Chapter 125 You'd better stop talking nonsense
"It happened suddenly, and I only ordered people to search everywhere. I think the servants were not officials after all, so they didn't investigate carefully enough." Pei Chong was surprised: "Prime Minister, do you think you have found the clues?"
"Not yet, but the Prince's guards have surrounded Pei's house. If Qingchi really hasn't left the yard in such a short time, then he must still be in the house. We will wait for the prefect to arrive and then make a decision."
Upon hearing that He An had reported the matter to the authorities, the first person to panic was Ruan Chengfu. He stood up quickly, but before he could say anything, his wife grabbed him and asked, "What are you going to do?"
Ruan Chengfu was anxious: "Oh, we can't report to the police, Qingchi is still in the hands of the kidnappers..."
Zhou Yunzhi couldn't stand his incompetent look, so she glared at him and warned him, "Didn't you see Qing Huan didn't say anything? This means He An must have made thorough arrangements. Don't make things worse."
Ruan Chengfu looked at his daughter upon hearing this and found that she was indeed calm and composed. She even drank some tea from time to time and did not look panicked or anxious at all.
He knew in his heart that his daughter was very kind to her younger cousin Qingchi. She could remain so calm after such a thing happened. Perhaps Hean had leaked the news to her.
But if Qingchi was really found, why didn't Hean bring him out so that everyone could feel at ease?
When Mrs. Pei heard that the prefect was coming, she felt relieved.
Today's family dinner turned out like this. She was very upset and complained to Lin Qiutang beside her: "When the prefect comes to search, we will cooperate with him and finish our work. Let's finish today's matter and send these plague gods of the Ruan family away quickly."
Pei Wen muttered quietly: "Huh, my sister-in-law is really careless. She didn't know how to take care of her younger brother when he was still young. Now he has caused so much trouble. It's really unlucky."
Ruan Xiaoyue was feeling confused, and when He'an mentioned that the prefect would be here soon, Pei Chong looked flustered for a moment.
How could this happen if I hadn't done anything wrong?
"Husband, I'm worried about mother. Please come back to the room with me to see how she is doing." Although she didn't want to believe that Pei Chong was responsible for what happened tonight, she couldn't feel at ease if she didn't find out clearly.
What if it really was him... Ruan Xiaoyue felt her heart was in a mess, tangled and scared, and it was really hard to make sense of it.
Pei Chong was already worried, so he had no mood to answer her: "The matter has not been resolved yet, so I can't leave here. Let the servants accompany you."
Ruan Xiaoyue called out again: "Husband."
As soon as he finished speaking, he was met with Pei Chong's impatient gaze.
At this moment, her heart completely sank to the bottom. She didn't care about the people present. She went forward and grabbed Pei and walked to the side hall. When she reached a corner where no one was around, she let go of his hand and asked, "Pei Chong, was it you who did what happened to Qingchi?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? He is my brother-in-law. Why would I tie him up?"
"For money?"
Pei Chong grabbed her shoulders and said, "Ruan Xiaoyue, you'd better stop talking nonsense and causing trouble for me."
After saying that, he gave her a warning look and turned back to the yard.
Ruan Xiaoyue staggered and almost lost her balance. From Pei Chong's reaction, it was not difficult to tell that this matter was most likely related to him.
In order to get the Ruan family to pay, he actually set his sights on Qingchi.
**
The prefect rushed to Pei's house in a hurry. On the way there, he heard the officer tell him the cause of the incident: the cousin of the prime minister's wife had been kidnapped.
As soon as he entered the gate, he saw two large statues of the Prime Minister and General Ji in the courtyard. He was immediately confused and said, "Your humble servant greets the Prime Minister."
"Your Excellency, Lord Pei said that the child was lost in the courtyard of the Pei Mansion's main house. If that's the case, you should go and investigate carefully. Even if you have to dig deep into the ground, you must find the child."
The prefect: “…”
From what the Prime Minister said, it seems that the child is in the courtyard of the main house in Pei Mansion?
Everyone also heard some clues and couldn't help but look at the Pei family.
How could Madam Pei bear the blame? "Your Excellency Prime Minister, you are not serious in what you said. Today's incident happened suddenly. The child is missing. I am also worried. But this yard is not only searched by our Pei family, but also by the people brought by the Prime Minister. But they still can't find it, right?"
He An: "Just because we didn't find it just now doesn't mean we can't find it now."
Pei Chong had a bad feeling and subconsciously glanced at Lin Qiutang. She looked flustered and obviously felt guilty because of He An.
Lin Qiutang panicked when she heard that they had to dig till the end. Only she and Pei Chong knew where the cats in the courtyard were. If they really dug, the cats would definitely be exposed.
She wanted to discuss countermeasures with Pei Chong, but there were so many people around and there was no chance at all.
**
After the prefect and his men sealed off the courtyard of the main house in Pei's mansion, they ordered a thorough search. His officers actually found shovels and pickaxes and prepared to dig the ground.
The prefect sighed repeatedly and complained to his teacher who accompanied him: "If we don't find the person today, how can we explain to the prime minister?"
The master comforted him, "Don't worry, sir. The Prime Minister asked us to dig the ground thoroughly, so we should dig. If we still haven't found it after digging, we can continue looking."
As they were talking, a skinny, lame servant came out from the shadows, whispered something to the master and the prefect, and then left.
The reason why the prefect did not arrest anyone was because of the name that person mentioned.
He was assigned by the Prime Minister to convey clues to me, so naturally he could not be touched.
Pei Chong wanted to see how things were going, but just as he reached the door, he heard the prefect start to order: "Come here, move the stone table in the garden to this mansion, and dig three feet deep in the entire main courtyard. Don't leave any stone behind."
Pei Chong's pupils shrank immediately and he quickly came to the prefect's side.
As an official in the same court, the prefect looked embarrassed and said, "Please forgive me, Lord Pei. There has been a robbery and extortion under the emperor. This prefecture has to investigate."
"Yes, yes, I understand this, but I am worried about my brother-in-law's safety. I hope the prefect won't make too much noise. If the kidnappers are alarmed, Qing Chi might be in danger."
This made sense. The prefect glanced at the master, who shook his head slightly.
Yes, comparing the two, the Prime Minister and General Ji are the ones he cannot afford to offend. Not to mention asking him to dig three feet into the ground, even if he is asked to turn the Pei family upside down, he is not afraid to disobey.
"Don't worry, Lord Pei. I know what to do."
At this moment, several officers have begun to move the stone table. Fortunately, the stone table is very heavy. Three or four people can only shake it, and five or six people may not be able to move it.
The table is so small that it would be useless if too many people gathered together.
Just when Pei Chong was lucky enough to think that the officers would give up if they couldn't move the table, the stone table was suddenly lifted up by a strong force, bounced more than ten feet away and fell to the side.
A cave entrance suddenly appeared in everyone's eyes. Before the prefect could come to his senses, he suddenly saw a figure flying out of the cave entrance and landing next to He'an who had just entered.