When they arrived at Liu Xiaobao's house and called out for a long time without a response, they sent someone to climb in and open the door from the inside. Upon entering the house, they found it in disarray. Someone had clearly been drinking there. He Dali stepped forward, sniffed, and noted that the food had already gone sour.
"My lord, judging from the food, someone was drinking here yesterday at noon," he reported.
Hu Fan nodded. "That matches. They were drinking yesterday at noon, and Lei Hongyu entered the county town yesterday afternoon."
Mao You stepped forward again and searched all the rooms, inside and out.
"I think Cui Hongyu was probably just randomly encountered by them, not intentionally targeted."
Wu Fa nodded. Aside from the messy table, there were no signs of disturbance or searching in Liu Xiaobao's home.
Hu Fan nodded. "Go and inquire around. Find out who Liu Xiaobao has been associating with these past few days."
The constables scattered. Before long, they received feedback. Soon, He Dali returned. "My lord, someone said that a couple had visited Liu Xiaobao's home these past few days, and they seemed to be some distant relatives."
"This couple looked quite wealthy. They bought a lot of wine and food every day and came back to enjoy themselves drinking with Liu Xiaobao."
Hearing this, Hu Fan and Mao You were even more baffled. Wealthy friends, a couple? Could they be the ones who kidnapped Cui Hongyu?
These pieces of information thoroughly confused Hu Fan and Mao You.
Back at the county office, Shen Ziyan and Huang Ying were still waiting.
After Hu Fan explained the situation in detail, he said with some difficulty, "The case is complex. I will do my best to solve it. Please give me some time."
Huang Ying and Shen Ziyan, helpless, thanked him and left.
After leaving the county office, Huang Ying held Shen Ziyan's hand. "Sister Ziyan, what should we do next? The longer it drags on, the more I worry about Sister Hongyu..."
Shen Ziyan nodded. "Knowing it's Liu Xiaobao, I naturally have a way."
With that, Shen Ziyan led Huang Ying through a series of turns and finally arrived at Zhao Yi's mansion.
She cupped her fists towards the servant at the gate. "My name is Shen Ziyan. Please inform Master Zhao that I have something important to discuss."
The servant turned and went inside. Before long, Zhao Yi came out with a smile, followed by his steward, Cao Yuanxiang.
"Ah, Miss Shen, your presence graces my humble abode. Please come in."
Shen Ziyan returned the greeting with a smile, nodded to Cao Yuanxiang, and then followed Zhao Yi inside.
They were seated in the reception hall.
Zhao Yi, with a broad smile, ordered tea to be served and said, "Miss Shen, what brings you here? Please, don't hesitate to speak."
Shen Ziyan smiled and nodded. "Patriarch Zhao, as the saying goes, one doesn't visit the temple without a reason. I've encountered a difficult situation today and have come to seek your help."
"Oh, Miss Shen, please don't be so formal. How could I dare not comply with your requests? If I didn't, wouldn't the venerable Nun of the East Sea hang me up and beat me for three days and three nights?"
Shen Ziyan nodded and pointed to Huang Ying. "She is my junior sister. Her name is Huang Ying."
Zhao Yi politely cupped his fists towards Huang Ying in greeting.
"Patriarch Zhao, I wish to find the whereabouts of a person named Liu Xiaobao."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi was taken aback. He turned and looked at his steward, Cao Yuanxiang, who was standing behind him.
Cao Yuanxiang also looked bewildered. "Miss Shen, I have heard of this Liu Xiaobao. He's usually up to no good, stealing and such. But if he has offended you, I will immediately take people to beat him soundly and vent your anger."
Shen Ziyan shook her head. "No, I need to see him urgently to clarify something."
"My sister Cui Hongyu went missing in the county town yesterday, leaving only her carriage. Someone saw Liu Xiaobao conversing with her in the street before she disappeared. When we went to Liu Xiaobao's home, he was nowhere to be found."
Hearing this, Zhao Yi coughed lightly. "Miss Shen, I will do my best in this matter, but..."
"There are no 'buts.' I just want to see Liu Xiaobao."
With that, Shen Ziyan rose and left with Huang Ying.
Zhao Yi followed them out, making grand pronouncements and vowing to do his utmost to find Liu Xiaobao. He saw them off at the gate.
Once they were gone, Zhao Yi turned to Cao Yuanxiang.
"Send people to find this Liu Xiaobao. Who he chose to provoke, of all people, but Shen Ziyan."
Cao Yuanxiang cupped his fists. "I will dispatch people immediately to search for him and try to find his whereabouts as soon as possible."
While they were investigating Liu Xiaobao's whereabouts, a thousand miles away in Jizhou City.
Everything unfolded as Zhu Meng had predicted. As the sun rose high, Ge Zhuang impatiently mustered five thousand troops and sent men to escort the leaders of the Lotus Sect and two others, marching mightily out of the south gate.
Soon, Crown Prince Xiao Jingyun received news that Ge Zhuang was outside, challenging the enemy and claiming to have captured spies they had sent.
Xiao Jingyun was utterly confused. He hadn't sent anyone. To ascertain the truth, Xiao Jingyun personally led five thousand troops, along with Liu Rumei, Princess Zhaoning, and others, to meet the enemy.
Seeing Crown Prince Xiao Jingyun emerge, Ge Zhuang pointed and shouted, "Xiao Jingyun, you are truly despicable! You sent someone to kill my elder brother and took his head. Are you worthy of being the Crown Prince?"
Xiao Jingyun was stunned by the insult and looked at the generals beside him.
Princess Zhaoning, seeing her brother's gaze, quickly lowered her head with a blush.
Seeing her expression, Xiao Jingyun understood that his sister had likely caused trouble again. However, facing the enemy, he had to maintain composure.
"Ge Zhuang, do not slander me! This prince has never sent anyone to harm your elder brother."
"Xiao Jingyun, you still intend to deny it? Look at who they are!"
As he spoke, Ge Zhuang waved his hand, and three horses were brought forward from behind him.
Tied to the horses were the Lotus Sect leader, Xiao Han, and the little girl.
Seeing these three, Crown Prince Xiao Jingyun's heart sank. He didn't care about the life or death of the Lotus Sect leader Tang Lianhua or Chu Han. However, he couldn't ignore the little girl's fate. She was the granddaughter of the old Prime Minister. If anything happened to her, how could he explain it to the old Prime Minister upon his return?
Liu Rumei, standing beside him, was even more anxious. She urged her warhorse forward and came to Xiao Jingyun's side. "Let me go and snatch them back. The little girl must not be harmed in any way!"
At this moment, Princess Zhaoning's heart was also in a flutter. No wonder her master hadn't had any news for two days. It seemed their plan had failed.
Of course, she knew she absolutely couldn't speak at this moment. Any word from her would surely make things worse.
Seeing Xiao Jingyun remain silent, Ge Zhuang became even more smug and shouted again, "Now you have nothing to say, do you?"
"Xiao Jingyun, if you are sensible, you will hand over my elder brother's head. I will kill only one of these three in his stead. If you refuse, then all three will die to pay the price."
Hearing his shouts, Zhu Meng and Zhang Liao on the city walls exchanged glances and couldn't help but smile.