Sir, I just want to be a salted fish

Chapter 61 Missing
The heavy rain had stopped in the evening, and the temple was quiet at night except for the chirping of cicadas on the trees.

In the middle of the night, when everyone was sleeping, a group of gangsters came quietly. Due to the heavy rain in the afternoon, there were many people staying overnight in the temple's wing. The gangsters inquired one by one, and finally found the wing where the Liu family and others were.

Because Tang Wensong was good at martial arts and often practiced in the military camp, he was more alert when sleeping. As soon as the gangsters entered the compound, Tang Wensong woke up.

He woke up his younger brother, told him not to make any sound, and quickly carried Tang Wenzhu into Liu and Tang Bingyan's room in the dark.

The two accompanying guards had also woken up and rushed to the yard to fight with several gangsters; the other gangsters rushed to Liu and Tang Bingxuan's houses in two groups.

Liu and Tang Bingyan were protected by Tang Wensong, while Tang Bingxuan only had Zhixia by her side. Liu, who was hiding under the bed with her twins, and Tang Wensong, who was fighting with the gangsters, were worried about Tang Bingxuan.

The wing room where the Liu family lived was independent from other courtyards and relatively quiet. The Liu family was very satisfied when they moved in, but now she regrets it.

The fight lasted for about half an hour. Each of the two guards in the yard was slightly injured. They took down several gangsters in the yard. The fight between Tang Wensong and the two gangsters was also coming to an end. He quickly ordered the guards to see how the eldest lady was doing.

Two guards entered Tang Bingxuan's wing. No one was inside, and there was no sign of struggle in the room. The two guards looked pale and hurriedly reported the news to Liu and Tang Wensong.

"Madam, the prince, the eldest lady and Miss Zhixia are not in the house. There is no smell of medicine in the house, and there are no signs of struggle or resistance. I guess that the eldest lady and the two were knocked unconscious and taken away in the chaos."

After the fight, Tang Wensong sat down beside the bed. Mrs. Liu also came out from under the bed with her twins. After hearing the guard's words, several people felt even more worried.

Tang Wensong sent a guard back to report the news. He and another guard took the two gangsters who were still alive to a remote part of the wing to interrogate Tang Bingxuan's whereabouts. The Liu family stayed in the house waiting for the arrival of Duke Rong Guo.

After a bloody fight, everyone was shocked and frightened. Mother Shen reminded Ms. Liu, "Madam, under no circumstances should you leak the news that the eldest lady is missing!"

Mrs. Liu's mind was confused thinking about the disappearance of her eldest daughter. She calmed down after hearing Mother Shen's reminder, "Yes, Xuan'er will get married next year after getting engaged. We must not damage our reputation at this time."

The Liu family sent Shen's mother to explain to the temple that she planned to take her children to stay here for a few more days and not to disturb their peace.

The guard came down the mountain to report the news. Considering the eldest lady's reputation, he tried his best to avoid people all the way, and finally rode to the Duke's Mansion before dawn.

At this time, Duke Rong Guo had just left the morning court and was on duty at the Ministry of War. When the housekeeper heard the news from the escort, he quickly sent someone on horseback to intercept Duke Rong Guo halfway.

The guard knelt in front of Duke Rong and said respectfully: "The Duke, his wife and the prince were attacked at the Great Buddha Temple. Except for the eldest lady and the maid Zhixia, who are missing, everyone else is safe."

After Duke Rong Guo heard that his eldest daughter was missing, he took two steps back before calming down. He ordered his butler Tang Li to block the news from the family and hurriedly rode out of the city with more than a dozen guards.

Duke Rong Guo led people to the wing where the Liu family lived, and Tang Bingyan threw herself into Duke Rong's arms, "Dad, woo woo woo."

Mrs. Liu and Tang Wensong were also very excited when they saw Duke Rong Guo arriving. The backbone was here!
Duke Rong Guo comforted his little daughter with a few words, touched his little son who was rarely silent, looked at his wife Liu, and said in a deep voice: "I'm here, Xuan'er will be fine." Liu and the twins all rushed to Rong. The Duke began to cry in his arms. Duke Rong comforted a few people and looked at his eldest son Tang Wensong.

Tang Wensong quickly informed Duke Rong Guo of the matter in detail, "Father, there are seven gangsters in this group. Three of them restrained two guards. The two fought with their son, and the remaining two entered the eldest sister's house."

The more Tang Wensong talked, the more he felt guilty, "Those two took advantage of the chaos when the three of us had no time to separate, knocked my eldest sister unconscious and kidnapped her. Father, it was me who failed to protect my eldest sister."

Duke Rong Guo looked at his eldest son, who was already sixteen years old. The once high-spirited boy showed a sad and helpless expression, patted Tang Wensong on the shoulder and comforted him: "You have tried your best."

Tang Wensong's eyes were moist and he took a deep breath to suppress his weak emotions, and continued: "Father, my son just went to inquire around the temple. There were many rich and powerful people staying overnight in the entire temple due to the heavy rain yesterday, but only the courtyard where we lived had gangsters come in. , took the eldest sister away again, and the son guessed that this group of people came just for the eldest sister."

The eldest sister is a boudoir woman, and she does not have grudges with anyone on weekdays. According to her temperament, the time she spends having grudges would be worse than sleeping at home. Although there are political enemies in the court, they usually do not affect the children in the family.

"I heard from the guard who came back to report that Xuan'er's maid is also missing?" Rong Guogong continued to ask Tang Wensong.

"Yes, we checked the house. There were no signs of struggle or the smell of drugs. They were probably knocked unconscious and taken away."

Both Rong Guogong and Tang Wensong were a little puzzled. Since the target was Tang Bingxuan, why was the maid also missing? Is there something they don't know about here?

Seeing Rong Guogong looking at the two dying gangsters who were being severely tortured in a remote area of ​​the courtyard, Tang Wensong said again: "These two people have confessed. They are a group of knights who make a living in the world. Someone has offered them a high price to come." A person was kidnapped here, and the details are only known to the two people who took Xuan'er away, and the others are all followers."

"Do they know where Xuan'er was taken?"

"I don't know." Tang Wensong said lowly.

Duke Rong Guo thought for a while and told Tang Wensong, "You will stay in the temple for the next few days and don't go back to your home. In case Xuan'er's matter doesn't get into trouble, these dozen guards will stay behind to protect you."

Duke Rong Guo looked at his wife Liu again, "Madam, Xuan'er's safety is important, and her reputation is equally important. You take the children and suffer here for a few days, and I will go down the mountain and send someone to find Xuan'er."

Mrs. Liu's face was filled with tears, and she nodded heavily, "My lord, you must find Xuan'er back."

Duke Rong Guo patted Ms. Liu on the shoulder and said firmly: "Don't worry."

As early as when Rong Guogong arrived at the foot of Dongyang Mountain, he had sent secret guards who were good at tracking along the road down the mountain from the Great Buddha Temple to secretly search for Tang Bingxuan's whereabouts, but no news had come yet.

After returning home, Duke Rong Guo first went to Songheyuan to tell his wife that the Liu family had sent someone back to spread the news. The mother and son wanted to fast and worship Buddha in the Great Buddha Temple for a few days to show their piety to the Buddha. Then he asked the housekeeper Tang Li to go there. The Ministry of War took a few days off for him, and then stayed in the outer study of the Duke's Mansion waiting for news.

(End of this chapter)