Chapter 260 - 258: The Kidnapper’s Identity (2 Updates)

Chapter 260: Chapter 258: The Kidnapper’s Identity (2 Updates)

This situation had already been anticipated by everyone. Jiang Shaobai immediately called a few government officials to head towards the small wooden house, and Xu Jing hurriedly followed.

This small wooden house was probably built by a hunter in the mountains. The house wasn’t big; inside, there was only a simple earthen bed that stayed warm in winter and cool in summer, along with a table and two chairs.

Upon entering, Xu Jing immediately saw Xu Huaiyang and Xu Huaijin, who were both unconscious on the earthen bed. She quickly ran over, checked them quickly, and only relaxed after seeing that their breathing was steady and that they had no obvious wounds.

Then, she vigorously shook Xu Huaiyang’s shoulder, saying, "Wake up, wake up!"

Judging by their condition, they must have been drugged unconscious.

However, quite some time had passed since their disappearance, so the effects of the drug should be wearing off soon.

Sure enough, after Xu Jing shook Xu Huaiyang for a short while, he suddenly frowned and slowly opened his eyes. Seeing Xu Jing, he murmured, "Cousin... how are you here..."

He was still groggy.

Xu Jing rolled her eyes at him amusingly and said, "Do you remember what happened?"

Xu Huaiyang’s mind gradually cleared, and recalling the events before he lost consciousness, he sat up abruptly, panic-stricken, and said, "This... where is this? I remember that Huaijin and I went to the Baoyue Pavilion and were planning to find the mutton pie rumored to be the best in the Western Capital. But as we walked, we were suddenly seized by two masked men!

Huaijin... is Huaijin alright?"

Popular street foods are often found in some remote alleys. Xu Huaiyang and Xu Huaijin frequently asked for directions as they searched, but this time the place was especially secluded, and in the end, there wasn’t even a shadow of anyone around. He already felt something was wrong.

Who could have known that before he could react, they would be taken.

Xu Jing pointed to Xu Huaijin, who was lying peacefully on one side, and said, "Your cousin is fine. Can you recall how you got here?"

Seeing Xu Huaijin in good condition, Xu Huaiyang sighed in relief and said, "I... I don’t know. We were drugged unconscious in the carriage. Cousin, did Huaijin and I cause you trouble?"

To be fair, it should be said they were implicated because of her.

Xu Jing sighed quietly and said, "No, don’t worry, everything is fine now."

At this moment, Xu Sihai and his son also came in. Upon seeing Xu Huaiyang and Xu Huaijin, they ran over in tears of joy.

Xu Jing took the opportunity to step out and looked at Jiang Shaobai, saying, "My cousin and cousin-sister may not know what happened in the house. Xu San Niang said she sent two guards to keep watch over the two children, but now we haven’t seen any trace of those two guards or Tanyun, who was supposed to come here."

Xiao Yi went to the doorway and looked at the blood splattered on the ground and walls. In a deep voice, he said, "There was a fight here."

He raised his hand, rubbed his thumb over the bloodstains on the wall, and said, "The blood has completely congealed; this fight happened a while ago."

Jiang Shaobai frowned slightly. "Could it be that those people chased after the kidnappers?"

"It shouldn’t be. If such a big thing happened, they should have immediately sent someone to inform Xu San Niang, but until Wang Family and Xu Family received the ransom letter, Xu San Niang didn’t know the two children were missing. Not to mention that if the two guards had just chased them, that’s one thing, but what use would Tanyun, a weak woman, have in chasing them?"

Xu Jing walked over to Xiao Yi, bent down to look at the bloodstains, and said, "Moreover, the amount of blood lost is not small. One of them must have been seriously injured, and the seriously injured one should not be the kidnappers but one of the two guards.

The two guards and Tanyun must have been taken away by the kidnappers together!"

Jiang Shaobai was stunned. A nearby government official couldn’t help but say, "Why would the kidnappers take all three of them? Isn’t it cumbersome? If it’s just for ransom, taking the two children would have been enough!"

Another government official said, "Could it be that they don’t want them to go back and report..."

"No," Xiao Yi said sternly. "If it was just to prevent them from returning to report, they could have tied them up or rendered them unconscious. There was no need to take them all."

Everyone looked perplexed.

So why did the kidnappers take them all away?

"There’s only one possibility..."

Xu Jing paused and said, "The kidnappers thought that if they left them behind, they would reveal some information detrimental to them, such as information about their identity."

Jiang Shaobai frowned deeply and said, "Miss Xu thinks the two guards and the maidservant know who the kidnappers are?"

Xu Jing nodded. "Apart from this reason, I can’t think of why the kidnappers would go to such lengths to take these three people as well. Moreover, the disappearance of Young Master Wang and Young Master Xu has never been made public. Even those who were sent to find them were secretly looking under different pretexts.

If it was an ordinary person, they couldn’t possibly know that those two children were from the Xu Family and Wang Family!

This means the kidnappers are very likely people close to Xu San Niang! They noticed Xu San Niang’s scheme, developed malicious intent, and thus pulled off a case of ’the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!’ "

Jiang Shaobai pondered for a moment and then walked swiftly to the dejected Xu Guangyi and Duke Qiao, saying, "Miss Xu’s inference, Minister Xu and Duke Qiao, you both should have heard. The kidnappers even knew about this location, which clearly shows they had long noticed Xu San Niang’s scheme and were observing in the shadows.

The opportunity to get close to Xu San Niang could only come from someone within the Wang Family and Xu Family.

Please immediately send someone back and gather all the people at home to see who isn’t currently at home."

Xu Guangyi, unable to keep his face from going pale, said, "Jiang Zhaoyin, my Guang’er will be fine, right?"

Jiang Shaobai paused for a moment, saying, "I can’t guarantee that. You both should also see that this kidnapper is not like the previous frivolous ones, and they might have even hurt someone..."

Xu Guangyi’s legs went weak, and he couldn’t help but panic, asking, "Then... should we also prepare the ransom at the same time?"

Duke Qiao suddenly spun around and grabbed Xu Guangyi by the collar, lifting him like a chick, roaring, "Xu Guangyi, all of this is your daughter’s doing! If I had known your daughter was such a petty woman, I would never have let her into our Wang Family’s door!"

With that, he tossed Xu Guangyi to the ground, turning around and shouting, "Someone, go back immediately and inform Chief Manager Chen to gather everyone at the house! At the same time, prepare ten thousand taels of gold bars!"

Xu Guangyi, ignoring his almost broken old hips, hurriedly scrambled to his feet and immediately instructed the servants of the Xu Family to go back and gather everyone.

Due to time constraints, Xu Jing and Jiang Shaobai finally decided to split into two groups. He would go to the Wang Family, while she and Mr. Yao would go to the Xu Family.

Xu Sihai originally didn’t feel comfortable letting Xu Jing handle the case alone, but seeing Xiao Yi by her side, he paused and said nothing, taking his few children back first.

When Xu Jing and her team reached the Xu Family, Chief Manager Cao was busy gathering everyone. The courtyard was brightly lit, and a sea of people stood densely packed, many unaware of what had happened, looking anxious and nervous.

After a long while, Chief Manager Cao came forward. Upon seeing Xu Jing, he noticeably hesitated, his face briefly twisted, but he quickly regained his composure and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Mr. Yao. I have already accounted for everyone in the residence. Currently, there are four servants not at home. These include Mrs. Tao, a cook working in the back kitchen, who just took three days off yesterday, saying her child was ill and she needed to go back and look.

There is also a guard named Zhang who took leave two days ago, saying his grandmother had passed away and he needed to go back for mourning.

Additionally, there’s Steward Dou, who manages the warehouse. I asked his subordinates, and they said Steward Dou disappeared sometime in the afternoon.

The last one is also a steward in charge of kitchen affairs, surnamed Yang, who took leave yesterday, saying he needed to return to his hometown for an urgent matter."

They currently could not determine how many kidnappers there were, so they couldn’t completely rule out women, even if they might not have been able to overpower the two guards alone, they might have cooperated with others.