C242

Little Jade Lake was green. Even the tranquil lake water was green. It was very quiet. On both sides of the lake, there were a few slender yellow canna flowers. They swayed gently in the breeze, creating a beautiful scene.

Shang Yiqing was standing by the lake. It seemed as if she had been standing there for a long time. She had originally planned to play with Ying Ying here, but two hours had passed, and Ying Ying was still nowhere to be seen.

She raised her eyes and looked at the wisps of clouds in the sky. They were like flowing water, and they slowly transformed into Fang Zinan's face. Shang Yiqing looked at the clouds in surprise, and then changed her appearance all of a sudden — this was not Fang Zinan's face. She was thinking about it, so Fang Zinan's image was everywhere.

After thinking for a while, she noticed that it was late and did not see Ying Ying. She thought that she would not be coming today, so she walked back gloomily. Because he had something on his mind, his journey home seemed to have become very short. In just a short moment, he had arrived at the manor. He was still lazy and not in the least bit in the mood.

Fang Zinan, are you alright? It's already autumn, and the Eastern Ning Country is close to the desert, so you have to take care of your body!

Since Fang Zinan was not in the house, anything he did was meaningless. The sky was still dark, and Shang Yiqing was lying on the bed. Even though she was tired, she couldn't sleep. Thinking like this, it was already late at night.

While he was lost in his thoughts, Little Ru walked in from outside. "Princess, the steward of the Xiao manor is here."

"He is here? Is there something wrong? " Shang Yiqing suddenly sat up. "Take me to see him."

Arriving in the courtyard, he saw Manager Ding standing in the yard, as if something had happened in a hurry.

"Manager Ding, what happened?" Although Shang Yiqing asked, she felt uneasy.

"Princess Rong, it's really troublesome to be here so late at night!" Chief Steward Ding cupped his hands in an apologetic gesture. "My young mistress hasn't returned to the estate yet, so I'd like to see if my young mistress is with the wangfei."

"Are you saying that Ying Ying is not in the manor?" Shang Yiqing found it strange. "I didn't see her today either."

"Why haven't you seen my young miss?" Didn't you guys agree to go to the Little Jade Lake today? " Manager Ding grew more and more uneasy, his expression panicking.

Shang Yiqing nodded. "I invited her to Little Jade Lake, but I didn't see her for a long time. I thought she had an urgent matter to attend to so I went back to the house by herself."

A look of nervousness appeared on Manager Ding's aged face. "So it means that the wangfei hasn't seen my young miss either. It's already so late, I wonder if something will happen to my young lady?"

Shang Yiqing was getting nervous as well. Did something really happen to Ying Ying?

"How about this, Steward Ding, you send someone to look around first. I'll have the people from the estate help look for Ying Ying as well." Shang Yiqing comforted Steward Ding with this arrangement. "Don't worry, Manager Ding. Ying Ying has a sense of propriety. She definitely won't run around."

"Since the wangfei has never seen my family's young lady before, I'll look around." Chief Steward Ding bade his farewell as he spoke. "Sorry for bothering you, consort. This lowly one will be leaving first." After that, he hurriedly left Duke Rong's Palace.

Shang Yiqing gave the order, "Manager Li, take the servants with you and help Steward Ding find someone. You must find that person."

"Yes." Manager Li received the order to bring along the servants in the mansion and followed closely behind Manager Ding.

After Manager Li left, Shang Yiqing still felt uneasy. Logically speaking, Ying Ying should be fine." But... But... It was impossible for her to disappear for no reason. Did someone capture her? Just as she thought of this, her intuition led her to King Xuan. Could it be that King Xuan was the one who did this? Would King Xuan capture Ying Ying while Big Brother Xiao was not in the capital? Everyone knew of King Xuan's intentions for Ying Ying! What should he do? Was she going to let him capture Ying Ying?

Thinking of this, Shang Yiqing could no longer stand. She hurried outside, appearing as if she did not know what was going on. She shouted from behind, "Princess, where are you going?"

Her words had reminded Shang Yiqing that it was already so late in the night. If she went to Duke Xuan's Mansion, not only would she not admit it, she might even say that she was too nosy. Besides, Manager Ding and Manager Li had gone out to look for Ying Ying, so he decided to wait and see what the situation was.

The night was bleak and the moonlight was cold. Shang Yiqing stood in the courtyard and waited for a long time, but she still did not see Manager Li return. Of course, there was no news of Ying Ying.

Lil 'Ru raised her gaze and looked at her. "Esteemed wangfei, the exposure is deeper. You've been out for so long, why don't you go sit in the room for a while."

"Fine." Shang Yiqing nodded and returned to the hall.

The candlelight in the hall was faint yellow, casting a long shadow upon one's body. Shang Yiqing used her hand to prop herself up, feeling worried. As time passed, there was still no news from Manager Li.

Little Ru brought over a cup of tea. "Esteemed wangfei, it's already the third fragment of the night, you should go rest first."

"Manager Li hasn't come back yet. I want to wait a bit longer." Shang Yiqing sighed. She was the one who asked Ying Ying out yesterday, but Ying Ying went missing. No matter what, she had to take responsibility for this matter. Even if it wasn't for this reason, Ying Ying was still her friend.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally heard the news of Manager Li's return.

"Lil 'Ru, quickly bring Manager Li to see me." Shang Yiqing instructed anxiously.

Manager Li appeared in the hall with a few servants and stepped forward saying: "Princess, we're back."

"You've returned. Any news of Ying Ying?"

Manager Li shook his head. "How strange. We've been searching in the middle of the night, but we haven't been able to find Miss Ying Ying at all." Manager Li had a helpless expression.

"I made an appointment with Ying Ying to go play at Little Jade Lake. Did you not send anyone there to look for me?"

Manager Li nodded. "They've already been sent out, but …"

"But what?" Shang Yiqing hated people the most. She stuttered and said anxiously, "If you have something to say, say it quickly. Don't change your mind."

"But someone saw Miss Ying Ying, she …"

"What's wrong with her? Tell me!" Shang Yiqing felt even more anxious now that someone had seen Ying Ying. She had to get to the bottom of this.

"Someone saw Miss Ying Ying being taken away!" Manager Li finally spoke his mind in one breath.

"Are you saying that someone captured Ying Ying?" It was within his expectations, but when he heard Manager Li speak up, he was still astonished.

"Yes, Princess." Manager Li nodded. "Someone saw Miss Ying Ying being taken away in the afternoon."

"Did he see who took Miss Ying Ying away?" Are there any characteristics of those people? "

Manager Li shook his head. "That person only saw people capturing Miss Ying Ying. At that time, a large group of people were scared away. At that time, that person only saw capturing people and couldn't clearly see who was capturing them."

"Does that mean that Ying Ying was taken without any clues?" This made Shang Yiqing even more certain that it was King Xuan. Ying Ying was the Xiao family's daughter and had no enmity with anyone. She could not think of anyone else who would do anything to Ying Ying besides King Xuan.

Seeing that Shang Yiqing was deep in thought, Manager Li couldn't help but ask, "Has the wangfei thought of something?"

"It's too late now. We'll talk about it in the morning if anything happens." Shang Yiqing made up her mind.