Chapter 28: Tanhualang
Shang Nanliu and his father had been waiting in the palace since early morning for more than half an hour.
As Qiandeng turned around the screen wall, he heard Shangluo's grandfather's voice yelling, "You kept saying you wouldn't let me harm her potential husbands. Now that the child's biological father has returned to pick her up, why are you still stalling?"
Aunt Xuanji looked at Qiandeng worriedly. She had already walked out to greet them calmly. "Shang Beijia and Shang Laozhang, please forgive me. I have been busy with trivial matters recently and have neglected you two."
Shangluo's father, Shang Nanliu, had been a top-ranked scholar in the imperial examinations. His appearance and temperament were naturally first-rate. In his early thirties, he was refined and gentle, and indeed, he looked very similar to Shangluo.
Qiandeng couldn't help but wonder, could it be that the lively and cheerful Shangluo now will also become such a handsome gentleman in the future?
I was even more worried that something might happen to him, as if a stone was pressing heavily on my chest.
Shang Nanliu greeted her and said, "Thank you, my lady, for your care and concern for my son. I am sorry to bother you. I am returning to the capital today on official business. Considering Shangluo's disobedience, I am afraid he might disturb the peace of the palace, so I am taking him home to discipline him first."
Thinking of Shang Luo's mysterious disappearance and the murderer lurking in the backyard, Qian Deng's voice was a little low. "Your son is smart and sensible, and is very popular in my family. Why would you say you are disturbing him? Shang Beijia and Shang Laozhang, please have some tea first. I have something to discuss in detail."
The old man was a bit impatient. He picked up the teacup and couldn't help yelling, "Where's that bastard? His father and I came to pick him up personally, why are you taking so long?"
Qian Deng could only tell the truth: "This is strange, Young Master Shang has disappeared today, and we are looking for him in our mansion."
Upon hearing this, Shang Nanliu was stunned.
The old man jumped up and said, "His father is here to pick him up, where did he go?"
"I don't know where he went. I thought he went home, so I was just about to go to your house to ask."
Shang Nanliu had been in the officialdom for many years, so he remained calm. He simply said, "My son hasn't returned home yet. I wonder if he left any letter at the palace, explaining his whereabouts?"
Qian Deng shook his head: "We have searched the entire mansion and found no trace of him."
"Is he hiding because he's scared after Princess Gao's death the other day?" the old man yelled. "He'd better run away! So many things have happened in the palace before, and it might be his turn soon. Fortunately, this brat ran away quickly..."
Shang Nanliu frowned and pulled his father, signaling him to shut up. He then apologized helplessly to Qiandeng, "Please forgive me, County Lady. My father was also worried about his grandson and was impatient at the time. I hope you will forgive me."
The old man glared at Qian Deng angrily, with an attitude that said, "What can an orphan from a ruined royal family do to my son, the top scholar in the imperial examination?"
How could Qian Deng allow him to act so recklessly in her own mansion? She coldly said, "To be honest, someone from Princess Gao's mansion has spread the word that the princess's murderer is one of the young men in my backyard. The other young men are now at ease, but your young master has suddenly disappeared. If anything happens to him in my mansion, we are naturally willing to bear the responsibility. However, if he is a fugitive, not to mention the Changhua Palace, even if your businessmen discover his whereabouts, they will have to hand him over to the government. After all, this matter is of great importance. Killing the eldest princess is a capital crime with the confiscation of property and the extermination of the entire family."
Upon hearing this, the old man was so frightened that his legs and feet trembled. He could only speak stubbornly: "How could my grandson hurt Princess Gao? My family has always strictly disciplined our children. Besides, he is just an unarmed child, how could he kill someone!"
Shang Nanliu gave his father a look that warned him to be careful with his words, and quickly apologized to Qian Deng: "County Lady, although Shang Luo is naughty, he has a kind heart. I believe he would never do such a thing. Although it's strange that he's missing now, the theory that he's absconding from the crime hasn't been proven. I hope the County Lady will search the backyard more carefully. I have many acquaintances in the capital, and I will ask them to search for him carefully. Finding the child first is the right thing to do."
Seeing that he was reasonable, Qian Deng also said, "That's great. Let's work together to search. I believe that as long as Shangluo is safe, we will find him soon."
After sending Shang Nanliu and Old Man Shang away, Aunt Xuanji stepped forward worriedly to refill Qiandeng's tea and whispered, "County Lady, when you took in all these gentlemen, you told us you suspected someone among them of harboring ill intentions. Now that person hasn't even appeared, yet the gentlemen in the mansion are constantly in trouble, not to mention Princess Gao's death is also linked to them. Now... even Young Master Shang has disappeared. What do you think we should do next?"
Qiandeng shook his head, took two big gulps of tea, used the slightly bitter tea to suppress his confused thoughts, and calmed himself down.
Now, the suspect in the murder of Princess Gao has not yet surfaced, and another person, Shangluo, has disappeared. Are these two incidents related?
"If there is a connection, what is it?"
Thinking that Shangluo was still young and had no ability to resist, and now his whereabouts were unknown in this treacherous backyard, she felt a strong sense of panic and anxiety.
She asked someone to call Ling Tianshui and Cui Fufeng, and she sat in the study and repeatedly pondered the confession that Shangluo had given to them before he disappeared, trying to find any clues.
The two of them arrived at the same time. Cui Fufeng walked around and sat next to her, while Ling Tianshui hooked a chair with his foot and sat down diagonally in front of her. Both of them deliberately kept a distance from each other.
Come to think of it, they didn't seem to communicate much when they were looking for someone in the backyard just now.
These two people were fine last night, why are they suddenly a little weird and distant today?
The thought flashed through his mind, but Qiandeng was worried about Shangluo, so he didn't have the energy to explore it. He just said to them, "Combining Shangluo's confession with the inscription on the edge of the bed, there's something that seems amiss to me. Shangluo almost fell into the water, but luckily Ji Linyou caught him. While hanging upside down in the water, he saw sparks before his eyes. He said that golden light burst out from the sky, the water, and even the cracks in the rocks. It was so dazzling that it burned his eyes and they still hurt the next day."
Having said that, Qiandeng looked up at them.
Cui Fufeng nodded. "Not only that, I remember he had a nightmare. He dreamed of golden light coming out from the cracks in the rocks, and Princess Gao emerged from the cracks again."
"If you think about it carefully, isn't this strange?" Qian Deng said thoughtfully, "There were indeed a lot of fireworks at the time, but it's understandable that there were lights in the sky and on the water, but where did the lights come from in the cracks in the rocks?"
Cui Fufeng said, "It's not impossible. The evening wind blew the waves, and the water flowed into the cracks in the rocks and accumulated there. From his upside-down angle, he could also see the reflection."
Ling Tianshui questioned in a deep voice, "Can that little bit of water light between the cracks in the rocks really have the effect of burning people's eyes?"
"Indeed, it's unreasonable."
The unreasonable places are often the breakthrough points.
The three of them immediately packed up and went to Qichun Pavilion in Qujiang Lake to re-investigate the crime scene.
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