The palanquin shook violently as Liu Rumei felt it land with a thud.
"Xiao Qing, what happened?" Liu Rumei asked in a deep voice, but there was no response from outside. Sensing trouble, she gathered her strength, let out a soft cry, and propelled herself upward, breaking through the roof of the palanquin.
Luo Xi and the others outside were completely caught off guard by Liu Rumei's maneuver. One of them immediately put his little finger in his mouth and blew a whistle – the signal to retreat.
The group surged forward, grabbing Chen Xiaobei and fleeing. Su Dan Novel Network.
Seeing this, Liu Rumei was naturally unwilling to let them go and pursued them closely.
Ahead was a turn. As Liu Rumei rounded the corner, she was met with a cloud of white smoke. Liu Rumei dared not proceed further. After a moment's thought, she stamped her foot and hurried towards Fang Zheng's mansion.
Bursting in, she stood in the courtyard and shouted loudly, "Help! Something terrible has happened!"
Hearing the commotion, the young maid Yang Chun rushed out.
By this time, Liu Rumei had discarded her bright red wedding dress and was dressed in short, simple clothing.
Seeing someone emerge, she became somewhat incoherent, "Quick, hurry, Brother Xiaobei, Brother Xiaobei has been snatched away."
Yang Chun, having experienced greater upheavals, stepped forward and cupped his fist. "Miss Liu, please don't rush. Tell us what happened slowly."
Liu Rumei had no time to explain. She grabbed Yang Chun with one hand and the maid with the other and pulled them outside. "Quickly, we'll talk as we go."
Liu Rumei led the two to the scene of the incident. A crowd had already gathered, pointing and murmuring at the few people lying on the ground.
"It was right here. I felt the palanquin land, and when I called out to Xiao Qing, there was no answer. When I broke out, I saw a person in black carrying Brother Xiaobei and running that way."
Yang Chun followed the direction Liu Rumei pointed, turned a corner, and suddenly sniffed the air. It was the lingering scent of an anesthetic.
He crouched down, picked up some loose soil with his finger, and examined it carefully in the sunlight. He noticed faint white traces.
Seeing this, he turned back to Liu Rumei and said, "You're lucky you didn't chase after them. Otherwise, you would have been affected too."
"Then what should we do?" Liu Rumei asked, growing anxious.
Yang Chun pondered for a moment. "Here's what we'll do. You go immediately to find the Crown Prince and have him seal all four city gates. In this short amount of time, they probably haven't gotten out of Wannian City yet."
"Meanwhile, I'll go find Lamo and ask for his help in the search."
The maid echoed, "I'll also go find people to help search."
Yang Chun called to those who had followed, instructing them to take Xiao Qing and the others home and bring back the palanquin. The three of them then began to act separately.
When Liu Rumei met Xiao Jingyun and told him that Chen Xiaobei had been kidnapped, Xiao Jingyun was furious.
He had only been regent for a few days, and such an incident occurred in Wannian City.
What was worse, Chen Xiaobei had just paid respects to his father, the Emperor, and had not yet received his reward when this happened.
However, Xiao Jingyun remained relatively rational. He knew that sealing the city gates in such a situation would create too much commotion and might alert his father, leading to another reprimand. Of course, if Chen Xiaobei could not be found quickly, the possibility of his father finding out was high.
With this in mind, he turned to Zhou Quan and said, "Take my order token to all city gates and inform them to search all carriages entering or leaving the city rigorously. Any individuals of unknown identity are to be detained for investigation."
"Furthermore, all those transporting goods are to halt their exit from the city today!"
Xiao Jingyun's measures were quite comprehensive. All transporters were to remain inside, and carriages were to be thoroughly searched, minimizing the risk of Chen Xiaobei being smuggled out.
Meanwhile, Yang Chun arrived at Lamo's residence.
Upon hearing of Chen Xiaobei's disappearance, Lamo became enraged and immediately mobilized all his men to spread out and gather information.
The maid, however, took a different approach.
She walked left and right through the capital and finally stopped in front of an imposing mansion.
The mansion gate, nearly two zhang high, bore four characters written in a flowing script: Lin Family Escort Agency.
Two guards at the entrance saw the maid arrive and quickly stepped forward to greet her. "Ah, Young Lady, what brings you here to our humble establishment?"
The maid waved her hand impatiently. "Enough, enough. I have urgent business. Is Lin Yang here?"
"Yes, the Young Escort Master is at home."
"We'll take you to him right away!"
The guard walked ahead, with the maid closely following.
They passed through the front hall. As they entered the central hall, the guard raised his voice and shouted, "Young Escort Master, Young Escort Master, the Young Lady is here, the Young Lady is here!"
In response to the shout, a window on the second floor ahead suddenly opened, and a gray shadow flashed out.
A handsome young man, dressed in gray, landed in front of the maid, a smile on his face.
"Yatou, you finally remember you have an elder martial brother."
The maid glanced at him. "I've come to you with serious matters today."
"Speak, what trouble have you stirred up now? I, Lin Yang, may not have immense influence, but I can handle most matters for you."
"I need you to help me find someone," the maid said, then instructed the guard beside her, "Hurry and prepare brush and ink. I'll draw the portrait for you."
The guard acknowledged and turned to prepare.
The maid continued to Lin Yang, "The person we need to find is named Chen Xiaobei, the one who just married Liu Rumei, daughter of Liu Xiangnan, yesterday. He was abducted by unidentified individuals on his way home earlier."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang frowned. "Who has the guts to mess with Chen Xiaobei? I heard that even the Emperor is about to bestow rewards upon him."
"Don't mention it. This happened on his way back after going to thank the Emperor."
"Martial brother, please help me find him. I'm begging you."
The maid's words were filled with urgency. Lin Yang looked at her anxious face and smiled calmly. "Don't worry about this. My father has some reputation in the martial world, and both the righteous and the underworld give him some face. I'll send people to inquire with the various factions to see who has such ill-fated eyes to kidnap Chen Xiaobei."
"Martial brother, Chen Xiaobei is very important to me. I gave my brother my word that Chen Xiaobei would be safe. If I can't find him, I fear I won't be able to visit the capital again and see you." As she spoke, tears began to stream down the maid's face.
Lin Yang sighed helplessly. "Alright, you don't need to put on a show for me. Every time something happens with you, you make it sound so dire, and in the end, I'm always the one to clean up the mess."
Saying this, he waved his hand. "Let's go, give me Chen Xiaobei's portrait. I'll turn Wannian City upside down to find him for you."
The maid immediately burst into a smile. "I knew it, martial brother is the best to me."
The maid's drawing skills were indeed impressive. She quickly produced a portrait of Chen Xiaobei.
To be fair, the drawing captured Chen Xiaobei's likeness quite well.