Chapter 65: The Disappearance of the County Lady

On this side, Jun Shuyan was the first to discover that Jun Zijin’s carriage was being dragged away by a crazed horse, galloping off along a fork in the road.

She shouted anxiously: "Stop the carriage, something has happened to the Second Sister."

The coachman hurriedly pulled the reins tight, and the carriage came to a sudden halt. Jun Shuyan could not care about anything else; she lifted her skirt and ran in the direction where Jun Zijin’s carriage had disappeared. She ran while calling out Jun Zijin’s name, her heart burning with anxiety.

Seeing Jun Shuyan run off regardless of everything, Zhou Yiniang was also frantic with worry, terrified that her own daughter might come to harm, and shouted for someone to quickly go and bring the Fourth Young Lady back.

Soon, the news reached Jun Zhengming. Jun Shuyan was also chased back by several maids and nannies. Jun Zhengming called over the coachman, who was still trembling with fright, to question him, and learned that Jun Zijin’s carriage had been attacked.

Jun Zhengming recalled that not long ago, Jun Zijin had also been attacked. Who exactly was so bold as to make things difficult for his Jun family? He looked toward Lady Wu and Jun Yiyi; both wore expressions of worry, and Jun Yiyi’s face even seemed to have tear tracks on it.

Jun Zhengming could not afford to ponder too much; his second daughter had already been abducted, and the several carriages were filled with female relatives—there was no telling what other trouble might arise. A trip to Putuo Temple was no longer possible. Jun Zhengming ordered everyone to turn the carriages around and return to the manor, while he personally led the retainers to search. No matter what, she was his daughter, and furthermore, his opinion of the second girl had changed quite a bit recently. Zhou Yiniang and Jun Shuyan were worried about Jun Zijin’s safety and were unwilling to return to the manor first; Lady Li and Jun Zhidie wanted to watch the spectacle and were also unwilling to leave.

The First Lady and Jun Yiyi exchanged a glance, both seeing triumph and ruthlessness in the other’s eyes. It was done; even if that slut didn't fall to her death, she would be killed by the assassins. According to the news sent from the Wu family, the assassins this time were of a very high rank; she would surely find it hard to escape even with wings. If that slut fell into the hands of those assassins, was ravaged, and then killed, it would be even better—even if she died, she would be reviled by the world. Either way, there was no way she could escape this time.

Jun Zhengming led the group and the accompanying retainers to search along the way. A fork in the road appeared ahead, and both paths had messy carriage wheel tracks. Jun Zhengming’s brows were tightly furrowed; he pondered in his heart, could it be that the abductors intentionally created two paths to confuse them?

Just as Jun Zhengming was about to order the group to split into two teams, Jun Yiyi gently raised her hand, stopping the command that was about to leave Jun Zhengming’s lips, and said softly:

"Father, wait. Although the wheel tracks on both paths appear messy, if you observe carefully, the marks on one path seem deeper and more chaotic, while the other appears slightly shallower."

Upon hearing this, Jun Zhengming’s brows furrowed slightly, and his gaze became sharp. He began to carefully examine the marks on the two paths, nodding to himself, feeling that what Jun Yiyi said was not without reason.

"Yiyi, what do you mean?" Jun Zhengming asked in a deep voice, clearly waiting for Jun Yiyi’s further analysis.

Jun Yiyi smiled slightly and continued:

"I suspect that the Second Sister’s horse was startled and had no sense left, dragging the carriage at a gallop, and with the weight of two people in the carriage, it must be the deeper and more chaotic wheel tracks. As for the path that appears shallower, someone must have intentionally misled us. We should all go search along this path."

After hearing this, a look of admiration flashed in Jun Zhengming’s eyes. He turned to the group and said: "According to Yiyi’s opinion, we shall all continue to pursue along the path with the deep wheel tracks."

However, after searching for the better part of the day, they did not even see a shadow of a person.

Seeing that the sky had darkened, Jun Yiyi’s face turned pale, her brows were tightly knitted, and her lips trembled slightly. She clutched her chest tightly with one hand, her face full of worry, and there were even tears in her eyes.

"What should we do? What if we can't find the Second Sister?"

Her words were full of concern, sounding truly like a sister who cared deeply for her sibling.

The First Lady also wore a look of worry and said gloomily: "To be abducted, and now it’s dark—regardless of whether we find her or not, I fear the Second Girl’s reputation... Sigh, what a pitiful child."

Jun Zhidie pouted and raised her voice to say:

"Even if she is found, what of it? The Second Sister must have been taken by thieves. She is already a broken flower and a wilted willow; who would want her in the future?" Jun Zhidie hoped that everyone in the first branch would meet with misfortune.

Jun Shuyan rolled her eyes:

"Nothing is certain yet, don't talk nonsense. The Second Sister will be fine."

At this time, Jun Shuyan and Zhou Yiniang were standing together. Zhou Yiniang was clutching Jun Shuyan’s hand tightly; she had been terrified when Jun Shuyan chased after Jun Zijin’s carriage earlier. She was afraid that if something went wrong, her own daughter might also come to harm.

"It is obvious she was abducted by thugs. In the middle of the night like this, how could she still be pure? Even if the Second Girl could return safely, who would believe it?" Lady Li shouted.

Lady Li was in a very bad mood today. She had originally thought that since Lady Wu had been demoted to a concubine, she would have the highest status among all the women in the Jun manor, aside from the Old Madam. Although she was only a secondary wife of the Jun family, she was at least a proper wife, not comparable to these concubines. Who knew that before she could even be smug for two days, Lady Wu had turned the tables and was back on top of her.

Lady Wu did not speak today, only following the group to search carefully. Jun Yiyi wiped away a few tears from time to time; the mother and daughter looked as if they were truly concerned for Jun Zijin. And weren't they truly concerned? The mother and daughter had led people to search along the other path according to the news sent by the Wu family—it would be a miracle if they found her. Without news of Jun Zijin, the longer time passed, the more at ease the mother and daughter felt in their hearts.

Seeing that it was getting dark, Jun Zhengming knew these ladies and misses could not stay here any longer. If they hurried, they could still make it back to the city before dark.

Seeing that Jun Zhengming had also lost his direction, Zhou Yiniang could not help but grow anxious.

"Master." She stepped forward. "Let us spread out and search again. We only focused on this path just now, but we haven't searched the mountain forests by the road or the other path!"

Jun Yiyi said with anxious, tearful sobs:

"Zhou Yiniang, but this is the most likely path. The startled horse was running so fast, and there are no cliffs or anything along this road; she must have been dragged far away by the horse. Why don't we search a bit further ahead?"

Jun Yiyi covered her lips and sobbed softly, but her gaze quietly met with the First Lady, who had been quiet all along.

"But there are no more carriage tracks ahead. It seems we have been following the Eldest Sister’s lead the whole way, but Eldest Sister, how can you be so sure that the Second Sister’s carriage definitely took this path? What if it was the other fork? Why don't we go search the other fork?" Jun Shuyan asked urgently.

Just as Jun Yiyi was about to say something, Jun Zhengming gritted his teeth and gave the order: "Split into two teams. One team will search the mountains—do not miss a single corner—and the other will return with me to search the other fork."

The Jun manor group lit up half the hillside with torches, making it as bright as day. They searched for half the night, but unfortunately, in the vast night illuminated by the firelight, there was not even a shadow of Jun Zijin.