Heaven had blessed thus even though the weather for the next few days was not good, the particular day that Feng An Ning wanted to go out, it was good and the sun was up.
As the sun was warm, it was particularly comfortable when the sunlight shone onto them. However, despite this, Shen Miao still wore a rabbit fur cloak. Even though there was a blazer in the house, it was difficult to protect oneself from winds outside. It would be a troublesome thing if one were to catch a cold with the weather like this.
Early in the morning, Feng An Ning's horse carriage was in front of the doors of the Shen Mansion to pick up Luo Tan and Shen Miao. The Feng family doted on Feng An Ning a lot, so since Feng An Ning had already finished all the classes in Guang Wen Tang, she was unable to stay in the residence and would go out shopping every day. It was just that no matter how big Ding Capital City was, there would be a day when one would finally get bored. Luo Tan's arrival was a joy to Feng An Ning, as she was thrilled to be the one guiding Luo Tan around and searched for new and fresh places for her.
However, as time passed, Feng An Ning could not tolerate it any longer. Luo Tan was indeed a Young Lady from the Luo family, and she did not bother to look at clothing or jewellery shops but kept on heading towards the weapon shops. Once she saw a unique weapon, her eyes sparkled. How would Feng An Ning understand all these? Thus she insisted on bringing Shen Miao along.
Feng An Ning wore a cherry blossom flowered dress with a brocade cloak, making her look extremely bright in winter. These days, her appearance has matured and she was especially pretty. However, when she opened her mouth to speak, the lovely appearance became somewhat arrogant. She lifted the curtain of her horse carriage and said hurriedly, "Wait till one died already. Still would not come up?"
She did not expect that the person standing outside the horse carriage was Shen Qiu.
Shen Qiu sent Shen Miao and Luo Tan out and he knew that Shen Miao had only one friend, Feng An Ning, in Ding Capital City. His memory was still stuck with the little shy young female, but who knew that the one who lifted the curtain was a lively Young Lady.
When the Young Lady saw that it was him, her head shrank and her high-pitched and arrogant voice lowered and softened, " Vice General Shen."
Shen Qiu glanced at Feng An Ning unfathomably and nodded his head as a greeting. He let Shen Miao and Luo Tan up the horse carriage and instructed them to pay attention to safety before leaving. Because this was Feng An Ning's invite, there were a number of the Feng's family's guards that were brought along, Shen Miao and Luo Tan did not bring other guards, as they thought that Feng An Ning would send them back to Shen Mansion afterwards.
After Shen Qiu left, Feng An Ning patted her chest and finally felt relief. It was bizarre as every time Feng An Ning saw Shen Qiu; she would have an instinct of being afraid. Even though Shen Qiu did not criticise her for her temperament, the majestic air of a Vice General was still present. Feng An Ning once again thought about Shen Qiu's appearance just now. After not seeing him for the past two years, Shen Qiu who had been practising for the past two years had become more mature. Even though he was still a warm and gentle Eldest Brother but in the eyes of others, he was awe-inspiring.
Luo Tan asked Feng An Ning, "Ai. Why are you blushing?"
Feng An Ning was startled and quickly touched her cheeks before realising that they were really weirdly hot. She covered up using her hands as fans, "This carriage is stuffy and somewhat hot."
Luo Tan did not doubt her, "It is you that wore too heavily." Then she suddenly thought of something, "An Ning, why are you afraid of Biǎo gēgē?"
"Since when have I been scared of him?" Feng An Ning immediately refuted once she heard Luo Tan's words which shocked Luo Tan.
"Just now, you obviously looked like you were afraid." Luo Tan said, "What is there to be shameful about? But Biǎo gēgē is a very good person and just look fierce on the outside. If you are even scared of Biǎo gēgē, wait till you meet Sa Èrgē, you will then know what a black-faced god is."
Luo Sa was a thousand miles away from Luo Tan, but she had already smeared his name to her 'good friend'. Feng An Ning stressed herself, "I am not afraid of him."
Luo tan said, "Alright. Alright. You are not afraid. Is that alright now?"
Shen Miao, who was observing silently at the side, saw that Feng An Ning's cheeks were flushing up with anger, and her heart suddenly moved.
Because the family of the Supervisor of Attendants stood in the wrong team, Master Feng was implicated. To protect this pearl in his hand, he could only marry her off to a cousin of his family in advance. Who knew that not only that cousin was shabby, after the Feng family declined, he raised a family outside and even had a son. With Feng An Ning's arrogant temperament, how would she be able to tolerate those grievances? She then picked up the scissors and ended in mutual destruction with that external family.
In this lifetime because of Shen Miao meddling, the forces within the Ming Qi's Imperial family were now evenly matched, and Master Feng had not taken his stand. But with the previous life's ending, one could not guarantee that it would not happen again.
Shen Miao did not have any feelings for the Feng family, but if it were Feng An Ning, then she would want to help. Feng An Ning always made her think about Wan Yun and all pitiful people who were implicated by the family clans.
"What are you looking at me for?" Feng An Ning saw Shen Miao staring at her and did not know what she was thinking; thus, she felt that Shen Miao was still thinking about Luo Tan's words. She said exasperatedly, "You also think that I am afraid of your Dàg��?"
Luo Tan laughed behind her sleeves before Shen Miao recovered to her senses and shook her head, "It is not so. Just find that your dress is somewhat unique."
Ordinary females would love to hear others flattering them, and no matter how much anger Feng An Ning has, she was unable to be angry with Shen Miao's words. "Of course. This is the pattern that my Mǔqīn had got people to get for me."
Shen Miao's eyes hung down and she sighed in her heart. Let it be. Everyone had their own fate. One would not be able to eat hot beancurd if one was anxious, thus, some things had to be done slowly.
One had to say that when three of them were shopping around, it was more tiring than two persons. Because Feng An Ning wanted to visit the jewellery and clothing shops, and Luo Tan only wanted to look at weapons, so they had to shop from the West to the East and from the North to the South of the city. Luo Tan and Feng An Ning kept on bickering, and the noise made Shen Miao's head throb. When going out with these two people, it was just like a mother bringing her kids along. In the end, after they argued, they would both tag her at the same time, and said that Shen Miao was 'young but was just like an old woman' and was 'more boring than the monks in the temple'. In the end, Shen Miao could not be bothered about them at all.
This day was exceptionally lively as three Young Ladies were shopping around, and the stuff that they bought filled the carriage that there almost was not any place left. Feng An Ning was, however, feeling proud as every time Shen Miao and Luo Tan liked anything, she would wave her hands, "Buy." If Shen Miao blocked this, it would be feared that Feng An Ning would move the entire jewellery shop back to her residence.
After eating, drinking, and playing, when the sun was almost setting down, everyone also planned to return back to the residence. Because Shen Miao and Luo Tan were invited out by Feng An Ning, it was not convenient to bring too many guards, so Shen Miao did not bring along the Shen Mansion's guards and wanted to take the Feng family's carriage back home. Who knew that when they left the shop and returned to the carriage, Feng An Ning turned over her pouch and became anxious, "The cat-eye hairpin that I just bought is gone."
Feng An Ning had visited all the jewellery shops in Ding Capital City today, and if one were to say what she was satisfied with, it would be the butterfly-shaped cat-eye hairpin. That cat-eye was a transparent and rare blue jewel, making it very beautiful to look at. When Feng An Ning was in the restaurant eating, she took it out to scrutinise with Shen Miao.
Shen Miao said, "Search again. Just now it was in your hands, so how can it disappear?"
Feng An Ning said, "I do not know."
"Still do not go back to look?" Shen Miao said, "You just left, so if it was left behind, the people in the restaurant would have picked it up. I will accompany you to take a look."
Feng An Ning thought about it, "I will go myself and it would be only for a short time. If it cannot be found, then let it be. It is a pity for the money spent. It is difficult to see something that one likes."
Luo Tan was somewhat speechless. Feng An Ning was indeed wealthy. Speaking of which, although the Feng family was wealthy, it was not at this level of squandering. It was nothing more than the Feng family truly loved and doted on Feng An Ning, that there was no shortage of money for her to spend. Thus, that led to Feng An Ning being unable to have any perspective of money that even if something was lost, the first reaction was 'it is difficult to see something that one likes'.
"I will bring a few guards up to take a look." Feng An Ning said, "Wait here for me. I will be right down."
Shen Miao nodded her head. Feng An Ning took almost all the guards, and this was most probably to make a strong point just in case the waiter in the restaurant wanted her possessions; when they saw Feng An Ning's stance, they would be timid about it.
After Feng An Ning left, there was only Luo Tan and Shen Miao left with four guards outside. Luo Tan looked at the skies and said, "When An Ning returns, it would be dark when we return to the residence." She then stretched out lazily, "It is sure tiring today. Tomorrow I am going to be lazy and no one can disturb me."
Shen Miao kept to her silence. Just now someone was still very interested in playing around this happily the next time.
Just as she was thinking, she suddenly heard a guard speaking from the outside, "Shen Xiǎojiě, Luo Xiǎojiě, this subordinate just picked up Xiǎojiě's hairpin."
"Ai." Luo Tan sighed. She opened the curtains and indeed saw that the guard standing outside the horse carriage was holding a shimmering hairpin in his hand. Was this not the cat-eye hairpin that Feng An Ning lost?
Luo Tan frowned, "This An Ning is really careless. The thing fell onto the ground yet she did not realise it."
That guard moved towards the horse carriage two steps when Luo Tan reached her hands out to pick up that hairpin.
Just as she held onto that hairpin, that guard suddenly flung Luo Tan out.
Another guard of the Feng Residence suddenly jumped on to the carriage and pulled the driver down before whipping the horse. When the horse felt the pain, it slammed its hoofs down and started running crazily.
Everything happened so quickly that the other two guards of the Feng Residence were unable to react. When they finally responded, Shen Miao and the horse carriage were already a distance away.
The fortunate thing was that Luo Tan was still in the carriage. She reacted very quickly, thus when that guard tried to fling her out, Luo Tan was already firmly grasping the carriage door and jumped back. This was a period where every second counted; thus the man did not continue struggling with Luo Tan and leapt onto another horse, and headed towards the direction of outside the city.
There were several commoners on the streets, and they were all stunned by that horse who was charging violently. Some of the stalls that were unable to dodge were overturned, but they did not know who was that arrogant. That horse carriage was in great speed, slamming Shen Miao and Luo Tan around inside.
At the crucial moment, Luo Tan still remembered to pull Shen Miao's hand over, "Biǎomèi, do not be afraid. We will jump off the carriage and reveal our identity. There are so many people outside, so we have to take that into consideration."
Shen Miao's heart slightly warmed up. Even though the entire carriage was out of control, she said, "It is too late, look outside."
Luo Tan looked outside the carriage and she was stunned. The familiar streets just now had disappeared. The small alleys were shrewdly twisted around, and there was not a person in sight. One did not know where this road was. Despair suddenly appeared in Luo Tan's heart, as she was only thinking of jumping off the carriage to save their lives but at this moment, there was no one so even if they jump off, they would still be the meat on other's cutting board.
"Do not worry. They should be targeting me, so when it is time, you should feint a faint or try another means to escape. They will not do anything to you." Shen Miao said.
"How could I leave you and escape myself?" Luo Tan grabbed Shen Miao's hand, "At that time, you saved the Luo family in Xiao Chun City, even if I cannot save you, I will not leave you. If we were to die, we would die together."
Shen Miao was somewhat dumbfounded. Now was not the time to be discussing heroic loyalty. She forcefully managed to sit up in the violently moving carriage and whispered in Luo Tan's ear, "Remember, if you succeed in escaping, think of ways to send a letter to Rui Wáng's residence. Just say that there is a transaction to be done and prices will be discussed later."
Luo Tan was blank when she heard this and looked suspiciously at Shen Miao, "How is this related to Rui Wáng? Biǎomèi, you…"
"Do not ask so much." Shen Miao said, "This matter is of great importance, so do not mention the matter of Rui Wáng to anyone else. I only tell you because I trust you."
Luo Tan nodded her head but then shook her head again, "No. I will not leave you alone."
Shen Miao still wanted to say more but that horse carriage suddenly came to a stop and Shen Miao and Luo Tan were unable to react before they crashed against the horse carriage. The curtain was suddenly torn off and a person came in to drag Shen Miao out.
Luo Tan clung onto Shen Miao's thighs, "Biǎomèi." She put in every single effort from her body but even as such, the person outside still dragged Shen Miao away. That person was very angry and kicked Luo Tan.
Even if Luo Tan was trained in martial arts all year round in the Luo family, she was still, after all, a young female. To be kicked that devastatingly, she immediately fell out of the carriage. The 'dong' sound shocked Shen Miao when she heard it.
The remaining guard urged on, "Hurry up, do not be discovered by others."
They directly tore the carriage apart. One of the two persons did not even say anything before stuffing a cloth into Shen Miao's mouth, and tied her hands and legs before making Shen Miao faint and throw her to the back of the horse, making Luo Tan spit fire when she saw those actions. Luo Tan's gaze suddenly landed on a short sword that fell from the horse carriage. Today, after shopping with Feng An Ning at the jewellery store, they also mercifully went to the weapons shop with Luo Tan, and that short sword was bought then. She did not even think about it and grabbed it before heading towards that person.
That person was, however, one that practises martial arts and with a few moves, tossed Luo Tan onto the ground. Luo Tan's gaze suddenly changed and said, "Military family."
This was not an ordinary guard. These few moves were clearly unique to military families. At least these two people were related to the military.
When that person heard Luo Tan's words, he suddenly exposed his viciousness and grabbed the short sword from Luo Tan's hands and slashed her.
Luo Tan leaned over and slowly fell.
The other person urged on, "Do not dally, quickly leave."
That person then threw a knife away and rode another horse. Both of them quickly disappeared into the small alley.
In the gloomy dark alley, there was only a dismantled horse carriage as Luo Tan collapsed onto the ground. A large patch of a red stain gradually spread across her apricot coloured dress, making it look particularly frightening.
Feng An Ning raised her hand and slapped both of the guards.
Both guards suddenly collapsed and kowtowed, "These subordinates were unable to protect the masters, may Xiǎojiě punish."
"Punish?" Feng An Ning did not burst in anger but laughed, "How would I punish you? Beating or by selling you off? What is the use of punishing? Will Shen Miao and Luo Tan return?"
Both guards remained silent. They had tried to catch up with the carriage, but that horse carriage was extremely fast and when they started chasing, there was already a distance. The other party seemed to be prepared and the routes that were taken were all small roads; thus they did not know at the end where they were going.
Feng An Ning almost went crazy. She only just went up to the restaurant to ask the waiter if he had seen her cat-eye hairpin and when she returned, the carriage had disappeared and the surrounding people were all pointing around. After enquiring from the maid, she then realised that someone had stolen her horse carriage.
And in that carriage, Shen Miao and Luo Tan were inside.
After not too long, the two remaining guards returned, but they did not know the whereabouts of the carriage. Feng An Ning looked at the hairpin on the floor that was filled with dust and closed her eyes. Even if she was oblivious typically, she was well aware of things at this moment. Someone has planned and infiltrated into their Feng family's guards, and it was all to kidnap Shen Miao and Luo Tan.
What kind of people Shen Miao and Luo Tan were? One was the Di-daughter of Shen Xin and the other was Luo Xue Yan's blood niece. No matter which one, they were both reputable and famous in Ding Capital City. For someone to even dare to scheme against them, it meant that the other party was willing to take such a risk, and everything bodes ill as there were no positive signs for Shen Miao and Luo Tan.
Thinking till here, Feng An Ning started to tremble. It was her who invited Shen Miao and Luo Tan out to shop in Ding Capital City. It was she who wanted to go up to the restaurant. If she did not return to look for that hairpin, perhaps the few more guards would have been able to defend against those perpetrators. If she had not said that it was inconvenient and agreed to let Shen Miao bring more guards from Shen Manor, there would not be such a setback like this. If she did not invite Shen Miao out, such a thing would not have happened today.
It is her. It is all her fault.
Feng An Ning's body was wavering and when the maid by her side saw it, she jumped in shock and quickly went up to support her, "Xiǎojiě must not blame oneself and harm one's health. Lǎoyé's and Fūrén's heart will ache upon seeing this."
Feng An Ning shook her head and smiled bitterly, "Fùqīn and Mǔqīn's hearts will ache with me like this, so how would Shen Fūrén and General Shen not be like that? Even if they were to kill me, I would not be able to make up for the mistakes I made." With a sullen expression, she burst into tears in the middle of the restaurant, not caring for her identity.
"What happened? Where is Jiao Jiao and Biǎomèi?" She heard a strong sober male voice coming from outside the restaurant. Feng An Ning loosened her hands and saw Shen Qiu striding in, and there was a small group of soldiers following him. Each one had an imposing manner and formidable might that the people in the restaurant could not help but shrink their heads.
Today, Shen Qiu left from work early, and wanted to go back to the residence to ask Shen Miao and Luo Tan to go hunting on another day, but who knew that before he returned back to the residence, he heard his subordinate reported that Shen Miao and Luo Tan went out with Feng An Ning and an incident happened at the restaurant.
Shen Xin and Luo Xue Yan had yet to return to the residence so naturally, they were not aware of this news. When Shen Qiu knew about it, he rushed over without stopping his horse. Who knew that when he reached, he saw the baleful appearance of the restaurant and that usually proud Feng family's Young Lady is in the middle bursting into tears, in a short moment, Shen Qiu had a dreaded feeling to it.
He strode over to Feng An Ning and asked, "What happened?"
Feng An Ning was startled. Shen Qiu stood in front of her and he was tall in stature but was anxious. Suddenly, Feng An Ning became somewhat speechless.
Shen Qiu and Shen Miao had a good relationship and this was a fact that everyone knew of. Shen Qiu was even willing to murder and commit arson for Shen Miao, so what would happen when Shen Qiu knew that Shen Miao was kidnapped by others?
She said with much difficulty, "After shopping, Shen Miao, Luo Tan and I came to eat; when we were done, I returned to the restaurant to find something. Shen Miao and Luo Tan stayed in the horse carriage and traitors infiltrated the Feng Residence's guards. They stole the horse carriage and kidnapped Shen Miao and Luo Tan. My Fùqīn already sent people to secretly inquire but…" Feng An Ning resolutely held her tears back, "Sorry. It is all my fault."
Shen Qiu did not even look at Feng An Ning, but everyone saw him clenching both of his fists tightly, and could almost hear the cracking of the joints.
He took a deep breath and his voice was very calm as he instructed Mo Qing, "Report to the authorities, seal the city and search. The Shen family army is to be dispatched. Take my tally and instruct it down, search throughout the entire city and if the person is found, the Shen family will reward ten thousand of gold."
Ten Thousand Gold! The surrounding people sucked in a lump of cold air.
Feng An Ning was also stunned when she heard this, but when she recovered to her senses she felt even more remorseful in her heart. Shen Qiu did not even blink when he willingly offered ten thousand gold and that meant that in his eyes, Shen Miao was like a treasure, but now Shen Miao's life was uncertain. This must be the meaning of the phrase 'I did not kill Bo Ren but Bo Ren died because of me'. (Bo Ren is a character in Three Kingdoms and this is a phrase to describe regret, remorse and sadness.)
Mo Qing also looked solemn as he turned away to carry out the orders accordingly. Feng An Ning said, "Even though it is easy to seal the city upon reporting to the authorities, but like this, rumours would be raised in Ding Capital City and this would be detrimental to Shen Miao's and Luo Tan's reputation."
Feng An Ning was a female and naturally understood the importance of reputation to a female. Once the matter of Shen Miao and Luo Tan being kidnapped was spread out, others would inevitably be malicious enough to conjecture rumours. Besides, there were enemies of the Shen family in Ding Capital City and they would indeed make use of it.
Shen Qiu said, "Reputation compared to life is not worth a single Wen (aka cent). Even if their reputations are damaged, the Shen family can afford to feed them for life."
He turned away and walked off. Feng An Ning said, "I'm sorry. I am implicated in today's incident. I will definitely pay a visit to apologise one day."
"This matter has nothing to do with you." There was no emotion in Shen Qiu's voice, "Those people were well prepared, and took action even with the knowledge of their backgrounds. Even if it was not you, they would also find an opportunity to take action."
Feng An Ning was a little comforted when she heard this but before she could speak, she heard Shen Qiu's faint words again.
"However, my apologies. When seeing you, I will inevitably be angry so it is ideal for Feng Xiǎojiě not to pay a visit for the time being." (Translator: I hear hearts cracking…)
He did not even turn back as he strode off, leaving Feng An Ning standing alone blankly in the hall.
Outside, Ah Chi asked Shen Qiu, "Shàoyé directly mobilised the Shen family army and not ask Fūrén's and Lǎoyé's opinion?"
"Ask what fart!" Shen Qiu scolded, "How would one have more effort to think about this and that now? With those people daring to take such risks, Jiao Jiao and Biǎomèi are in a dangerous situation. To actually dare to scheme on my Shen family, wait till I catch those people. I will make sure they are mother-f***ing dead." The young and kind-hearted Vice General was no doubt extremely angry at this moment. He flipped up to the horse, "Go to the Administration Office of the Capital. Even if one needs to dig up three feet of the entire capital, the persons have to be found."
The news that the Shen family's Young Lady and Biao Young Lady were kidnapped by evildoers were spread all over Ding Capital City. This was a fact that could not be concealed. Firstly, when Shen Miao and Luo Tan were kidnapped, the commoners surrounding were all looking, and a few also knew of Feng An Ning's identity. The second was that the Administration Office of the Capital, the City Garrison, the Officials at the Government Office, the Shen family army, the Feng family's guards were all activated. With such big movements, it was difficult not to be aware of it.
Everyone all knew that Shen Xin doted on his daughter, but this kind of doting almost turned over the entire Ding capital and scared a number of people. After Luo Xue Yan and Shen Xin knew of the matter after court, they personally brought along people to do a door to door search.
They searched the rest of the night without any intake of water and rice.
When Xie Jing Xing returned from outside, he saw Ji Yu Shu and Gao Yang waiting in the residence. Both of them would usually gather at the Feng Xian Pawnshop because of Gao Yang's particularly sensitive identity, and generally speaking, he would not come to the residence of Prince Rui.
Xie Jing Xing glanced surprisingly at both of them and handed the thing in his hands to Tie Yi. When the white tiger in the courtyard saw him coming in, it pounced jubilantly and fluttered to Xie Jing Xing's feet and bit his trousers affectionately.
Xie Jing Xing bent down to pick the white tiger up and asked, "What is the matter?"
Gao Yang looked at Ji Yu Shu as Ji Yu Shu stared at the white tiger. After staring at it for a moment, he said determinedly, "There is something to inform you of."
"What?" Xie Jing Xing went out of the city alone today, so he really did not know what happened in Ding Capital City.
"Lately, the public security of Ding Capital City is not very good and is in some chaos." Ji Yu Shu scratched his ears and spoke around the matter, "Just today, there was a Gūniáng that went shopping on the streets and was robbed of her horse carriage at the restaurant, even with a number of family guards around. There were two Official families' Gūniáng in the carriage. Till now, the search still came up with nothing."
Xie Jing Xing stared at Ji Yu Shu.
Ji Yu Shu shivered as he felt that his gaze on him was somewhat cold and trembled, "Both Gao Yang and me wanted to warn you. Your beauty is not worse off than those Gūniáng, so you must be careful.
Xie Jing Xing said calmly, "Ji Yu Shu."
"You also know the person I am speaking of. It is the Fifth Shen Gūniáng." Ji Yu Shu quickly said it out and quietly took a step back to hide behind Gao Yan.
There was a moment of silence in the room.
"And the person?" Ji Yu Shu looked blankly at the room. There was only the white tiger that was thrown on the floor, howling in pain.
"Are you stupid?" Gao Yang looked at him coldly.
"Smarter than you." Ji Yu Shu replied.
At the same time, Shen Qiu who was searching within the various parts of the city for Shen Miao heard the news that Luo Tan had been found.
Mo Qing said, "Luo Xiǎojiě soon would not make it."