The servant stammered, "The young master told you that you had to report to him as soon as you left the manor... He also instructed me to monitor whether you had any maids made into concubines..."

Cheng Zhiwen squinted: "Anything else?"

"The second young master is gone..."

Cheng Zhiwen raised his hand, and Jiang Shen and He Fei stepped forward again, peeling off a piece of skin and flesh from the servant's thigh.

The servant boy cried himself unconscious.

Chili water was splashed on his body and face, and he woke up again. Jiang Shen and He Fei continued to peel the skin off him.

The servant finally couldn't hold back any longer and cried out, "Young Master even made me eavesdrop on your intimate moments with Miss Zhu..."

Cheng Zhiwen's pupils contracted, and her nostrils flared as she struggled to control her anger.

With a sullen face, he roared, "Continue!"

"Every time the young master hears about your intimate moments with Miss Zhu, he calls the young mistress into the room to have sex with him..."

With a loud bang, Cheng Zhiwen slammed his fist into the armrest of the round-backed chair.

...

Cheng Zhiwen left the cellar.

Jiang Shen and He Fei followed behind.

The two exchanged a glance, neither daring to ask Cheng Zhiwen how he planned to deal with Cheng Zhiwu.

If it were someone else who did these things, Cheng Zhiwen would kill that person without hesitation, just like she shot and killed the Japanese man for Shen Qing back in Shanghai.

But this person is his own brother, Cheng Zhiwu...

Brotherly murder—this would probably lead to the destruction of the Cheng family...

It was pouring rain outside, and the rain was washing the yard.

Jiang Shen and He Fei stood at the doorway, continuing to protect Shen Qing inside.

Cheng Zhiwen gently pushed the door open and went in, then closed it.

The two looked at each other in tacit understanding, and were about to say something in hushed tones when the door they had just closed was suddenly flung open again.

Cheng Zhiwen rushed out the door.

Jiang Shen and He Fei stared at him in astonishment.

"She's gone!" Cheng Zhiwen shouted from under the eaves, "Ziyan! Ziyan!"

Ziyan ran out of the side room and ran to Cheng Zhiwen, saying, "This servant is here!"

"Where is Miss Zhu?" Cheng Zhiwen roared. "She's not in her room!"

Zi Yan exclaimed "Ah!" and her face turned pale: "This servant just heard a noise coming from Lord Qi's room, so I went to check. Before I left, Miss Zhu was still in the room!"

Qi Zhenheng also came out of the room upon hearing the noise and strode into the main room.

The room was empty; Shen Qing's usual slippers and leather shoes were under the bed.

Qi Zhenheng's expression changed, and he immediately rushed out of the room: "Her shoes are still there. In this heavy rain, she couldn't have left barefoot! She must have been kidnapped!"

After saying that, he looked at Cheng Zhiwen and calmly said, "Lock all the gates and doors of the Cheng residence! No one or nothing is allowed to leave the Cheng residence until Qing'er is found! Increase the number of people patrolling the walls. If the kidnappers can't get through the gates, they'll climb over the walls and take her away!"

Cheng Zhiwen looked at Jiang Shen, He Fei, and Zi Yan, and roared, "Hurry up and get on with it!"

The three of them immediately ran into the heavy rain.

Cheng Zhiwen looked at Qi Zhenheng: "You stay in the courtyard and keep watch, in case Qing'er comes back! I'll go find someone!"

Qi Zhenheng nodded: "Okay! Go ahead and don't worry! Leave this to me!"

Cheng Zhiwen also went into the rain.

He braved the rain to come to the east courtyard, where the servant guarding the gate stopped him: "Second Young Master, what brings you here?"

Without a word, Cheng Zhiwen waved the servant aside, walked directly across the courtyard, went up to the eaves, and knocked hard on the door.

"Who is it...?"

The woman, wearing a cloak, opened the door and was surprised to see Cheng Zhiwen, who was soaked to the bone. "Second brother? What brings you here so late?"

"Is Big Brother here?"

"Your eldest brother hasn't returned yet," the woman said politely. "Does your second brother need him for something?"

Cheng Zhiwen shook her head, turned around, went down the eaves, and rushed into the rain.

Back in the courtyard, he took out a whistle from his inner pocket and blew it three times. A moment later, dozens of men dressed as servants, agile and tall and strong, rushed into the courtyard.

In the midst of the raging wind and rain, they lined up in three rows and stood before Cheng Zhiwen.

Cheng Zhiwen stood under the eaves, pointed at the group on the left, and coldly ordered, "You! Search the entire Cheng residence! Find Miss Zhu before dawn! Otherwise, I'll kill you all!"

After saying that, he ordered the middle group: "You! Go and replace all the gatekeepers! Guard every gate properly. Without my order, no one or anything is allowed to leave the Cheng residence!"

Finally, he ordered the right wing to guard every section of the Cheng family's mansion walls.

After doing all this, he took Jiang Shen and He Fei and rushed into the heavy rain again.

...

Shen Qing woke up with a sharp pain in his head.

When I opened my eyes, everything was pitch black, and there was an unpleasant smell in the air, just like the damp smell of a large pot of old potted plants that had been split open.

Thinking she had been arrested and imprisoned by the soldiers again, she panicked and instinctively crawled forward, trying to find a way out.

But he fell heavily off the bed.

So she wasn't on the floor, but lying on the bed?

There are no beds in the prison!

So this isn't a prison!

Where is this?

Shen Qing pressed her sore bottom, forcing herself to calm down.

The surroundings were completely dark, with no light or sound. It was impossible to tell where she was with her naked eye, so Shen Qing could only use her sense of smell to find her way.

The smell here... is different from that in prison.

She had been to prison three times, and in each prison, the air was always filled with the smell of blood, but not here!

There was only a strong, damp smell here.

It's like a cave carved out of an ancient mountain...

There are no mountains near the Cheng family's home, so they were kidnapped and taken to another place?

Who exactly is trying to kidnap her?

Who could kidnap her right under Cheng Zhiwen's nose?

Shen Qing felt increasingly frightened as she thought about it. She raised her hand and patted her throbbing head, forcing herself to stay awake.

Calming down, she stood up, pressing down on the bed, and used her hands to explore her surroundings.

The palm of my hand is soft and tender.

The bed was covered with high-quality embroidered bedding. Shen Qing stood there for a moment, then moved to the side and touched a set of slightly stiffer fabric.

She picked it up, touched it in her palm, and felt it becoming increasingly familiar.

Realizing that these were her lost underwear, Shen Qing's hand trembled, and the underwear fell onto the bed again.

Why would her underwear be in this place?

Her underwear was lost at the Cheng family's house, so the people who kidnapped her were from the Cheng family.

With a loud "bang," it sounded like a wooden door being opened.

Shen Qing looked up at the sound and saw a thin, short ray of light on the ground. She reached out and touched a wooden door.

The light seeped in through the gap at the bottom of the door.

Someone has come in!

Shen Qing was overjoyed and raised her hand to knock on the door: "Help! Help! There's someone here!"

The light under the door crack grew brighter and brighter, and the person approached the wooden door more and more closely.

Shen Qing pounded even louder: "Help! Help!"

A clanging sound of chains came from inside; someone was unlocking the wooden door.

Shen Qing took a step back, removed the hairpin knife from her head, and held it in her palm.

If the person who opens the door intends to rescue her, she will thank them profusely. But if they intend to harm her and continue to kidnap her, she will use this hairpin to stab them in the heart.

With a creak, the wooden door was pushed in from the outside.

Shen Qing snapped out of her daze and looked over.

A tall man stood outside the door, holding a kerosene lamp in his hand.