"We'll do it as soon as possible," Nangong Xu said, looking at Xiao Jie.
"How fast is 'as soon as possible'?" Xiao Jie immediately asked Nangong Xu.
Nangong Xu did not answer. He understood that Yun Qingran had no clue whatsoever, and he didn't know how long it would take to find Xiao Shi.
"Your Highness, I'm giving you three days. If you can't find Shi'er within three days, then my wife and I will have no choice but to leave this heartbreaking place." Xiao Jie's tone was calmer, but his words were even more aggressive.
The meaning was clear: if Nangong Xu couldn't find Xiao Shi within three days, the couple would leave Southern Chu. And if they left, they would certainly take their possessions with them.
The reason Xiao Jie dared to threaten Nangong Xu so openly was that he must have already planned an escape route; they were certain they could leave safely with their family fortune.
"Mr. Xiao, three days is far too short. Could you please grant me a few more days?" General Zhou pleaded.
"Three days is enough time for Shi'er to die hundreds of times over if he were truly in danger. I'm already being very lenient with you by giving him three days," Xiao Jie retorted angrily to General Zhou.
"We will definitely find Young Master Xiao within three days," Nangong Xu promised.
"For the next three days, my wife and I will accompany His Highness Xu to search for my son. We hope His Highness Xu will grant us permission," Xiao Jie said, suppressing his anger and bowing to Nangong Xu.
"Okay, sure." Nangong Xu nodded in agreement.
Next, they split into two groups. General Zhou led his men to continue searching for Xiao Shi in the capital city, while Nangong Xu and his three companions began searching for Xiao Shi inch by inch in the courtyard.
They searched so thoroughly that, to put it another way, they would dig up ant nests to check them out and shake eggs to listen to the sound.
Upon arriving at the kitchen, the four of them began rummaging through drawers and cabinets.
"The kitchen is only so big, how could it be inside the kitchen?" Mrs. Xiao looked at the kitchen, which was completely exposed, and tears streamed down her face silently.
Yun Qingran looked around the kitchen and thought it was impossible for anyone to be hiding there, but she still had to follow the proper procedures, so she continued to search through the kitchen.
She searched around but couldn't find Xiao Shi. However, her gaze was drawn to a pile of broken bones in the corner.
Why does this pile of bones look so strange? Yun Qingran walked over, picked up a few bones and looked at them. She was shocked to find that they were human bones.
Yun Qingran's hand trembled. Good heavens, could this be Xiao Shi's bone?
"Young lady, what's wrong? Is there something wrong with these bones?" Xiao Jie asked quickly when he saw that she was holding several bones in her hand and her face was a little pale.
“Hmm…” Yun Qingran didn’t know how to describe it as human bones.
Xiao Shi suddenly disappeared, and a pile of human bones suddenly appeared in the Xiao mansion. It's obvious that the two are connected.
"These don't look like chicken, duck, pig, or cow bones, do they?" Xiao Jie asked, staring at the bones in Yun Qingran's hand.
Nangong Xu also looked at the bones, and upon closer inspection, his expression changed immediately. These were indeed not the bones of chickens, ducks, pigs, or cows, but rather incomplete human bones.
"What kind of bone is this?" Xiao Jie was a businessman, and he was as shrewd as a honeycomb briquette. He could tell from Yun Qingran and Nangong Xu's expressions that there was something wrong with the bone, so he immediately questioned them loudly.
Yun Qingran looked at Nangong Xu, indicating that the decision was his.
“This bone looks like a human bone,” Nangong Xu said slowly, his expression grave.
Upon hearing the words "human bones," Xiao Jie and his wife rolled their eyes and fainted.
Yun Qingran and Nangong Xu had anticipated this, and with quick reflexes, they each caught one of them.
Xiao Jie and his wife were helped to lie down on chairs, while Nangong Xu and Yun Qingran began interrogating the people in the kitchen.
"Your Highness, Princess Rongchang, it has nothing to do with us, we didn't know anything!" The head chef knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.
"Then what's the story with these bones? How did they end up in the kitchen?" Nangong Xu asked sternly.
"These bones were placed here last night, and we don't know who put them there. There are three chefs in our kitchen, and we all thought the other put them there, so nobody paid any attention or cared." The head chef was almost in tears. Who knew that this messy pile of bones was human bones?
Next, Nangong Xu interrogated the other two cooks and the other female cooks and other servants.
Yun Qingran then began piecing together the skeleton on the cutting board.
After questioning the people in the kitchen, Nangong Xu's expression grew increasingly grave. He said to Yun Qingran, "It wasn't the people in the kitchen who did it."
"Nangong Xu, don't worry, I think there's a chance this will turn around." Yun Qingran stood beside the cutting board, her fingers tapping lightly on it, her eyes fixed on the skeleton she had pieced together.
Because her mind was completely focused on the skeleton, she casually called out Nangong Xu's full name.
Upon hearing Yun Qingran call his full name, Nangong Xu's deep eyes lit up, like a cluster of white waves rising in a calm deep sea.
"Ranran, do you think there's something wrong with this skeleton?" Nangong Xu asked.
"Hmm." Yun Qingran looked up at Nangong Xu. "Don't you find it strange?"
"The meat is gone," Nangong Xu said, looking at the bare bones.
The bones are fresh, and it's precisely because they're fresh that we suspect they belong to Xiao Shi. But if the bones are fresh, where did the meat go?
“Yes, the meat is gone. But that’s not the key point. The key point is, look at this skeleton. The owner of this skeleton couldn’t have been more than seven feet tall,” Yun Qingran said, looking at the skeleton.
Seven feet is 1.7 meters. Although this skeleton was severely damaged, with many bones missing, Yun Qingran had studied human meridian and skeletal diagrams since childhood. Based on this, it was speculated that the owner of this corpse was less than 1.7 meters tall, around 1.67 or 1.68 meters, and was male.
She had observed Xiao Jie and his wife; both were quite tall, and given their privileged upbringing and excellent nutrition, she deduced that Xiao Shi couldn't possibly be under 1.7 meters tall.
"Are you sure?" Nangong Xu asked hopefully.
He had seen Xiao Shi, and Xiao Shi was definitely taller than seven feet.
"I'm sure," Yun Qingran replied affirmatively.
“In that case, it seems that this skeleton is not Xiao Shi’s, and Xiao Shi is very likely still alive,” Nangong Xu said.
"Is this skeleton really not Shi'er's?" Xiao Jie woke up at some point and rushed over to support Yun Qingran's shoulders.
"Master Xiao, please be careful." Nangong Xu stepped in front of Yun Qingran, blocking Xiao Jie's path.
"I'm sorry, young lady, I didn't mean it." Xiao Jie quickly apologized to Yun Qingran, then asked again, "Is this skeleton really not Shi'er's?"
"Mr. Xiao, how tall is your son?" Yun Qingran asked him.
“Eight feet,” Xiao Jie quickly replied.
“If your son is eight feet tall, then this skeleton is not your son. This skeleton is only seven feet tall, such a huge difference, there shouldn’t be a mistake,” Yun Qingran said to him.
"May God protect us, may God protect us!" After hearing this, Xiao Jie put his hands together and bowed to the heavens.
As long as this skeleton isn't Shi'er, then Shi'er still has a chance to live.
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