Trouble, in reality, would never wait until dawn.
Hu Da had been delivering medicine to Ning Dao Cheng for two hours without returning. His companion, Pan Chang Ning, sensed something was amiss and went to the secret room to find him, only to witness a scene that left him utterly terrified.
Hu Da lay dead on the spot, and Ning Dao Cheng, who had been chained to the stone wall, was gone.
Pan Chang Ning, petrified, turned and fled, finding Xiao Qi Niang late that night and recounting the incident.
Xiao Qi Niang, enraged, slapped Pan Chang Ning across the face, "How did you manage this?"
Pan Chang Ning dared not retort, covering his face as he said, "Seventh Lady, now is not the time for blame. The priority is to find the person. Hu Da died with his throat crushed. The killer must be highly skilled and possess immense strength. We should immediately seal off the manor and conduct a thorough search. If we delay, they might escape."
Xiao Qi Niang naturally understood this. She quickly had Zhu Yu take her token to mobilize the manor guards for a room-to-room search.
"We also need to send people out to search every inch within a five-mile radius. Ning Dao Cheng is blind, his hands are crippled, and his legs are also problematic. Even with superior martial arts, carrying such a burden, they cannot escape far."
"Yes," Zhu Yu, not daring to be negligent, quickly took the token and headed to the front of the manor.
"What's the situation in the secret room?"
Pan Chang Ning quickly replied, "The stone door and the passage show no signs of forced entry. I meticulously examined the secret room and found only Hu Da's footprints. The chains on the wall were opened with a key. It is likely that the person first killed Hu Da, then used the key to rescue Young Master Ning."
Xiao Qi Niang's face darkened, and she remained silent.
The Xiao family had served as generals guarding the northern frontier for generations. She herself had learned self-defense techniques from childhood. While her skills were not outstanding, she possessed basic knowledge.
The rescuer(s) would not have been many. With so many guards in the manor, a large-scale rescue would have caused a commotion.
At most two people, perhaps just one, managed to spirit Ning Dao Cheng away. Who could it be?
Li Man Er?
Ning Dao Cheng was her maternal uncle.
But how could Li Man Er know about this secret room? In the vast manor, very few people were aware of its existence. Li Man Er had only been here a few days. Moreover, her martial arts were not particularly impressive. Could she really have evaded the manor guards?
Especially since they kept dogs.
It couldn't be her.
Li Man Er's image flickered through Xiao Qi Niang's mind for a moment before she dismissed it.
Just then, Pan Chang Ning suddenly said, "Seventh Lady, I've just remembered something."
"What is it?"
"When I went to the secret room, Hu Da was already dead, and the medicine he was delivering to Young Master Ning had spilled on the floor. I surmise that the person was hidden in the dark and suddenly attacked him. Hu Da, caught off guard, must have dropped the medicine bowl and lost his life in the process."
Xiao Qi Niang frowned, impatiently asking, "What's the point?"
"The medicine bowl fell on the ground, and the liquid splashed. Could it have splashed onto the person's shoes?" In other words, whoever wore shoes stained with the medicine was the one who rescued Ning Dao Cheng.
"We first need to apprehend the person," to confirm the culprit.
Pan Chang Ning added, "I believe that even a master would find it difficult to escape with someone like Young Master Ning. Perhaps they have merely hidden him. The manor is large; hiding one or two people is quite easy."
Xiao Qi Niang frowned again, "Are you suspecting an inside job for Ning Dao Cheng's rescue?"
"This is merely my speculation," Pan Chang Ning replied. "Since the manor is already under lockdown, why not search again?"
Xiao Qi Niang nodded. After all, such a significant incident had occurred, and she couldn't sleep. A further search was warranted.
For some reason, she thought of Li Man Er again, her first instinct being to lead people to Li Man Er's room.
Thus, Li Man Er's unfortunate prediction came true once more; these people had indeed come to trouble her.
The door was hammered upon with a deafening force. As Li Man Er sat up, she heard the door next to hers creak open. Liu Ya stood in the corridor, her face contorted with anger, and began to curse Xiao Qi Niang and her entourage, "Are you people ever going to stop? One disturbance every three days, another every five. What exactly do you want?"
As Liu Ya spoke, she walked to Li Man Er's door, shielding it like a mother hen protecting her chicks, blocking Xiao Qi Niang and her group. "Our lady has had the worst luck to come live with you. As a marquis's daughter, her reputation is paramount. Are you bastards trying to ruin her?"
Liu Ya's ferocious demeanor, in Xiao Qi Niang's eyes, was a sign of guilt.
"If Miss Li has nothing to hide, what's the problem with being investigated?"
The moment the words left her lips, the door behind Liu Ya was opened.
Li Man Er had tied her hair into a simple bun at the back of her head and was already dressed. She seemed annoyed at being woken up but walked out with grace.
"Such a grand display in the middle of the night. Has the manor been robbed again?" Li Man Er yawned, covering her mouth. "Miss Xiao Qi, your governing ability is lacking. Why do problems keep occurring?"
Xiao Qi Niang's face flushed and paled. "I apologize for disturbing Miss Li's rest, but the matter is of great importance, and it must be thoroughly investigated." As she spoke, she lowered her gaze to inspect Li Man Er's shoes.
The shoe uppers were clean, though the edges of the shoe soles showed faint scuff marks. Normal wear and tear from walking would certainly cause some dirt to accumulate...
It seemed it wasn't her. Could Ning Dao Cheng's disappearance truly have nothing to do with Li Man Er?
Li Man Er, noticing Xiao Qi Niang staring at her feet, recalled the spilled medicine bowl in the secret room. At the time, she hadn't thought anything of it. However, upon returning and discovering the stains on her shoes, she had immediately put that pair of shoes into her spatial storage. After all, she didn't normally wear them, only changing when going out.
It appeared Xiao Qi Niang wasn't entirely useless; she had also considered that the rescuer's shoes might be stained with medicine, hence her scrutiny.
"Didn't Miss Xiao Qi want to search? Please be quick. Disturbing someone's dreams late at night is a grave offense."
Seeing Li Man Er's straightforward demeanor, Xiao Qi Niang concluded that the incident was unrelated to her. However, to maintain appearances, a search was still necessary. What if she had hidden the soiled shoes? It wasn't impossible.
With a nod from Xiao Qi Niang, her subordinates busied themselves, searching the room.
They found no one, nor did they find any shoes with stained uppers.
Liu Ya had been quite nervous, fearing they might discover Li Man Er's night clothes. However, seeing that their search yielded nothing, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
"Miss Li, I apologize for the disturbance."
Just as Xiao Qi Niang was about to lead her people away, she heard Li Man Er call out, "Please wait, Miss Qi."
Xiao Qi Niang looked surprised, "Does Miss Li have something else?"
"Once, twice, but not a third time." Li Man Er wore a forced, distant smile. "I hope next time, Miss Qi, you will not conjure trouble out of thin air."