The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 636 - 634: Kidnapped

Chapter 636: Chapter 634: Kidnapped

Her face changed instantly; Wang Yongan hadn’t come home in the past two days, and she was already extremely anxious.

When he returned, his body carried the scent of rouge and powder, which immediately put her on high alert.

Following Wang Yongan into the house, she poured him tea while asking, "Official, you haven’t come home in the past two days, and the house lacks a master’s presence. I’ve been very scared—"

Wang Yongan had been fooling around all night and was tormented for half the day due to the effects of the drugs he had taken. When he finally arrived home, he was utterly exhausted and could only think of climbing into bed to get a good sleep.

But Lady Qian was oblivious, incessantly nagging by his side.

Fury surged in Wang Yongan’s heart, and just as he was about to tell Lady Qian to shut up, he heard someone shouting at the courtyard gate, "Is this the Wang Family?"

He immediately sent Lady Qian to check, "You go see who it is?"

With no other choice, she went to open the door.

As soon as the door opened, several disheveled men rushed in: "It’s terrible, the sedan chair has been snatched away—"

Lady Qian was still confused and mumbled groggily, "What sedan chair has been snatched? Who are you people? Why are you running into my house?"

Wang Yongan had just climbed onto the bed when he heard the ruckus outside: a sedan chair, something about being snatched away.

Suddenly, he got a jolt of adrenaline, tumbled out of bed, crushed his broken right hand beneath him, and despite breaking out in cold sweats from the pain, he hurried out: "What sedan chair has been snatched away?"

The head sedan chair carrier grabbed Wang Yongan’s wrist and shook it vigorously, "Official, the person in the sedan chair you hired has been kidnapped—"

"What?" Wang Yongan felt everything go dark before his eyes and nearly passed out.

"What exactly happened?" It took him a while to recover before he pressed for details.

The sob-faced man explained, "Official, it really wasn’t our fault! We were carrying the sedan chair through an alley off the main street when suddenly several men burst out of nowhere, beat us all viciously, and by the time we collected our wits, the lady in the sedan chair was gone!"

Wang Yongan nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, his face ashen, "Then why aren’t you looking for her?"

The man’s face was the picture of helplessness: "This county is so big, where do we start looking? Official, we’ve delivered the message, and see, my brothers and I got hurt too. Shouldn’t you settle our fee and maybe give us a little extra for medical expenses?"

Wang Yongan was on the verge of exploding with rage, "The person was lost on your watch, and I haven’t blamed you for not bringing her back, and now you still want money?"

The head man was also running out of patience, "If it weren’t for this job, why would we brothers get beaten up for nothing? Today, you’re going to pay whether you like it or not! Trying to weasel out of it? Brothers, come in here, someone’s trying to dodge their debts—"

At his call, several burly men surged forward, surrounding Wang Yongan. Each raised their fists, large as bowls, eager to strike.

Wang Yongan immediately backed down. How could these rough men be reasoned with? If pushed to the edge, they would likely resort to violence. At this moment, finding Wang Yongzhu was the most urgent matter.

Impatiently, he took out a piece of Silver Pieces from his purse and threw it to the head man, "This is for you. If you can do me a favor, there will be a generous reward!"

The head man caught the Silver Pieces and instantly smiled, "Please tell us, what do you need our brothers to do?"

"Now, go and search for the girl that was in the sedan chair! Find her, and the reward will be substantial! You must know, this is someone whom the County Magistrate is interested in. If you find her, not only will I reward you, but the County Magistrate will too! But if you can’t find her, I will hold you responsible for her loss. Let’s see how you’ll explain that to the County Magistrate!"

The Sedan Chair Carriers’ faces changed as they quickly nodded and bowed, "We’ll go look for her right away, right away—"

After exchanging looks with each other, they dashed out in a hurry.

Wang Yongan couldn’t sit still either and followed them to the door, but Lady Qian grabbed him, "Official, what’s happened? Which girl?"

Wang Yongan was initially very impatient but on second thought, he grabbed Lady Qian, "You, along with Father and Mother Qian, come with me to search on the streets! We must find my sister and bring her back! I’ve already promised the County Magistrate to deliver the person to the county yamen’s back yard today, if we can’t find her, none of our family will survive! Hurry!"

Upon hearing this, Lady Qian didn’t bother to ask further and hastily went inside to call her father and mother out, and the family hurried out the door, anxious and frantic.

Once outside, everyone was at a loss; where could they find a girl in such a large county city?

Wang Yongan gritted his teeth, "Let’s split up and search. By dusk, whether we find her or not, we’ll all meet back home!"

Wang Yongan had gained Gao Jin’s favor because he was to give Yongzhu to him, and seeing that he was incapacitated, Gao Jin had even given him a few extra hands.

Having spent only half a year in Qi City, Wang Yongan hardly had any people at his disposal, so naturally, he had to rely on the few men Gao Jin had provided.

As soon as they heard it was for the County Magistrate’s sake, the men didn’t dare to decline and swiftly went their separate ways in search of the girl.

But by evening, when darkness fell, there was still no news to be heard.

Wang Yongan returned to the entrance of his household, exhausted, with the men, holding onto the last shred of hope.

Lady Qian and her parents had also been busy all afternoon. As newcomers to Qi City, where could they find connections?

They could only ask around on the streets, ending up with dry tongues and blistered feet, yet no useful information was gathered.

It wasn’t until it was almost dark that they hurried home.

Seeing Wang Yongan’s expectant gaze, the three of them shook their heads to indicate they had found no one.

Looking at Wang Yongan’s nearly despairing expression, Father Qian cautiously asked, "Exactly who could boldly kidnap someone in broad daylight? I’m not suggesting anything but with your sister’s strength, who would dare abduct her? Maybe she knocked the Sedan Chair Carrier’s unconscious and ran off by herself?"

A spark flashed in Wang Yongan’s eyes. He was already at his wit’s end, but clinging to the last sliver of hope, he rushed to the inn with his men.

Upon arriving at the inn, he burst in and grabbed an attendant, "Where are the Wang Family’s rooms? Take me to them at once!"

The attendant was startled by Wang Yongan’s appearance. After a glance at the people behind him, his gaze subtly shifted to the Shopkeeper behind the counter.

After getting a nod from the Shopkeeper, the attendant then put on a smile, "Esteemed guest, please follow me."

He led Wang Yongan and his men to the back yard, where the Wang Family’s rooms were silent, without a sound to be heard.

The attendant brought them to the courtyard door and then hurried off.

The rooms were ajar, and Wang Yongan pushed the door open to find the Wang Family members lying unconscious on the kang.