"Ah Lu, is something the matter?"
"I have lost contact with...Young Master."
Song He'er looked blank. "What do you mean, 'lost contact'?"
“I was still corresponding with the young master a few days ago, but since yesterday morning, I haven’t received a reply to the letters I sent. I’m thinking that maybe the Queen has detained him and is keeping it a secret from everyone. It’s a pity that our young master doesn’t have many confidants. Now he must be crying out to heaven and earth in vain.”
As A-Lu spoke, she almost burst into tears.
"Don't rush, let me think about it carefully."
After saying that, Song He'er fell into deep thought. She thought, how could Jiang Huaifu, such an extraordinary person, be so easily detained in the palace? Now that he has disappeared, it must be because someone around him has colluded with an insider to trap him in one place.
"He said he would leave Ah Qing with me and take you to Xizhou himself, so why can't I see Ah Qing now?"
“Ah Qing’s mother is ill and is currently being cared for at her hometown. Young Master was worried about the young lady’s situation, so he left me behind. Now, Young Master has no trusted men besides him.”
"How foolish of him! He's so foolish! I was perfectly fine staying in Xiaoyang Village, how could anything have happened? He should have kept you with him. The palace is so dangerous; this trip back will likely drag him into the struggle for the throne..."
"Please don't worry, young lady. It's all my fault for rushing over to find you. I was thinking that if the young master left you any secret signals or sent someone else to deliver a message, I would know as soon as possible and worry less. But it seems that you don't know about the young master's situation either..."
Song He'er breathed a sigh of relief and looked at him helplessly: "How could I have any news about him? My whole family and I are hiding in the manor. We don't dare to breathe loudly on weekdays. Apart from seeing you, we don't see anyone else."
Ah Lu felt extremely guilty and didn't know what to say. She could only stand there with a worried expression, feeling anxious inside.
"Alright, there's no use talking about this now. We need to think of a way to get someone to go to the Western Continent to gather information."
Alu frowned. "Young master, you have no reliable relatives in Nanzhao. Although you have connections with the government, they are only established through bribery. Now, I am isolated and helpless in Nanzhao. Even if you have the money left by the young master, it will be useless. Those officials only recognize one face!"
Upon hearing this, Song He'er fell into deep thought. What A'lu said was absolutely right. The reason they were able to come to Nanzhao to temporarily avoid the turmoil was simply because Jiang Huaifu had spent a lot of money to buy them fake household registration documents. Now that they were behaving themselves, they would naturally live in peace after a few years when the government forgot about these things.
If we go to their door now, won't they expose our secrets?
“Ah Lu, this matter needs careful consideration. After all, your young master isn't from Nanzhao; his ancestral home is in Xizhou, and he's of royal blood! If we use them to find someone, we might get counter-attacked by the royal court. They're not stupid; they won't help us…”
Upon hearing this, A-Lu became anxious again. "Then, girl, what should we do? You're the only person I can trust right now."
"Doesn't your young master have a wet nurse in Nanzhao? Do you know where she lives?"
Ah Lu shook her head. "If I had known, I wouldn't have come to find you, Miss. Back then, the young master found a secluded place for his wet nurse so she could live out her old age in peace. Apart from him, we servants naturally didn't know. She always came out on her own when she contacted the young master; I never saw him personally go to the estate where she lived..."
"This is a difficult situation... Getting into Nanzhao is easy, but getting out and back in will be much harder. Right now, we need to find someone with money who can come and go freely to help us..."
"But where can we find someone like that..."
Song He'er suddenly remembered the person she had met that night at the Qionglou Pavilion in Jiangning—
Although Ruan Wenxiao was just a businessman, his aunt was one of the wealthiest families in Jiangning City. In addition, most of the businesses in Jiangning belonged to his aunt's family, so the government would probably give him some face.
If he were to step forward and request the government to help him find a friend, the government would likely not refuse.
"Young lady, have you thought of any feasible solutions?"
Song He'er sighed, "There is a solution, but it's not entirely good; it requires us to humble ourselves and ask someone for help..."
"Asking for help? Do you need money or something else?"
"He certainly doesn't lack money, but perhaps he needs something else."
Ah Lu was completely confused and didn't seem to understand what Song He'er was saying.
"Ah Lu, drive me to Jiangning to see a friend right away. There's no time to lose, let's go now."
"good!"
Song He'er didn't have time to turn around and say goodbye to Qin Xiaoniang and the others. Instead, she left Xiaoyangzhuang with Alu.
The driver drove the carriage very fast, and in about an hour, the two arrived at the Qionglou in Jiangning.
Song He'er, wearing a hood, went straight in and found a private room with a screen to sit down.
Since it was midday, business here wasn't as bustling as it was in the evening. The waiter was busy enough to attend to the customers, and soon he noticed two people sitting here, so he walked over with a smile.
"Gentlemen, would you like something to eat? Our specialty here is..."
Before she could even speak, Song He'er placed a large Hetian jade pendant on the table. The waiter immediately recognized its quality and size and knew that the person in front of him was either rich or noble and had come not to eat, but to do something else.
"Young lady... what are your orders?"
"I want to see your young manager."
"Ah? Young Master Ruan?"
"Um."
"What a pity! Our young master and the proprietress just went out to drink at Master Zhang's house and won't be back for a while!"
Song He'er looked the waiter up and down and felt that he was not lying, so she did not make things difficult for him. "Go and inform him that he will come to see me. If it works out, this bead is yours."
As she finished speaking, a round, off-white pearl fell out of Song He'er's sleeve.
Qionglou is no ordinary restaurant. The waiters working here can earn more than three times more than outside. But no matter how much more, how much silver can a waiter actually see, let alone these rare treasures?
"This... young lady, are you going to keep your word?"
"I'll wait for you here. When you see your young master, give him this letter. He will definitely come. Remember, I'm only giving you half an hour. If you don't bring him here on time, this thing won't be yours!"
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