disappear

"Second Master!"

Upon learning that the three orphan girls who were to be sent to Yunlian as substitutes had disappeared last night, Tan Mozhu rushed to the orphanage in a rage. As soon as the director saw him, he greeted him tremblingly.

"What's going on?"

Tan Mozhu glared at him, but did not blame him and went straight to the point.

Dean Shen Qiushan leaned forward and stammered, "I personally delivered the meal last night. Everything was fine, and the three of them were fine. I watched them finish their meal and locked the door before leaving. But this morning, when the servant went in to empty the toilet, he found... he was gone."

"How could someone just disappear out of thin air? Even the windows of that woodshed were nailed shut. Without an insider, they wouldn't be able to escape!" Tan Mozhu grabbed his collar and demanded in a deep voice, "Have you found the thief?"

"There's no thief... No..." Shen Qiushan hurriedly shook his head, turned around and pointed at the four servants who looked like servants, and said to Tan Mozhu, "They take turns guarding the door and watching each other. If anyone opens the door and lets someone in, the others will immediately notice."

"How can you be sure that the four of them are not colluding to deceive their superiors and subordinates and stealing from the employer?" Tan Mozhu swept his sharp eyes like a knife at the four people.

The four of them were stunned at the same time and knelt down quickly.

"Second Master, although we are guards of the orphanage, we are still loyal to you. How dare we ruin your good deeds?"

"Yes, yes! Only a fool would go against the Second Master."

"We would never dare to betray the Second Master!"

Three of them kowtowed one after another, but one of them touched his forehead to the ground silently.

Tan Mozhu narrowed his eyes and tapped him with his chin, "Why don't you speak?"

The man was stunned and slowly raised his head, his eyes full of fear, but Tan Mozhu could clearly feel that the person he was afraid of at the moment was not himself.

"Do you know something?" Tan Mozhu lowered his voice and leaned over to stare at him, trying to find some clues from his face.

The man opened his mouth, and his voice seemed to be squeezed out from his throat, very weak and hoarse, "Ghost... I saw a ghost last night."

Tan Mozhu narrowed his eyes again and said, "Speak more clearly."

The man swallowed and said hesitantly, "When it was my turn to take a nap, I was just about to close my eyes when I saw a dark shadow floating by. I opened my eyes wide, and the shadow disappeared. I thought it was just from being too sleepy and dizzy, so I didn't pay much attention to it. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep."

"While half asleep, I seemed to hear a rustling sound not far from me. It sounded neither human nor animal, very strange. I wanted to open my eyes, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open my eyelids."

"I don't know how long it was before my companions shook me awake and I realized the man was gone."

"Ghost...it must be a ghost!"

He shuddered, and the fear in his eyes grew even greater.

"What about you? Did you see a ghost too?" Tan Mozhu looked at the other three with a deep gaze.

The three looked at each other and shook their heads uncertainly.

"Someone come here!" Tan Mozhu waved his hand, and A Tong stepped forward.

Tan Mozhu glanced at the four people coldly and said to A Tongming, "Four of you, no matter whether you are talking nonsense or not, get something out of me."

"Yes!" A Tong bowed and nodded.

The four men were stunned. Before they could even utter a word to beg for mercy, they were covered with their mouths by the other guards and dragged to the backyard.

Then, he took A Tong and walked towards the woodshed where the three girls were imprisoned, and Shen Qiushan followed timidly behind them.

After arriving outside the door, A Tong understood what he meant and went in to check first.

Tan Mozhu also walked around the outside of the house to check carefully, and Shen Qiushan followed closely, silent as a cicada.

This woodshed is an independent hut. It originally had a thatched roof and rammed earth walls. Later, it was used to detain people and goods, so the roof was covered with bricks and tiles, and the only window was nailed shut with wooden strips.

The door was locked from the outside. If there was no thief inside, he could only have used the art of escaping underground to disappear from everyone's sight.

"Second Master."

After a while, A Tong walked out and shook his head at Tan Mozhu.

"There is no problem inside, so the problem lies with the guards." Tan Mozhu sneered.

A Tong nodded in understanding, clasped his fists, and turned to leave.

Shen Qiushan glanced at his short and strong back, knowing that the four people were in big trouble, as he had seen his methods before.

Then, he glanced at Tan Mozhu's dark face again. If he didn't solve this matter quickly, he would be the one to suffer next.

“Ahem!”

He coughed twice, pretending to be calm, and said, "Before Second Master came here, I had already sent people to look for the whereabouts of those three people."

"When have you ever successfully found someone? I'm afraid not even half a person." Tan Mozhu looked at him sideways.

Shen Qiushan immediately lowered his head, "Then... then find three more suitable ones and send them out of the city immediately."

"Is there anyone else suitable?" Tan Mozhu's tone rose slightly, like a sharp thorn, piercing the ears.

No!

Shen Qiushan only dared to answer in his heart.

His eyes rolled around, and then an idea struck him, and he raised his head. "There are two of similar age, good-looking, but..."

Licking his dry lips, he began to stammer, "It's just that Master Tan picked her up last year."

"Then what are you talking about!" Tan Mozhu flicked his sleeves, and the sleeves hit him in the face, causing a burning pain.

When he opened his eyes, Tan Mozhu had already walked away, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

However, he couldn't completely relax, and ran to the house in the corner of the backyard without stopping. He found that the four men had fainted with wounds all over their bodies, and A Tong was washing his hands in a basin.

It seems that nothing was asked.

He quickly glanced at the four miserable people and said to Ah Tong, "The Second Master is gone."

A Tong understood and left quickly.

After watching him walk away, Shen Qiushan hurried to the guard who claimed to have seen a ghost last night, patted his cheek, and said in a pleading tone: "What happened? If you don't tell the truth, I can't help you."

It will harm me too!

He shouted in his heart.

The man weakly opened one eye and said in a mosquito-like voice, "I... I'm not lying, really... Damn it..."

Before he could finish his words, he fainted.

"Dean…Dean…"

At this moment, another man let out a faint cry. Shen Qiushan turned around and came to his side, put his ear to his lips, and asked him, "Did you discover anything too?"

"Food...wine..." the man mumbled.

"What?" Shen Qiushan put his ear closer.

The man said with all his strength, "There might be something wrong with the food. I slept very soundly, as if I had been drugged."

Shen Qiushan widened his eyes, as if he understood something.

There was indeed a thief inside, but it shouldn't be these four people.

…

"Second Master, those four people should be fine, or perhaps, their bones are tougher than mine."

When he came to the carriage, A Tong bowed his head to Tan Mozhu.

Tan Mozhu glanced at the bloodstains on his clothes and said, "They are definitely not as tough as you."

After saying that, he lifted his skirt and got on the carriage.

"Second Master, where are we going next?" A Tong sat down in the front room.

Tan Mozhu was confused for a moment. The three people who had been rescued were rescued on the way and their whereabouts could not be found. After he finally found out that the rescuer was most likely Merlin, Merlin disappeared quickly. He had no choice but to write a letter of apology to Yunlian, promising to arrange for new people and goods to be sent.

But now, the new people and goods have also disappeared... Could it be Merlin's doing again?

How did he do it as a teacher?

Tan Mozhu didn't believe that he had no help behind him.

Could that helper be Lin'er?

He suddenly thought of Shen Qiushan's last words. If Xingzi and Meizi had not been taken away by Tan Linshuang, he would not be so helpless now.

"Back then, my eldest brother brought Ayun and Atao back from the orphanage to serve Lin'er. Later, Lin'er interacted frequently with the orphanage, donating money and supplies, and arranging homes for orphans of school age. During this time, could he have already discovered my secret collaboration with Shen Qiushan?"

"And that Meilin, he has close ties with the Zhao family. If he wants to hide, he might ask the Zhao family for help... A Tong, return home."

His eyes flashed, and after returning to the Tan Mansion, he walked straight into the South Courtyard, ordered A Tong to close the gate of the courtyard, and summoned the secret guards stationed in the side courtyard to his side, and gave them detailed instructions.

Afterwards, several people dispersed and went their separate ways.

There were five of them in total. They were dressed as servants, but their words and actions were obviously different from those of the servants in the mansion.

His steps were brisk and he walked like the wind.

As the bamboo leaves swayed, their figures quickly blended into the bamboo forest and disappeared in different corners of the South Courtyard.

“There’s no wind, but the bamboo forest next door is shaking.”

Tan Moxiang sat under the bamboo forest, looking at another bamboo forest across the wall, and vaguely sensed something.

Then, she walked into the east kitchen and asked Nanny Yin to help her make snacks, saying that she wanted to send some to Zhao Mingyan to satisfy her craving.

"When it's served, tell Yan'er not to eat too hastily and to chew the snacks slowly."

The next day, she gave the prepared tea and snacks to Aunt Qiu to take to the North Courtyard, and did not forget to give this special instruction.

Nanny Qiu didn't hear anything unusual and did as she was told.

"Let me eat slowly?"

Nanny Qiu is not thoughtful enough, but Zhao Mingyan is a sensitive person.

Especially now.

Tan Linshuang once told her that Tan Moxiang would also help, but she felt that Tan Moxiang was under house arrest in the Nan residence and was of no use other than to cause some accidents.

"Chew slowly..."

She chewed over the words that Aunt Qiu had brought with her, picked up a piece of snack and took a light bite.

The taste is good, sweet but not greasy.

Then she took another bite.

He ate the snack in his hand bite by bite and soon finished it.

She frowned, picked up another piece and nibbled it slowly...wait!

"Why did Auntie send me some snacks? And she even told me to eat them slowly..."

"I'm so stupid!"

She suddenly understood Tan Moxiang's intention, and then she broke open the snacks one by one to check, and sure enough, she found a rolled-up note inside one of them.

When you unfold it, you will see five words - Shadow is on the move.

"What do you mean?" Zhao Mingyan was confused.

…

"Um?"

At this moment, Tan Linshuang had just turned into an alley when he realized that someone was following him. He did not dare to be careless because he was alone now. If the other party attacked him secretly and there were helpers lurking nearby, his chances of winning would be slim.

After quickly surveying the surrounding terrain, he gathered his composure and calmly knocked on the nearest gate. "Excuse me, is anyone there?"