Unfortunately, Han Zhi would never live to see the next day. The spring breeze gently carried flower fragrances through the blossoms and willows to him, but he stood like a wooden statue—unmoving and unsmiling. His entire demeanor was worlds apart from the high spirits he had displayed when first entering the city.
Guan Shan stood behind him, his legs trembling faintly. He stared dumbfounded at the chaos filling the courtyard. After a long moment, he finally reacted and led people to search in all directions, but where could they find anything? Looking at the complete disarray in this courtyard, it was clear that someone had swept through it. Now, aside from a few servants who still slept like dead pigs, sprawled in disorder against the corners of walls, Ma Wangkun had long since vanished to who knows where.
His hand gripping the knife handle was somewhat unsteady. Forcibly suppressing the shock and fear in his heart, he stretched out his foot and kicked those people awake heavily, but he didn’t dare turn his head to look at Han Zhi—the name Ma Wangkun had been obtained through great difficulty in interrogation. They had originally planned to use this person tomorrow to negotiate a deal with Song Chuyi, but now the man had disappeared into thin air. He didn’t even dare imagine how furiously Han Zhi would react once he came to his senses.
Relatively speaking, Wei Yanxi was actually the most clear-headed one now. After examining all the rooms large and small, he came out and looked at the expressionless Han Zhi with that same flat tone: “He’s gone. Looks like he was abducted.”
Abducted?! Who had the capability to abduct someone from here?! Although he had gone to Tongzhou, he hadn’t left this place unguarded. Those he left behind were all old subordinates of his father—they might not be able to take on ten men each, but they were certainly more useful than ordinary constables.
Yet under the protection of these men, the bargaining chip he had planned to use to threaten Song Chuyi had actually been abducted.
His fists clenched with a cracking sound. After a long while, he let out several cold laughs. Very good. To still play these tricks right under his nose—truly very good indeed.
Rarely, he didn’t fly into a rage. His eyes shot toward the neighboring direction like sharp arrows. After a long moment, he finally turned his head and ordered Guan Shan and Wei Yanxi: “One of you wake up this batch of useless fools and ask exactly what kind of people broke in and took the man away. The other take people outside to inquire about news. It’s only been one day—they had to take away a person covered in injuries. They couldn’t have just vanished into thin air! After you find out clearly, come back and report to me!”
This time he actually didn’t lose his reason like last time. Guan Shan breathed a sigh of relief and quickly agreed, nimbly leading people out the door.
Han Zhi himself only felt a splitting headache. He kicked over a stool, swept aside his robe, and sat down under a tree, staring blankly into space for half the day.
Who exactly had rescued Ma Wangkun? Song Chuyi? But he had already assigned people to watch her closely. She and the servants around her couldn’t even think of leaving the house. Once they left, no matter where they went, it would be under his watchful eyes.
He had even dispatched a large number of people to watch the Cui residence, just in case she went to the Cui family for help—moreover, Song Chuyi hadn’t even gone to the Cui residence. Only a few maids occasionally went there, but the Cui residence had never shown any abnormalities. The Cui family currently didn’t have many people they could mobilize in the capital, and once they were used, there would always be traces.
Or could it be that Song Chuyi’s subordinates, unable to contact her, acted on their own initiative? But if it was acting on their own without Song Chuyi’s approval, how would they know to choose today? Why choose precisely the day when he wasn’t in the capital and had gone to Tongzhou?!
He recalled bit by bit Song Chuyi’s performance today. His expression gradually changed from a cold smile to extreme fury—if his guesses were all true, then Song Chuyi being merely a young lady of an earl’s household was truly beneath her talents. Her acting skills that allowed her to change faces at will had truly been practiced to perfection.
The object of his gnashing suspicion was at this moment leisurely sitting in an elegant private room at Chongyin Workshop. Lai Chenglong was meeting her for the first time and couldn’t help but be startled: “You’re much younger than I imagined.”
Although when Cui Shaoting left, he had repeatedly instructed him privately to look after his niece given her young age, suddenly seeing a young maiden barely past her youth standing before him, he still couldn’t help but feel she was too young.
At the same time, he felt somewhat incredulous. It was this little girl of such a young age who actually had the courage to make him snatch someone from the hands of the Heir Apparent of the Marquis of Jinxiang. What was terrifying was that the intelligence she provided was actually correct—on that very day, the Heir Apparent of Jinxiang Marquis just happened to not be there, leaving only some small fries.
“Uncle Lai is pretty much as I imagined though.” Song Chuyi smiled, the two dimples at the corners of her mouth making her look adorably fair as jade and snow: “My uncle said you’re a good person, and now it seems that’s indeed the case.”
Lai Chenglong felt this little girl was somewhat strange. If you said she was naive, she could force Han Zhi to this extent. But if you said she was deeply scheming, she could say such things that made people not know whether to laugh or cry.
“How can you tell whether a person is good or bad from their appearance? I’ve never heard of anyone thinking the Imperial Guard are good people.” He waved his hand to have his men retreat to the adjacent room, furrowing his brow as he asked her: “What exactly is the background of the person I helped you rescue? Don’t tell me you really did have them kill someone?”
Because Cui Shaoting had said Lai Chenglong was a trustworthy person, Song Chuyi naturally wasn’t afraid of him. She smiled cunningly: “Although you can’t judge a book by its cover, Uncle Lai is definitely better than Chen Xiang. Speaking of which, Uncle Lai surely wouldn’t really help me with whatever I request, would you? Han Zhi’s people have been searching all over the capital for people—it hasn’t been just a day or two. I don’t believe the Imperial Guard hasn’t gotten any news at all. It’s simply that Chen Xiang’s side has been properly bribed, so the Imperial Guard just pretends not to see. But all this surely can’t be hidden from you, Uncle Lai…”
Chen Xiang’s power had now been split in half by Lai Chenglong. His Majesty had ultimately become wary of him because of the Xingfu incident. Promoting Lai Chenglong to oversee the Northern Judicial Office was clearly meant to create a counterbalance against Chen Xiang.
Two people of equal power couldn’t possibly be completely ignorant of each other, especially since both were in this line of work.
Probably Lai Chenglong’s willingness to help so readily also carried the intention of giving Chen Xiang a show of force.
Lai Chenglong wasn’t the least bit annoyed that she had seen through his thoughts. He laughed heartily and said to her: “You really are a clever little sprite. No wonder Han Zhi gets led around by the nose by you. But Han Zhi isn’t a fool either. Anyone using their toes to think would know that if he goes to Tongzhou with you on the front foot, and the person disappears on the back foot, it definitely can’t be unrelated to you. When this kind of madman goes mad, it’s very frightening. Niece, you’d better be careful.”
The opera outside began. Song Chuyi listened with tilted head for a while, then raised her cup and clinked it with Lai Chenglong’s: “The feeling is mutual. Uncle Lai should also be careful of Chen Xiang tripping you up.”