Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 404 Missing

Xiren and Cui'er finished their plan and went to their own places. Xiren picked a lot of Aconitum from behind the farm, and returned to her room to mash it into juice, and then found a small porcelain bottle to store it.

In the blink of an eye, it was night, and the two women met again. Cui'er pestered the cook, while Xiren quietly slipped in and mixed all the aconite juice into the wine. Just then, another servant came to urge him, and the cook made a noise for a while, so the servant took two jars of wine and left.

Xiren and Cui'er went to the front again to see that the place was full of people toasting and drinking. Although Jiang Yuhan was born in a poor family, he was very chivalrous and righteous. Since he founded the Rosewood Castle, he has made many friends. Since someone came to surrender, he wanted to make the host and the guest happy.

Xiren hid aside and watched, seeing Jiang Yuhan break the mud seal, drink with the thieves, and then lead Cui'er to the back.

Xiren felt that she could not handle the guard, so she went forward to fight with him. The guard saw her beauty and could not help but covet her. As he was making a move, Cui'er picked up a big stone and smashed it directly at the back of the thief's neck. The thief was only in pain, but did not faint.

Xiren quickly picked up the carrying pole, and the two women worked together to beat the thief hard, and finally knocked him down.

Cui Er saw the thief's head was bleeding and he was about to die. She was immediately terrified. Xiren said, "This kind of thief who robs houses has taken so many lives. You killed him and did a good deed. Don't delay, save the people and escape quickly, or else something bad will happen!"

Cui Er calmed down, and the two girls went into the woodshed. Xiren took out a pair of scissors and untied Baoyu. Baoyu was kidnapped last night and had been tied up all the time. He had not eaten or drunk anything, so even though the ropes were untied, he did not get up for a long time.

When he saw clearly that it was Xiren, Baoyu could not help crying, "I thought I would be killed by the thieves, but I didn't expect that you would save me. Xiren, are you okay now?"

Xiren cried, "How can it be good? Jiang Yuhan despised me for having had an affair with the Second Master, and thought that the Second Master was bullying him. He got tired of me after just one day of marriage, and only sent me to do some menial work as a maid."

Baoyu was stunned and said, "I thought he was a kind man who was gentle and considerate to women, but I didn't expect him to treat you so harshly!"

Xiren said, "He is just a lecherous man. Now he has made friends with bandits. He might be arrested by the government someday. Now that he knows that the robber was Master Bao, Jiang Yuhan said that he would teach Master Bao a lesson later."

Baoyu thought of Xiren's grievances, and his eyes suddenly turned red. He stepped forward and pulled Xiren's hand and said, "It's all my fault. If I had known this, I would never have promised you to Jiang Yuhan."

After a while, Baoyu finally had the strength to stand up. Cui'er kept urging him, and the three of them hurried out of the woodshed to look for the person outside.

At this moment, there was chaos in Zitan Fort. Jiang Yuhan and a group of thieves drank the Caowu wine. They had been poisoned and were vomiting or numb all over. Some of them were convulsing all over and were obviously dying.

The three wanted to take advantage of the chaos to escape, but seeing the crowds coming and going, it was difficult to escape. After the three of them had a discussion, Xiren made up her mind and decided to go all out. She set a fire at the back and then took advantage of the chaos to lead Baoyu and Cui'er out of the Rosewood Castle.

When they got to the official road, Baoyu figured out the direction and wanted to go south back to the capital. Xiren was thinking secretly, "Second Master, you are confused! Those thieves are all riding big horses. If we go south, I'm afraid it will be exactly what they want. They may catch up with us in no time. I think it's better for us to go the other way and go north first, so that we can report to the government when we find them."

Baoyu clasped his hands together and said, "Oh, I was confused, Xiren is more careful. Let's go north now!"

He then turned around and headed north.

Let’s not mention this side for now.

But Li Weijian brought Daiyu and Fengjie back to the capital. Fengjie felt it was not appropriate for her to stay in the mansion for long, so she borrowed a carriage and went home.

Just after taking a short break, a servant from Rongguo Mansion came to invite him in. Li Weijian hurried to Rongguo Mansion and entered Mengpo Residence, where he saw Jia Zheng and Jia Lian wandering around like headless flies.

Seeing Li Weijian, Jia Lian hurried forward and said, "Brother Jian is finally back. The head constable said that after listening to the investigation, he only knew that the thieves went north. If they go further north, they will not be under the jurisdiction of Chang'an County. They said that they must be dealt with by Shuntian Prefecture. Second uncle is very worried, afraid that if he reports to the authorities, those thieves will harm Baoyu's life."

Li Weijian said, "Uncle, you are confused. You can be relaxed on the surface, but you have to be strict in secret. You have to send people to investigate secretly."

Jia Zheng said dejectedly: "What can we do? It is almost nightfall. It is possible that Jia Huan, the evil creature, has already harmed Baoyu!"

Li Weijian consoled him, pointed to a servant, and sent him to Shuntian Prefecture to deliver a letter, and invited the chief of police to conduct a secret investigation.

Just after the incident was dealt with, a servant came running over to report, "Master, Master Huan San is back!"

Jia Zheng was stunned for a moment, then he slammed the table and stood up, "How dare this evil creature come back? Bring us the family rules, and we must punish him today!"

In a moment, a servant handed over a stick, and two more servants brought the drunk Jia Huan in. Jia Huan broke away from the two servants and said angrily, "If the master wants to see me, I will go by myself. Why do you have to do this?" He looked at Jia Zheng and said, "Father, the servants in our family are getting worse and worse!"

Jia Huan followed the thieves to the Red Sand Castle, and kept pestering the leader to act quickly. The thief was overjoyed to get the jade, and was thinking of making a fortune, so how could he be willing to act like this? Jia Huan had no choice but to pester until noon, and when he saw that he could not persuade them, he drank some wine and then returned dejectedly.

Jia Zheng said sternly, "My evil creature, I want to ask you, where have you been these past two days?"

Jia Huan then saw the family law in Jia Zheng's hand, and was immediately frightened and sobered up. He quickly hung his head and said in a muffled voice: "My son...my son's friend is getting married, so I had to go to the wedding."

Jia Lian asked from the side: "Friend? What's your name? Where do you live?"

Jia Huan couldn't come up with a plan for a while, so he said angrily: "Second Brother Lian, are you asking this question to try a thief?"

Jia Zheng could no longer bear it, so he went forward and knocked Jia Huan to the ground with a stick, cursing, "Damn you, you beast! Do you think your plot to murder Baoyu is perfect?"

Jia Huan was startled, and then he started to cry out: "There is no evidence, how can it be said that you are plotting to murder Brother Bao?"

Jia Zheng hit Jia Huan's leg with his stick again, using all his strength, breaking it. Jia Huan screamed in agony, and Jia Zheng said sternly, "Mushu Yue has already escaped, what else do you have to say?"

Jia Huan's mind buzzed. Yesterday was a chaotic day. He rushed to Zitan Fort early in the morning. After a few glasses of wine at noon, he completely forgot about Musk Moon. Jia Huan was hit twice more. He couldn't stand it any longer. Suddenly, a plan came to his mind and he shouted, "Father, please beat me to death. Baoyu is already dead. If you beat me to death, the second branch of Rongguo Mansion will be extinct from now on!"

Jia Zheng staggered when he heard this, and almost fell down. At this moment, Aunt Zhao broke through the obstruction and ran in crying. Seeing that Jia Huan's leg was broken, she immediately threw herself on him, calling him "son" and "meat". She turned her head and looked at Jia Zheng again, saying hatefully: "The master doesn't like us mother and son, just beat me to death too!"

Jia Zheng was furious and shouted, "You thought I didn't dare! I thought you were cunning, but I didn't expect that you would instigate the illegitimate son to murder Baoyu for your own selfish reasons. A good man was seduced by you, an ignorant and stupid woman! Get out of the way, I will kill these two evildoers today!" Jia Lian tried to stop them, but he didn't like Aunt Zhao and her son either, so he stepped aside. Jia Zheng raised his stick and hit Aunt Zhao, knocking her to the ground with just one blow. Then the sticks rained down like raindrops. At first, Aunt Zhao and her son could still scream, but after a while, Jia Huan was silent.

Suddenly, I heard a noise outside.

"Third Miss, the master has instructed that Third Miss is not allowed to come!"

Canglang——

Then Tanchun said, "Back off! If you don't, I'll kill myself!"

As he was talking, he saw Tanchun walking in quickly with a sword at her neck. Jia Zheng was also tired at this moment, panting heavily while leaning on his stick. Seeing Tanchun coming in, Jia Zheng said gloomily, "Tanchun, are you going to stop me too?"

Tanchun dropped her sword, fell to her knees on the ground with a plop, and started crying like rain, but she couldn't utter a word.

How can I say this? If my own mother and brother had done it carefully, it would have been fine, but Sheyue escaped at night. There are witnesses and evidence, and they cannot deny it. Even if relatives hide the truth, it is not more important than reason.

If she didn't come, how could she watch Aunt Zhao and Jia Huan being beaten to death by Jia Zheng? Tanchun cried bitterly and had to look to Li Weijian for help.

After just one look, Li Weijian felt sorry for her. No matter how capable the third sister was, she would be dragged down by such a mother and brother. After a little thought, Li Weijian said, "Uncle, please stop for now."

Jia Zheng looked at Li Weijian, who said, "First, these two people have violated the law, and Shuntian Prefecture will deal with them. It is not appropriate for your uncle to punish them privately. Second, I think Jia Huan just made up a lie to save his life. Baoyu's life or death is unknown now, so we should find him first."

As he was talking, Li Weijian stood up, picked up the teacup on the table, and poured the tea over Jia Huan. Jia Huan woke up faintly, and saw Li Weijian squatting down, asking softly: "Jia Huan, is Baoyu dead or alive? Think about it carefully. If he is dead, the master may beat you to death; if he is still alive, at most he will be sent to Shuntian Prefecture for trial, and then exiled to the Western Regions."

Jia Huan rolled his eyes and glanced at Jia Zheng. He was so frightened that his whole body shook. He cried out, "No, he's not dead... Woohoo, I was just talking nonsense!"

Jia Zheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly asked, "Beast, where is Baoyu now?"

"Rosewood Castle."

After receiving the confirmation, Jia Zheng and Jia Lian heaved a sigh of relief and looked at Li Weijian. Li Weijian then bowed and said, "There is no time to lose. Brother Lian and I will go to Shuntian Prefecture. I have dozens of guards at home, and Brother Lian has also gathered some good people at home. To prevent any trouble, let's go to Zitan Fort to rescue people overnight!"

The troops were divided into two groups. Li Weijian found Wu Haiping and sent him to Shuntian Prefecture to report the news. He then selected a dozen Beishan guards and more than 20 strong servants from Rongguo Mansion. They rode out of the capital and headed straight for Zitan Fort.

After a few dozen miles, they reached the border in just one hour. It was already dark, and they could see flames rising from the Red Sand Fort in the distance. Li Weijian discussed with Jia Lian and Ding Rusong, and immediately sent some people to climb over the wall and open the gate. Then, more than 50 riders, including Shuntian Prefecture officials, rushed into the Red Sand Fort.

The yamen runners raised their muskets high and shouted, "Shuntian Prefecture is arresting the thief. Everyone else, get out of the way!"

The blind men who tried to charge into the hall were shot down by arrows. When they rushed inside, they saw thieves lying all over the hall.

Li Weijian asked a servant about it, and the servant said, "My master was entertaining a friend, but he got poisoned. We just sent someone to the city to get a doctor. Now my master is numb all over and can't reply."

Li Weijian left his servants behind and went inside with the captain and Jia Lian. Jia Lian caught a glimpse of a man and suddenly asked in surprise, "Huh? Isn't this Jiang Yuhan? How did he get here?"

The head of the police found a thief who was vomiting and asked him about it. The thief knew that he could not escape, so he confessed: "The young master of the Jia family is imprisoned in the woodshed at the back."

An officer immediately went to the back to look for him. After a moment, he replied, "Captain, the thief we were guarding was stabbed in the head, and Master Jia who was imprisoned inside is missing. There are only some hemp ropes on the ground!"

The captain was very confused and came to ask Li Weijian for advice. Li Weijian thought about it and ordered: "Put out the fire first, gather all the people in the Rosewood Castle, and check who is missing. Maybe someone rescued him."

After working for an hour, the fire was put out, and everyone in Rosewood Castle was gathered together and counted one by one. Then a maid said, "Hua Zhenzhu and Cui'er are missing."

Jia Lian frowned and said, "Hua Zhenzhu? Why does this name sound familiar?"

Li Weijian rolled his eyes and said, "That's Xiren."

Jia Lian suddenly realized, "It turned out to be Xiren. That's good. Since Xiren rescued Baoyu, she might be on her way to the capital now." Then he wondered, "No, there is only one road to Zitan Fort. We didn't run into anyone when we came here."

Li Weijian said: "Perhaps they were frightened by the large group of troops and hid to one side; or perhaps they were afraid that the bandits would catch up with them, so they simply did not go south."

Seeing that everyone was exhausted, Li Weijian simply ordered them to rest in Zidan Fort first and continue searching again in the morning.

At dawn, Li Weijian sent out his men, one to report the news to the capital, the other to look for Baoyu. But they searched everywhere but could not find any trace of Baoyu.

Li Weijian asked Ming Cui'er where she lived. Just as he was about to send someone to look for her, a servant came with a message: "Master, the mistress said she received a letter from Nanjing. Please return home immediately."

Jinling? A letter from my uncle? Li Weijian's heart skipped a beat. My uncle Li Shouzhong was already in poor health, and he had a big fight with his eldest son Li Xinchong last year. He wrote to me before the New Year saying that he was not feeling well. Could it be that -

Seeing this, Jia Lian said, "Brother Jian, why don't you go back to the capital first? Since Baoyu has escaped, I think we can find him with some effort."

Li Weijian agreed, left some people with Jia Lian, and led his men back to the capital.

Jia Lian followed Li Weijian's advice and went to Cui'er's home. He thought he would come back empty-handed again, but Cui'er actually came back home!

Jia Lian was overjoyed and hurried to ask about Baoyu's whereabouts. Cui'er said, "We hid in a cave last night and agreed to go together to look for the government officials at dawn. But when we woke up in the morning, the two of them were gone, so I had to go back home by myself."

(End of this chapter)