn’t pinpoint a specific location.

This further increased the difficulty of the search. Their efforts were like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Wenyao heard some noise upstairs and thought the shopkeeper had returned, so she hurriedly went upstairs. Opening the door, she saw Zhong Xu sitting by the window, looking regretful.

“Master Zhong... why are you here?” Wenyao was surprised and suddenly felt uneasy, urgently asking, “Where is my shopkeeper?”

“Has Shopkeeper Di returned?” Ruian’s voice came from downstairs as he ascended. He spoke excitedly, “I always knew Shopkeeper Di was extraordinary. I never expected her to return home right under our noses—how playful. Are you still unwilling to forgive me...?” His words carried great excitement, but upon seeing Zhong Xu sitting upstairs, his face fell, frowning as he asked, “Master Zhong, where is Doctor Di?”

“Doctor Di has gone missing.”

“What?!”

Both Ruian and Wenyao were shocked. They surrounded Zhong Xu, pressing him from both sides, demanding, “What exactly happened?”

Zhong Xu knew that he couldn’t find her alone, so he had no choice but to tell them everything that happened over the past two days. However, in describing the events, he downplayed the horror of the corpses and made no mention of Old Master Meng’s resurrection.

He tried to make the situation sound less bizarre.

After listening, Ruian became furious, exclaiming, “This is outrageous! Under the emperor’s nose, someone dares to commit crimes openly, and Zhong Xu, you even helped them cover it up!”

Zhong Xu remained silent, unsure how to respond. He knew that whatever he said now, he would be hard-pressed to escape blame.

Ruian was extremely worried, but Wenyao wasn’t as concerned. She said, “Perhaps the shopkeeper had her own matters. She’ll be back tomorrow.”

“How could a weak woman not return home in the middle of the night without some reason?” Ruian frowned, pacing back and forth in the room.

The three exchanged glances, discussing deep into the night without reaching any conclusion. Eventually, they decided not to sleep and planned to investigate the Yangchun Mansion during the night.

The wind in March was chilly, especially late at night, accompanied by rain, which intensified the spring chill. All three of them suffered greatly.

Ruian walked through the peach blossom grove, his shoes and socks soaked with rain, making his lower body muddy. For someone who usually cared deeply about his appearance, this was a disaster.

But he had no time to think about these things now. He just wanted to hurry to the Yangchun Mansion to see what hidden secrets this legendary estate held.

The three traveled at a quick pace with heavy hearts and finally arrived at the mansion just before dawn.

At this time, everyone in the mansion was sound asleep, and the surroundings were completely silent. Peach trees stood connected to each other, each blooming brilliantly. In the dark, misty rainy night, they appeared particularly lush and tall. Ruian was hit several times by falling peach blossoms, chilling him to the bone.

The trio searched house by house but found nothing amiss. Especially Wenyao, who didn’t detect any supernatural presence, began to feel slightly relieved.

She knew that as long as it was man-made, with the shopkeeper’s abilities, no one would be a match for her.

“We’ve searched the courtyards several times already. Not a single ghost or even human shadow in sight...” Wenyao muttered, dangling her legs, seemingly exhausted.

Zhong Xu glanced at the sky and noticed it was starting to get light. If they continued wandering around the courtyard, they might be mistaken for thieves, which would be improper. Therefore, he suggested, “Let’s go check the Buddhist hall at the back of the mountain.”

“The Buddhist hall?” Ruian frowned.

Zhong Xu nodded. “The last time I saw Doctor Di was in the Buddhist hall.”

“Why didn’t you say so earlier! Quickly take me there!” Wenyao urged.

“I...” Zhong Xu fell silent. He had initially refrained from mentioning it to avoid alarming them, but now he had no choice.

The three crossed the main courtyard and exited through the back door, where they found a small gate at the foot of the mountain.

This gate had been locked from the outside with a brass lock. Without a key, it was impossible to open it by force.

“What should we do?” Zhong Xu asked.

Ruian thought for a moment, then took off his golden crown and extracted a hairpin, using it to pick the lock. Both Wenyao and Zhong Xu were astonished to see the prince, usually so dignified, displaying such skill.

Seeing their surprised expressions, Ruian chuckled nervously as he worked on the lock. “Don’t misunderstand. I learned this trick from Jingyi. She often sneaks out of the palace when the Empress Dowager refuses to let her go, so she had to learn a few tricks to survive. I picked it up over time by being around her...”

Zhong Xu and Wenyao exchanged glances, unsure what to say.

After a quarter of an hour, Ruian was still diligently picking the lock. Wenyao paced nearby, growing impatient. “Are you done yet? If not, let me handle it!”

Without waiting for Ruian’s response, Wenyao grabbed him by the neck and pulled him away from the lock. Then she kicked the brass lock with great force. With a sharp “snap,” the lock broke into two pieces and fell to the ground.

Ruian stared in amazement. Unable to contain his admiration, he exclaimed, “If I had known Miss Wenyao possessed such strength, we could have done this earlier instead of wasting one of my golden hairpins!”

“You’re still upset about a single hairpin?” Wenyao retorted.

Ruian thought for a moment, then clapped his hands and declared solemnly, “You’re right. It’s just one hairpin! I have thousands of them!”

The three entered one after another. Since they were conducting a covert investigation, they didn’t light torches or candles. Instead, they relied on the dim eternal lamp in front of the Buddhist hall to observe their surroundings.

The air carried a sense of oppression that made everyone feel uneasy. After searching around, Zhong Xu shook his head. “There’s no trace of Miss Di here, nor any spirits.”

“Correct,” Wenyao nodded, agreeing with him.

“No spirits?” Ruian exclaimed loudly. “How can there be no spirits in such a dark room? I feel a chill all over!”

“That’s because it’s deep into the night, the dew is heavy, and the mountain doesn’t ventilate well, making it uncomfortable. This is normal, Your Highness, please don’t worry.”

Relieved, Ruian pointed to the small door of the hidden room. “Are the two deceased inside?”

“Yes,” Zhong Xu nodded, then added, “But I advise Your Highness not to look.”

“Why?”

“The room is only ten square meters, too small to hide anyone. The contents of the coffin... are somewhat terrifying. Let’s go back.”

“Hmph, it’s just dead bodies! I’ve seen plenty of dead people. Don’t forget, I’ve been to the gates of hell myself!” Ruian raised an eyebrow, opened the door first, followed by Wenyao, while Zhong Xu brought up the rear.

Upon entering the small room, the stench of decaying corpses hit them immediately. Although it was the coldest time of the year and the bodies didn’t decompose easily, Zhang Siyao had been dead for some time, so there was some odor.

Ruian covered his nose and mouth, looked around, then walked to the coffin containing Zhang Siyao and forcefully pushed the lid open.

“Why is there another cloth?” Ruian wondered aloud. Wenyao also leaned over.

“This family is full of tricks; they’re really unpleasant,” Wenyao muttered, casually lifting the white cloth and placing the oil lamp on Zhang Siyao’s face.

Immediately, two piercing screams echoed in the small room. Both Ruian and Wenyao were horrified.

Wenyao quickly dropped the cloth, still shaken, and complained to Zhong Xu, “Why didn’t you warn us she’d look like this?!”

“Yeah, she looks absolutely terrifying.”

“I didn’t want to scare you.” Zhong Xu sighed.

“Never mind, it wasn’t intentional. Let’s go out. Staying in this room makes me feel extremely uncomfortable,” Ruian grumbled, leading the way out again.

Though neither Wenyao nor Zhong Xu were particularly frightened, they also felt uneasy, so they followed him out.

Once outside, they realized dawn had broken without them noticing. Their covert investigation had now turned into an overt search.

As soon as the three returned to the guest room, the old steward followed shortly after.

He brought breakfast for one person and addressed Zhong Xu, “Master Zhong, did you stay up all night?”

“Thank you, Head Steward,” Zhong Xu replied, shaking his head to indicate he had no appetite.

“At least eat something. Otherwise, even if you find Miss Di, your body will collapse...”

“What do you mean ‘even if you find Miss Di’? We will definitely find our shopkeeper!” Wenyao rolled up her sleeves and stood up, ready to confront him.

Only then did the steward notice the other two people in the room.

He didn’t know Zhong Xu had returned once during the night, nor that these two were Di Jiang’s maid and the sixth son of the Chen Emperor, respectively.

He was merely surprised by how exhausted the three looked, with dark circles under their eyes.

“Who are these two?” the steward asked.

“We are friends of Miss Di. Master Zhong summoned us urgently last night. I... heard about yesterday’s events and rushed over. Look, my clothes are completely dirty,” Ruian fumbled, trying to disguise himself as an ordinary commoner.

Wenyao had already formed a poor impression of the steward, and now she was even more irritated. She found the steward very strange.

Just the other day, she and Di Jiang had met him, and their interaction hadn’t been pleasant. Now, he acted as if he didn’t recognize her, clearly indicating he had something to hide!