Chapter 605 Terrified

The next morning, news of the disappearance of Shen Wantang, the second young lady of the Shen family, had already spread throughout the streets and alleys.

When Shen Wantang learned of this news from Qin Xin, she was so angry that she laughed: "The missing person is clearly Shen Mingxuan, so why is it me? My good father and stepmother didn't sleep all night and came up with this kind of method to protect Shen Mingxuan's reputation?"

Qin Xin was taken aback: "Miss, are you saying that the master and madam deliberately spread this?"

"Who else could it be but them?"

Qin Xin couldn't help but sigh: "It's one thing for Madam to be so biased, but I never expected Master to be so biased too. All the good things go to Miss, and all the bad things go to you."

Shen Wantang stood up, her expression cold: "Let's go to the main courtyard. I need to find out who came up with this terrible idea."

When Shen Wantang arrived at the main courtyard, she found that both Shen Guannian and Madam Qi had bruises on their faces and looked both afraid and hateful towards her. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought that she had beaten them up!

Seeing that the two were injured like this, Shen Wantang couldn't just ignore it, so she casually asked, "What happened to Father and Madam? Why are their faces so badly injured?"

Madam Qi gritted her teeth: "Hmph, you still have the nerve to ask?!"

Shen Guannian endured the humiliation and said, "Last night your sister went missing, and I had an argument with your mother. We pushed each other a few times, but it's nothing serious."

Shen Wantang looked on with suspicion. The two of them had been arguing and pushing each other. Why was Qi Shi taking her anger out on her?

Besides, their injuries didn't look like they were pushed or shoved; they looked more like they'd been slapped.

But it's normal for Shen Guannian to slap Qi Shi. How could Qi Shi possibly dare to slap Shen Guannian?

Something's not right, this is really not right!

Although Shen Wantang had her doubts, she didn't really care how they were beaten. She was happy that they were beaten!

She cares more about her reputation; disappearing is no joke, it could ruin her in a day or two.

"Father, I've come today to ask why there are rumors circulating that I'm missing. Wasn't it my sister who went missing? Why is it that the rumors have spread that I'm the one who's missing? Are you and my wife trying to sacrifice my reputation to protect my sister's?"

When Shen Guannian heard her blaming him for this, he was startled and hurriedly said, "It wasn't me! This has nothing to do with me!"

Shen Wantang frowned: "This wasn't a message deliberately spread by Father?"

"Of course not!"

Shen Guannian spoke rapidly in his anxiety: "This is just rumors spread by outsiders. I woke up like this this morning! Tang'er, I've always doted on you since you were little. How could I sacrifice your reputation to protect your sister's? You, you, you can't say things like that!"

What a joke! How could you just frame him for something like that?

He was almost driven to his death by Gu Qianhan last night. If Gu Qianhan thinks that he ordered the rumors to be spread, then he will have no chance of survival.

Shen Wantang frowned even more deeply; she could tell that Shen Guannian was not lying.

But if it wasn't him spreading the news, then who was it? The Qi family?

She glanced at Madam Qi.

Unexpectedly, Madam Qi jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and yelled, "Why are you looking at me? I didn't spread the news of your disappearance, so don't try to pin this on me!"

Shen Wantang was slightly puzzled. What was going on? It wasn't the Qi family either.

In a flash, Shen Wantang suddenly thought of a possibility—the person who impersonated Gu Qianhan and wrote her the letter!

Because Shen Mingxuan secretly went to the Duke's mansion in her place last night, and Shen Mingxuan even wore her clothes. The servant who took Shen Mingxuan away didn't even realize that he hadn't taken away the second young lady of the Shen family!

Therefore, the mastermind behind this incident still doesn't know that they've mistaken the person for someone else!

And, missing? This plot seems so familiar. Didn't Liu Nanshi "disappear" a few days ago?

Shen Wantang suddenly remembered that Xiao Qingyuan had mentioned that Liu Nanshi thought she was responsible for her disappearance and being sold into the Wan Hua Lou brothel, and even wanted Xiao Qingyuan to kill her.

Her "disappearance" is very likely Liu Nanshi's revenge!

Having figured out the whole story, Shen Wantang relaxed.

It's easy to prove she hasn't disappeared; all she needs to do is take her maid out for a stroll, and the rumors will fall apart on their own.

As for Shen Mingxuan, Chu Yanluo, and Huayi, well, good luck to them!

She had just turned around to leave when she saw a group of people enter the courtyard from outside.

Leading the group was none other than Gu Qianhan, with Gu Qianning beside him, and five or six servants following behind them.

When Shen Guannian saw that Gu Qianhan had come again, his heart skipped a beat, and his cheeks twitched involuntarily.

When Madam Qi saw Gu Qianhan, she was so frightened that she got up and walked to the back room, refusing to even bother with him.

Unfortunately, Shen Wantang had her back to them at the moment and had no idea about their unusual reaction. Otherwise, she would have been able to guess whose handiwork it was that caused the injuries on their faces.

Shen Wantang pretended not to know him and greeted Gu Qianhan, "Greetings, Second Young Master Gu."

Then she smiled at Gu Qianning and said, "A'ning, what brings you here today?"

Gu Qianning smiled at her and said, "I've come to invite you to the Duke's mansion. I sent you an invitation before, have you forgotten?"

Shen Wantang hesitated: "I haven't forgotten, but the date on the invitation—isn't it tomorrow? Am I mistaken?"

Gu Qianhan said calmly, "If you remember correctly, it was my mother who wanted to see you and didn't want to wait until tomorrow, so we changed it to today."

Gu Qianning secretly shook her head. What was that all about? It wasn't that her mother missed Atang; it was clearly her second brother who missed her!

However, while she might have her own grumbling, she certainly wouldn't expose Gu Qianhan's thoughts to his face.

She subtly tugged at his sleeve, indicating that the two of them should first pay their respects to Shen Guannian, who was, after all, an elder, and they should at least make a show of it.

Gu Qianhan stepped forward and said calmly, "Greetings, Lord Shen. I hope you are well."

Gu Qianning also stepped forward to pay her respects. After she finished, she looked up and saw Shen Guannian's bruised and swollen face.

She was stunned. Who had hit Shen Guannian? That was too brutal! He's even disfigured!

Shen Guannian was afraid of Gu Qianhan's methods and didn't even dare to sit down while he bowed. He quickly stood up and said, "Second Young Master and Eldest Miss are here. Are you here to invite Tang'er to the Duke's Mansion? Then please go quickly!"

This evil spirit is terrifying; we must get rid of it quickly!

Gu Qianhan was quite satisfied with his pragmatism: "Thank you, Lord Shen."

Shen Guannian's face was twitching, and his heart was twitching too. Who would dare to ask Gu Qianhan to thank him? He should be thanking his lucky stars if Gu Qianhan didn't come to the Shen family and go crazy!

On the other side, Gu Qianning had already taken Shen Wantang's arm: "Let's go, Wantang, let's go to my house! I specially asked someone to prepare a lot of delicious food, as well as the best osmanthus wine. We won't leave until we're drunk!"