The servant recognized the newcomer as the Third Sister of Tianxiang Pavilion at a glance. Because of Princess Heyue's matter, the waiters and manager of Tianxiang Pavilion were all familiar with her. Seeing her hurried steps, the two of them could tell at a glance that the Third Sister must have something on her mind. They nodded to each other and went to greet her.
"Is the Duke at home?" Third Sister asked as she saw the servant approaching, continuing to walk forward as she spoke.
Upon hearing this, the servant hurriedly explained, "Third Sister, the Duke and his wife have gone to the mountains to relax and won't be back for a few days."
Upon hearing this, Third Sister's heart nearly jumped out of her throat. The scene before her blurred for a moment, and she stumbled, almost falling.
She could only feign composure and mutter softly, "This is truly a case of misfortunes never coming singly; they're not even at home now."
Although Third Sister was muttering to herself, the servant beside her could tell that something must have happened.
"Third Sister, what's wrong? Did something happen at Tianxiang Tower?" Another doorman came forward to ask when he saw the situation.
Third Sister shook her head in denial, and stammered, "No...it's nothing."
After she finished speaking, she staggered and prepared to walk back, but suddenly remembered something and turned around sharply, instructing, "Young man, please let me know when the Duke returns, and I will come over then."
"Alright, Third Sister, take care on your journey." The two servants replied, exchanged a glance, and then watched her leave the Duke's mansion.
Third Sister's departing figure was hurried, yet her steps were unsteady, and she even nearly bumped into a nearby stall, indicating that something serious must have happened.
"I'll stay here and guard this place. You go and find someone to tell the Duke." The servant on the left said, then directed the servant on the right to go and find someone.
"I'll go myself." The servant knew the matter was of great importance and feared that his subordinates might not understand its significance, so he decided to go himself.
Third Sister didn't know how she got back to Tianxiang Tower. She only remembered being in a daze the whole way, and now she really had no other choice. As soon as she arrived at the door, she sat down on the steps in front of the door.
"It's all my fault, I didn't keep a close eye on Qianqian." Third Sister cried out in distress, unable to hold back her self-blame, and grabbed her hair tightly with both hands.
At that moment, Zhao Ping happened to be guarding the door. Upon seeing this, he rushed out and helped San Niang up. As he led her toward Tianxiang Tower, he comforted her, saying, "San Niang, this can't all be blamed on you. We all share responsibility. After all, no one expected something like this to happen."
"Yes, Third Sister, good people are always protected by heaven. Qianqian will definitely be alright." Hearing Zhao Ping's words, the second brother also stepped forward to offer some words of advice.
Everyone chimed in, which actually calmed Third Sister down. She patted her face to clear her head, then beckoned everyone to come closer. Seeing Third Sister like this, everyone quickly gathered around to try and come up with a solution.
"If we still can't find it, we'll probably have to hand over the land deed."
"Will they release them if I hand them over?"
"I don't know, but if we don't hand it over, Qianqian will definitely die."
...
Third Sister cried her heart out, which temporarily relieved the unease in her heart. Now that she had cried enough and wiped away her tears, it was time to move forward.
After all, even if she cried for many more days, Qianqian wouldn't just appear out of thin air.
After listening to everyone's words, she silently got up and went to the backyard. She searched through boxes and cabinets for a long time before finally taking out the land deed for Tianxiang Tower. She touched the writing on it, and memories flashed before her eyes like a slideshow. Immediately, tears welled up in San Niang's eyes again.
After much hesitation, she finally gritted her teeth, took the land deed, and went to Xu Mingzhi's current residence to find him.
Xu Mingzhi's mansion this time is really impressive. Putting everything else aside, the two stone lions at the gate alone are enough to make people stop and take a second look. And there are two big characters on the plaque at the gate: Xu Mansion.
It looks like the epitome of luxury.
San Niang steeled herself and stepped forward, forcefully pounding on the gate of the Xu residence.
"Xu Mingzhi, Xu Mingzhi!" Third Sister was always worried that Qianqian would be wronged, so she couldn't help but shout loudly.
However, there was no sound coming from inside. After calling out five or six times, finally some movement came from inside. At this time, Third Sister's face was extremely gloomy.
Xu Mingzhi had actually heard San Niang knocking on the door long ago, but he slowly pushed the door open from inside the room, deliberately taking three steps for every one step, intending to make San Niang wait at the door for a while longer, since he had been treated the same way before at Tianxiang Tower.
The thought of the humiliation and insults he had suffered at the entrance of Tianxiang Tower filled him with rage, and his chest heaved violently.
"Who is it?" Xu Mingzhi walked to the door and called out, pretending not to know anything. But he could naturally recognize San Niang's voice—it was the same as Xu Yuehuai's. Now that he had a rare opportunity, he naturally wanted to make things difficult for San Niang.
Hearing the commotion at the door, San Niang couldn't help but curse inwardly, "That damned Xu Mingzhi, once Qianqian is rescued, I'll make him pay the price."
Although she cursed Xu Mingzhi in her heart, San Niang still had to raise her voice and call out in a low voice, "It's me, San Niang from Tianxiang Tower. Open the door quickly."
"Coming," Xu Mingzhi replied, a cold laugh escaping his lips. He had just reached the front door.
Above the main gate of their Xu residence was a small door, about the size of a head. Xu Mingzhi only opened the small door to speak with Third Sister.
"I have something to tell you, please let me in quickly." Third Sister was already extremely anxious. Now that they were at the Xu residence, Jiang Qianqian must be inside. She had to go and save her, but Xu Mingzhi deliberately opened such a small door.
Xu Mingzhi shouted, "Great!" He then glanced at the dog hole next to the gate, and a plan immediately came to him.
"Then come in," Xu Mingzhi said, crossing his arms to watch the show. He even put his foot on the dog hole in the yard. When San Niang followed his gaze downwards, her face turned ashen with anger.
Third Sister looked shocked, pointing at Xu Mingzhi's nose, her body trembling slightly: "You...you." She was speechless for a moment.
"What do you mean 'you'? I'm telling you to crawl in through the dog hole, you get it?" Xu Mingzhi said, even spitting through the small window in the door. "Pah, you don't know what's good for you."
Third Sister had never suffered such an injustice in her life. She angrily pointed at Xu Mingzhi and said, "Xu Mingzhi, you have to live with your conscience."
"Conscience? Hahaha, I have no conscience." Xu Mingzhi seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world.
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