Chapter 110 Trying to Escape

After helping her up and washing up, Ji Shu sipped her porridge and suddenly asked, "How is your injury healing these past two days?"

Chunzhi folded the clothes her mistress had changed into and placed them aside. Turning around, she comforted her, "You're almost fully recovered. I'm tough as nails, I'm not afraid of falling!"

"Young lady, what should we do next?" Chunzhi became increasingly worried as she thought about all the things Wei Ziming had done in the past few days.

The longer we stay here, the slimmer our chances of escaping become.

Ji Shu put down her chopsticks, her appetite poor, her eyes icy cold: "Don't worry, I've already thought of a way. It just depends on whether that lady will do as I say."

“If she does what I say, the matter is half done.”

He then recounted the events of that day in detail, and Chunzhi suddenly understood.

Chunzhi was both shocked and anxious after hearing this: "You really don't take care of your health! No matter what, you shouldn't gamble with your health!"

"What will you do if he doesn't let me in? Or what if he doesn't notice you have a fever?"

Ji Shu shook her head helplessly and softened her voice, saying, "Silly girl, with a girl as intelligent as you, how could you not have a plan?"

He took her hand, his eyes filled with guilt, "You've suffered with me all this way. Since we came to Yanzhou, you haven't had a single peaceful day. Instead, you've been constantly worried about me."

“Sometimes I think, why don’t we send you back to Chongzhou? Your parents are still here, at least you still have family by your side.”

"Young lady—" Upon hearing these words, Chunzhi knelt down with a thud and shook her head repeatedly. "Young lady, this servant will never go back. If anyone is to go back, it will be us all!"

This sudden kneeling startled Ji Shu, who asked urgently, "What are you doing? If you don't want to come back, then don't!" She then tried to help her up.

Chunzhi's lips trembled, her eyes red and swollen: "You're just afraid that one day you won't be able to protect yourself, so you're thinking of sending me back. But young lady, I've served you since I was a child. If I can't stay by your side, I don't know what the point of living is."

Even if it means death, I want to die by your side!

Ji Shu smiled bitterly, "Yanzhou is a place full of tigers and wolves. Who would have thought that I would be locked up just because I came out for a trip?"

"Bah! It's clearly Wei Ziming who harbors malicious intentions!"

Chunzhi said indignantly, "If the Lord finds out, he will surely skin him alive and tear out his tendons!"

Having not heard those two words for several days, she felt as if she had been in another world. Ji Shu's expression turned indifferent, and she remained silent.

Chunzhi realized she had spoken out of turn, suppressed her anger, and carefully observed the expression on the young woman's face.

Knowing that the young lady had been wronged, and that her wedding to the Marquis of Yan was only a few days away, he knew that she had been wronged.

Judging from this situation, Wei Ziming's decision to imprison the young woman at this particular time clearly indicates his intention to ruin the auspicious day.

Several days have passed, but the lord still hasn't found him. Is it because he can't find him, or because he's unwilling to search?

"Young lady, do you think the Lord can really find us?"

Ji Shu lowered her eyes to the patterns on the table. Now she had placed all her hopes on him. If he didn't come...

Well... she has other options, but they will take a little longer.

...

Lu Changming and Wu Yang searched almost the entire mountain. Indeed, as the old lady said, even if it had rained, how could a mountain be completely without any trace?

The two dragged their weary bodies back to the mansion without even washing or grooming themselves.

It was already daylight; this was the third day since Ji Shu disappeared.

Inside the study, Pei Yanzhi's gaze was fixed on the memorial. If viewed from the outside, he seemed no different from usual, except that he lingered on the memorial in his hand for an unusually long time.

The room was so quiet that there wasn't even the sound of a pen being put down.

After the two entered, they saw their lord sitting there, exuding a silent and indifferent aura.

Wu Yang recounted in detail what he had discovered that day, and concluded by saying, "In my opinion, no news is the best news."

Pei Yanzhi's eyes were as deep as ink, and his gaze seemed to be fixed on nowhere.

After a long silence, she said in a hoarse and labored voice, "You say today is the third day? She is so intelligent, if she is really not dead, where should she be right now?"

"Is she being held captive?"

"Have you detected any unusual activity by the imperial court?"

Lu Changming shook his head and said, "No suspicious persons have been seen in the city recently!"

"But with our extensive search over the past two days, there's already some gossip in Yang County. If we continue searching like this..."

Only then did Pei Yanzhi suddenly raise his eyes, narrowing them as he looked at him. His gaze was like a sharp blade, and Lu Changming dared not look at him again after just one glance.

"Continue the investigation. Anyone who dares to speak out will be killed!" He tossed the memorial in his hand aside and uttered a single, casual remark that sent chills down the spines of the two men.

Knowing that their lord was possessed by a demon, they were determined to find Lady Ji.

"Has the Wei family investigated this?" Pei Yanzhi suddenly asked.

"I searched the place three times, inside and out, but found nothing!" The next day, Wu Yang led his troops to the Wei residence and searched it thoroughly, but indeed found nothing.

The two stepped into the sunlight, exchanged a glance, and both saw fear in each other's eyes. If they were really found, they didn't know what kind of treatment the person who was hiding Niangzi would receive.

Pei Yanzhi propped his forehead up, he really couldn't understand how she, with her intelligent nature, could have remained silent for so long.

A servant's voice came from outside the door: "My lord, the old lady invites you to dine at Fushou Garden."

Fushou Garden.

After getting up in the morning, Madam Pei felt uneasy. Thinking about what happened last night, she said to Granny Chang, "You know, the eldest son is becoming more and more taciturn. Could it be that Madam Ji has just disappeared into thin air?"

Standing behind the old lady, Granny Chang helped her with her washing and dressing. After pondering for a while, she said, "It is said that today is the third day. They have searched the entire Yang County and it is almost done."

Madam Pei sighed softly, "Who can say otherwise?"

"These actions completely betray a trace of his former composure!"

During lunch, Madam Pei specially asked the kitchen to prepare several dishes that he liked. When Pei Yanzhi arrived, his face was expressionless.

Madam Pei sat in the chair, feeling both distressed and annoyed at his state: "I know you don't have much of an appetite, but you still need to eat."

"Even if it's for no other reason, you should take care of yourself. Madam Ji is still young. If you don't take good care of yourself, how can you compare with those young men?"

When Granny Chang saw that the old lady couldn't get through to gentle persuasion and had to resort to force, she couldn't help but feel a little sad and amused.

Sure enough, Pei Yanzhi's eyelids twitched slightly, he looked up at Madam Pei, and finally picked up his chopsticks to eat.

"Mother, please eat too!"

"Alright!" Madam Pei's eyes were slightly moist as she tentatively asked, "Look, there are less than ten days left until the wedding. Should we... postpone it or cancel it?"