Ji Youran continued speaking under Ji Youzhi’s intense gaze, feeling rather guilty.
"Originally, it was a journey of over a hundred li. I should have just gotten a fresh horse and ridden straight back. But I couldn’t buy a horse at the Horse Market. A horse dealer there said he knew a shortcut and could point it out to . I listened to him, but I didn’t expect to fall into a hunter’s trap. I only managed to climb out as it was getting dark. So, by the ti I got here, it was already midnight."
Ji Youzhi and Ji Youcheng gave Ji Youran a sympathetic look, then urged him, "You haven’t eaten anything for a full day and night. Hurry, eat more, eat more!"
Soon after, Jin Ge and the Shuntian Prefecture constables also went to the Yuelai Inn. They were followed by the mbers of the Divine Hunter Station, summoned by Ji Youzhi’s order. They searched all around the Yuelai Inn but ultimately found nothing.
"Sir, there isn’t a single clue. It’s as if they vanished into thin air. This is too strange. It doesn’t look like human work!"
Ji Youzhi looked at the plum blossom footprints on the ground and fell into deep thought for a while. Suddenly, an idea seed to strike him. He called out to the dispirited Ji Youran, who was sitting to the side, "Second Brother, do you have anything on you that you usually keep with your dicine box for a long ti?"
Ji Youran heard this and asked in confusion, "What do you an? Sothing kept with the dicine box, what would that be?"
Ji Youzhi sighed and touched his forehead. Third Brother is right; Second Brother really is a bit dense!
"I an, is there anything you always keep in your dicine box that you happen to have on you right now?"
Once Ji Youzhi said this, Ji Youran understood.
"Yes, there’s a piece of cloth used to separate dicines. I happen to have it on ."
"Good, that should work. Give it to !"
He took the cloth from Ji Youran’s hand and sniffed it. His nose wrinkled—it slled awful.
"I think I have a rough idea of what happened."
Li You’an from the Divine Hunter Station heard this and asked him, "Sir, what have you figured out?"
Ji Youzhi said, "I think there’s probably only one person who can get the items back. I must return to the city imdiately and bring her out here. It’s best to find things sooner rather than later; the more ti passes, the more uncertainties will arise."
When Li You’an wanted to ask further, Ji Youzhi waved his hand, dismissing everyone.
As they all headed back to the city, Ji Youcheng, still very worried, asked Ji Youzhi, "Seventh Brother, can we really find Second Brother’s two boxes?"
Ji Youzhi didn’t dare to guarantee it, so he said, "It’s hard to say. Let’s just try our luck!"
Ji Youcheng: "..."
Ji Youran: "..."
When they arrived back at the Ji Mansion, it was already dark. Ji Youzhi imdiately went to find Suisui, saying he wanted to take her out of the city for fun.
Cuddling Xiaobai, Xiaosuisui joyfully told her seventh uncle, "Seventh Uncle, are you going with us to Qixia Temple tomorrow to offer incense? Grandmother said she’s taking Suisui out of the city tomorrow morning to Qixia Temple to offer incense!"
Only then did Ji Youzhi notice his mother in Xiaosuisui’s courtyard. She was with Nanny Zhang, watching Xie Pan’Er learn palace etiquette.
Seeing his mother there, Ji Youzhi suppressed the urge to take Xiaosuisui out of the city. Letting a little girl go out of the city this late at night was truly unsafe, and his mother would surely object. So, he exchanged a few words and then returned to his own courtyard to sleep.
Early the next morning, the Ji Family’s carriage departed. Carriages lined up one after another at the city gate, at least two to three tis the usual number of those heading out of the city.
At the entrance of the Li Mansion, Li Zhujun boarded her carriage and glanced at her mother already seated inside. "Why are you in the sa carriage as ? Weren’t you supposed to let that country bumpkin ride with ?"
Lady Li, her face showing her anger, said, "It was already a great favor that I was taking that country bumpkin to offer incense. I didn’t expect that old woman from the countryside to shalessly insist on going too. I had no choice but to give the carriage to the two of them, grandmother and granddaughter."
User Comments
0 comments from readers