Chapter 74 Missing
There were more activities in the afternoon. The ladies listened to music, played cards and had fun until almost dusk.
After saying goodbye to Wei Ciying, Jiang Fei and Jiutao went ashore, but there was no sign of the Jiang Mansion's carriage coming to pick them up.
The two had no choice but to walk back slowly along the road back to Jiang Mansion, hoping they might meet on the road.
The summer heat that had risen during the day was swept away by the evening breeze. The scorching bluestone road that had been scorched by the sun gradually faded away. As the chirping of cicadas subsided, the streets began to become lively.
The vendors carrying their goods on their shoulders began to shout, and the women carrying baskets took their children out with laughter. The crows returning to their nests in the distance and the aroma of newly warmed wine in the taverns all drifted up with the dusk.
Jiang Fei and Jiutao walked along the bluestone road among the crowd, leaving behind their tasks and those annoying trivial matters, and actually found a rare sense of comfort.
There were all kinds of stalls and snacks on the roadside. If Jiang Fei hadn't eaten too much at the banquet, she would have eaten her way through the entire street.
She turned her head and looked at Jiutao. The little girl looked at each stall eagerly, almost drooling.
"greedy?"
Jiutao nodded, "I'm still hungry."
Jiang Fei was shocked. "I think the food prepared for the maids is pretty good. How come they are not full?"
Jiu Tao rubbed her stomach and said, "I didn't dare eat too much, for fear of embarrassing the young lady."
"What's so shameful about eating a lot?" Jiang Fei laughed, "I don't care what they say about me behind my back."
She didn't have much time to live anyway, so she decided to give up. What did it matter what others said? Her own happiness was the most important thing.
"Do you have any money on you?"
Jiutao patted the purse on her waist and said, "I brought it."
Jiang Fei pointed at the stall with her chin, and Jiu Tao immediately ran over happily, holding out her hand, "Give me ten Hu Bing!"
"Two will do." Jiang Fei quickly stopped him, "You don't want to eat anything else?"
"This is a good deal." Jiu Tao said seriously, "Fifty cents is enough to fill your stomach."
Jiang Fei was helpless. "With so many delicious foods, don't you want to try them all?"
"But after the young lady gave it to Yunxiang, there wasn't much money left."
"Miss, no matter how poor I am, I am still a lady. I have five taels of silver, right?"
Jiutao shook her head.
"Four ounces?"
Jiu Tao shook her head again, "Only three taels and five cents left."
"Three taels and five cents can't feed you?" Jiang Fei said with great wealth, "Eat! If you run out of money, you can earn more."
Jiutao's eyes lit up, and she immediately took out her purse happily, "Then I want to eat Hu bing, sugar cakes, butter fruit, and..."
The two of them walked along the street stalls. Jiutao's hands were full, so Jiang Fei picked up a few items for her.
The little girl's cheeks were puffed up from eating, and her eyes were narrowed into two lines. "Miss, you are so kind. Mmm, there is also ice cream."
"Go." Jiang Fei pushed Jiutao over and followed behind her.
After buying the ice cream, Jiutao turned around excitedly with the ice cream in her hands, wanting to give Jiang Fei a taste.
But with people coming and going behind him, there was no sign of Jiang Fei.
"Miss! Miss!" Jiutao raised her voice and shouted twice, but her voice was soon drowned out by the shouts of the surrounding vendors and the sounds of children playing.
She quickly looked around but didn't see Jiang Fei.
"Where did she go?" Jiu Tao panicked and quickly grabbed an old lady selling candy cakes. "Auntie! Have you seen my daughter? She's wearing a water-green dress, and she's very pretty. She's this tall—"
The old lady was startled by her, "Hey, don't be impatient, little girl."
"She was just here."
Seeing how anxious she was, the old man selling candy figurines next to her kindly said, "Maybe they've been separated by the crowd. Try looking again."
Jiutao was so anxious that her eyes turned red, and the ice cream in her hand melted into water and dripped down. She didn't have time to eat, and was so anxious that she ran around in the crowd like a headless fly.
When he turned a street corner, Jiutao stopped suddenly.
At the corner of the main street and the alley sat a ragged old beggar, wolfing down a pile of food in his arms.
Sugar cakes, buttered fruits, and Hu cakes... these were all snacks she had just bought, but now they appeared in the hands of another person.
Jiutao's heart skipped a beat, and she rushed over in two steps. "Where did you get all this food?"
The old beggar was frightened by her and trembled, subconsciously protecting the food in his arms.
"I found it, I found it." He mumbled, his missing teeth leaking air, "Girl, please be kind and don't fight with me."
Jiu Tao's voice changed in a hurry. She grabbed his dirty, skinny wrist and asked, "Where did you pick it up?"
The girl's grip was so strong that the old beggar felt pain. He pointed towards the alley with a grin and said, "I found it right there by the wall."
After he said that, his eyes lit up, and he discovered that there was a shiny object in the corner of the wall, like a pearl.
Before the old beggar could rush over, Jiutao picked it up first.
They were pearl earrings that Jiang Fei had picked out specially when she went out in the morning.
How could the earrings fall here for no reason? And the snacks too.
Jiu Tao's heart was pounding with panic. She grabbed the beggar and asked, "Where's the lady who dropped this? Where did she go?"
How could the old beggar know, "I didn't see anyone, I just saw eating."
Jiutao was in tears. The young lady was so beautiful. She must have met some bad guy. I hope nothing happened to her.
I shouldn’t have bought any food earlier. It’s all my fault for being greedy.
Now is not the time to think about these things. The most urgent thing is to find the lady as soon as possible. Oh, and report to the police!
Jiutao ran to the yamen in a hurry, thinking as she ran that the process of reporting the case was complicated, and she also had to prepare the missing person's household registration. Besides, the young lady had just been missing for a while, and she didn't know whether the people in the yamen would take care of it.
Then go back to Jiang Mansion to report the news.
But the Jiang Mansion is far away from here, and Madam Yao has never liked the young lady. I'm afraid she would rather she died outside.
Just as he was thinking, Jiutao suddenly slowed down his pace.
Fifty meters ahead is the gate of Dingyuan Marquis Mansion. Miss Wei chose to hold the banquet at Jinlu River, not far from Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.
Yes! Find the Third Young Master Wei.
The Third Young Master Wei is the young lady's fiancé, so he will definitely not ignore it. Moreover, the Dingyuan Marquis' Mansion is powerful and can find someone faster.
Jiutao took two steps forward and was about to step onto the stairs to knock on the door when the two vermilion lacquered doors opened first.
Wei Mingzhen walked out with a sullen expression, followed by several servants and guards. He ordered as he walked, "Start searching from where the pleasure boat docked. The person shouldn't have gone far."
Jiutao was stunned.
She also just found out that the young lady was missing. How come the Third Young Master Wei was more informed than her?
Seeing Wei Mingzhen about to mount his horse and leave, Jiu Tao finally reacted and stepped forward to block him, "Wei, Third Young Master Wei, can you take me with you?"
Wei Mingzhen was stunned. He recognized that this girl was the maidservant beside Jiang Rufei.
"Get out of the way, I'm in a hurry."
Jiu Tao said, "I also want to follow you to find my young lady."
"What?" Wei Mingzhen's pupils shrank suddenly. "Your young lady is missing too?"
Jiutao nodded and quickly grasped the word "also" in his mind.
Could it be that besides her young lady, someone else is missing?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com