After watching Xia Chunyu walk far away, Ye Jiayao also turns and walks towards the imperial kitchen. Just as she stepped out of the corner gate, she almost collided with a little eunuch who was rushing frantically. Ye Jiayao immediately gave way. That eunuch kept his head low and grazed past her. Ye Jiayao thought that this was just a very ordinary incident and did not even think much of it until she felt a sudden, sharp pain. The only thing that flashed past her mind before she lost consciousness is… oh no.
Lu Yiming has been waiting impatiently for Ye Jiayao. It has been almost an hour past the agreed meeting time and Lu Yiming dared not to cause any delay, instructing the helpers to make preparations while he informed the managing eunuch of the imperial kitchen.
The managing eunuch quickly sent someone to Princess Ah Ruan’s place to look for Ye Jiayao but Princess Ah Ruan said that Ye Jiayao has long set off for the imperial kitchen. The managing eunuch realised that something is not right and quickly reported the incident to the Empress.
The Empress was shocked. How could a living person disappear just like that? Today is the day of the wedding feast. Ye Jin Xuan is the main person in charge. If something untoward happened to her, things would be in a mess.
She orders the managing eunuch to send a search party while she reports the matter personally to the Emperor. This is a serious matter at hand. She cannot stay idle.
Upon receiving the news, Xia Chunyu is in disbelief. Yaoyao was still fine when they parted.
Consort Shu also rushed over upon hearing the news. Everyone was extremely anxious.
“Your Majesty, could Ye Jinxuan’s sudden disappearance have something to do with what happened yesterday? I have already warned her to be more cautious.” Consort Shu guesses.
Her Majesty says “That was just someone who doesn’t know the rules spouting nonsense. Who dares to ruin things at this moment when it is Yu Wang’s wedding day.
Last night, Consort Shu created a huge commotion and the Empress is well aware of who the spearhead is pointing towards. Now that Consort Shu has brought up the topic once again, it is apparent that she wants to guide His Majesty into thinking a certain way.
“But she is indeed missing, how do you explain this? Ye Jinxuan rarely enters the palace and had never made enemies with anyone. Who would want to target her? On top of that, it is directed towards Yu Wang’s wedding…” Consort Shu says, her heart aching.
Eunuch Wei suggests cautiously “Could she be lost?”
Xia Chunyu speaks up powerfully “That would be impossible, my wife has made several trips down the route from Princess Ah Ruan’s place to the imperial kitchen. Besides, my wife has a good memory, the probability of her getting lost is zero.”
His Majesty mutters under his breath for a while before ordering “Xia Chunyu, I order you to put in your full effort to search for Ye Jinxuan. You must find her before the start of the wedding feast.”
Xia Chunyu receives his order solemnly. He is more anxious than anyone else. The rest are afraid that this incident would delay the wedding feast but he is worried about Yaoyao’s safety. Yaoyao must have landed in the hands of somebody and the longer the delay, the more danger she will be in.
According to Xia Chunyu’s analysis, the palace guards all around have not seen Yaoyao exit the palace so, at the very least, she did not leave the palace by herself. Therefore, there is a huge possibility that Yaoyao is being abducted.
Xia Chunyu orders for all people and horse carriages leaving the palace to be searched carefully. He has asked clearly and found out that there were no horse carriages leaving the palace, only entering. Therefore, he can confirm that she is still in the palace. While he orders his men to do a careful search along the route from Princess Ah Ruan’s room to the imperial kitchen, checking if anyone has seen Yaoyao on the way or any suspicious persons. At the same time, he expanded the circle of search, especially remote and quiet places that people do not pay attention to.
It has already been almost two hours since the incident. Xia Chunyu is so anxious he feels like his heart is on fire.
Helian Jing enters the palace slightly late today and upon receiving the news, he rushed over to find Xia Chunyu.
“Brother Chunyu, is there any news of Yaoyao yet?”
Xia Chunyu shakes his head with a grave expression. His men have almost flipped the whole palace upside down but they are still unable to find Yaoyao. It feels as though he has lost her forever. However, he cannot go mad, he cannot lose his cool. He has to maintain a level-headed. Yaoyao is still waiting for him to save her.
Helian Jing consoles “Brother Chunyu, Yaoyao will be alright, we would never let anything happen to her. Even if we have to dig a metre underground, we will find her.”
Back in the Empress Dowager’s palace, Yu De and You are both on tenterhooks. On such a happy occasion, no one would have expected something like this to happen.
The Empress Dowager says in a weird tone “I never supported the idea of having Ye Jinxuan to manage the wedding feast in the first place, look now, something has happened.”
You feels uncomfortable hearing that but she dare not rebut the Empress Dowager.
Yu De smells something fishy “Where on earth did Ye Jinxuan go? Who has the gall to plan to ruin Yu Wang’s wedding feast?”
Liu Li says nonchalantly “Perhaps after hearing the rumours, Second sister-in-law is afraid and is hiding on purpose.”
You shoots Liu Li an unhappy glance. Everyone is feeling uptight now that something has happened to Jinxuan yet Liu Li is making cynical remarks here. This is too unacceptable. She says coldly “Your Second sister-in-law is not a person who doesn’t know her limits and responsibilities.”
The Empress Dowager agrees indifferently “Liu Li has a point there, there is no knowing what is in a man’s heart. Who knows what she is thinking.”
Yu De says “I believe Jinxuan is not such a person. However, whatever we say now are all wild guesses. If we do not find her in time and causes a delay in Yu Wang’s wedding feast, the person who would be affected the most is Yu Wang!”
The Empress dowager’s facial expression freezes and couldn’t help but feel stifled up. Yu De is right, after what happened last night, His Majesty is already very unhappy. Although the Emperor does not say it, no one is certain of what His Majesty is thinking of. The one who would be the most disadvantaged would definitely be the ones suspected and they would be none other than the Empress and herself.
Liu Li’s gaze shifts but dare not to say anything else.
Ye Jiayao slowly regains her consciousness. It is pitch black in front of her and the back of her neck is still pulsing with pain, reminding her of her attack just now. Ye Jiayao shoots up awake, where is she?
She feels her body, thank goodness she is not tied up. feeling around the place, she senses a damp, stone wall and she it is wet under her as well. There are also stones and sludge. The space that she is in is very small and can only fit two to three people.
A bad thought surfaces in her mind, this is a dried well.
She lifts her head up with a jolt. Indeed, she sees weak rays of light seeping through the cracks of the slab overhead.
F*ck, who is that scoundrel who knocked her unconscious and threw her into this abandoned well? No, she did not suffer from any fractures, neither is she injured, so she is not thrown, otherwise, she would at least have broken a few bones if not die, falling from such a height.
She reaches out to feel around her waist. She feels a rope.
So this is what happened. She was lowered by someone with a rope.
Ugh… the wedding feast.
Ye Jiayao is fully awake now. How long has she lost consciousness? What is the time now? The wedding feast is during the night time. There is still light from on top and that is not the moonlight. That means it is still daytime, only… the wedding feast might be delayed!
Is this the reason why she was abducted?
Ye Jiayao stands up by supporting herself against the wall of the well. Shouting loudly towards the top “Is there anyone? I am Ye Jinxuan…”
And so she screamed and shouted like this for quite a while until her throat starts to hurt but there is no reaction from up there.
Ye Jiayao is extremely anxious. By right if she is missing, Her Majesty would have sent people to look for her, so would C. They would dig the ground to look for her but who would have thought that she would be abandoned in a well? Since there are no replies after shouting for so long, this must be a very remote place!
What to do, what to do?
Ye Jiayao holds her breath and listens for any movement upstairs. After a while, she starts to shout again. She has to conserve her energy.
Xia Chunyu and Helian Jing have been conducting the search for the third time. Since she is still in the palace, he doesn’t believe that she cannot be found.
“Brother Chunyu, we have to come up with another plan. We must have missed out on something.” Helian Jing feels that searching blindly like that is not working.
Although Xia Chunyu is trying very hard to calm himself down, it is very difficult to do so. He is almost at the point where he cannot think anymore.
Staring out at the boundless palace roofs, his heart pulses in pain. He is too useless, just when Yaoyao needs him the most, he doesn’t even know where she is.
Helian Jing can understand Xia Chunyu’s feelings but he believes that Yaoyao is not an ordinary woman. She has been through life and death situations and is extremely intelligent. She will definitely find a way to protect herself and send them a message.
“Brother Chunyu, I think Yaoyao wouldn’t be hidden in the palaces.” Helian Jing analyses.
“Think about it, this person’s main motive in abducting Yaoyao should not be targeting at her bt Yu Wang’s wedding feast. He wants to ruin the wedding feast.”
“If she is hidden within the palaces, according to how we search, we should have already found her. Also, it is easy to give themselves away.”
A sudden idea flashes passed Xia Chunyu’s mind but he is unable to capture it.
“Continue.”
Helian Jing carries on “I think, as long as she is still in the palace, she should be hidden in an extremely remote place and even if she were found, it would be difficult to pinpoint the perpetrator.”
“You mean it is somewhere where there is no owner.” Xia Chunyu mulls over the idea that flashes past his mind just now. He wants to hold on to that thought.
“Mm, it should be like that. In that case, which palace is in a remote and quiet place which cannot be found easily and even if found, no one can be pinpointed.” Helian Jing nods.
Xia Chunyu keeps repeating Helian Jing’s words in his mind, suddenly, his dark pupils reflect a sudden light as bright as the stars. He pats Helian Jing’s shoulders “Thank you.”
Helian Jing is astonished “You thought of it?”
Xia Chunyu does not reply to him but orders the search party around him loudly.
“Everyone, listen up, forget about the houses. Start searching the imperial garden, the rockery, and wells near the cold palace…”
Helian Jing is right. These places are the best choices for the perpetrator. Even if Yaoyao were to meet with any mishap, that person wouldn’t allow the corpse to appear so quickly. Therefore, the lakes are out of the question. Only wells or those hidden rockery and stone caves.
Once he thought of that, his heart starts to ache again. Yaoyao, nothing must happen to you, if I lose you, what meaning would there be left in my life?
Helian Jing grows excited “Brother Chunyu, let’s split up. I will bring people to search the imperial garden, you bring people to search the cold palace.”
Both of them quickly parted ways and start a new round of search.
Ye Jiayao is about to feel despair. It has been almost two hours ever since she has regained consciousness but she has not heard any movement outside.
Chunyu, you always said that we have telepathy, in that case, can you hear me calling out for you? Ye Jiayao raises her head and looks at the weak rays penetrating through the cracks of the stone slab, silently screaming out Chunyu’s name.
