Chapter 65 The Prodigal Brother (Part 5): The Merchant's Son's Path to Becoming a King of a Different Surname...
Upon hearing this, Madam Song's heart skipped a beat, and she nearly fell over. Fortunately, Song Ce reacted quickly and stepped forward to support her.
"Le Yun, what's with this hurried and agitated manner? What happened? Don't frighten the madam!" Song Ce asked in a deep voice.
"Young Master..." Le Yun said, her face streaked with tears, sobbing, "It's...Miss, Miss has been kidnapped by a group of thieves!"
"What!?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Song's body went limp, her vision went black, and she fainted in Song Ce's arms.
Seeing this, Song Ce quickly helped Madam Song up and said sternly, "Stop crying! Tell me carefully, when did this happen?"
"Just now... Miss heard someone selling candied hawthorns outside the courtyard, so she pulled us to the small gate. We often buy things here, but... but today when we opened the gate, we didn't see anyone selling candied hawthorns. Instead, three burly men in black barged in. They used a handkerchief to knock Miss unconscious and then said to us... said..."
"This is a matter of life and death, tell me quickly! What exactly did they say?" Song Ce asked urgently, his face grim.
"They said that if the manor cannot produce the eight thousand taels of silver that the master owes them in three days, they will... they will sell the young lady to a filthy place! If we dare to report this to the authorities, they... they will kill us on the spot!" Le Yun cried out loudly.
Upon hearing this, Song Ce was both shocked and furious, and he turned around sharply to look at Master Song.
Upon hearing this, Master Song was so frightened that he took a few steps back: "No... I didn't... How come I didn't know when I owed so much money?"
Song Ce helped Madam Song up and quickly pinched her philtrum to try to wake her. After a while, Madam Song slowly woke up, and upon seeing her eldest son's worried face, she burst into tears.
"What sins have I committed?!" Madam Song cried out in anguish, "To have married a gambling addict like you! My poor Yu'er, I'm so sorry! You!" Madam Song suddenly stood up straight, her usually well-maintained hand now pointing directly at Master Song, "You heartless bastard! Do you really want to ruin this family? Now you've dragged my son into this mess, how can you still have the face to live in this world? You... why don't you just die!"
"Madam, I...I..." Upon hearing this, Master Song's face turned pale, and he retreated repeatedly in fright, as if he had seen a vengeful ghost.
Only when Master Song retreated to the flower bed did his legs buckle, and he knelt heavily before Madam Song with a thud. He began to slap his face repeatedly with both hands. "Madam, I was so foolish! I'm so sorry to you, and even more sorry to Yu'er! I pushed her into this fire with my own hands! I've ruined her! I'm guilty! I deserve to die!"
Song Ce could barely contain his anger. "What's the use of your act now? The most important thing is to rescue Yu'er!" With that, he turned around abruptly and looked at Le Yun, who was sobbing uncontrollably. "Le Yun, tell me in detail, don't miss a single detail. How did those people kidnap Miss? Did you two get a clear look at their faces?"
After hearing this, Le Yun wiped the tears from her face haphazardly with her sleeve and sobbed as she replied, "Young Master, this morning after you and Miss finished breakfast, we accompanied Miss to play in the back garden. Miss was having a great time when we heard the sound of a candied hawthorn vendor outside the wall. As soon as Miss heard it, she begged us to let her have some. We often buy things for Miss at the small gate, so naturally we went there to call the candied hawthorn vendor over..."
"Speak only the important points!" Madam Song interrupted sharply.
"Yes! Yes! Madam!" Le Yun trembled with fright and nodded hastily. "We had just opened the small door when three burly men in black suddenly rushed in. The leader covered Miss's mouth with a white handkerchief, then picked her up and carried her out. Le Chun and I tried our best to stop them, but... but we couldn't... All of them had their faces covered with black cloths, so we couldn't see their faces at all. However, judging from their accents, they seemed to be from the northern part of the city."
"Beicheng?" Madam Song murmured, repeating herself, then turned around abruptly as if grasping at a straw: "Tell me the truth! Where did you borrow that money from?"
Master Song trembled with fright, crawled forward two steps on his knees, and said in a flustered tone, "Madam, that, that man is someone I met at the gambling den, but his accent sounds just like ours! So I always thought he was one of us!"
Upon hearing this, Song Ce immediately turned to Madam Song and said, "Mother, we must prepare for the worst. You should quickly go and see how much silver the household can raise. I will send someone out to gather information. Don't worry, I assure you, I will bring Yu'er back safely."
"My son!" Madam Song cried, "I'm going now. You must, you absolutely must find your sister and bring her back!"
After Song Ce nodded solemnly in agreement, he instructed the worried Li Mama, "Li Mama, please take good care of Madam."
"Yes, young master, please rest assured!" said Mama Li.
Song Ce grunted in agreement, then strode out, saying as he went, "Steward Wen, quickly gather the capable people in the courtyard and have them wait in front of the gatehouse."
"Yes, young master!" Butler Wen accepted the order and hurried off, his steps quick and hesitant. Before long, a group of guards were already waiting anxiously at the gatehouse.
Song Ce scanned the crowd before him and quickly gave the order: "Everyone, immediately split into pairs and go to the main road leading out of the city to secretly inquire about Miss's whereabouts. Steward Wen, quickly go and ask Master if he knows where the creditor lives. If he doesn't, take him to the gambling dens throughout the city to see if you can find any trace of the creditor! This time, I'll reward each of you with ten taels of silver after this matter is settled! If you find Miss, you'll get another ten taels!"
"Yes!" Upon hearing this, a faint joy flashed in everyone's eyes, and they answered loudly. You must know that ten taels of silver was equivalent to almost a year's worth of their monthly salary at home.
"Remember, you must be careful. Report back immediately if you receive any news!" Song Ce said coldly.
Everyone agreed in unison and then quickly got to work.
After everyone in the Song household had left to carry out their orders, Song Ce hurried to the small door where the incident had occurred. His expression was quite solemn as he forcefully pulled open the door. The street outside was still bathed in sunshine, a picture of tranquility. Not far away, a little beggar was leisurely shaking his leg, humming an off-key tune.
Little beggar?
A thought struck Song Ce, and he slapped his forehead, immediately walking towards the ragged little beggar. Then, he took out a piece of silver from his pocket and handed it to the little beggar: "Young brother, I want to ask you some questions. If you have any clues, then these..." As he spoke, he took out two whole silver ingots and waved them in front of the little beggar, "...are all yours."
The little beggar's eyes lit up; he was clearly tempted. He nodded eagerly, "Young master, just ask A Bao! If I know the answer, I will tell you everything I know!"
"Did you see a group of men in black with a little girl in pink passing by just now? Their accents are different from yours and mine; they sound like they're from the northern part of the city," Song Ce said quickly.
Ah Bao tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said regretfully, "I'm sorry, young master, I was taking a nap here and didn't see anything. But..." Ah Bao's eyes darted around, and he said with a hint of smugness, "Please wait here while I go ask my brothers. They walk around this city countless times every day, maybe someone saw something." After saying that, he reached out to take the silver from Song Ce's hand.
Seeing this, Song Ce quickly took back the silver and stuffed it into his pocket: "This matter is urgent. Once you find out the news, come to this mansion to find me as soon as possible. Then we can have the news and the silver in one hand, and neither of us will be delayed."
Abao was taken aback for a moment upon hearing this, and asked uncertainly, "I can ask for you, but what if you renege on your debt and don't want to give me the money? Wouldn't I have made a wasted trip?"
"Why would you think that?" Song Ce was slightly taken aback, then explained, "Now I'm the one asking for your help, how could I go back on my word? I'll be waiting for you here in half an hour. If you don't see me then, go knock on the door of your residence. Look, it's that one." Song Ce pointed to the Song residence behind him and said to A Bao.
"Alright, then please go ahead! I'll take care of it for you right away!" Abao grinned, turned around, and ran off into the street.
Less than an hour later, Abao led a disheveled young boy to the gate of the Song residence. The gatekeeper originally wanted to send the two beggars away, but the older of the two beggars said that there was a matter of life and death and that he needed to see the eldest young master of the mansion.
Upon hearing this, the gatekeeper knew that this was no small matter. He figured the two little beggars wouldn't dare to talk nonsense, so he hurriedly said, "You two wait here!" and then ran into the main hall of the mansion to deliver the message to Song Ce, who was pacing back and forth waiting.
Upon hearing this, Song Ce quickly went to the door and invited the two beggars into the flower hall. "Abao, please sit down. Is there any news?"
A Bao was surprised that the young master, who was about his age and dressed so well, remembered his name and even asked them to sit down. For the first time, he looked at his tattered clothes, clenched his hands tightly, and stammered, "It's my younger brother, A Luo. He seems to have seen you. A Luo, please tell the young master."
After hearing this, A Luo timidly hummed in agreement. "Just now I was eating a pancake by the roadside when I saw a group of people carrying a little girl and walking out of the city. However, they were not wearing black clothes, but gray ones."
"Did you see which direction they went?" Song Ce asked.
“I saw them head towards the dense forest outside the city. If you go south through the forest, there’s a dilapidated temple. We brothers usually sleep there when we can’t find a place to sleep. I… I don’t know if they are the group you’re talking about.”
Upon hearing this, Song Ce immediately pressed on, "Did anyone in that group speak? Did you hear their accents?"
Alo frowned, as if trying hard to recall, and after a while said, "The person carrying the child urged the other one to walk faster. I could hear that his accent was a little different from ours, with a bit of a drawn-out tone."
The voice trailed off... It seems they are very likely the thieves who kidnapped my sister.
Song Ce turned to look at A Bao and said sincerely, "A Bao, this time we owe a lot to you brothers. You are familiar with that dense forest and the dilapidated temple. I wonder if you could take me there to have a look?"
After hearing this, A Luo bit her lip nervously and subconsciously looked at her brother, A Bao.
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Author's note: The car is off to rescue my little sister~ Sending love
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