Chapter 452

Gu Rongjin entered, and under Mu Yuanzhi's anxious and urgent gaze, hastily drank a sip of tea and continued speaking: "The boss of the rendezvous saw the pouch was very valuable, so he didn't dare handle it privately, turned it over to the authorities; I went today to get it back. The pouch has a 'west' character embroidered on it, possibly belonging to Xixi—take a look."

"Let me see." Mu Yuanzhi took the pouch and immediately recognized it: "That's right, I've seen her take it out before!"

"I guessed it would be hers. Yun Jinglou sent people to investigate, but Vermilion Bird Avenue branches off to the south and north of the city; after the fork, heading south or north makes tracking difficult."

"At least we have a clue!" Mu Yuanzhi furrowed her brows, "Given that, Xixi is very likely to have met with trouble..."

"Just our people are limited in number; I don't even have Shuangjiang to command now, so I sent someone to inform Qi Shihuai, asking him to also privately find people to help search." Gu Rongjin said.

"You didn't tell General Ximo?" Mu Yuanzhi asked.

"What good is he? With his intellect, forget it; we're better off searching ourselves." Gu Rongjin said disdainfully.

"Who would abduct Xixi? Could it be a Fusang spy?" Mu Yuanzhi said suspiciously.

"It's possible; General Ximo surrendered to us, and the Fusang folks, having caught their breath, might find it hard to swallow this anger." Gu Rongjin said, "Otherwise, ordinary kidnappers wouldn't dare abduct someone who obviously shouldn't be provoked."

Such people bully the weak and fear the strong, daring only to act against ordinary commoners.

Mu Yuanzhi carefully examined the pouch.

Gu Rongjin saw it and said, "This pouch has been thoroughly cleaned; you won't be able to pull out any clues."

"Indeed, it's a very clean pouch." Mu Yuanzhi turned it over and over but saw no clues left; she stood up and said, "I want to go take a look at Vermilion Bird Avenue."

"Okay, I'll accompany you!"

Leaving the courtyard gate, they ran into Mu Chengcheng head-on.

"Sister, brother-in-law, are you going out?" Mu Chengcheng asked.

"Obviously." Gu Rongjin gave a casual reply.

"Do we still need to wait for you to eat?" Mu Chengcheng asked again.

"We usually like to eat separately in the courtyard; brother, make it simple." Mu Yuanzhi also gave a perfunctory reply.

She didn't want to eat at the same table as Mu Chengcheng, as it would spoil her appetite, so the family of four each ate separately in the courtyard.

As for Mu Chengcheng, he would eat in the dining hall, and each time he had the servants set out tableware for five people.

Consequently, Mu Yuanzhi also heard the servants whispering a few rounds several times.

Fortunately, they usually treat the servants well, so they merely found it strange and didn't gossip.

But Mu Chengcheng also treats the servants well, so Mu Yuanzhi didn't suspect that soon someone would pity him and speak up for him.

Mu Chengcheng's face fell a bit, and he murmured an assent to them.

Mu Yuanzhi had no mind to pay attention to Mu Chengcheng; upon reaching Vermilion Bird Avenue, the daytime thoroughfare was bustling with people coming and going, very lively. Mu Yuanzhi kept her head down along the way, but after so many days, even any traces would have been washed away by the rain two days prior.

"Did you ask the night watchmen?" Mu Yuanzhi suddenly asked Gu Rongjin.

"I did, and he said he once heard the sound of swords and blades, rushed over but saw no one, only a pool of blood on the ground that had been wiped away." Gu Rongjin said.

"Blood?" Mu Yuanzhi is now especially sensitive to blood.

Gu Rongjin certainly knew, and gave a helpless smile: "Don't be jumpy at every shadow."

He pointed to the spot where Mu Yuanzhi was standing, "The night watchman said that's where they found a pool of blood."

Mu Yuanzhi lowered her head again; this spot had already been washed clean by the rain, leaving nothing behind.

"I have a question: if it really is a Fusang spy, I think we should have already gone to threaten General Ximo..."

"Agreed, but who could it be? Surely it couldn't be Mu Chengcheng, who in anger abducted Xixi?" Gu Rongjin said, "If so, he should have captured Qi Shihuai instead, after being scolded bloody by that young lady."

Upon hearing that, Mu Yuanzhi looked at Gu Rongjin, narrowed her eyes: "You make sense."

"Right, so it couldn't be Mu Chengcheng."

"No, I'm saying the first half of your statement makes sense." Mu Yuanzhi said, "Perhaps Xixi discovered his secret, such as the secret of the blood!"

"Wouldn't that be a bit far-fetched? Just because there's a pool of blood on the ground?"

"It's just a speculation; at least it gives us another direction."

At that moment, Yun Jinglou arrived.

"Princess, Prince Consort, what a coincidence—I was just about to look for you." Yun Jinglou laughed.

"Any new news?"

I had been monitoring that group of thugs Mu Chengcheng liked to hire, right? Because I didn't want to startle the snake, I finally managed to catch a lone one and lock him up; he confessed, saying that a few nights ago, they got another job, attacked a woman on Vermilion Bird Avenue, then had Mu Chengcheng play the hero rescuing the beauty, but he said after they finished their act they left, and he doesn't know what happened afterward.

They of course knew Yun Jinglou's methods; whatever could be interrogated out had been interrogated out.

"As expected, it's related to Mu Chengcheng!" Mu Yuanzhi said through gritted teeth.

"My dear wife, you're a genius! You should go to the Imperial Court of Justice; you should be its president!" Gu Rongjin exclaimed, utterly impressed.

Yun Jinglou: ……

"Mu Chengcheng is indeed the prime suspect, no matter the reason; in short, he abducted the person… it's likely more ominous than auspicious." Yun Jinglou said regretfully.

Upon hearing that, Mu Yuanzhi's face darkened.

Indeed, if Xixi truly knew Mu Chengcheng's secret, the chance of him letting her go is very small.

"Just go back and ask him, and you'll know." Gu Rongjin said.

Afraid of startling the snake, haven't you said you already grasped Mu Chengcheng's access routes in Jingcheng? Couldn't we follow the vine to uncover his secret lair? Mu Yuanzhi said to them.

Yun Jinglou: "I'll give it a try; it shouldn't be hard, just afraid we won't have time."

"If Xixi hasn't come to harm, Mu Chengcheng wouldn't be in a hurry; if he has… well, there's nothing to be done." Mu Yuanzhi furrowed her brows tightly.

Although they haven't interacted much, Xixi is a very nice, pure girl; this time, no matter how you say it, being implicated is because of her involvement…

"Little Yuanzhi, you're here again; give Xixi some confidence—people should always think of the good, then luck will come." Gu Rongjin tightened his arms around his wife's shoulders, comforting her.

Mu Yuanzhi's gloomy mood was instantly swept away; she nodded: "That's right, you're right—everything should be thought of positively!"

"Thank you, Official Yun!" Gu Rongjin said with a smile to Yun Jinglou.

"I'm now completely your direct subordinate, yet I'm the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Naval Fleet!" Yun Jinglou complained.

Day after day, I've been running around like a dart agency's escort chief, and now I'm quickly becoming Gu Rongjin's exclusive subordinate.

"What is there to divide between us?" Gu Rongjin said with a smile.