"Can you write, Que'er?" Gu Xin looked at Que'er intently and asked.
Sparrow was taken aback.
Gu Xin looked at her without saying a word. Feng Shanzhang looked at Gu Xin in confusion, feeling that Gu Xin's suspicion was too far-fetched.
The maidservant beside Miss Feng was naturally literate, but to expect her to imitate Qi Yulang's handwriting was to overestimate her abilities.
Let alone a maid, even the most talented eldest daughter of the Feng family might not reach this level.
"Yes, I can write," said Que'er.
"Oh." Gu Xin nodded and didn't say anything more, because she saw Bai Er appear at the door.
She nodded to Bai Er.
Bai Er walked in, his hair soaked with sweat. He must have wiped the sweat off his face before coming in. He was also catching his breath: "This subordinate greets the Third Miss."
Gu Xin: "How is it? Where's Qi Yulang?"
Bai Er said, "Reporting to Third Miss, Young Master Qi has disappeared."
Gu Xin frowned again: "Disappeared? When did this happen? Be more specific."
Bai Er said, "I just went down the mountain on orders and rushed to the Qi family. I explained my purpose to them. The Qi family was also anxiously searching for someone. Upon hearing my purpose, they asked me to help them search. They said that Young Master Qi left yesterday morning and has not returned home since. By nightfall, they had sent people to search all the places Young Master Qi usually went, but they couldn't find him. They are still searching now. The government won't send anyone to help search unless there are 24 hours left. I asked to go to Young Master Qi's study to check and brought back his manuscripts and books from his desk. Young Master Qi's attendants also disappeared. Afterwards, I left the Qi residence with the things and didn't immediately return to the temple. I went back to check. The Qi family wasn't lying; the whole residence was indeed in a panic, which didn't seem like it was deliberately staged. That's why I went back."
Feng Shanzhang interjected, "Last night, the Qi family's steward came to our house to inquire about something. Our steward received him. He said that Qi Yulang hadn't returned from his night shift. Because of matters concerning his children, we haven't seen each other much lately, so I didn't think much of it. It turns out..."
Gu Xin touched her chin. For some reason, when Bai Er mentioned that Qi Yulang had disappeared, a thought suddenly popped into her mind: could the other dead person from her deduction in the western woods be Qi Yulang?
Because Miss Feng had been living at the Feng family's residence all along, it was impossible for the murderer to escape detection and specifically take her to the woods to the west to kill her before sending her back at night. This simply couldn't have been done in time.
Although Gu Xin had a feeling that Miss Feng was killed in the woods to the west, she wasn't sure she could do the same thing if it happened to her.
Besides, the murderer might not be any more capable than her; otherwise, why would he commit murder in such a roundabout way?
Gu Xin felt the clues in her mind were jumbled up, and she suddenly couldn't make sense of them anymore.
"Third Miss, when I returned, I encountered people from the yamen. I have already asked them to inform Lord Liu and have him send the remaining men to help find Young Master Qi. I hope Your Highness will forgive me for acting on my own initiative!" Bai Er added.
"It's alright. It's only right. Right now, I need to find Qi Yulang. If Lord Liu has nothing else to do, he can take some people to search for him." Gu Xin waved her hand, not minding Bai Er's presumptuous decision. She couldn't wait for Lord Liu to find Qi Yulang and send him to her immediately.
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