Lu Zhao discovered Su Wan's little donkey after dinner.
Su Wan didn't return by sunset, but she didn't think much of it. Perhaps Su Wan was in Suiyang on business, so she simply stayed at an inn in Suiyang County.
After dinner, she went down the mountain to Linyuan Village to run some errands. On the way, she suddenly saw a little donkey eating grass all by the roadside. She recognized it as the little donkey that Su Wan was riding.
The donkey is there, but the person is gone.
At first, Lu Zhao thought Su Wan had entered Linyuan Village, but when she asked around, the villagers all said they hadn't seen Doctor Su. She then panicked and hurriedly led the donkey to find her mother.
Upon hearing this, Lu's mother became anxious and said, "Doctor Su always rides a donkey wherever he goes. How could he possibly leave the donkey behind and travel alone?"
Lu Zhao panicked and said, "Mother, Doctor Su is missing. What should we do?"
Lu's mother was older and had seen some of the world, so she said to her, "What can two women like us do? You go and find General Zhao and tell him about Doctor Su."
Lu Zhao hurriedly went to find General Zhao. General Zhao also became nervous upon hearing this. He had to stay at the mountain stronghold and could not be in two places at once. On one hand, he sent someone to immediately inform Wei Jingzhuo at the Northwest Camp, and on the other hand, he sent Lu Zhao twenty soldiers to take them to find Su Wan.
The soldiers arrived at the spot outside Linyuan Village where they had found the little donkey. Upon closer inspection, they discovered numerous hoofprints. However, the hooves followed the main road for a short distance before veering off course, making it impossible to continue tracking.
"There seem to be several horses," a soldier said to Lu Zhao. "Miss Lu, it seems Doctor Su has met with some misfortune. Where did she go earlier?"
Lu Zhao said, "She said she was going to Suiyang County to check out her family's... what kind of shop was it again?"
The soldier said to her, "We're going to Suiyang County now; maybe we can find some clues there."
Lu Zhao asked anxiously, "Will she be alright?"
The soldier reassured her, "Don't worry, Miss Lu. There was no blood on the ground, so the other party is unlikely to be a bandit who would kill for money. Besides, it's unlikely that someone who can afford to ride a horse is a bandit. It's more likely that they were a kidnapper."
Lu Zhao was anxious and led his soldiers to Suiyang overnight. Upon arriving in Suiyang County, the soldiers dispersed to inquire about Su Wan's whereabouts.
I asked dozens of passersby, and they all said they had never seen such a person before.
Just as Lu Zhao was at a loss, a soldier brought a middle-aged man in tattered clothes to her and said, "Miss Lu, this man says he has seen Doctor Su."
Lu Zhao quickly asked, "You said you've seen Doctor Su?"
The man said, “Yes, I have. I spoke with him at noon. My son is seriously ill, and he gave me medicine… I borrowed money from my neighbor for the medicine and was on my way to pay him back.”
Lu Zhao didn't want to listen to his useless talk, so he asked, "Where did Doctor Su go after he spoke to you?"
The man said, "I had already walked far away by then, but when I looked back, I saw that he seemed to be talking to a Western Rong person."
"Western Rong people?"
Lu Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and he pressed for an answer: "What did that Western Rong person look like?"
The man described the appearance of the Western Rong man he had seen, and then added, "He and Doctor Su went into the alley first and talked about something. Later, when Doctor Su came out, he followed behind him, as if pleading. But Doctor Su got on his donkey and left. The Western Rong man also got on his horse and left. As for what happened next... I was in a hurry to get home to take medicine to my son, so I didn't continue watching."
Lu Zhao had a vague feeling that the Western Rong man was related to Su Wan's disappearance, so he asked, "Which direction did that Western Rong man go?"
"In the direction of Youzhou," the middle-aged man pointed out to her. "They left at noon and have already traveled half a day's journey."
Lu Zhao took out several dozen copper coins from his pocket and tossed them to the middle-aged man, saying, "Thank you for the information. You can go now."
Seeing her flustered expression and the many Jin soldiers around her, the middle-aged man asked, "Has something happened to Doctor Su?"
Lu Zhao didn't want to waste time on him, so he called the soldiers back. Everyone mounted their horses, left Suiyang County, and galloped towards Youzhou. Along the way, they kept an eye out for people dressed as Western Rong people.
They found Luna at dawn.
Luna was having breakfast at a roadside stall.
He chased after the enemy from the capital to the Northwest General's Mansion, then to Linyuan Village and Suiyang County. He was so tired from the journey that he barely had time to eat.
Finally, I spotted a place to eat by the roadside. I dismounted, sat down, and ordered a plate of steamed buns and a mutton offal soup. Just as I broke open a bun to see what the filling was, a group of Jin soldiers rode up to me.
Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Luna quickly put down the steamed bun and stood up to ask what had happened.
A girl on horseback pointed at him: "That's him, with a full head of braids, no doubt about it."
The Jin soldiers leaped off their horses, and five or six of them rushed forward, pinning Luna to the ground and tying her up with ropes.
Luna shouted, "What are you doing? I'm just an ordinary citizen, why are you arresting me?"
Lu Zhao said, "You still have the nerve to say that? Tell me, where did you take my Sister Su... Doctor?"
Luna was completely baffled and asked, "What are you talking about? Are you talking about Su Xiaodi? Her... she left on her own after breaking up with me, how would I know where she went?"
Lu Zhao shouted, "You're still putting on airs here. You must have arrested Doctor Su. I asked around in Suiyang County, and someone saw you begging Doctor Su, but she refused, so you had her arrested."
Upon hearing this, Luna cried out in protest, "I'm innocent! If I really arrested her, I would have to stay with her. Look, I'm all alone."
"You split up because you were afraid we would chase you."
"I have no way to defend myself! I really didn't arrest Dr. Su. We're still friends!"
Seeing that Lu Na refused to admit it, Lu Zhao grew impatient. She jumped off her horse, grabbed her whip, and went up to Lu Na, saying, "You Western Rong person are very cunning and won't tell the truth. If I don't teach you a lesson, you won't know how powerful I am."
Seeing her raise the riding crop, Luna knew how painful it was to be whipped. Bound by ropes and unable to resist, he quickly cried out, "Young lady, let's talk this out. You said Doctor Su was kidnapped, where did that happen?"
"It's two miles outside Linyuan Village."
“Could you take me there?” Luna said. “Maybe I can help.”
Lu Zhao hesitated for a moment, then looked at the soldier beside her. The soldier who had given her the advice earlier said, "Miss Lu, with us here, he can't escape. We'll take him to our lord; perhaps he'll know what to do."
“Right, right,” Lu Zhao slapped his forehead, “Let’s go find the young master, he’ll definitely know what to do.”
"No need to look for me, I'm here." Accompanied by the neighing of a horse, a clear and aloof voice rang out not far behind her.
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