Chapter 929: Gone, disappeared (1/2)

Han Yunxi hadn’t even found the head elder when a dark-robed servant girl came dashing her way.

“Princess! Princess, bad news!” the servant’s expression was ashen white. She was one of the servants that Han Yunxi had bribed to her side to serve at Ning Jing’s side. Han Yunxi’s heart grew flustered at her actions. If anything happened to Ning Jing, how was she supposed to explain to Tang Li?

“What happened?” Han Yunxi asked.

“Both Miss Jing and Miss Mu Linger have disappeared! Qian Qian, who was waiting on them in the rooms, was killed!” the servant girl cried, her lips trembling from fear. “This servant was just about to deliver the meal when I saw Qian Qian lying on the ground. There was no one on the bed...this servant---this servant went to find Miss Linger right away, but she wasn’t in the side rooms, either.”

The worst case scenario in Han Yunxi’s mind was that something had happened to Ning Jing’s body, but she never expected things to turn so dire. Ning Jing needed bedrest, but now she’d been kidnapped. Could she hold on? With a servant girl dead and both Ning Jing and Mu Linger missing, this was clearly an abduction case! Han Yunxi’s hands turned cold, but she still remained calm.

“Immediately notify the Council of Elders,” she ordered, “And also, don’t let slip anything about Ning Jing’s condition, or else your life is forfeit!”

Meanwhile, Han Yunxi had another servant girl wheel her to the scene of the crime. No simple figure could have snuck into Myriad Merchant Hall, killed someone, and abducted others without a sign. The culprit had to be a high-level expert or one of their insiders!

By the time she arrived, the head elder and the rest were already waiting. Once they saw the corpse inside the room, all of them exchanged looks. As Fifth Elder bent to inspect the body, Han Yunxi stopped him with a cry. “Don’t touch!”

“Someone go fetch a coroner!” the head elder cried. He understood Han Yunxi’s intentions. Although Han Yunxi possessed some medical knowledge, it was better to leave this to the experts. While they were waiting, she beat the head elder into questioning the servant girl about all the events that had happened here since yesterday. Under the repeated hints from her gaze, the nervous servant girl managed to keep a tight lip on any details regarding Ning Jing’s pregnancy. Judging from her testimony, both Ning Jing and Mu Linger were present last night, so the suspect must have slipped in between yesterday evening and this morning.

Mu Linger was in charging of brewing medicine for Ning Jing, so she lived just next door. Ning Jing was recuperating in the main bedroom, and the murdered servant girl was in charge of watching her throughout the night. Soon enough, the coroner arrived and made an examination. He concluded that the servant girl had been murdered last night with a single sword stab. There were no signs of struggle before her death.

“It must be an inside job!” Han Yunxi declared.

There were plenty of guards on night duty at Myriad Merchant Hall. Moreover, Ning Jing’s courtyard even had its own team of night sentries. Unless it was an insider familiar with the layout of the place, how could he or she have successfully slipped in and killed the victim, then bring away Ning Jing and Mu Linger?

“It’s impossible for Myriad Merchant Hall to house such moles!” Second Elder exclaimed angrily. “Even if we did, what’s the use of kidnapping Miss Jing?”

Although Third Elder wasn’t as excitable as Second Elder, he agreed with his views. “Your Royal Highness, Miss Jing has long given up managing any affairs. Now she’s even fallen ill, so any insider would know that kidnapping her has no value in threatening the Di Clan.”

“Could it be someone from the Tang Clan?” the head elder wondered.

Han Yunxi retorted, “If it was someone from the Tang Clan, then why would they just kidnap Ning Jing? Why not save Tang Li as well?”

Second Elder had a confident comeback to that. “They probably couldn’t find him!”

Han Yunxi couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. She rather wish the culprits were the Tang Clan, because things would be easier then. But how could they be the suspects? Those old fogeys at the Tang Clan still had no idea that Tang Li was a prisoner here. They only assumed that he’d taken Ning Jing to East Origin Hall to fool around. Moreover, if they were going to make a move, they’d never have the guts to try something so bold without telling Long Feiye first.

“Second Elder, aren’t you praising the Tang Clan too much? Could it be that Myriad Merchant Hall’s defenses are so weak that the Tang Clan can kill and kidnap without anyone catching them in the act?” Han Yunxi mocked,

Second Elder immediately shut up, but Third Elder chimed in, “Your Royal Highness, if it is an inside job, just who could the mole be? And why would they kidnap Miss Jing?”

Han Yunxi grew alarmed as she suddenly blurted out a name. “Uncle Cheng!”

Uncle Cheng? How is that possible?

As everyone looked puzzled, Han Yunxi quickly asked, “Head Elder, where’s Uncle Cheng?”

“Your Royal Highness, even if there’s a mole amongst our ranks, it couldn’t be Uncle Cheng. Last night when we all came back, Uncle Cheng left for the south to invite back new dealers for the casinos,” the head elder reminded her.

Han Yunxi just shook her head and cursed herself for being careless while underestimating Uncle Cheng. She almost blurted out the matter regarding Jia Dai, but stopped herself in time. It was impossible for her to explain it clearly, or else she would have brought it up ages ago. How could she ever tell the Council of Elders that she knew Jia Dai, or that they’d teamed up to bite back Uncle Cheng while costing Myriad Merchant Hall at the same time? When she’d discussed this with Long Feiye last night, she had only planned to make oblique references to the head elder as a reminder.

Now what?

“Uncle Cheng...Uncle Cheng…” Han Yunxi muttered. “I’m not suspecting him. I mean to say that we have to hurry and find him. If something this big has happened, it doesn’t matter if it’s an inside job or outside enemies. This shows that Myriad Merchant Hall’s security measures are too weak. Third Elder and Fourth Elder can shoulder more of the tasks regarding the casinos so Uncle Cheng can deal with this.”