Chapter 151: Ineffective

Song Yichun stood under the veranda of the upper house, looking at the guards running around in the yard, and felt cold all over.

Song Mo is missing!

Where did he escape from?

Who saved him?

If he had known this would happen, he should have sent someone to guard the house.

But his son was not only resourceful and scheming, but also eloquent. Even if he really sent someone to guard the house, he might be instigated to rebel.

Thinking of this, he felt a throbbing pain in his temples.

Chang Huwei walked over with a gloomy face.

"My Lord," he clasped his fists and bowed, "I found nothing!"

"Nothing was found?" Song Yichun was furious. "Could it be possible that he could fly?"

As soon as he said this, both of them perked up, exchanged glances, and hurried into the inner room together.

There were several patches of dust on the inner room's ceiling that showed obvious signs of having been lifted.

"Someone come quickly!" Song Yichun looked surprised.

After a while, Chang Daiwei led a few people to climb up.

"Duke," the guard soon poked his head out from the roof, "the tiles on the roof have been peeled off, and there are traces of iron claws - someone climbed in from the alley in the east and rescued the prince."

The alley on the east side is next to Yizhitang.

Song Chunyi's eyes fixed, and he said in a deep voice: "Surround Yizhi Hall for me! Dig three feet deep into the ground to find the person for me!"

"Yes!" Chang Daiwei took people to Yizhitang.

Song Yichun sat calmly on the big kang next to the window in the inner room.

What should I do now?

He originally planned to beat Song Mo half to death, and then leave him in the inner room for a night, and then drive him out of the house when the ancestral hall was opened tomorrow morning... Someone would definitely come to persuade him by then, but if he delayed for a few days, even if he finally brought Song Mo back, with his injuries, he would not survive for a few days, and there would be no need to write a letter to the emperor.

If Song Mo was rescued by someone, this approach would not work.

The reason why he was able to capture Song Mo smoothly was entirely because of his deliberate calculations. When Song Mo recovered...

When Song Mo was ten years old, he once fought in the battlefield to kill Japanese pirates!

Song Yichun couldn't help but shudder.

Damn Jiang Meisun, it's all his fault, he taught his son to be like this!

This is not his Song Yichun's son, but his Jiang Meisun's son!

He was secretly cursing his deceased uncle in the room when a guard walked in tremblingly: "Duke, the second master is here."

Song Han!

Song Yichun was very surprised. After thinking for a while, he said, "Let him in!" Then he sighed softly.

Song Han ran in with red eyes. Seeing that his father was the only one in the room, he quickly pulled his father's sleeve and said, "Dad, I want my brother! I'm alone taking care of mom, I'm scared!" As he said that, he burst into tears.

Song Yichun couldn't help but frown and yelled at his second son: "How old are you? You just cry when you encounter problems! When your brother was your age, he knew how to help your father. Can't you learn from him?" Speaking of his eldest son, he was even more angry, "It's your mother who has corrupted you!" After saying that, he threw his son aside and said, "If you cry again, you will have to kneel in the ancestral hall!" He seemed very impatient.

Song Han stared at his father blankly with his mouth wide open, and was so shocked that he forgot to cry.

In the past, his father would scold him, but he would never show his dislike for him as much as he does today.

Song Yichun became even more annoyed and shouted to the guards, "Who brought the Second Master here?"

The guard said hurriedly, "It's Li Bai who is beside the Second Master."

"Call her in for me!" Song Yichun scolded Li Bai with a sullen look on his face: "...If you can't keep an eye on the Second Master, I'll break your legs!"

Li Bai was so frightened that she could not speak a word and could only kowtow to Song Yichun continuously.

Song Yichun raised his foot and kicked Li Bai in the heart: "Get out of here!"

Li Bai was in so much pain that cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She grabbed the frightened Song Han and fled out of the inner room in a panic.

Only then did Song Yichun feel a little better.

He asked the guard, "Is there any news from Guard Chang yet?"

The guard was very smart and said immediately, "I'll go and take a look!" He clasped his fists towards Song Yichun and quickly left the inner room.

Song Yichun took a long breath, sat down and drank a sip of tea.

Song Mo should be hiding in Yizhi Hall.

The few people around him who could be used were either not in Kyoto or were detained. Even if there were a few who were usually loyal to him, they were all insignificant little people who had been sent to guard him. Moreover, they were unable to rescue Song Mo from the mansion. Even if he was rescued from the mansion, there was no place to put Song Mo...

As the thought flashed through his mind, he couldn't help but sit up straight, secretly saying "Oh no", and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his vest.

How could I have forgotten about Gu Yu!

If Song Mo escapes, the most likely thing he will do is ask Gu Yu for help. But only that idiot Gu Yu would take Song Mo in regardless of anything.

"Someone come here!" he shouted, and a guard walked in respectfully.

Song Yichun ordered him, "Send someone to keep an eye on Gu Yu, the eldest son of the Yunyang Earl family." But before he finished speaking, he felt something was wrong and changed his words, "No, send four people! Follow them from a distance, and once you spot the prince, send someone back to report immediately."

The guards left in response.

Song Yichun felt relieved, but couldn't help but think of this matter again.

Besides Gu Yu, who else could possibly take Song Mo in?

Zhang Xuming, the Lu family, or that Ma Youming, the deputy general of the Divine Shuying...what kind of bad friends did he make?

Song Yichun felt like his heart was burning.

Guard Chang rushed over anxiously: "Duke, we didn't see any trace of the Crown Prince. However, an aide named Chen Bo from Yizhi Hall is missing, and we also found traces of Iron Claw on the east wall."

"What?" Song Yichun's face turned pale and he stood up suddenly. "What did you say?" His voice even changed.

Chang Huwei was secretly surprised.

Why does the Duke seem a little afraid of the Crown Prince?

He repeated his words quickly.

Song Yichun was stunned and suddenly sat down on the kang.

"How could this happen? How could this happen?" He muttered to himself, looking panic-stricken and at a loss as to what to do. Huwei Chang saw him repeating this sentence over and over again, and he waited for a long time but Song Yichun did not come up with any idea.

Guard Chang had no choice but to whisper, "Duke, do you think we should arrest the two servants who served Chen Bo and interrogate them?"

"Yes... yes, yes!" Chang Huwei's words brought Song Yichun back to his senses. He seemed to be awakened and said hurriedly, "Not only should we carefully interrogate the two servants, but also the other people in Yizhitang. We should also send someone to find out if there are any suspicious people coming in and out of the alley." At this point, he paused and said, "Also, we should ask Chen Tao carefully to see who Song Mo usually interacts with. We should also send people to keep an eye on those people. Maybe Song Mo will go to them for help..." After saying this, he said with regret on his face, "Forget it, there is no need to ask Chen Tao. You won't get anything out of him. It might even alert that kid. If he finds out that Song Mo ran away, he will say something nonsense and lead us astray."

Chang Huwei thought of Chen Tao, who was beaten to death but didn't say a word, and felt very uncomfortable. He replied "yes" and retreated.

Song Yichun walked around the room in circles.

He sometimes clenched his hands, sometimes clenched them into fists, until daybreak, when the maids came in and asked him to wash, he realized that it was already the next day.

Song Yichun called out to Chang Huwei in panic and ordered the maid, "Go and get him for me!"

The maid didn't know what was going on, so she nervously put down her toiletries and told the guards outside to call Guard Chang over.

"What happened?" Song Yichun asked anxiously, "What did the two boys say?"

After not sleeping for a day and a night, Chang Huwei had a blue beard on his face, and he looked particularly haggard. "The two servants just said that they were ordered by Yan Chaoqing to serve Chen Bo. Chen Bo was just like yesterday. After dinner, he walked around in the yard, and then said he wanted to go to the front yard to see what was going on. He asked them not to follow him, so they cleaned up in the study. When Chen Bo didn't come back at midnight, the two looked around the yard but couldn't find him. Just as we were wondering, we went to look for him... They didn't know anything!"

"How is that possible?" Song Yichun was furious. "Torture them and see if they will tell the truth!"

"They did." Thinking of the two servants who cried and howled when they were tortured, but kept repeating the same few sentences no matter what they were asked. Although it was completely different from Chen Tao's silence, they still couldn't get anything out of them. Chang Huwei felt exhausted from the bottom of his heart, "They both insisted that they didn't know where Chen Bo had gone!"

Song Yichun smashed the teacup to the ground with a "bang". His handsome face was distorted and looked fierce. He shouted, "Beat them for me, beat them hard! If you don't say anything, I'll beat you all to death! And that Chen Tao, if he still says that the jade pendant is not Song Mo's, I'll beat him to death too!"

Guard Chang responded in a low voice and was about to leave when the guard who was sent to monitor Gu Yu walked in and said, "Duke, just now, Manager Chen of the antique shop on West Street sent a letter to Master Gu on the orders of the Crown Prince, saying that the Crown Prince wants to see the Emperor, and asked Master Gu to help smooth things over so that he can be summoned as soon as possible."

The antique shop on West Street is the Song family’s shop.

Guard Chang couldn't help but stop when he heard this. From behind him came the extremely vicious roar of the Duke of England: "Are you all good-for-nothings? Why don't you go and capture the prince!"

The guard whispered in defense, "We have already asked Shopkeeper Chen, and he said that it was He San, the stable boy in the mansion, who asked him to deliver the letter. He had no idea what happened, and the prince was not in his stable."

"What a bunch of idiots!" Song Yichun was furious. "Why don't you tie up that He San for me right now? What are you doing standing here like an idiot?"

"My Lord!" the guard said stiffly, "He San has never returned since he left the palace."

"A slacker, a slacker, all slackers..." Song Yichun was just jumping up and down when another guard who was sent to monitor Gu Yu came back. Seeing the scene in the room, he reported carefully, "Duke, Master Gu has gone to the palace in a sedan chair."

Song Yichun glared at them fiercely: "Why don't you stop him for me?"

The two guards lowered their heads, and although they did not speak, they exchanged glances with each other.

How can they afford to care about Yu's sedan chair?

Song Yichun also realized that he had said something wrong, and scolded Song Mo: "... all your friends are monsters!" Then he scolded Song Han: "... apart from eating and drinking, you can't do anything else!"

If Song Han was a few years older, he could help him pick up Gu Yu.

Everyone in the room huddled up, as if that would lessen the rage directed at them.