A Clash of Gods - Chapter 91
Chapter 91 Missing
Yang Ning had a bad feeling since he entered the courtyard. When he kicked the room door open, he hoped that he guessed wrong. Then he came into the room and looked around, to find that Gu Qinghan was not inside.
This room was not big and every corner could be seen. The quilt was put aside on the bed and it was obvious that there was nobody in it.
Although Gu Qinghan was not here, her clothes were beside the bed. Yang Ning looked serious and walked over quickly, reaching out his hand to touch the quilt. It was cold, which meant that Gu Qinghan had left the room long ago.
He looked back and found the two maids standing at the door. Seeing that Gu Qinghan was not in the room, they both looked surprised and scared.
“I ask you. Did the third lady wear these clothes last night?” Yang Ning pointed at those clothes.
A maid replied in a hurry, “Last night we served her when she took a bath and got changed. She changed into these clothes last night.”
Yang Ning’s heart sank.
He was prepared for the worst, but he hoped that it would not be like he imagined. He wished that Gu Qinghan just walked out by herself, but her clothes were here, and it was almost impossible.
Gu Qinghan couldn’t have walked out of this room only with her underwear.
“Did you hear any sound from this room when you guarded in the courtyard last night?” Yang Ning stared at the two maids and asked in a deep voice, “Who came here last night except you two?”
The two maids knelt on the floor and answered with fear, “Your Excellency, the third lady slept early last night, and she blew out the candles in the room. We guarded outside in turns and nobody else came here.” Then they added, “It was quiet in the room all the time. This morning when we called her to have breakfast, she didn’t answer.”
Yang Ning was clear that it is late autumn and it is cold at night. Gu Qinghan couldn’t sleep without a quilt. If she left a short time ago, the quilt must be warm, but now it was ice-cold. It meant that she had left last night.
When he kicked the door open earlier, he felt that it was bolted from inside, so Gu Qinghan couldn’t have left from the door.
He looked around, and the front window was closed and bolted from inside, so she couldn’t have left from this window. Then he walked to the back window, which should be pushed up to open. If it was opened at ordinary times, a stick was needed to put it up. The stick was left on the floor, but the window was not bolted. Yang Ning pushed the window slightly and checked the windowsill carefully, to find that there was fine powder on it. The powder was yellowish. He dipped some with his finger and smelt it. There was a faint aroma, but when he smelt it, he felt a little dizzy.
There was coldness flashing in his eyes.
In an instant, he understood that this powder might be the drug to make people unconscious. The drug powder was left on the windowsill. It was naturally used to drug Gu Qinghan.
Gu Qinghan must have been drugged and become unconscious, and then she was taken away from the back window secretly.
He jumped out from the window and squatted to check the ground. There were footsteps on the dirt behind it. Although they were not deep, he could see them when he checked carefully.
Yang Ning moved forward following the footsteps to search for a while, but the footsteps became more indistinct, and he couldn’t see them in the end, so the clues disappeared.
Yang Ning stayed silent for a moment and then went back to the room. Seeing that the two maids were still there, he ordered, “Tell all people in the house to go to the main hall.”
The maids left in a hurry to call all people in the old house.
Yang Ning searched in the room for a long while but didn’t find other clues. He knew that he should keep calm at this time.
Gu Qinghan had been kidnapped, and what was the purpose? There were many possibilities, but he was sure that such a weird thing had something to do with the old house.
He knew roughly about the Qi family, but this was a huge family, and he knew little about their friends and enemies.
The Qi family had many connections in the army, which was the family’s advantage, but the two marquises were generals on the battlefield and had killed many people, so they had countless enemies. They might have enemies even in Jiangling, although it was regarded as the foundation of the Qi family.
He just hoped that the people kidnapped Gu Qinghan just for money or other interests, not for her beauty. With her character, after she was defiled, even if others didn’t kill her, she would commit suicide.
Since they just kidnapped Gu Qinghan, it meant that her life was not in danger for now. Otherwise, if they wanted to kill her, they didn’t need to make efforts and take her away. They were able to enter the room and take her away, so they could have killed her here easily.
When Yang Ning arrived at the main hall, more than ten people in the old house were waiting for him. The three guards who escorted him to Jiangling stood outside with sabers.
Seeing Yang Ning come in, all people knelt down. He glanced over the crowd. All of them were maids and servants, and only the accountant Zhao Yuan looked special. Yang Ning came to the point, “The third lady is missing. Did any of you see her today?”
All people were stunned. Yang Ning raised his hand to let them get up. After they stood up, they lowered their heads and didn’t dare to speak. He frowned and asked coldly, “I asked you. Did any of you see the third lady today?”
Seeing that the marquis’ heir got angry, all people shook their heads. Wei Dong answered, “Your Excellency, we didn’t see the third lady come out to have breakfast this morning. The people in the kitchen are waiting all the time, and some people guard at the front and back gates. Nobody has seen her go out.”
Yang Ning pondered for a while and his eyes fell on the accountant Zhao Yuan, who was still calm and didn’t look flurried. He asked, “Mr. Zhao, how long have you stayed in the house?”
“Your Excellency, I have managed the accounts in the house for three years.” Zhao Yuan saluted. “Three years ago, when it was the busy time in autumn, and the former accountant was old, Steward Qi asked me to help. I was just an assistant in the first place, but the old accountant was aged, with limited energy, so Steward Qi gave him some money and asked him to go home. Then he told me to take over the job.”
Yang Ning furrowed his brows and responded, “Oh.” Then he asked, “Were you employed by Qi Cheng?”
“Exactly!” Zhao Yuan responded respectfully.
Yang Ning walked slowly to Zhao Yuan and looked him up and down. All people saw the flash of a blade all of a sudden, and a sharp weapon with cold light was close to Zhao Yuan’s throat. Zhao Yuan turned pale with fear and shouted involuntarily, “Your Excellency, you…” The others didn’t expect the marquis’ heir to take actions out of the blue, and all of them were frightened and paled.
Yang Ning expressed indifferently, “I don’t like to talk rubbish. Mr. Zhao, please tell me. Where is the third lady now?”
“The third lady?” Zhao Yuan looked terrified and smiled bitterly. “Your Excellency, I am merely an accountant. I have meals and live near the office and sometimes I might stay in the house for three or five days without going out once. I have been staying inside since last night. If you didn’t summon us, I probably wouldn’t get out today. I am not a fortune-teller, and how can I know where the third lady is?”
Wei Dong explained, “Your Excellency, Mr. Zhao seldom goes out at ordinary times.”
“Mr. Zhao, you really have a wonderful psychological quality.” Yang Ning ignored them and just expressed impassively, “Ordinary people wouldn’t be as calm as you when they are faced with a blade suddenly.”
Zhao Yuan sighed. “Your Excellency, thanks for your praise. If I did something wrong, you can punish me, but…” He looked down and smiled bitterly. “I don’t know what you mean. Do you think that the third lady is missing and it has something to do with me, an accountant?”
“I suddenly think of something strange.” Yang Ning looked into Zhao Yuan’s eyes. “The third lady checked the accounts of these years for almost a whole day yesterday in your office and said that she didn’t find anything wrong in these accounts.”
Zhao Yuan asked, “Am I wrong because I am dutiful?”
Yang Ning stated slowly, “You know that nobody is perfect and it’s impossible that there is nothing wrong in the accounts. The accounts you did are perfect, and even the smart third lady couldn’t find anything wrong. I am in doubt. The Qi family has three thousand families of tenants in the fiefdom and a lot of farmland, and the income and outgo every year are complicated. Although there are two workers in the accountant’s office, you are the only one who is in charge of the accounts. I can hardly believe that only you can do such a good job to deal with the accounts.”
In fact, when Yang Ning heard from Gu Qinghan yesterday that there was nothing wrong in the accounts, he didn’t care in the beginning. Later he thought it was unimaginably queer after pondering over it.
It was not that one shop had two different account books, but it was a complicated account about a large income of money and grain. He did business in the past and even the professional accountant at that era might make mistakes in the accounts. For example, in the Qi family’s big account, it was normal if there was something amiss, but there was nothing wrong, which was weird.
He thought that it was strange in the old house, and Qi Cheng didn’t return last night, which made him more doubtful. Today Gu Qinghan was missing unexpectedly, and he thought it had something to do with the people in the old house.
And Mr. Zhao was one of the people Yang Ning suspected.
Mr. Zhao said he had been working in the old house for only three years and had been employed by Qi Cheng, so Yang Ning thought this man was mysterious and must have a secret background.
Although he just suspected and couldn’t be sure if Gu Qinghan’s sudden disappearance had something to do with Mr. Zhao, he attacked Mr. Zhao all of a sudden and hoped to frighten him so that he could get some information. After all, this was just a weak scholar. When he was under the threat of a blade, he might confess if he really had some secrets.
“Your Excellency, you are wrong!” A loud voice came from outside suddenly and a guard shouted, “Who are you? Stop!”
Yang Ning frowned and saw a big and tall middle-aged man standing outside who was stopped by a guard at the door.
“Master Cheng!” Wei Dong glanced at him and said, “Your Excellency, Master Cheng… Steward Qi has come back!”
Yang Ning didn’t expect Qi Cheng to come back at this hour. He looked cold and stated in a deep voice, “Qi Cheng, come in!”
The middle-aged man came into the hall and saluted Yang Ning. “Your Excellency, nice to meet you!”