Chapter 123: Simultaneous Disappearance

  Gao Lidaren's eyebrows jumped, thinking that Wang Ye was indeed a god-like strategist. This Qi Fugui was really a wooden brain and didn't even know how he made his fortune, yet he couldn't even see through such a small matter.

  Gao Liren smiled and said with a rather profound tone, "Old Master Qi, the King didn't mean to have you form an alliance with the Qin family through marriage. The King only said that although the Qin family is not as wealthy as the four major families, they are still top-notch in Taizhou, and marrying off the young lady from the mansion would be just about right." As he spoke, his words became increasingly nonchalant, but to Qi Fugui's ears, it was like a wake-up call that suddenly made him come to.

  What kind of person is the king, where can he give orders to him. Some things, of course, can only be understood by intention, not by verbal transmission. If you understand, it's your good fortune, if you don't understand, I'm afraid that in the eyes of the king, even in the eyes of this high-ranking official in front of you, you are just a useless piece of wood!

  Zifugui thought and thought, and sweat was about to come down. Rotten wood can't be carved, but it can be thrown into the fire pit and burned, finally turning into a pile of ashes.

  "Understood, understood." Qi Fugui gritted his teeth and made up his mind to agree to this marriage. He went back and found someone to communicate with the Qin family, letting them take the initiative to propose the engagement!

  At first, Qi Fugui had a lot of opinions about this marriage. The other family was not of high status, nor were they from a literary or military background, but just a merchant with some local fame. He didn't immediately reject it because the other family seemed to have a son who was good at reading books. However, he didn't think that was enough reason to marry his daughter off. Until one day, this nobleman suddenly came to visit, and it turned out that he had heard about the Qin family's intention to form an alliance with him!

  Zifugui is not extremely intelligent, but he's absolutely not a foolish person either. Gao Liren's attitude towards agreeing to this marriage is very obvious from his words and tone, and he also conveyed a message: this matter was instructed by King Qing'an.

  Although he didn't understand the meaning, he still agreed in one breath, but secretly kept an eye on it. He hadn't flatly refused or agreed to the Qin family's matter, just so that today he could investigate and probe into Gao Liren's bottom line. If the other party's attitude wasn't tough, then there was still room for maneuvering. Who wouldn't want their daughter to marry a good family? He didn't want his daughter to only be able to marry into a family like the Qin's, it was still a mediocre marriage! If he could refuse this matter and exchange it for a more powerful family alliance, then the benefits would naturally come rolling in for the Qi family. It's just that looking at Gao Liren's attitude now, this matter is absolutely impossible!

  "Excuse me, sir." Qi Fugui turned to leave, but a sudden voice from behind made him jump, and he didn't even notice the handkerchief he had taken out to wipe his sweat fall to the ground.

  "Mr. Qi, your box."

  Qī Fùguì turned back, saw the box on the table, smiled and said: "This was given to High Sir as a gift, where is the reason to take it back? This is High Sir's box." After that, he bowed his hands to High Sir again, turned around and went downstairs.

  In the empty and spacious hall on the first floor, only Zhi Meng was present. Seeing Zhi Fugui coming downstairs, he naturally felt extremely delighted and asked in a soft voice: "Father, how is it?"

  "Go outside and talk."

  Qī Mièng came to his senses and supported Qī Fùguì, who was drunk, out of the back door of Zuì Xiāng Lóu. The two father and son dodged the strong man guarding the gate and slipped into an alley, disappearing from view. Before long, a plain horse carriage emerged from this secluded alley and headed towards Tāizhōu City.

  It was none other than the father and son of the Qi family on this horse-drawn carriage.

  On the carriage, Qifu Gui briefly told Qimeng about Gaoli Ren's attitude. Qimeng listened and said: "So this marriage is settled?"

  Zi Fugui nodded silently and said: "This must be the prince's intention, but I don't understand why the prince would look at the Qin family with favor."

  Zhi Meng was also thinking about this issue, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't understand it. He simply said: "Father, don't worry too much, as long as it's the king's intention, then it can't be wrong. We just need to follow through with it."

  Zifugui nodded and suddenly asked: "Where is Baozhu?"

  "Today is February 2nd, and there's a flower festival in Taizhou City. My little sister has been begging me to go take a look."

  Zifugui's unintentional frown, another girl's family has arranged a marriage, and she's been making a fuss all day, what's the point of this.

  Zhi Meng knew his father's concerns and hastily said, "Father, rest assured, I've sent someone reliable to follow her. She won't let anything happen to our sister. Besides, although Baozhu can be a bit mischievous at times, she's not unreasonable. By now, she's probably already returned home. Father, please don't worry."

  When he thought of his daughter, Qi Fugui felt a bit of a headache. Perhaps she was spoiled by him and his wife, and her naivety had gone too far. With three older brothers protecting her and being the one who always got her way at home, it's no wonder she couldn't see through the twists and turns outside the door. In comparison, Baochuan was much more reassuring, with a clever mind and elegant manners, making her more suitable to marry into the Chu family than Baozhu. Unfortunately, she was born out of wedlock, and her mother was only a lowly maid, otherwise he wouldn't have been willing to marry her off to the Qin family as a secondary wife...

  Zhi Meng saw that his father didn't say a word, so he knew he wasn't blaming him. No wonder, after his mother had given birth to three sons in a row, they had finally welcomed a daughter, and of course, she was especially doted on.

  The father and son walked in silence, the horse carriage rattling along as it headed back to their resting place, a newly purchased mansion that was somewhat remote, just a small two-story house. Although it was small and simply decorated, time was tight, so being able to buy such an undisturbed place was already good enough; after all, it was much better than having the whole family go live in an inn.

  The carriage had just come to a stop when the servants came out to greet them. A steward-like man hastily welcomed them, "Master, Second Master, you've returned, where's Miss?" There was a hint of longing in his voice.

  "Has Baozhu not returned yet?" Qi Meng was taken aback. What time was it already? She had promised to return early.

  "Go back and say."

  Three people hastily entered the mansion and arrived at a flower hall in the outer house. A young maid brought tea, Qi Fugui picked up the white porcelain celadon covered bowl and took a sip, asking: "Have you, has anyone from Miss's side returned?"

  The housekeeper hastily said: "Master, something's probably happened."

  "Speak clearly." Qi Fugui's current status wasn't entirely due to luck, and although he was anxious about his beloved daughter, he remained calm and composed, as if nothing was wrong.

  "Back to the master, in the afternoon, several people beside the young lady hurried back to the mansion, saying that the young lady had shaken them off and left with her maid. They searched around but didn't find any trace of the young lady. By then it was already late, so they returned to the mansion to see if the young lady had arrived home first. But... " The steward threw up his hands, "I received news and sent out many people, but still no sign of the young lady or her maid. Master, could something have happened to them?"

  Qī Mièng slammed his fist on the table, making a "bang" sound. He regretted not stopping his sister earlier. If something really happened to her, how could he face their mother?

  Zi Baogui thought for a moment, then said to the butler: "Send someone to search thoroughly and draw a portrait of the missing person. Take the portrait to look for them, and also pay attention to whether there are any suspicious people around the house. If you find any clues, notify me immediately."

  "Yes." The housekeeper hastily went off to make arrangements.

  "Dad, who did this?"

  Zi Fu Gui is still uncertain and his family has not received any extortion letters, so it's temporarily unclear who would do such a thing.

  "What about Baoqian?"

  A little maid came forward and said: "The second young lady will be back soon, she's reading a book in the house right now! Is the old master asking for the second young lady to come over and ask questions?"

  Zifugui said: "No need, you can go down now!" There's always one who is at ease.

  Zi Meng waved his hand at the little girl, and she bowed and retreated.

  "Father, are we still going to the Qin family's dinner party?"

  Zi Fugui touched the jade ring on his hand and said softly, "This is a crucial moment, of course, I won't go. Tell someone to take my name card and send a message to the Qin Mansion, saying that I have something important to attend to and will host a banquet to apologize another day."

  This was said extremely politely, almost a bit too humble. Qi Meng knew that he only did so because of the king's face, if not for the king's intention, his father would not have put the Qin family in his eyes, let alone attend their dinner party.

  "The child knows, so he ordered someone to handle it." Qi Meng turned around and left the flower hall, making arrangements.

  Everyone in the Qi household knew that something had happened to Big Miss, and Old Master's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. Second Young Master had a violent temper, and many people were implicated and scolded for no reason. The entire Qi household was shrouded in dark clouds, and all the servants were terrified, afraid of being affected by even the slightest mistake. In the past, making a small mistake would only result in punishment, but now they feared that even a small mistake could be met with Second Young Master's deadly glare.

  The same shadow also hangs over the lower-ranking members of the Qin household.

  On that day, Ruyi and Chunli bought some snacks and returned to the tower yard. They looked around but couldn't see Qindai Xin anywhere. At first, they didn't worry, thinking that Miss was just taking a stroll and there was nothing wrong. But after searching for a while, they still couldn't find any sign of Qindai Xin, so the two of them started to get anxious and quickly reported the matter to Lin Shi.

  Madam Lin ordered people to search everywhere, and the maids, wives, and servants almost turned the Putuo Temple upside down, but they couldn't find Qindai Xin. Madam Lin thought for a moment, then instructed Ruyi to lead the way to the last place where the three of them had met. She was usually meticulous, and soon found the golden melon seed that Qindai Xin had deliberately left in the gap between the green bricks.

  Lin knew that something big had happened and didn't dare to delay, immediately bringing a group of people back to the Qin manor. She first warned everyone not to speak recklessly and to control their tongues, then went to Fang Wanru's courtyard and told her everything from start to finish.

  The two families' darlings have gone missing at the same time!