Chapter 311 - 307: Searching for People_1

No matter what, in this life, she would not let go of those who had harmed her.

Han Yueniang, Pei Shixian, and that leading lady Chen Tiantian, she would remember the grudges of today and if they did not pay the price, her life would be in vain.

Yingbao looked around and then walked towards a place that seemed like a village in the distance.

The deeper she went, the autumn insects murmured, and the dew of deep autumn quickly soaked her trouser legs and socks.

Yingbao staggered onto a threshing ground.

There were several stacks of straw here, just enough for her to shelter.

She pulled out some straw bit by bit and hollowed out a cave in the haystack. Yingbao crawled in.

She took a blanket from the cave and wrapped it around her, ate something casually, and then slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

In her dreams, countless scenes flashed by like a revolving lantern, all of which she had never seen before.

However, when she woke up, all traces of those scenes had disappeared.

It was bright outside but the threshing ground was a distance away from the villagers’ houses, so nobody had discovered her yet.

Yingbao packed up her blanket, ate something, and prepared to go out and look around.

Just as she was about to leave, a farm woman came over to pull out some grass. Suddenly, she saw a disheveled little girl in white clothes hiding in the haystack, which gave her a fright.

“My goodness! Where did this little divine child come from?” The woman cried out in surprise and didn’t stop running until she was quite some distance away.

Yingbao scratched her own messy hair, finding a chunk missing, which annoyed her even more.

She tried to speak, but found that she couldn’t make a sound. She was stunned.

Could it be that Pei Shixian had poisoned her mute?

Yingbao frowned, crawled out of the haystack and gesticulated at the farm woman, even shaking her waist card.

On the waist card was engraved with the words “Qinchuan County Medical Department, Yin Yang Department”, and her name was on the back.

The farm woman couldn’t read but she understood the situation and walked over to ask, “Whose child are you? Why are you hiding here?”

Yingbao blinked dejectedly, looking pitifully at the farm woman.

She wanted to find someone who could read to explain her situation and then ask them to send her to the Prefecture City to find her master.

Seeing that Yingbao couldn’t speak, the farm woman showed a look of pity. “So, it turns out to be a mute, no wonder she ended up here.”

The farm woman took a bundle of grass, put it on her back and headed home.

After thinking for a bit, Yingbao followed along.

Soon, the villagers gathered around and fired a barrage of questions at her.

Upon finding out she couldn’t speak, they all shook their heads and sighed, “Poor child, she is mute.”

Yingbao could only shake her waist card again.

Finally, one person came forward, took her waist card and looked at it, “Qinchuan County, Medical Department, Yin Yang Department, Jiang Yingbao, oh, so you’re a medical student from out of town.”

Seeing that this person could read, Yingbao nodded repeatedly and even used a twig to write on the ground for him to see.

“Send me to Prefecture City, reward of ten silver liang.” As he murmured this out, there was an uproar among the surrounding people.

Someone quickly responded, “I have an oxcart at home, I can take you there!”

Another person was unhappy, “I also have an oxcart at my home, you Five-Dog, don’t overstep.” The literate one was his brother. The little master was talking to his brother, it was not yet other people’s turn to interrupt.

In the end, Yingbao sat on an oxcart and slowly headed towards the Prefecture City.

Yesterday, the Prefecture City of Luzhou was in chaos.

All the brothels, tile houses, and docks were forcibly searched. After fruitlessly searching, more than a hundred people stormed into the house of Mr. Yin Yang, Pei Shixian, turning it upside down.

After that, they even severely beat up a few who dared to fight back.

By evening, the gates of the Xiao residence were surrounded by more than a hundred Taoists.

Zhou Wuchang slowly approached the entrance and said to the guard, “Please ask Xiao Yushi to come out and talk.”

The guard, witnessing such a scene, didn’t dare to hesitate and hastily went in to inform the master.

After a short while, Xiao Weizhong appeared. He glanced at the crowd below the steps and asked, “What is the meaning of your visit?”

Zhou Wuchang, clutching his duster, retorted coldly, “Mr. Xiao, you have a lot of audacity, allowing your servant to spirit away my disciple. I have yet to question what you mean by this.”

Xiao Weizhong furrowed his brows, “Master Zhou, what do you mean by this?”

Zhou Wuchang took a step forward, saying sternly: “Your servant Pei Shixian committed an act of public violence, seized my disciple to practice witchcraft. If anything were to happen to my disciple, even if I have to take it to the Jinluan Hall, I will make them pay in blood!”

With that, he waved his hand, and several Taoists dragged over Pei Shixian’s family, tossing them onto the doorstep of the Xiao Residence.

Among them were Pei Shixian’s children and his concubines.

One of them being held by the nurse was the young child born to Han Yueniang.

Xiao Weizhong furrowed his brow: “Master Zhou, have you misunderstood? How could Pei Shixian kidnap your disciple?”

“Someone saw with their own eyes that your servant Pei Shixian was the one who abducted the person. Is Mr. Xiao trying to protect a criminal?” Zhou Wuchang’s face was frosty.

“This…” Xiao Weizhong was somewhat puzzled, “Why would Pei Shixian want to kidnap your disciple?”

Zhou Wuchang: “Mr. Xiao, you should ask your servant.”

Xiao Weizhong: …

He looked at the children of the Pei family, trembling on the ground, and asked, “Pei Senior, where is your father?”

Pei Senior stuttered, “”My father went out early in the morning. We don’t know where he went.”

Xiao Weizhong asked again: “Do you know who he went out with?”

He originally wanted to absolve Pei Shixian a bit, find someone who accompanied him, so he could defend him in the future, but a woman preempted him:

“I know! My husband left the city with the Han family, saying he was going to worship spirits outside the city, and even took her broken pot with him.”

This middle-aged woman was Pei Shixian’s favored concubine, always resenting Han’s superior position as the later arrival yet becoming the lord’s official wife and occupying all the lord’s affection. Even the ‘broken pot’ that she brought along was treated as a loved one by the lord, which was genuinely annoying.

Originally, her son was the eldest son, and he should have inherited all the family property in the future.

As a result, that old man had a whim, married Han with the ceremony of a legal wife, and Han even had a son, occupying the status of the legitimate son.

In this way, the concubine’s son of the Pei family, not to mention inheriting the family business, would not even be allowed to live in the ancestral house after marriage.

“Then do you know where they went out of the city?” Xiao Weizhong’s expression became increasingly solemn.

If his servant really committed such an act of abduction, as a Supervisory History, he wouldn’t fare well either. He estimated that the impeachment files would flood the Emperor’s imperial desk.

The woman shook her head: “I do not know.”

The onlookers around first started whispering, and then started shouting:

“Such a vile person! Is Historian Xiao intending to protect him? Hand him over quickly!”

“Hand over Pei Shixian!”

“Dare to abduct a child! It’s tough for national law to accommodate him!”

Seeing this, Xiao Weizhong’s staff quickly whispered in his ear: “My lord, this matter is no small deal, you need to find out the truth as soon as possible.”

Zhou Wuchang has a very high reputation among the people, and his followers are all over all parts of the country.

Although Xiao Weizhong held a high position, he was helpless in the face of a Taoist like Zhou Wuchang.

With no other choice, he had to order his men to find Pei Shixian, and they must bring him back for questioning.

On the other hand, as soon as Pei Shixian entered the city, he was stopped by the Wei Family guards.

The man leading the guards was acquainted with Pei Shixian. He smiled and looked at the carriage, asking, “Mr. Pei, where are you going?”

Pei Shixian saluted him, “I’m just taking a trip out of the city. Does Steward Feng have any business stopping the carriage?”

Steward Feng smiled slightly: “Of course I have business. Ah, you may not know, Master Zhou’s disciple is missing and he is bringing people to search for the abductor all over the world.”

As he said this, his gaze shifted to the horse carriage: “I don’t know if Mr. Pei has seen it?”