Farmer's wife: My husband came back and the house was in chaos

Chapter 488 Looking for someone? Taking the risk personally

She first went to find the old Duke and his men to inquire about the situation. Not far away on the streets of the capital, she met the old Duke who was leading his men out. She ran up to him and asked, "Grandfather, what's the situation now?"

"Girl, why are you here? Go back quickly! It's dangerous outside!" The old Duke scolded her and told her to go back quickly.

"Grandfather, I'm worried, so I followed to see where Uncle Zheng Cheng went."

"He chased after her outside the city."

Shen Nianran came out of the mansion this morning and went to the villa under the escort of Zheng Cheng. When she walked onto the street, Shen Nianran planned to buy some snacks for Linglong. She thought that it would be fine if she just bought some snacks. However, she never expected that not long after she got off the carriage, before she could react, a group of people took advantage of the chaos to kidnap her. Zheng Cheng hurriedly took people to chase them and asked the people around him to go back and report to the police.

The flower thief has been committing crimes frequently recently and has made careful arrangements. Many girls have disappeared recently. The thief dares to strike in broad daylight. There have been more than ten cases in total.

Yao Qingnian asked the old Duke to look around the city for any clues. He was old and not suitable to travel around. It would be troublesome if he encountered any danger. The old Duke Chen couldn't persuade her, so he told her not to be stubborn and to do what she could. She must come back before dark if she couldn't find anything.

She took Shan Wei and went out of the city gate. Not long after they arrived at the gate, they met the depressed Zheng Cheng.

Yao Qingnian hurried over: "Uncle Zheng Cheng, where is Nianran?"

"Girl, why are you here? That person came prepared. I'll go look for him. You go back first!"

"It's getting dark. It's futile to continue looking now. Let's go back and think of a solution."

"I... I lost her. It's all my fault. I couldn't even protect a little girl." Zheng Cheng's face was full of self-blame.

"Now is not the time to blame ourselves. Let's go and see Lord Lu of Jingzhao Prefecture to see if there are any clues." Yao Qingnian's face was dark and his mind was working fast. So many girls were lost in a short period of time. The flower thief must have some purpose. Now they don't know anything. It is not a solution to keep searching blindly like a headless fly. Yao Qingnian suggested going to Lord Lu to ask.

Zheng Cheng felt that what she said made sense, so he gave up the idea of continuing to look for her. He went back to the city with Yao Qingnian and came to Jingzhao Prefecture. Lord Lu was very busy as the girls kept disappearing and there was no clue at all. He was very restless and when he saw them come in, he put down what he was doing and asked.

"General Zheng Cheng, Miss Shen, I already know that a girl is missing from the Duke's Mansion. I am doing my best to look for her." Lord Lu said to them politely.

"Master Lu, have you found anything these days?"

"Oh, don't mention it. This flower thief is very cunning. Every time he takes advantage of the crowd, he can always kidnap the girl before us. Moreover, according to my investigation, this flower thief is not alone." Lord Lu sighed.

"Have there been any suspicious people or any suspicious incidents in the capital recently?" Yao Qingnian said after thinking for a moment.

"After the flower thief incident, the whole city was under martial law and nothing special happened. We don't have any clues now. The Dali Temple is also sending more people to investigate the matter. Miss Shen, I know you are anxious, but you see..." Lord Lu looked embarrassed.

"No, every extra quarter of an hour means more danger. We don't know the other party's purpose, so we must find the person as soon as possible."

"But how do I find this?"

"I have a plan. Do you think this will work? In my opinion, the criminals will definitely not give up and will find another opportunity to come into the city. Let's find a bait to test the situation."

"Miss Shen, we have tried this method before, but the people we sent as bait disappeared in the end. We don't know what method they used to transport the people out under our noses without anyone noticing." Lord Lu shook his head.

"I'll be the bait!"

"You? No! It's too dangerous." Lord Lu disagreed. The girls they had sent before were all trained and would have little clues, not to mention that she was a young lady from a wealthy family.

"Miss, let me go." Shan Wei took the initiative to speak. She couldn't let the young lady take risks. Her mission was to protect the young lady. Besides, she was pretty good at kung fu and was more suitable than Yao Qingnian.

"You don't have to say anything more. I have already made up my mind. This matter is of great importance. I must go there in person. Let's make a plan..."

Yao Qingnian had already made up his mind, and they had no choice but to agree and start deploying the plan.

In order not to alert the enemy, she decided to take the risk and avoid arousing suspicion. She wanted to take this opportunity to find the flower thieves' lair. If the plan was successful, she would leave signals along the way. Then, they could find her based on the signals. Although it was a bit risky, there was no better way than this.

After dressing up carefully, Yao Qingnian wandered around the street, and when she reached a crowded place, she found something wrong. Although on the surface they all looked like ordinary people, there were many people with some skills mixed in the crowd. It seemed that this was where they would strike. Sure enough, it didn't take long before she was targeted. The thieves were not worried about the crowds at all. After staring at Yao Qingnian, they knocked her out. Then, those accomplices hiding in the crowd took the opportunity to create chaos and cover the retreat of those who had succeeded. No wonder the government officials couldn't catch up every time, it was because of them. They hid among ordinary people and were difficult to be discovered by the government officials.

After Yao Qingnian pretended to be knocked unconscious, the thieves took advantage of the chaos and quickly took her away. They threw her on an abandoned ox cart, covered her with straw, changed her clothes, and walked out of the city gate as a hunchbacked old man.

When they arrived at the city gate, the ox cart stopped and the official's voice came from outside: "Qu Bo, are you coming into the city to sell things again?"

"Yes, there is no other way. There are many people in my family, and we rely on these mountain products to exchange for some money to support my family." The disguised man outside the ox cart and the official echoed each other.

"Have you sold all the mountain products today?" the officer continued to ask.

"I've sold them all, and exchanged them for a little food, which is not enough for my family to eat for two days. Okay, I won't chat with you anymore. My family is still waiting for the food to be brought back and cook!" The man seemed to be very familiar with the officer. After a few words of greeting, the officer let him go.

"Okay, please slow down." The officer asked him to walk slowly.

The officer did not check and let the thief out easily. I am afraid that he is in collusion with them. Otherwise, why would he let this person out of the city so easily? It seems that there is someone behind this...