Thinking about the various dangers that might be encountered during the long night, Li Qingchen decided to interrogate Zi Qiao and Miao Xiang, since they must know where Wei Shuwan had gone.
Both maids had heard his voice before, and to prevent them from recognizing him, Li Qingchen lowered his voice and changed his tone: "Where did your young lady go?"
Upon seeing someone arrive, Ziqiao and Miaoxiang shrank into the innermost corner. Now, hearing the visitor ask about Wei Shuwan, they became even more nervous. Ziqiao could only feign ignorance: "Miss, what Miss?"
Seeing that she was pretending to be confused, Li Qingchen didn't bother to beat around the bush and asked directly, "Third Miss Wei, where did Wei Shuwan go?"
Zi Qiao and Miao Xiang were startled again, their faces turning several shades paler in an instant. Although they knew these bandits were after them, they never expected that these people would know their background and that they came from the Wei family.
But this doesn't make sense at all. How could anyone in a bandit's den recognize a member of the Wei family?
"Hurry up and tell us! Do you want to try out all the weapons in the village before you confess?" Yan Sandao, who had always been short-tempered, joined Li Qingchen in intimidating him.
Miao Xiang trembled with fear, and Zi Qiao held her close, seemingly unaware that she was also shaking like a leaf, though her words remained sharp: "I said I don't know, and I don't know. Even if you bring eighty kinds of weapons, you still won't know!"
"You!" Yan Sandao gripped his crescent-shaped broadsword tightly in anger, looking as if he was about to make a real move. Li Qingchen stretched out his long arm and pressed his left hand on the hilt of Yan Sandao's sword, indicating that he did not need to intervene.
Yan Sandao had no choice but to back down and step aside.
"You really won't tell me?" Li Qingchen was unusually good-natured, and his question was not harsh at all.
Zi Qiao turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
“Heh,” Li Qingchen chuckled, “Actually, I knew even if you didn’t say it, that she jumped off the train halfway through, didn’t she?”
"No!" Zi Qiao said, biting her lip nervously.
Li Qingchen noticed all her subtle movements and immediately saw through her lie, thus confirming his suspicion that Wei Shuwan had indeed jumped off the train halfway through the journey.
"Where did you jump off the car? Niujia Village, Jiulipo, or that birch forest?"
When he asked this question, Li Qingchen carefully observed the reaction in Zi Qiao's eyes and found that when the birch forest was mentioned, her eyes flickered and she became obviously nervous.
Li Qingchen nodded: "So it's a birch forest."
After saying that, he turned to leave, but Zi Qiao suddenly became anxious and rushed to the iron fence, gripping the iron bars tightly with both hands: "You want money, don't you? The Wei family has plenty of money. Even if you take a few of our servants to exchange for them, they will definitely satisfy you. Don't hurt my young lady anymore!"
Li Qingchen suddenly stopped, without turning around, but out of curiosity, he wanted to test the two maids beside Wei Shuwan.
"If you were to trade your two little girls' lives for her safety, would you dare?"
Zi Qiao hesitated for only a moment before answering, "I dare!"
However, the volume of her voice was clearly amplified. She turned to look at Miaoxiang, and the little girl, who was trembling uncontrollably, was no longer silent and spoke in unison with her.
Li Qingchen smiled slightly with his back to them. It seemed that the girl was quite good at winning people's hearts.
Even though the two maids answered in this way, Li Qingchen still instructed Yan Sandao, who was standing beside him, "Wake up all the men who are not completely drunk. Search the mountain tonight!"
"yes!"
As Li Qingchen stepped away, Zi Qiao's unwilling shouts came from behind: "If you dare to lay a finger on my young lady, you'll regret it!"
"Go ahead and try to make money, but if you dare to try anything else, be careful, my son-in-law will bring his men to raze your mountain stronghold to the ground tomorrow!"
...
This last sentence piqued Li Qingchen's curiosity, and he stopped and turned around. "Your son-in-law?"
Seeing that he cared, Zi Qiao assumed he was somewhat wary, so she continued her boastful rant: "Yes! How come you don't know? My young lady is the most beautiful woman in Jiangzuo, and the man she's betrothed to is naturally no ordinary person! Teaching you a lesson is a piece of cake!"
"Then who is this extraordinary person?"
"Have you heard of the Prince of Qiaochuan? He's the eldest son of the Prince of Qiaochuan, the future ruler of Qiaochuan! If you dare touch my young lady and make her cuckold the Prince before she's even married into the family, the Prince will lead 100,000 troops to raze your Yandang Mountain to the ground! Leaving not a single one alive!"
Zi Qiao became more and more eloquent as she spoke, while Miao Xiang, who was beside her, grew increasingly uneasy, wondering if such boasting would backfire.
Li Qingchen was completely petrified. He never dreamed that these lackeys would spread rumors about him, right in front of him.
Yan Sandao, however, felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had glimpsed a secret. He secretly rejoiced that he hadn't actually captured that mistress and brought her back to the stronghold today, otherwise, he would have been in deep trouble! If anyone accidentally touched her on the road, wouldn't their hand be chopped off by the young prince?
Anger turned into embarrassment. Li Qingchen remained silent for a moment, then strode away with a dark expression on his face.
After getting away from the stone cell, Li Qingchen instructed Yan Sandao behind him: "Release them all after dawn. If the carriage is still usable, return it to them. If it's broken, give them a new one."
"Oh, and don't forget to have someone bring them some food and drinks tonight."
Since he already knew that his lord was acquainted with those people, Yan Sandao was not surprised when his lord gave these instructions, and simply nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry, my lord. Before we send them down the mountain tomorrow morning, I'll make sure they're well taken care of!" Yan Sandao said, trying to be clever and drawing inferences from one instance to another.
Li Qingchen turned his head and glared at him, but couldn't say anything.
Back at Zhongyi Hall, Yan Sandao summoned Big Beard and said, "Among the people in that cart today was a young woman surnamed Wei. She is still wandering in the mountains. Wake up all the brothers in the village and search the mountains all night. We must find her!"
"Boss, do you have a portrait?"
Yan Sandao frowned and looked at him as if he were an idiot: "Do you think this is a wanted criminal with a portrait? What kind of young lady is wandering around in the mountains in the middle of the night? As long as we see one, we'll bring her back, no, we'll be sure to do it right!"
"Yes, yes, yes!" The bearded man responded repeatedly and was about to go down to do his business, but as soon as he turned around, he suddenly froze.
Then he turned back hesitantly and asked, "Boss, that...that one I just tied up...could it be him?"
Yan Sandao's heart skipped a beat; there was probably no mistake. Wandering alone in the mountains late at night, someone of similar age and good looks—there couldn't be another like him!
He almost took her as his concubine...
Just as he was struggling with how to respond, Li Qingchen, who had heard this, had already come to his side. Before he could speak, he directly asked the bearded man, "Where is he?"
"It's in the empty house on the north side of the village..."
"lead the way!"
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