It was almost noon when Yang Qing woke up. He could have slept a little longer, but the banging on the door outside the house was really annoying, so he had to get up to see who was disturbing his dream.
"Yang Langjun, are Yang Langjun here?" a woman asked while knocking on the door.
Yang Qing opened the door and saw a young girl with an eager face. She seemed to have seen her before and said doubtfully: "I remember you are from Xiahou Mansion."
The girl looked at Yang Qing's face with doubts and said quickly: "Yang Langjun, I am Mulan, the maid of the Xiahou family. Because there was a missing person in the house last night, my wife specially asked me to come and ask about the banquet last night. guests."
Yang Qing was surprised when he heard that someone was missing, and said anxiously: "This happened unexpectedly. I wonder who in the house is missing?"
Mulan replied: "It's a maid like a maid, named Xinlan. She was serving in the front yard last night. She was wearing light green clothes."
Xiahou's family didn't have many servants, and he went to the banquet early yesterday. The maids were coming and going to prepare the banquet, so he had some impressions of the maid named Xinlan.
Yang Qing pondered for a while and made sure that he had not seen Xinlan after leaving. He said truthfully: "I'm sorry, Miss Mulan, but I haven't seen anyone from your mansion since I left the mansion last night."
A look of disappointment flashed across Mulan's face, but she immediately said calmly: "Mr. Yang, there is no need to worry about it. In this case, I have to go to the next house, so I will leave first."
Yang Qing looked at Mulan's leaving figure and suddenly thought of something. He quickly called her and said, "Mother Mulan, wait a minute. I am also half of the family. The young lady will lead me to see Madam Xiahou. Maybe Yang It can also help.”
After what happened last night, Mulan knew that Yang Langjun was a man of great talent. As Xia Houyue's personal maid, she was well aware of her wife's appreciation for this man. Now that she saw that Yang Qing was willing to help, she was very happy. , and quickly gave a blessing: "Thank you so much, Yang Langjun, for your willingness to help. If my wife knew about it, she would be extremely grateful and happy." After that, he led Yang Qing to Xiahou Mansion, although it was only a few steps away. But along the way, Yang Qing still got a rough understanding of the matter.
It turned out that the guests had almost left last night, and only the Wang family and his son were left at the end. Wang Pu had a conversation with Xia Houyue and took Wang Tong to say goodbye and go home. When Xinlan was cleaning the courtyard, she picked up a jade pendant with the word "王" engraved on it. She remembered that the Wang family and his son happened to pass by the courtyard she was cleaning when they left, so she guessed that it was the jade pendant of the Wang family and his son. After Xia Houyue saw it, it turned out that the jade pendant was worn by Wang Pu for many years. Xia Houyue immediately ordered Xinlan to catch up and return the jade pendant. Probably because everyone in the mansion was too busy and tired yesterday, no one noticed whether Xinlan came back. After dawn, everyone realized that she was not in the mansion, and quickly sent people to the Wang family to inquire. The Wang family was also very confused, and Xinlan did send back the jade pendant. , but it stands to reason that she should have returned home long ago.
Yang Qing felt that what Mulan was telling was just a general idea, and many details were still unknown. It seemed that the only way to make any calculations was to meet Xia Houyue first. Entering the palace gate, passing through the front hall, passing through the atrium, and arriving at the main hall yesterday, Yang Qing had already seen Xia Houyue, who was pacing back and forth anxiously.
"Madam, Yang Langjun is here to help. He didn't see Xinlan last night." Mulan reported to Xia Houyue. Xia Houyue was immediately overjoyed when she saw Yang Qing, and hurriedly came over to greet him. Yang Qing didn't even dare to accept the greeting, but took advantage of the situation to express his intention, which made Xia Houyue couldn't help but thank him.
"According to Madam Xiahou, Xinlan chased her to return the jade pendant at the end of Haishi last night?" Yang Qing asked.
"That's right. Well, it's also my fault. I was too tired last night. After Xinlan went out, I went to rest, but I forgot to ask her if she was back. If I had cared more last night, I'm afraid things wouldn't have turned out like this. Damn it." Xia Houyue blamed herself.
"Ms. Xiahou, don't blame yourself too much. Things in the world are unpredictable. The most urgent task now is to find Xinlan as soon as possible." Yang Qing comforted him, and then asked: "Forgive Yang for being presumptuous, I don't know how valuable Xinlan is. How is the treatment in the government? Do you have any thoughts of leaving that are not as good as you expected?"
Xiahou Yue listened to Yang Qing's question and already knew what he meant. If the Xiahou Mansion was unfair, suppressed, abused, etc., Xinlan might have taken advantage of last night to escape from the Xiahou family. But how could this be? Xia Houyue asked herself that she had always been kind and approachable to the servants in the mansion. After the accident in her family, she regarded them as her own family. Everyone in the mansion had always been there to help each other. Even though there had been verbal disputes among the servants, it was not serious enough to force the maid to run away. situation.
She was about to explain to Yang Qing, but before she spoke, Mulan on the side couldn't help but said: "My wife has always treated our servants very well, and there has never been any big quarrels between the slaves and I. The master of such a good life The family is rare in the whole of Chengdu, and Xinlan will never leave because she is dissatisfied with the life in the mansion. Yang Langjun, your servant thought that something might have happened to Xinlan."
Yang Qing nodded and said solemnly to Xia Houyue: "I see, Madam Xiahou, it has been about five or six hours since last night that Xinlan has been missing. Everyone has searched all over the nearby streets. No trace has been found, and currently no one among the guests except the Wang family has received news that Xinlan has been seen. I thought that as Mulan just said, Xinlan might have had an accident, so I’d better report it to the official."
Xia Houyue pondered for a while, nodded and said: "Little girl, I understand. Mulan, please go see Zhao Fangzheng immediately and ask him to take you to report to the official immediately."
"Promise, madam." Mulan agreed and went to find Zhao Fangzheng.
"Ms. Xiahou, don't worry too much. No news now is good news. Maybe Xinlan is just trapped somewhere but her life is not in danger for the time being." Yang Qing could not help but feel relieved when he saw that Xiahou Yue still looked worried.
"The slave family understands that there are only a few people in the house, and they are all women. Although I am the master, I have already regarded them as a family. But as Yang Langjun said, no news at the moment is good news." Xia Houyue He said with a forced smile.
He said this, but Yang Qing felt bad about the current situation of the maid named Xinlan. The chance of such a little girl who neither made enemies with others nor often left the house to run away on her own was too small. After all, In this day and age, working in a wealthy family with a kind owner is much more comfortable than wandering around on your own. Since people do not leave voluntarily, the chances of being captured and harmed by others are high.
Yang Qing further made a bold speculation. Could it be that he suddenly encountered a gangster? If so, then the road from Xinlan's delivery of the jade pendant, leaving the Wang family's motorcade to Xiahou Mansion should be strictly investigated. It is very likely to find some clues. In addition, it seems that everyone in the Wang family is the last to come into contact with Xinlan. Their suspicion seems to be quite high. When the officials come, they will have to ask them to investigate.
"Madam, I have searched the surrounding streets and even Nancheng. I have also asked at the city gate, but I have not found Xinlan's whereabouts." Aunt Gu, who had just returned, replied to Xia Houyue.
Xia Houyue waved her hand and said feebly: "That's all, let everyone in the government come back. Mulan has already gone to report to the government. Let's wait for the government to deal with the rest of the matter."
