"What?" Qiu Yuehua's voice suddenly rose and she looked in the direction of the Liang family's carriage in disbelief.
Previously, she thought that the reason she didn't see Liang Qiuyi was that she stayed in the carriage and didn't get out.
"Where did she go?"
"My young lady..." Seeing Qiu Yuehua's increasingly ugly face and the frowns of the others around her, Liang Qiuyi's maid trembled and said in a muffled voice: "My young lady saw that everyone had entered the forest, so she followed..."
"She went into the forest farm?" Qiu Yuehua frowned even tighter, and her tightly knit brows seemed able to pinch a mosquito to death.
"Didn't I tell her to wait outside? Why didn't you stop her?"
That being said, after all, it was you who invited the person over by posting the message, so if anything goes wrong, you must take the responsibility.
Suppressing her irritability, Qiu Yuehua hurriedly asked, "When did she enter the forest farm? Did she bring anyone with her?"
"More than half an hour ago, Chunying and Chunyan were both with the young lady."
"Have you ridden a horse?" another young lady beside Qiu Yuehua asked.
"No, no. The young ladies walked into the woods."
When they heard that Liang Qiuyi was followed by someone and was walking into the forest farm, the hearts of the people present settled down a little.
Different from the girls from the north, Liang Qiuyi looked like a weak willow and she probably wasn't a fast walker.
After half an hour, they should not have walked far. But for some reason, when they came out of the forest just now, no one saw her.
The wind slowed down a bit, and the dark clouds that had gathered in the sky seemed to disperse a little.
“Will the rain ever continue to fall?”
"Could it be that the rain has stopped again after we all came out?"
It had only been less than two hours since they came out, and not only did Huang Yuling, who had been detained at home for many days, not have a good time, but everyone else present also felt that they did not have a good time.
"Since the rain won't stop anytime soon, why don't we go back to the city later?"
"But let's not go deep into the forest. Let the maids clean up the prey and roast some for lunch. The rest of us, help Miss Qiu and look for Miss Liang's whereabouts nearby?"
It was noon and the wind stopped, and the coldness dissipated a lot.
According to the original plan, everyone could play until 3 p.m. and then return to the city. It was still early and no one wanted to go back so early, so they all agreed and started to divide the work.
The forest farm had been cleared by the Northern Army a long time ago, so no one thought Liang Qiuyi would encounter any danger. It was very likely that he had lost his way in the forest and walked further and further away, and had not come out yet.
"Tu You, Yun Lan, will you follow me in this direction?" Huang Yuling took the lead and chose the direction towards the hillside.
Compared with the other directions, this is the most "dangerous" one.
However, there was only a risk of encountering some scattered wild beasts. Everyone carried bows and arrows and weapons. Not to mention ordinary wild beasts, even if they really encountered a tiger or a bear, Huang Yuling would dare to fight!
Wei Yunlan nodded.
After instructing Tingxue to clean up the prey he had brought out, he put his bow and arrow on his shoulder again, mounted his horse, and followed Huang Yuling and Tu You to run southward.
The rest of the people also divided into three groups, each with three or four people, and searched in different directions.
As he walked, he called out, "Miss Liang, Miss Liang?"
"I heard a response!"
From time to time, the echo of the three words "Miss Liang" floated out from the woods, but there was no other response.
After searching for about a quarter of an hour, Tu You couldn't help but frown and said, "Where did this person go? Could he not be in the forest farm?"
"Did he return to the city early?" Huang Yuling also guessed.
"No." Wei Yunlan shook his head with a firm tone.
The Liang family, from the madam to the young lady, strengthened their contacts with the powerful people in Beiguan, in order to make friends, not enemies. No matter how much Liang Qiuyi disliked today's party, she would not go back early without saying hello.
But why did she want to enter the forest farm?
Wei Yunlan couldn't figure it out either.
At this moment, the black horse under her, whose hooves were treading on the snow, tripped over a dead branch, causing her body to fall sideways. Fortunately, she held on to the reins tightly and did not fall off the horse.
"Yunlan, are you okay?" Huang Yuling, who was walking in front, heard the noise, stopped her horse and looked back.
"It's okay." Wei Yunlan sat up firmly and patted the horse's head soothingly.
Just as she was about to stand up, she suddenly noticed that there seemed to be some traces left on the soil in the area covered by bushes on the left side in front of her sight.
"Yuling, wait a moment."
Calling the two people in front, Wei Yunlan dismounted, parted the bushes and took a look.
Hidden by the bushes were two footprints.
Judging from the size, it must have been left by a woman.
There may be dew dripping from the trees in this area, or there may be wild animals defecating here when passing by, so the soil is moister than the surrounding areas. The footprints are very clear, and it is obvious that they were left here not long ago.
Wei Yunlan looked around and guessed, "Let's look around again, maybe we can find some footprints."
In late autumn and early winter, the land in the north is dry, and with the dead branches and leaves falling from the trees, it is really difficult to see any traces on the ground if you don't look carefully.
After Wei Yunlan's reminder, Huang Yuling and Tu You also looked more carefully.
This place was close to the hillside. The three of them bent down and searched the ground for a while, and sure enough, they found some footprints that were not very deep.
"Miss Liang went to the mountain?" Huang Yuling was a little surprised.
She remembered that when she and others reminded Wei Yunlan not to go up the mountain, Liang Qiuyi should have heard it as well.
He insisted on going even though he was not allowed to. Is he trying to cause trouble on purpose?
"There are some footprints here, going east, not up the mountain. No, why are these footprints going in different directions?" Tu You looked at the location where the three of them found the footprints.
The depth is almost the same, so they should have been left there at about the same time.
"Miss Liang entered the woods with two maids." Wei Yunlan remembered what the maid who was waiting outside the Liang family said before.
"That makes sense." Huang Yuling nodded and speculated, "They probably got lost in the woods and couldn't get out, so they split into three groups to look for a way out."
Among the three roads, only one goes up the hillside.
Most likely he wanted to climb up and see far away. Standing higher, he would be able to see the way out of the forest clearly.
"There are just three of us, so let's follow the direction of these three footprints." Huang Yuling pointed in the direction of the hillside, "I'll look this way." It just so happened that she was more familiar with this area of the hillside.
Tu You and Wei Yunlan also chose their own path.
Tu You climbed onto the horse and curled his lips in disdain, "This Miss Liang is really something. Why is she running around for no reason?"
Wei Yunlan's heart suddenly tightened, and a thought seemed to suddenly flash through his mind.
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