“It’s not good to mobilize the Black Feather Army now.” Gao Yang frowned and said, “There are too many people watching you in the capital. If you alert the palace, I’m afraid it will be quite troublesome. Why don’t we get someone to guard the city gate? Tomorrow morning, you can send people from your mansion to secretly search the city. We will find her. It’s not good to alert the enemy now.”
“Do we still have to wait for a night?” Ji Yushu jumped up. “Miss Shen will be dead long ago if we wait for a night!” Ji Yushu was young and impetuous, and he admired Shen Miao. Unlike Gao Yang, who was already as cruel and heartless as a politician, Ji Yushu still retained the sincerity and naivety of a young man.
Gao Yang was furious. “Why are you still thinking about Shen Miao at a time like this? If we’re not careful, our identities will be exposed!”
“Send people from the Black Feather Army to look for her now.” Xie Jingxing said coldly, “I don’t want to say it a second time.”
“Xie!” Gao Yang looked at him. “Are you going to ruin your plan for a girl? Don’t forget what you swore.”
“Gao Yang, remember who you are and who you are talking to,” Xie Jingxing suddenly said sternly. He frowned slightly, and his eyes were as dark as ink. The anger he suddenly emitted actually made Gao Yang tremble.
Seeing this, Ji Yushu quickly tried to smooth things over. “It happened too suddenly today. No one expected it, but the situation might not be that bad.”
Xie Jingxing was silent for a moment before saying, “I won’t tolerate them doing this kind of thing in my territory. Since they have the guts to come, I’ll make sure you can’t go back.”
…
The crowd on the shore of Wanli Lake surged, and cheers and laughter drowned out all the other sounds. The disappearance of an official’s daughter did not seem to have caused much of a chaos. Of course, this was because the Shen family kept it a secret. However, even if the news really spread, people would probably be too busy enjoying the grand occasion to care about it.
After Fairy Jade Rabbit finished her dance, the men were all infatuated with her performance, and the women were all secretly cursing in their heads. The huge jade rabbit lantern was made of a snow-white silk cloth, and it was painted with a jade rabbit symbol. The lantern floated calmly on the lake with candles inside it.
People cheered and ran to the lake to set free the lanterns they had made on the lake. The lanterns carried their wishes for the next year.
It started to snow moderately, but the lights on Wanli Lake brightened up the dark night, and the fireworks in the sky were dazzling. For a moment, it was difficult to tell if the fireworks were played in the sky or underwater. Such bright scenery was rare even during the Jade Rabbit Festival in the past. In the center of the lake, there were a few exquisitely carved pleasure boats floating. Usually, the nobles would book the pleasure boats to have a space to drink and have fun. No one knew who was inside the pleasure boats today, because the surface of the lake was filled with lanterns, making the pleasure boats look less eye-catching.
An unlit pleasure boat floated down the lake. There were fewer people downstream, but the lanterns were all floating along the water in that direction. From afar, the pleasure boat seemed to be surrounded by those lanterns. However, the further down it went, the fewer people there were. In the end, it was completely deserted.
Shen Miao sat in the innermost room of the pleasure boat and looked at the two people in front of her coldly.
In the dim pleasure boat, a small oil lamp was lit. Shen Miao had a rag in her mouth, and her hands and feet were tied up.
The two people on the boat were both wearing linen clothes and looked unfamiliar. A tall and thin man stood at the bow of the boat and looked around. He walked into the cabin and nodded at the shorter one. “Alright, there’s no one here.”
