Their destination was Lingxi Mountain at the southwestern corner of Nanfeng County. Lingxi Mountain was very beautiful with various landscapes. It was said that rhinoceros appeared there in ancient times, and hence it was named Lingxi Mountain, literally rhinoceros mountain.

From Nanfeng County to the foot of Lingxi Mountain, it was less than a hundred miles, which was not a long journey. However, because of the female members, the carriage needed to slow down, taking three or four days.

On their third day away from home, they were caught up when they were at the sight of Lingxi Mountain. The leading person was the chief steward Sheng Fu favored by Sheng Lanci.

"Eldest Childe, Eldest Master ordered me to ask you something important!" After Sheng Fu caught up with the team, with no time to say h.e.l.lo to everyone, he rushed to the carriage and raised the curtain. He made sure that Eldest Master's sweetheart was safe and sound, though she was frightened by his sudden behavior. Feeling relieved, he stayed calm as usual.

Pleading guilty, he put down the curtain and went to check on Xu Baomo. Seeing that he was safe, he felt relieved. After paying his salute with a palm over a fist, a matter came to his mind before Sheng Weide spoke. Facial expressions changing, he asked, "Where is Third Miss and Miss Shen?"

"Cousin and Third Sister?" They were astonished by the question. "Haven't they long since been back home?" They said simultaneously.

Hearing that, Sheng Fu was livid, "Haven't they been with you on travel? Why did they return halfway?!"

Sheng Weide replied nervously, "After leaving the city the day before yesterday, Cousin and Third Sister had an argument somehow, and they even fought with each other at lunch. They… they were too noisy, so I ordered someone to send them back and let grandfather teach them a lesson!"

"The day before yesterday?!" Hearing that, Sheng Fu looked pale. Pressing the whip hard, he said in a low voice, "Eldest Childe, I am afraid that … something might have happened to them! I was sent by Eldest Master to catch you in a hurry because a corpse was found outside the city yesterday. He was one of the escorts protecting you on this journey!"

Sheng Family was very rich. They often funded bridge and road construction of the county. The family was a typical one of the benevolent rich families advocated by the government. Therefore, they shared a very close relations.h.i.+p with the local government. Security guards of the family and official guards often communicated with each other, so they were very familiar with each other. After that corpse was transported to Yamen, its ident.i.ty was confirmed without putting up a notice.

Receiving the news, it's natural for members of Sheng Family to think of Sheng Weide and other family members along with him. Not to mention all the elder descendants of Sheng Family in the team, the officials of Nanfeng County wouldn't sit idly by for the security of Xu Baomo!

Sheng Fu and other servants who caught up just now were the best riders with the best horses. Because they were ordered by Sheng Lanci, after arriving, they firstly confirmed the safety of Sheng Weiqiao and then Xu Baomo.

Seeing that both were safe and sound, and the whole team was very calm, Sheng Fu had thought that it was no big deal. He thought that the guard was murdered after leaving alone with their permission, which had nothing to do with young masters of Sheng Family and Xu Baomo.

Who knew that a small group of people including two Misses were missing?!

"How come that happened?!" Sheng Fu looked serious. Feeling extremely afraid and worried, Sheng Weide almost fell off the horse!

Hearing that Sheng Weirao and Shen Jiuniang had never returned to Sheng Family, he hoped that they had hidden somewhere else temporarily for fear of punishment.

But, now, their guards died on the roadside. There was no excuse for him to deceive himself. No matter what happened to them, they were forced into going back by Sheng Weide, who must bear the main responsibility!

What's more, even though Sheng Weide was not close with his half-sister, he was not so vicious that he wanted her to die. As for his cousin Shen Jiuniang, he didn't resent her at all! If something bad happened to them, even after they were saved, their reputations would be ruined!

At that time, how would he face them?!

"I can't believe this!" Seeing Sheng Weide's bad complexion, Xu Baomo rolled his eyes slightly, "Then how could we continue leaving for Lingxi Mountain? We should return right now to help!"

He came as a guest and Sheng Family which was not a small one without many staff. Even if two girls were missing, there was no reason for him to help personally.

What he spoke was actually to Sheng Weide. Nodding gratefully to him, he said to Sheng Fu, "Brother Xu was right. Uncle Fu, shall we go back now?"

The reason why Sheng Fu explained to Xu Baomo's face was that he hoped that they would not go to Lingxi Mountain. After all, there was an accident to Sheng Weirao and Shen Jiuniang at present. n.o.body knew whether someone was also tailing them or not.

Before the event was clear, safety was a top priority.

However, Sheng Weide agreed with Xu Baomo's proposal. Sheng Fu frowned secretly, thinking in mind, "No wonder Senior Master did not bring any grandchildren when visiting Old Marquis Xu! Though with an honest temperament, he is not considerate when handling things!"

The trip was mainly for entertaining Xu Baomo, so when he heard that something had happened to Sheng Weirao and Shen Jiuniang, Xu Baomo immediately proposed to stop the tour. That was his consideration for the master. However, the side of the master agreed with his proposal immediately without thinking, and that was not respectful to the guest.

Because that meant that Sheng Weide saw affairs of Sheng Family more important than entertaining Xu Baomo. It was impolite according to daily contact customs.

If Sheng Fu had handled that, he would have asked Sheng Weiche on his behalf to accompany the guest, would have pleaded guilty to Xu Baomo, and would have gone back to the county alone. Or he would have expressed thanks to Xu Baomo's understanding and consideration of the safety of members of the trip, and then they could go back. However, Sheng Weide just nodded slightly and agreed to go back. It was the first time for Xu Baomo to visit Sheng Family, and they didn't live together. They were not so familiar that they could ignore the necessary etiquette.

In the presence of many people, Sheng Fu couldn't give Eldest Childe a hint, but he would report to Sheng Lanci to redeem, lest Xu Baomo looked down upon the whole Sheng Family even if he said nothing.

Seeing that the team had begun to make a U-turn, Sheng Fu pleaded guilty to Sheng Weide and Xu Baomo and went back to the carriage. Then, he explained roughly to the surprised sisters.

Hearing his words, both were shocked and frightened. They regretted that they did not persuade Sheng Weide to let them stay, and felt guilty that they did not accompany them home, "If so, Eldest Brother would have sent more guards with us and the accident wouldn't have happened!"

Consoling them in words, Sheng Fu rejoiced actually. Sheng Weide sent four guards, four male servants in their prime, and two old female servants with his cousin, not counting their own maids.

At daytime, on a half-day journey, who knew that an accident would happen to such a team?

It was lucky that Sheng Weiqiao was not in the team, otherwise, Sheng Fu didn't know how to explain it to Sheng Lanci?!

Heading back for a half-day, they saw groups of guard on and off. The third group was even led by Sheng Lanci himself.

Hearing Sheng Weirao and Shen Jiuniang were both missing but others were safe, Sheng Lanci wiped off the sweat on his face and felt a little relieved. He murmured, "My nieces had always been in inner chambers. Who did that to them?"

Sheng Fu whispered, "Would they… do that for money?"

"It's unlikely to be spontaneous." Sheng Lanci shook his head, "According to Weide, they didn't leave alone and they followed a path with many people. If it hadn't been for the dead body of the guard who was recognized by one official guard, we would have known nothing till now. If that was spontaneous, what a group of bandits!"

Nanfeng County had been peaceful in recent years. Not to mention the vicinity of the county center, even in remote areas, there were no powerful gangsters who could kidnap so many people with no one escaping.

Sheng Fu went silent and then said, "Master, do you doubt…?"

"The most urgent thing now is to get two girls back!" Sheng Lanci looked at the crowd around him. He said, "Thank you for your hard work, and there is one more thing. Tell them to give you a few horses with energy, and ride back alternatively to put up a notice in the city: Anyone sending them back safe and sound will be rewarded 100,000 taels of silver. He will also be treated as a distinguished guest!"

"100,000 taels of silver?!" Although Sheng Fu had followed Sheng Lanci since he was a teenager and was accustomed to big events, he was still shocked hearing that. Sheng Lanci would buy his daughter a one-thousand-tael knife when he went far away, that was because the family was rich and he loved his daughter so much. He was generous to his daughter.

As for ordinary people, when a family of six members was abundant in foods and clothes and often went to the restaurant, it only cost one to two hundred taels of silver a year.

Anyone could imagine how a big sum 100,000 taels of silver was!

If Sheng Weiqiao was also in trouble, Sheng Lanci would even pay a million taels of silver. But now, the two girls were only the nieces of Sheng Lanci. Sheng Fu couldn't help but feel astonished. After all, the money was not earned by their parents. He couldn't help whispering, "Master, wasn't the sum offered too large? Maybe we could offer ten thousand taels of silver first and add according to situations?"

"The most important thing is to save them, also, both of them are girls!" Sheng Lanci said with a sullen face, "We could always make money, but what if they were injured?! As for such a matter, we couldn't add the sum of money gradually. If someone unsatisfied kidnapped them, they would be kept for more days for more money. That was harmful to them!"

With a sigh, he worried them a lot, "This is the third day they have been missing. If those kidnapers intended to take them far away, they must have been out of the county by now!"

As an emerging big one of all three Families in Nanfeng County, Sheng Family was very powerful in the county. However, out of the county, they were far less powerful. At that time, they would have no choice but to pay a large sum of money to find them!

Despite such a large sum of money, there had been no news of two girls for three days since they got back. n.o.body knew they were still alive or not!

Second Madam Bai was not a virtuous person. Every time seeing Sheng Weide, the son of her husband's first wife, she felt unpleasant. Now, with a reasonable excuse, she exclaimed many times a day to make him get her daughter back!

After receiving the news, Sheng Lanxin and her husband, although not as straightforward as her, blamed Sheng Weide indirectly. After the reason for their quarrel was made clear, Sheng Lanci called servants to pull Madam Bai back and lock her inside the room. If she continued to do so, she would be sent back and never return to Sheng Family!

After all, if it wasn't that Madam Bai attempted to make Sheng Weirao seduce Xu Baomo, Old Madam Ming wouldn't make Shen Jiuniang follow. If so, how could everything happen?!

At the moment, Madam Bai was the enemy of all family members. Old Madam Ming knew she couldn't get out of this. It was improper for a son-in-law to say something, Sheng Lanxin cried in public and she complained, "Mom, everyone knew clearly what kind of person my second sister-in-law was! You knew she couldn't teach Weirao good things. Instead of scolding her, you dragged my innocent Jiuniang into this! I only have one daughter. If something bad happened to her, I would also end my life!!!"

Sheng Lanxin knew that Madam Bai hid the fact for fear that Sheng Lansi was also punished as a result of that. Her daughter had planned to go back to Shen Family, but Old Madam Ming tried various ways to persuade her to go along. And now it was a way of despair. n.o.body knew they were alive or dead. She couldn't resist her anger!

Under such circ.u.mstances, Madam Feng said to his daughter about the birthday of her eldest nephew, "Your aunt shouldn't have said such things because your grandmother felt very guilty after that happened. Now, she must feel worse. Your dad is a male, and he is in charge of finding these girls. He cannot handle so many things at one time. These days, I have to take turns with your third aunt to take care of your grandmother! I have no time. It was considerate of your eldest aunt to bring a message that we needn't go back. However, Zhiren is your big cousin, the eldest grandson of your generation of Feng family. As for his birthday, it is not proper that none of our family members go there. Both you and your brother are not young. On behalf of me, you go there and send my gifts of congratulations and by the way, send my best wishes to them!"

Sheng Weiqiao pouted, "I'll take this trip on behalf of you and dad. Why do you let Sheng Shuihe go there too? He has no connections with Feng Family!"

"Do you want to enter the ancestral hall again?" Madam Feng said with a grin. She said slowly, "Because of Weirao and Jiuniang, your grandfather has been in a bad mood these days! You really want to annoy him? Both your father and I are very busy now. We have no time to beg his pardon for you now!"

"…." Sheng Weiqiao walked out of the Spring House, feelings aggrieved, but she was stopped by a servant.