Back at the Jiang residence, it was already late. Yuan Qi had acquired quite a few flower branches to arrange in vases.
Yuan Qi didn't know much about flower arranging, but Wen Zhujun was very skilled at it. She was very good at pruning flower branches and arranging them in vases. When Yuan Qi saw her busy, he was reminded of the days when she was so devoted to Tushan.
Wen Zhujun actually gave up so easily, without even a hint of sadness.
About half a month later, long after the time when the Jiang family was busy making summer clothes, Xiangli Mingzhu suddenly sent Hexiang to deliver several summer clothes, all made of good materials.
The reason given for sending the clothes was simple: Yuan Qi had grown taller this year and the clothes no longer fit, so they sent over a few more sets.
Actually, it was Jiang Bailu who sent the message, saying that the Crown Prince had stayed overnight at Fengyi Palace several times.
Xiangli Mingzhu didn't say it explicitly, but Yuan Qi could still figure it out.
As the weather gradually warmed up, Yuan Qi would set up his stall for half a day in the morning, return around noon, and then lazily stay indoors to cool off in the afternoon.
That morning, Yuan Qi ate a quick bite of breakfast and then took Wen Zhujun out.
A few days ago, Jiang Jiulu had been going along to join in the fun, with the simple goal of running into Bai Fujun again. However, she hadn't seen Bai Fujun for more than half a month. Besides, fortune telling was actually quite boring, and the weather had been quite hot lately, so she gave up.
Not long after Yuan Qi sat down, Jiang Junyu rode over on horseback, accompanied by a young man dressed in a bright red wedding robe. The young man looked to be about the same age as Jiang Junyu, and he had a troubled expression with dark circles under his eyes.
The arrival of the two attracted a lot of attention, since not many people wear wedding gowns. Several vendors nearby listened intently to what was going on.
Jiang Junyu said anxiously to Yuan Qi, "You really are here. This is one of my classmates, named Zhu Quan Hai. Something happened at his wedding yesterday, and I need your help to go and take a look."
Seeing the gossipy looks around her, Jiang Junyu didn't want to make her classmate's affairs known to everyone, so she whispered to Yuan Qi, "The bride has disappeared. She's nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead. She disappeared halfway from her parents' home. She just vanished suddenly. Even the wedding party couldn't explain what happened. She was unconscious for a while, and when she woke up, the bridal sedan chair was empty."
Yuan Qi let out an "oh," not finding it particularly strange. Last year, many fierce ghosts and evil spirits escaped from Wuji Palace, and the various Taoist temples still haven't caught them all. It's not surprising at all that strange things happen in the folk.
"Okay, let's go."
Zhu Quan Hai bowed gratefully to Yuan Qi, saying, "Thank you very much, Miss Seven. Please come with me quickly."
Jiang Junyu gently pulled Yuan Qi onto the horse, while Wen Zhujun sat behind him. The three of them rode together on one horse, which looked exaggerated, but it wasn't actually heavy.
Yuan Qi was young and very light, while Wen Zhujun was made of paper and her weight was almost negligible.
Zhu Quan Hai, unaware of the situation, was puzzled: "Brother Jiang, the horse will suffer if the three of you ride on the same horse. Why don't you let that young lady ride with me?"
Wen Zhujun sized up the other person, then skipped over them, saying indifferently, "Let's go."
The group walked directly along Tianshui Street and exited the city through the south gate, stopping only after traveling thirty miles outside the city.
Zhu Quan Hai pointed to the tree-lined path in front of him and explained, "The bride disappeared here yesterday evening."
He then detailed the events that occurred during the wedding procession yesterday: "Yesterday was my wedding day. Because it was a bit far, I needed to go to Tianya Town, which is 50 miles away, to fetch my bride. So I set off with the wedding procession before dawn. The departure went smoothly. Because it is customary for a wedding not to retrace the steps, the way there and back cannot be the same. So I did not take that route."
He was very worried. A night had passed, and the bride had probably already lost her virginity. Alas!
He was there at the time, but he didn't know where the bride had gone.
He continued, "My elders had already checked, and this road is perfectly safe. There haven't been any bandit incidents in the last year or two, and the security in and around Kyoto has been excellent lately. How could something like this happen?"
Yuan Qi looked over and saw that this place was at the foot of an unnamed mountain. In the summer, the trees were lush, and the trees on this mountain were especially tall and dense, with the tendency to block out the sky.
"After the incident, did you contact any bandits in the nearby mountains?" Yuan Qi asked casually, squinting as he observed the situation in the woods.
Zhu Quan Hai was in a bad mood: "I've searched, I've sent out everyone I can, and there are no bandits within a hundred miles. I've also reported it to the authorities, and they said there are no bandits within a two-hundred-mile radius. Seventh Miss, you're very capable, could you please calculate who kidnapped my bride?"
“Right now, it’s not just our family searching, the bride’s family is searching too. We’ve mobilized hundreds of people, but a whole night has passed and there’s still no news. We’ve also asked many villagers nearby, but no one saw any bandits abduct the bride. What are we going to do?”
"Do you know the bride's birth date and time?" Yuan Qi asked, stepping towards the woods.
Zhu Quan Hai followed Jiang Jun Yu.
Jiang Junyu also introduced: "My classmate has been engaged to the bride for more than ten years. They can be said to be childhood sweethearts. Seventh Sister, you must help him find a bride."
Yuan Qi hummed in agreement.
Jiang Junyu became excited when she saw her enter the woods, thinking that Yuan Qi had made some discovery: "Is the bride in this woods?"
"No." Yuan Qi walked deeper into the woods, and the further he went, the cooler it became, even giving off a chilly feeling.
Sure enough, there was a faint ghostly aura. Yuan Qi looked around again and confirmed that the bride had been here before.
She raised her right foot and stomped it hard: "Come out."
The next second, the earth god, who was a head shorter than Yuan Qi, came out. The two greeted Yuan Qi politely: "May I ask what brings the Celestial Master here?"
"Yesterday evening, a wedding procession passed by the foot of the mountain, but the bride was nowhere to be seen. Did you see her?"
The land deity thought for a moment and said, "That is indeed the case, but I don't know who did it."
Yuan Qi glared at him fiercely: "If you don't know, who would? Tell me! Did you see it at the time?"
The Earth God shrank his neck and chuckled: "I really didn't see it. Celestial Master, think about it, there are so many people and so many things happening on the ground every day, how could I possibly remember everything? But I can be sure it wasn't done by a human, because although I didn't see who took the bride away, I can be sure it was very fast. In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the bride disappeared. It must be either a demon or a ghost."
Yuan Qi shook his head: "There's no powerful demon nearby, so it must be a ghost?"
Zhu Quan Hai was utterly shocked. He had only ever heard of the local deity, and this was the first time he had ever seen one. He eagerly recounted to the deity the scene of the wedding procession passing through the area the previous evening.
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