Chapter 699: Kidnapper

At first, Zou Wanshi thought that Zou Minglei was lost. She was still blaming Zou Pingping: "Why did you have to go with me? Your eldest brother is still young, and you left him there alone. He must be scared and running around!"

Zou Pingping knew she was in the wrong, so she didn't dare to retort. She said timidly, "Mom, what should we do now?"

Zou Wan said unhappily, "Whatever I have to do! Of course I have to go find your eldest brother!"

Zou Wanshi was still not satisfied, and she pinched Zou Pingping again, "What are you still standing there for, you little bitch? Why don't you go find her quickly?!"

Zou Pingping didn't dare to say a word. With tears in her eyes, she hurriedly looked around.

However, they searched until dark but still couldn't find any trace of Zou Minglei.

Zou Wan was extremely worried. When she met Zou Pingping, she slapped her anxiously and said, "I'm telling you! If your brother is lost, you can forget about going home!"

Zou Pingping shrank her body and continued to look for Zou Minglei while crying.

She stopped several people and asked them if they had seen a teenager wearing a moon-white gown with bamboo embroidered on the hem.

When the question came to an aunt, the aunt hesitated for a moment and said to Zou Pingping: "But a young man who is quite good-looking but not very polite when speaking?"

The aunt gestured with her eyes: "When the eyes look at people, it looks like this?"

The aunt glanced at Zou Pingping sideways, and she imitated Zou Minglei's aura.

Zou Pingping's eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly as if she had grasped a life-saving straw: "Yes, yes, yes! That's my brother, auntie, have you seen him? Where did he go?"

The aunt sighed and said, "I have seen him before. He asked me to show him the way to the nearest pharmacy. The nearest pharmacy was the official pharmacy on Changyan Road. I showed him the way and he went there by himself. I don't know anything else."

When Zou Pingping heard this, she hurriedly grabbed her aunt's arm and asked repeatedly, "How do we get to the official bus on Changyan Road?"

The aunt was kind-hearted and didn't argue with Zou Pingping. She still pointed the way and Zou Pingping turned around and ran.

The aunt sighed in her heart, these two are really worthy of being siblings, they are exactly the same in nature.

Zou Pingping hurried to the place where she had agreed to meet Zou Wanshi. After waiting for a while, she saw Zou Wanshi coming over, all sweaty.

When Zou Wan saw that Zou Pingping was alone, her expression changed slightly and she was about to scold her again. Zou Pingping hurriedly said, "Mother! We have the whereabouts of my eldest brother! I asked someone and someone said that my eldest brother went to the official residence on Changyan Road!" Zou Pingping pointed in the direction and said, "It's right there."

Zou Wanshi showed some joy on her face: "Then let's hurry over!"

The official residence of Changyan Road was at the innermost part of the alley. When Zou Wanshi and Zou Pingping went there, it was already late and the gatekeeper was locking the door outside.

Zou Wan rushed over and asked the eldest master: "Is this the official residence of Changyan Road?"

The old man responded, "Madam, if you want to buy a servant, please come early tomorrow. We are locked up here today."

Zou Wan said hastily, "I am not here to buy anyone. I am here to look for my son!... My son came here to buy a servant, but he is gone!"

The old man was confused: "What are you talking about? I don't understand."

Zou Pingping hurriedly explained the matter: "My brother came here today to buy a maid, but he never came back. We came here to look for him."

The eldest master said "Oh" and looked at Zou Pingping for a few times: "No, your brother must be younger than you, right? I'm the doorman of this dental shop, and I haven't seen such a big guy coming here today."

Zou Wanshi was anxious when she heard this: "How could this be possible!"

Zou Pingping also said anxiously: "My aunt said that my brother asked her for the address of the Guanya on Changyan Road, and he came here!"

Seeing Zou Wanshi and Zou Pingping entangled with each other, the eldest master became a little impatient: "Just because they come here doesn't mean they have to come to our place. Recently, there are more and more unruly private guards on the road, and there are not many people coming to us, the official guards with formal and guaranteed protection. If such a teenager really came, I would definitely remember him!... Come on, come on, don't bother me to lock the door."

The eldest master waved his hands impatiently, driving away Zou Wanshi and Zou Pingping.

Zou Wanshi and Zou Pingping were pushed aside, and both of them felt a little cold all over.

Zou Pingping shuddered and suddenly said, "Mom, maybe my eldest brother has already gone home?"

Zou Wanshi was shocked: "Yes, it's possible! Maybe your brother changed his mind when he came and went straight home!"

After saying this, the mother and daughter didn't care about anything else and hurried to Zou Mansion.

When we arrived at Zoufu, all the lights were on.

Mr. Zou was getting angry: "What time have you come back?"

Old Madam Zou was also very dissatisfied: "How can you be someone's daughter-in-law like this! You have no manners!"

Zou Wan looked anxiously, and looked around: "Mom, Master, has Minglei come back?"

"Didn't Minglei go out with you guys to buy a maid?" Old Master Zou frowned in shock, "Don't tell me Minglei is missing?!"

When Zou Wan heard that Zou Minglei had not returned home, her last bit of hope was gone. Her legs went weak and she almost fell, still mumbling: "We have been looking for Minglei for the whole afternoon, but there is no sign of him... Others said that he went to the pawnshop, so we went to look for him, and the people there said that they hadn't seen any boy of Minglei's age come in the whole afternoon..."

When Madam Zou heard this, she was extremely anxious: "Then what are you still standing there for! Hurry up and take people out to look for him! The capital is so big, Minglei is only fourteen, it's so cold in the middle of the night, do you want to kill my good grandson?"

There was chaos in Zou Prefecture.

In the end, almost everyone in the Zou Mansion left the house, except for the elderly Madam Zou and the six-year-old youngest son of the Zou family who was in poor health. The rest went out to look for Zou Minglei.

The people in the prefecture searched until midnight (35 o'clock) but still couldn't find Zou Minglei's whereabouts.

Old Madam Zou was so anxious that she fainted. The Zou family rushed to call a doctor, and the noise lasted most of the night.

Finally, the Zou family was left with no other options and had to report the incident to the authorities the next day.

The yamen runner said to Zou Wanshi, "There have been a lot of missing persons cases in the capital recently. I think your son may have been kidnapped."

When Zou Wanshi heard this, she almost fainted.

She had experienced the prosperity of the capital before and knew that many dignitaries liked tender young boys like Zou Minglei the most.

If her son was kidnapped, it would be a disaster!

Zou Pingping burst into tears, cursing as she cried: "You damn kidnapper, I think you deserve to be struck by lightning!"

Zou Wanshi's face was extremely ugly. She felt so bitter listening to her daughter cursing and swearing at her.

After all, the three daughters didn’t know that they had kidnapped other people’s children many years ago…

An idea suddenly crossed Zou Wan's mind:

Is this retribution?

…

Lou Ruhui has been feeling refreshed recently.

Ever since Emperor Jiazheng issued an edict to confer her the title of Fushan Xiangjun, she felt that her luck had improved a lot. In addition, she had completely severed her relationship with Dou Chengsong, and Lou Ruhui completely let it go, feeling relaxed and happy.

She has many friends. She lost contact with many of them due to rumors, but her relationships with the remaining ones have become better and better.

I have tea with this friend today, go shopping with that friend tomorrow, and in my free time I hold a party at home and invite friends to play chuiwan and tumbling pots. It is really a happy time.

On this day she had also made an appointment with Xingxing to go to the bookstore to pick out some new storybooks. At this moment, she was sitting in front of the dressing mirror, being dressed up by her maid, when she saw Qingli, the top maid in her courtyard, hurried into the room.

Lou Ruhui was still a little surprised, because she remembered that Qingli had asked for leave today, saying that he wanted to go home to visit his relatives.

"Why did you come back so soon?" Luo Ruhui asked puzzledly.

Qingli hesitated and said, "My Lord, I have something to tell you."

Lou Ruhui was a little puzzled, but she still asked the maid to leave first and asked Qingli again: "What's wrong?"

Qingli came over and whispered, "My Lord, as soon as I left the mansion today, I was stopped by Master Dou..."

When she heard the word "Dou", Lou Ruhui couldn't help but frowned.

Dou Chengsong?

What does it have to do with him?

Lou Ruhui frowned and said, "I don't want to hear about him."

Qingli whispered, "My Lord, I also told Master Dou the same thing, but Master Dou said that it was a girl called Chu Yaoniang that the young lady knew before, and something happened to her... Master Dou had no choice but to ask the young lady for help."

Lou Ruhui naturally remembered Chu Yaoniang, a lively and lovely girl whom she met when she was still on good terms with Dou Chengsong and she paid someone to repair the roofs of the houses of the common people in the suburbs.

Later, Lou Ruhui asked Qingli to deliver snacks to those children several times.

When she heard that it was Chu Yaoniang's matter, Lou Ruhui no longer cared about the disputes between her and Dou Chengsong: "What happened to Yaoniang?"

Qingli whispered, "I asked Master Dou a few more questions, and he said that Chu Yaoniang was a sensible girl who often helped the family sell firewood on the street to supplement the family income. But two days ago, when she went out to sell firewood, her parents waited for a long time but didn't see their daughter come back... Now the parents of that little sister Chu have fallen ill because of this matter, and Master Dou said that he and the people nearby have been looking for her for two days but couldn't find her. Master Dou knew that Xiangjun was of noble status, so he could only come to ask Xiangjun for help."

Lou Ruhui frowned.

Just at this moment, someone came to report that Princess Fusui had arrived.

Lou Ruhui stood up and said, "I'll go talk to Xingxing first."

Xing Xing came in wearing a cloak. Lou Ruhui stood up to greet her. Before she could say anything, Xing Xing said, "Sister Lou, just now Mr. Dou saw my carriage outside your house and stopped. He told me that the little girl named Chu Yao Niang we met before is missing. He asked me to help find her."

Lou Ruhui was a little surprised and pulled the corner of her mouth: "This Dou Chengsong is really amazing. He was afraid that I would not agree. He pulled Qingli out and persuaded him. He also pulled you and persuaded you when he saw you."

However, Lou Ruhui also cared about Chu Yaoniang. She complained a few words but did not get angry with Dou Chengsong and just ignored the matter.

"Call Dou Chengsong in." Lou Ruhui said helplessly, "We have to ask him what happened first."

Dou Chengsong entered the Marquis of Mingguang's mansion with some reservation.

Lou Ruhui and Xingxing sat in the chairs at the top and invited Dou Chengsong to sit in the guest seat.

Lou Ruhui didn't waste time talking to Dou Chengsong and went straight to the point, asking, "What's going on?"

Dou Chengsong had a complicated look in his eyes and sighed, "Yao Niang went out to sell firewood two days ago and never came back. Her parents went out to look for her and found the firewood basket that Yao Niang had taken out to sell in a small alley, along with a handkerchief that she had been carrying with her. The handkerchief was made by Yao Niang's mother from several pieces of cloth. Yao Niang cherished it very much and would never throw it away... Yao Niang must have been kidnapped!"

Lou Ruhui and Xing Xing looked at each other in bewilderment: "...did they encounter a kidnapper?"

Dou Chengsong stood up and bowed to Lou Ruhui, almost to the ground: "Lord, Princess, you are of noble status and can summon more people. Please help me find the child..."

After a pause, Dou Chengsong continued, "In fact, it's not just that child. In the process of looking for Yao Niang these two days, we also encountered several families whose children were lost. I'm afraid that they were really kidnapped by kidnappers."

Lou Ruhui didn't dwell on her past with Dou Chengsong. She said straightforwardly, "Okay, I'll send someone to look for Yao Niang at the place where she went missing."

Xing Xing also said, "I'll go to the shop and ask my second brother. He's a businessman and knows a lot of people from all walks of life. Maybe he'll know some clues."

Dou Chengsong was overjoyed and bowed to the ground again: "Thank you, my dear, and thank you, my princess!"

Lou Ruhui was not happy to hear this and waved her hand: "Alright, stop talking nonsense. Hurry up. I will assign you a team of well-trained guards. Take them to the place where Yao Niang went missing and search for her thoroughly."

Lou Ruhui thought for a moment and said, "Forget it. I'll go with you and bring more people."

Xing Xing also stood up: "Then I will go to the shop to look for my second brother."

Having said that, Lou Ruhui and Xingxing went out separately.

…

Early in the morning, Zou Wan went to the gate of Duke Xin's mansion and paced back and forth, hoping to try her luck and see if she could meet Yu Mingzhu.

But Yu Mingzhu didn't go out every day. Zou Wanshi waited until the sun was high in the sky, but she didn't see Yu Mingzhu go out. She gradually became a little desperate and begged the doorman: "Can you please tell the eldest lady that Zou Wanshi wants to see her for something?"

The concierge looked Zou Wan up and down and curled his lips: "In the past, many people came to see our eldest daughter, all wanting to get close to her. Don't you think the same way?"

Zou Wan was so anxious that she almost cried: "Brother, please be kind, I really have something urgent to do..."

Zou Wanshi looked as if she was about to kowtow to the gatekeeper.

The concierge was still a little hesitant.

Zou Wanshi suddenly had an idea. She took out a piece of silver from her sleeve and stuffed it into the doorman's hand: "Brother, thank you for your trouble. I'll buy you some tea with these."

The concierge weighed the silver coins and was a little reluctant, but still said reluctantly: "Well, I'll pass it on for you. But I have to make it clear that if the young lady doesn't want to see you, I won't be responsible."