Jiang Shichen didn't know how he fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up, he found himself lying in a dimly lit space.

Once he had fully adjusted to the brightness of the space, he began to examine his surroundings by the limited light, only to discover a person hanging there.

The man looked to be about the same age as him.

Jiang Shichen gasped in fear, and after a moment's thought, decided to muster his courage and go see if the person was still alive.

He took two steps forward and heard the man's heavy breathing.

He was so frightened that he took another step back.

After repeating this process several times, it took Jiang Shichen a long time to finally reach the person.

"Anan!?" he exclaimed in surprise, unable to believe his eyes. But after confirming several times, he realized that the person in front of him who was on the verge of death was clearly Anan.

He quickly put the person down, but no matter how much he patted and shouted, Anan could only breathe heavily.

...

Xu Yuehuai had already asked around the city gate, but none of the soldiers guarding the city had seen Jiang Shichen leave the city.

She could only walk back to Tianxiang Tower with heavy steps.

As expected, everyone came up empty-handed.

Zhou Wan was about to break down in tears.

She nestled in Tie Xiong's arms, barely able to stand, and cried, "Chen Ge'er is my life, how could he just disappear..."

"Zhou Wan, don't worry. The people from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion haven't returned yet. Besides, Chen'er is sensible. If he wasn't instigated or taken away by someone, he'll definitely be fine," Xu Yuehuai quickly comforted him.

However, it was her words of comfort that gave Third Sister a sudden inspiration.

Third Sister quickly leaned close to her ear and said, "Ah Yue, Zhang Ting is back. She was here last night too. Could it be..."

"Let's go ask them," Xu Yuehuai whispered.

She looked at the exhausted crowd and said, "Everyone has been working all night, and you must be exhausted. There are still wontons in the kitchen, so eat something and go to sleep."

"Ah Yue, let's look for Chen Ge'er again, okay..." Zhou Wan pleaded.

Xu Yuehuai paused for a moment.

She could only comfort him: "Zhou Wan, the Prefect of the Capital has already posted a notice. If there are any clues, he will notify us immediately. Besides, the people from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion have not returned yet. Don't worry, we have already searched all the places we can. We still need to ask around for information. It's getting late, and we can't go knocking on doors one by one."

She was also worried about Jiang Shichen's situation, but she couldn't stop him from taking a break.

“But…” Zhou Wan couldn’t fall asleep at all.

Tie Xiong put his arm around the person and said, "Don't worry, I've already asked the patrolling soldiers to let us know if they have any clues. Everyone is very tired, let them rest first."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wan glanced at everyone and could only nod in agreement.

Xu Yuehuai immediately gave Tie Xiong a look, signaling him to take the person upstairs first. Then she and San Niang went to Zhang Ting's room.

Zhang Ting naturally heard the commotion below and knew that the group was worried about Jiang Shichen, but she pretended not to hear it. She even felt a little smug, knowing that as long as Jiang Shichen couldn't be found, they would definitely be in chaos again.

However, she didn't have time to feel smug for long before she heard a knock on the door, followed by Third Sister's voice: "Zhang Ting, are you asleep? We have some questions for you."

Zhang Ting's heart skipped a beat when she heard the voice, fearing that they had discovered some clues and were coming to confront her.

She decided to simply not respond.

Third Sister knocked for a while longer, but still heard no response from inside the house. She couldn't help but mutter, "The light is still on in her room. She definitely can't be asleep. What should we do?"

"Push the door open," Xu Yuehuai said through gritted teeth.

Right now, nothing is more important to them than finding Jiang Shichen.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Ting, who was inside the house, couldn't help but feel nervous. If San Niang and the other woman came in and found that she had deliberately refused to open the door, they would definitely suspect her.

She thought for a moment, then quickly opened the door, pretending to be sleepy.

Just then, Third Sister was about to open the door when she found it already open. She was startled but could only laugh awkwardly and say, "Oh, so you were in the house. I knocked on the door for a long time but didn't hear you answer. I thought you were asleep."

"I didn't sleep well last night, and I just dozed off for a bit, but I heard a commotion outside. Is something wrong?" Zhang Ting immediately pretended to be unaware of the situation.

Xu Yuehuai and San Niang exchanged a glance, unsure whether to believe her.

Zhang Ting immediately noticed Xu Yuehuai standing to the side and hurriedly asked, "Manager Xu!? Why are you back? Weren't you supposed to be in the palace?"

"I was getting a bit bored staying in the palace, so I decided to come back and check on things. I didn't expect to run into Zhou Wan, who is pregnant, and then I heard that you were back, so I came up to see you," Xu Yuehuai said casually. "Did you see Chen Ge'er today? I looked all over but couldn't find him."

"Now that he's grown up, he's really different from before. He used to always stick to my side," she complained casually.

Zhang Ting panicked instantly and stammered, "No... I didn't see it."

"I see..." Xu Yuehuai naturally saw the panic in her eyes. It seemed that this person did indeed know about Chen Ge'er leaving Tianxiang Tower.

However, Xu Yuehuai did not ask any further questions.

Just as she was about to change the subject, Zhao Ping rushed up.

Zhao Ping, panting, said, "Manager Xu, the steward from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion has arrived. He says he has found a clue."

Xu Yuehuai and San Niang didn't care about anything else and immediately went downstairs.

Sure enough, the butler was waiting anxiously in the lobby.

Xu Yuehuai quickly asked, "Uncle Zheng, what news have you found out?"

“Princess, we asked around house to house, and a steamed bun vendor said he saw Chen-ge’er early this morning. Someone bought him a steamed bun and then took him into a big mansion.” Steward Zheng hurriedly said, “That person is a child trafficker. He followed him around and we just went with him to the mansion to take a look. It’s…it’s the Ningyuan Marquis’s residence.”

"It really was him." Xu Yuehuai frowned.

She was terrified that the person would fall into the hands of Marquis Ningyuan, and to her surprise, the person actually did fall into his hands.

Third Sister also realized the problem and quickly asked, "Ah Yue, what should we do next?"