Chapter 242: Wangchuan Ferry

7-9 am, exactly the second quarter.

Princess Xingguo’s Residence, Mufen Study.

This was Princess Xingguo’s study, and also where she usually handled official business.

In the entire Great Wu, the number of people who could enter and leave at will could be counted on one hand.

Lin Hansu counted as one.

At the head of the room, Princess Xingguo held an official document, looking as if she had lost her train of thought, staring for a long time at the ice basin emitting wisps of cold air before saying, “This girl from the Yu Clan is no simple character; she even had her personal maid and two guards with her, so how could she disappear into thin air?”

Down below, Lin Hansu, who was busy classifying documents, heard this and said in a low voice, “Your Highness allowed the Prince of Linping to mobilize the Dragon Army and ordered the West Yamen to assist in the search; Your Highness has already done everything that should be done.”

Judging Yu Ruiyan as ‘no simple character’ showed that Princess Xingguo didn’t have much affection for the girl.

But mobilizing the Dragon Army and having the West Yamen assist was necessary.

Not to mention the weight of the Central Heaven Yu Clan, just the fact that Yu Ruiyan was the wife’s niece of Princess Xingguo’s Senior Brother, Prince Yinyang, meant Princess Xingguo had to show the appropriate attitude of importance.

Hearing Lin Hansu put it this way, Princess Xingguo smiled faintly and said, “My good nephew is being exceptionally proactive this time.”

Mobilizing the Dragon Army to assist in the search came from Chen Hong’s request; the Yu Clan lost a daughter, and he was acting extremely proactively.

The reason was not hard to guess: for one, the Yu Clan had always been in close contact with him, and only by being proactive could he show his care for his subordinates.

For another, it was nothing more than wanting to use this to win over the faction of Prince Yinyang.

At this moment, the personal attendant Eunuch He walked in, “Reporting to Your Highness, the Duke of Chu County has arrived.”

“Oh?”

Because of the Yu Ruiyan incident, Princess Xingguo had woken up at 3-5 am this morning. The faint weariness between her brows vanished the moment she heard Ding Suian’s name. She slowly sat up straight, “Please invite him to Wangqiu Hall; I will go over there now.”

Eunuch He, however, did not leave upon hearing this, but instead said in a low voice, “Replying to Your Highness, the Duke of Chu County… he wants to find the Princess Consort of Lanyang.”

“…”

Lin Hansu’s cheeks flushed. It wasn’t out of shyness, just a slight embarrassment.

Princess Xingguo leaned back into her chair slowly, looking at Lin Hansu with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, “Finding people all the way to my place? Hansu, why don’t you go over.”

“Yes~”

Lin Hansu lowered her head and exited Mufen Study.

She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but she always felt that the Princess’s seemingly teasing tone just now seemed to carry a hint of jealousy.

“Greetings, Princess Consort.”

“Greetings, Duke of Chu County~”

The two met at Wangqiu Hall, exchanging formal greetings.

After Eunuch He left, Lin Hansu said in a low voice, “Why did you come here?”

“Sister, were you at the Estate last night?”

Ding Suian answered the question with a question.

“Yes, why?”

“Was Zhao Yan there?”

“Yes, she was.”

“That’s good.”

Ding Suian let out a long breath. Lin Hansu was puzzled for a moment, but realized after a few seconds, “You rushed over here because of the Yu Clan girl?”

“Yes.”

“You’re worried that Zhao Yan did something dirty last night?”

“I’m not worried that she did something dirty, but that she left behind trails after doing it and got caught!”

Regarding Ding Suian’s arrogant statement, Lin Hansu showed no surprise, only reminding him, “You definitely can’t say this to her. Zhao Yan is bold and has a flighty temperament; if you encourage her, who knows what kind of trouble she might cause. In any case, this matter has nothing to do with us; we should just sit back and watch the show.”

“Yes.”

Ding Suian nodded and asked curiously, “Sister, what do you think is going on with Yu Ruiyan?”

“There are only two possibilities: either she was abducted, or she ran off with someone.”

“Abducted? Is there anyone in Central Heaven who abducts people?”

“I vaguely heard of a sect called ‘Wangchuan Ferry’ that seems to do this kind of business.”

“Wangchuan Ferry?”

“Yes, that should be the name. It’s extremely secretive, and I don’t know much about it. If you want to know, you can go ask Inspector Ruan.”

“Okay.”

In the evening, after Ding Suian finished his shift, he went to Zhangtai Willow.

On the streets, patrolling Soldiers were even more frequent than in the morning.

Along the way, Ding Suian encountered several checks, which showed how much force Chen Hong had mobilized to help the Yu Clan find their daughter.

After meeting Ruan Guofan in Hehuan Cage, Ding Suian got straight to the point, “Uncle, do you know about Wangchuan Ferry?”

Ruan Guofan, who had just picked up his teacup, paused slightly and asked in return, “Why are you asking about it?”

“The Yu Clan girl is missing, and I heard there is a secretive sect in Central Heaven called Wangchuan Ferry that specializes in abduction.”

Before Ding Suian could finish, Ruan Guofan had already waved his hand, “It wasn’t done by Wangchuan Ferry.”

Ding Suian’s eyes narrowed as he stared directly at Ruan Guofan, “Uncle, how do you know so clearly?”

He understood that because the West Yamen gathered intelligence, they supported organizations from all walks of life, but… if a lowly organization like Wangchuan Ferry that engaged in abduction was also related to the West Yamen, it would make people feel a bit disgusted.

Ruan Guofan saw his thoughts at a glance, “What are you thinking! No matter how dirty our West Yamen is, we wouldn’t raise a bunch of kidnappers!”

Seeing this, Ding Suian laughed, “Uncle, I trust your character; naturally, you wouldn’t be associated with such filthy things. But how can you be so sure that the Yu Clan girl wasn’t abducted by people from Wangchuan Ferry?”

Ruan Guofan thought for a moment. Even in such a safe place, he still lowered his voice, “Wangchuan Ferry is originally a hunting dog kept by the Prince of Linping. How could he touch the Yu Clan girl?”

“…”

Ding Suian was stunned for two seconds and blurted out, “That son of a…”

“Duke of Chu County, watch your language!”

“…”

Ding Suian instantly thought of the ‘Rubbings of One Hundred Beauties’ breasts and ‘Rubbings of One Hundred Beauties’ buttocks he had seen at Chen Hong’s residence.

He also vaguely guessed part of the source of the hundreds of beauties in his residence.

“Inspector Ruan! Central Heaven is known as the place of utmost goodness. We are at least eating the court’s salary and the people’s fat and ointment. It’s one thing to slack off and muddle through days, but could we really turn a blind eye to such evil deeds?”

“Don’t be anxious~”

Ruan Guofan raised his hand, pressed it down, and sighed helplessly, “Our West Yamen has naturally noticed Wangchuan Ferry, but this sect moves secretively, hides underground in Central Heaven, is good at using poison, and is backed by the Prince of Linping and Prince Leyang…”

“Uncle, I’m afraid this last point is the reason you dare not touch it, right?”

“…”

May 18th.

The third day of Yu Ruiyan’s disappearance.

The atmosphere in Central Heaven City remained tense, and the search area had even gradually expanded to outside the city.

Jiang Yuan, who had been kept for three nights by Xu Jiuxi under the name of ‘makeup lessons,’ finally showed no abnormalities in the wound on her neck thanks to the nourishment of the Jade Muscle Ointment.

That evening, Xu Jiuxi let her go home.

In Qingjiao Pavilion, Jiang Yuan performed a kowtow to Xu Jiuxi, expressing a certain gratitude that could not be mentioned.

At the time of parting, Jiang Yuan seemed to have some questions, but after meeting that indifferent and cold gaze, she held them back.

“Headmaster, did you just let her go like that?”

Shu Yao stood behind Xu Jiuxi, the two looking at Jiang Yuan’s receding figure through the window. The former was clearly a bit worried.

Xu Jiuxi said, “What else can I do if I don’t let her go? She has no faults.”

“…”

Shu Yao secretly glanced at Xu Jiuxi and thought to herself: Headmaster, when have you ever cared about right or wrong when killing people? Isn’t it only based on your mood?

She could also feel from the seemingly indifferent Headmaster that the Headmaster was a bit fond of this low-key and quiet Disciple. Perhaps this was the reason why the Headmaster risked exposing the secret to spare Jiang Yuan’s life.

In short, Headmaster Xu’s style of doing things this time was very different from the past.

Headmaster seems to be becoming more human?

Just as she was thinking to herself, she heard Xu Jiuxi say, “Has the filth in her body been purged?”

Shu Yao was stunned, then immediately reacted, “Yes, for the past three days, other than feeding her the Dust-Cleansing Pill, I haven’t let her eat anything else.”

Hearing this, Xu Jiuxi licked her lower lip with her tongue and walked into Qingjiao Pavilion with a swaying, willow-like waist.

Shu Yao followed closely behind.

The two walked into the back room. Xu Jiuxi stood in front of a screen, her lips moving.

‘Creak, creak, creak~’

After a set of tooth-aching mechanical sounds, a deep, downward stone tunnel was revealed behind the screen.

‘Poof~ Poof~’

The lamps embedded in the stone walls ignited without fire.

Xu Jiuxi walked down slowly.

At the end of the tunnel was a secret room.

When the last wall lamp ignited with a ghostly blue flame, the full picture of the secret room appeared. Yu Ruiyan, whose arms were chained to the stone wall, slowly raised her head, her cracked and peeling lips visible through her messy hair.

“Water… please, give me a sip of water…”

The plea was dry and weak, as if her breath were a gossamer thread.

Until Xu Jiuxi’s enchanting face appeared in the light, Yu Ruiyan’s plea stopped abruptly. She jerked backward, the chains pulling taut with a harsh, grating sound, “Monster! Demon… demoness!”

“Hee hee~”

Xu Jiuxi stepped forward, forcing Yu Ruiyan into the corner, then leaned down and asked softly, “My good Disciple, tell me, is your Master, this demoness, scary, or is a noble lady like you, who wants to humiliate a classmate to death, scary?”

“Ma… Master, I, I was wrong, please spare me, Master, I will do anything for you…”

Yu Ruiyan was already scared out of her wits, hoping that the title of ‘Master’ could awaken Xu Jiuxi’s pity.

“Are you really willing to do anything for your Master?”

Xu Jiuxi gently caressed her terrified face.

“Student, student is willing…”

“That’s good~”

Xu Jiuxi smiled charmingly, suddenly pulling three long, thin gold hairpins from her bun with lightning speed, stabbing them an inch deep into Yu Ruiyan’s chest at the Rugen acupoint and below her navel at the Guanyuan acupoint.

“Ah~”

The sudden, immense pain caused Yu Ruiyan to let out a shrill cry.

Xu Jiuxi ignored it, chanting a strange and obscure incantation.

The red light from the triangularly positioned gold hairpins exploded, then immediately disappeared into Yu Ruiyan’s body. Her body seemed to become transparent, with blood vessels, meridians, and the flow of blood faintly visible beneath her skin.

Xu Jiuxi’s cold fingertips lightly sliced across her wrist, and bright red blood, as if mixed with gold powder, wound its way down.

“Bring the bottle~”

“Yes~”

Shu Yao responded, holding a translucent glass bottle, and placed it beneath the dripping blood.

Before long, half a bottle was filled.