Chapter 193

Chapter 196: Trials and Tribulations (Part 1)

After seeing Mrs. Qiao off, Eleventh Miss returned to the inner chamber and found Lord Xu leaning against the pillow by the window, lost in thought.

She smiled and approached to pour him a cup of tea.

Hearing the movement, Lord Xu was jolted from his thoughts and asked her, "What do you think about sending the child back to our hometown for Xiangyi to look after?"

Eleventh Miss envisioned a sturdy yet kind-hearted woman.

"She used to serve under my mother," she said with a smile. "You must know her well, Lord Xu, and understand her character. Since you think she’s suitable, I’m sure she’ll do well."

Lord Xu stood up. "Let’s go to Mother’s place—we need to discuss this with her."

Eleventh Miss felt it would be better for Lord Xu to discuss this with the elder madam alone. Her presence might make the elder madam uneasy, leading to unnecessary complications.

"Lord Xu, wouldn’t you like to see the child?" she asked. "I heard he hasn’t eaten. I’ve been worried."

Lord Xu hesitated for a moment. "Let’s not. He’ll be sent away in a few days regardless," he said, as if afraid of getting too attached.

In an instant, Eleventh Miss realized.

Bonds are formed through interaction.

Though worried about the child’s well-being, she had merely inquired with Amber and hadn’t visited him herself. In truth, she was also afraid of forming an attachment...

She sighed softly, unable to help herself.

Lord Xu, thinking Eleventh Miss was disappointed in him, hesitated for a moment before saying, "Why not go see him yourself? I’ll go to Mother’s place and discuss this with her."

Eleventh Miss, who had no desire to go, naturally agreed. After seeing Lord Xu off, she was still hesitating about whether to visit the child when Amber rushed in.

Her face pale, she hastily bowed to Eleventh Miss, casting her a meaningful glance. "Madam, Steward Bai sent for you."

Steward Bai had sent for her... Eleventh Miss’s first thought was that something had happened to the child!

She immediately took Amber to the inner chamber.

Amber blurted out, "Master Fengqing is missing!"

Eleventh Miss’s mind went blank, her heart racing. "Explain. What do you mean he’s missing?" Her face turned as pale as paper.

Amber whispered, "I brought some food over, but Master Fengqing was hiding in the corner of the bed and wouldn’t come out no matter how we coaxed him. We managed to bathe him by force, but eating... Later, Sister Dongqing suggested we leave the food on the kang table and all leave, so he would eat on his own. We followed her suggestion, but upon returning later, both Master Fengqing and the food had vanished."

Eleventh Miss breathed a sigh of relief. "Perhaps the child is hiding somewhere, eating." Amber shook her head, her expression anxious. "Steward Bai, Lin Bo, and Zhao Ying all joined the search, but to no avail."

Eleventh Miss suddenly remembered that the person who had bought the child had never been found...

She realized the situation had taken a serious turn.

"Go to the elder madam’s quarters and inform Lord Xu discreetly," Eleventh Miss said with a grave expression, her demeanor commanding, which made Amber shiver. "I’ll go to the Half-Moon Pavilion."

Though Amber didn’t know as much as Eleventh Miss, the fact that a three-year-old child had disappeared from the Half-Moon Pavilion was undeniably eerie.

She nodded repeatedly.

"Take a deep breath. Don’t let anyone notice anything’s wrong," Eleventh Miss instructed Amber, taking a deep breath herself.

The situation had already unfolded, and dwelling on it wouldn’t help. The only thing to do now was to figure out how to handle the aftermath.

With this thought, she immediately felt at ease.

Eleven Miss walked out with an upright posture and Amber, who looked as composed as ever, then asked a young maid to fetch Zhuxiang.

"They’re tidying up at the Crescent Moon Pavilion—let’s go see," she instructed Zhuxiang with a smile.

Zhuxiang, without hesitation, smiled and replied, "I’ve always wanted to take a look. Does Madam want to see it too?"

"Yes!" Eleven Miss chatted with her as she led her and Amber to the back garden. Amber left Eleven Miss at the garden entrance, heading toward the elder madam’s quarters along the narrow path by the building’s windows. Eleven Miss, meanwhile, led Zhuxiang past the Biyi Sluice Pavilion, onto the east-west bluestone walkway, past the Chunyan Pavilion, and along a narrow path beside the hillside.

Zhuxiang, expressionless, noticed thorns jutting out from the path ahead and stepped in front of Eleven Miss. Soon, they came upon a river about ten feet wide, with a red plank bridge half that width spanning it.

This must be the only bridge in the back garden leading to the Crescent Moon Pavilion, as Lv Yun had said.

She turned to steady Eleven Miss, saying, "Madam, watch your step."

Eleven Miss nodded, taking in the three thatched cottages at the foot of the hillside ahead.

Surrounded by towering trees as thick as a person’s arms could reach, the tall fences made of yellow mud and straw, the fields divided into plots, the adobe well platform, and the willow wood windlass were all in place. With some geese, ducks, and chickens, it would truly resemble a small farmhouse.

The two quickly reached the fence gate and were about to call out when a handsome boy of about sixteen or seventeen emerged. Seeing Eleven Miss, he brightened, "Madam, you’re here."

It was Zhao Ying.

Eleven Miss nodded.

Zhao Ying hurried over in a few steps to open the fence gate, "We kept the gate closed because we thought Young Master Fenghen might be hiding somewhere," he explained.

"Better safe than sorry!" Eleven Miss responded, entering the Crescent Moon Pavilion with Zhao Ying.

Unlike the rustic simplicity outside, the thatched cottage featured bluestone floors, glass windows, silk cabinets, and partitions, all furnished with yellow pear wood.

Steward Bai and Lin Bo hurried over to greet her.

Eleven Miss asked seriously, "What areas have you searched?"

Her commanding presence gave Steward Bai and Lin Bo pause. After a moment, Steward Bai replied, "We’ve searched everywhere. We were just about to check the outer courtyard." Before he finished speaking, Dongqing and Binju, with eyes swollen like walnuts, timidly emerged from the eastern room.

"Madam, it’s all our fault," they knelt down in unison, "We didn’t handle the task you entrusted us with properly."

"Get up!" What’s the use of blaming now? The important thing is for everyone to work together to find the person.

Zhuxiang stepped forward to help them up.

Eleven Miss, accompanied by Steward Bai, Lin Bo, and Zhao Ying, inspected the house.

The eastern room was a study, filled with books, a large kang by the window with a square kang table, and a copy of the "Heart Sutra" on the kang table. The western room was a bedroom, with a six-pillar bed made of nanmu, hung with a semi-new stone-colored brocade curtain, a bright blue mattress, and a sapphire blue quilt. Beside the bed was a sandalwood screen, a four-door tall cabinet, a Longquan sword hanging on the wall, and an ancient qin on the long table by the window.

"Where was the child last seen?" she asked.

Dongqing murmured, "He disappeared in the bedroom."

Eleven Miss carefully looked around but found no back door. She asked Zhao Ying, "Besides the fence gate we just came through, is there any other way out?"

Zhao Ying led Eleven Miss out and stood on the steps, pointing to a bluestone path at the foot of the hillside, "This path leads directly to the narrow path of the outer courtyard. Going west from the narrow path, there’s a side gate. Beyond the side gate is the outer courtyard. However, this side gate is usually locked, and only Lin Bo and I have the keys."

As he spoke, he pulled out a copper key strung on a red cord from his collar, "This is mine."

Lin Bo, standing beside him, also hurriedly showed his copper key hanging around his neck to Eleven Miss, "This is mine."

"We just checked, and the key to the corner gate is intact. The mark we left last time is still there, and no one has touched it."

Miss Eleven nodded and entered the house with Lin Bo, Zhao Ying, Bai Steward, and Zhuxiang.

She instructed Zhuxiang, "Go fetch the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Compile a list of all the searched areas to see if there are any omissions. Then divide the areas accordingly, and we'll search again—the child isn't an object; he can move." She then looked at Bai Steward, "This matter will trouble you, Bai Steward. Let it be known that an item is missing in the Half-Moon Pavilion. Please investigate who, besides us, has entered the Half-Moon Pavilion. Report back to me in half an hour. I need to have a clear picture to make arrangements."

Bai Steward noticed that although Miss Eleven spoke softly, she was methodical and clear in her instructions. Even he would have arranged things similarly. He also thought of how the Marquis had relocated his daily essentials to the main house... He bowed and acknowledged, "Yes," then went to investigate the movements of the servants.

Zhuxiang first brewed a cup of hot tea for Miss Eleven, then gathered with Binju, Dongqing, Lin Bo, and Zhao Ying to compile a list of all the searched areas.

"Under the bed, behind the curtains, behind the screen, inside the tall cabinet, under the desk..." It appeared they had left no stone unturned.

Miss Eleven asked Zhao Ying, "Who was in charge of the east room? Who was in charge of the west room? Who was in charge of the hall?"

Zhao Ying replied, "Miss Dongqing and Miss Binju were in charge of the east room. Lin Bo and I took care of the west room. Miss Amber and Bai Steward were in charge of the hall."

"Good. Now, Dongqing and Zhao Ying will oversee the hall, Binju and Zhuxiang will manage the east room, and Lin Bo will attend to the west room. Let's search again."

The six of them chorused their agreement and searched the three rooms again, still coming up empty-handed.

Even with the capable Bai Steward at the helm, the search yielded nothing. This was within Miss Eleven's expectations, but given the gravity of the situation, she couldn't rest easy without conducting another search.

Now, it appeared they had no choice but to await Bai Steward's report.

Everyone was thoroughly disheartened, especially Dongqing and Binju, who looked as if they had been struck by frost—utterly wilted.

After all, it was Dongqing who had proposed the idea, and Binju had agreed. If blame were to be apportioned, they would bear the brunt of it.

Miss Eleven comforted everyone with a smile, "Take a seat and rest for a moment! You've been busy all morning and must be tired." She then instructed Zhuxiang to brew tea for everyone, "To rejuvenate yourselves. We'll conduct another search of the courtyard. No one wishes for such an incident to occur, so we must stay calm and not start assigning blame now, which would only dishearten everyone. If we need to search for someone later, everyone will be afraid of taking responsibility, focusing solely on avoiding errors rather than striving for success, and certainly won't put in their best effort."

Zhuxiang quickly went to brew the tea.

Except for Dongqing and Binju, who still looked miserable, everyone else's expressions lightened slightly.

Miss Eleven's mind, however, did not stop.

She felt that if the child had been kidnapped, the kidnapper wouldn't have gone to the trouble of taking the food as well.

But they had searched everywhere. If he hadn't been kidnapped, could he have flown away...

The thought flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but look up at the roof.

Perhaps to match the simplicity of the thatched cottage, the Half-Moon Pavilion did not have a ceiling but instead exposed the beams and pillars, painted black.

"Lin Bo, Zhao Ying, come with me!"

The two quickly put down their teacups and followed Miss Eleven to the west room where Lord Xu slept.

"Go up and take a look," she pointed to the top of the six-pillar bed with the endless pattern inlaid with nanmu.

The two were startled but said nothing.

Lin Bo quickly brought a stool, and Zhao Ying stepped on it, clinging to the pillar to look up.

"Madam!" He turned his head with a look of joy, "Master Fengqing is up there."