Chapter 157 Probing the Depths

Chang Kang dared not disobey the young master. He stood up, lowered his head, and waited to one side.
"Speak, what is the matter?"
Chang Kang abruptly raised his head. The look of panic and anxiety in his eyes completely awakened Liu Qin, forcing her to take the situation before her seriously. It seemed Chang Kang had truly gotten himself into deep trouble.
"I... I..." Suddenly unsure how to express himself—whether to ask for a loan of silver or directly beg the young mistress and young master to save someone—Chang Kang stammered for a moment.
Jiang Li did not rush him.
After a brief calculation, Chang Kang realized that even with silver, it might not be possible to redeem the person now; it would be better to ask the young mistress and young master to effect a direct rescue. Hesitating no longer, he blurted out the matter concerning Xiaoxing.
"You mean that Wen Xing has been locked up and is about to be sold off?"
"Yes." After nodding, Chang Kang anxiously defended Xiaoxing, "Young Master, I know Xiaoxing well. She would never commit theft. There must be something fishy going on here."
Jiang Li furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes. Although he felt the matter was not so simple, he nodded nonetheless. "Rest assured, we will find a way to rescue her."
With the young master's guarantee, Chang Kang's overwhelming anxiety eased somewhat. Chang Xing, who had been following behind, stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, comforting him not to worry.
Liu Qin and Jiang Li had originally planned to visit Master Mu. Ever since the incident, Liu Qin had applied herself to martial arts much more diligently than before, but matching Xiao Wu's level was utterly out of the question.
The two walked ahead while Chang Xing and Chang Kang followed behind.
Liu Qin glanced sideways at the dejected Chang Kang, reached out to gently touch Jiang Li, and asked in a low voice, "Have you figured out how to save her?"
Jiang Li took her small hand in his, his brows furrowing slightly. "I don't know if the Fang residence is currently allowing people to be ransomed out. If they do, everything will be easy to handle; if not, then—"
"Why not send someone to test the waters?"
"Mm, that's what I was thinking."
Having settled their plan, the following day, a dull-looking middle-aged man arrived at the Fang residence, claiming his surname was Wen. He presented himself as the father of Wen Xing, a maid in the household. Explaining that his family's financial situation had improved since before, he had come specifically to redeem his daughter and begged the masters of the household to show mercy.
Wen Xing's father did not get to see the mistress in charge at the Fang residence. Only the steward came to the gate to meet him, dismissing him directly with the excuse that "the masters are not present and decisions cannot be made," and barred him from entering the estate.
After delivering his words, the steward turned and went back inside. The middle-aged man kept his wits about him and did not leave immediately. Wandering around the vicinity, he overheard a junior gatekeeper asking an older elderly servant, "Uncle Zhao, was the Wen Xing just mentioned the maid beside our young mistress?"
"Why ask about such things? I advise you, boy, not to meddle in matters that don't concern you, lest you invite disaster upon yourself."
"I... I didn't mean anything by it, I was just curious."
"Curious? Don't you know curiosity can kill a cat? Have you been in this household for all these years and still don't understand what should and shouldn't be asked?"
"I..."
"Forget it, seeing as you're an honest lad, I'll tell you quietly. You are not allowed to go running your mouth about this outside, understand?"
"Mm-hm."
"Old me thinks that girl stole our young mistress's hairpin, so she got a beating and was tossed into the woodshed. It's anyone's guess whether she's dead or alive right now. How could the masters possibly let her father redeem her at a time like this? In case unfavorable rumors spread and ruin the family's reputation—besides, the young mistress hasn't vented her anger yet, who would dare cross her at a time like this..."
Their voices had been low to begin with and grew fainter and fainter. Had the middle-aged man not possessed sharp ears, he would not have heard a thing.
Realizing no further information could be gleaned, the middle-aged man lingered no longer and immediately returned to the Liu residence to report everything in detail to Liu Qin and Jiang Li.
As it turned out, this middle-aged man was one of Liu Cheng's trusted subordinates whom Liu Qin had borrowed from her eldest brother.
Synthesizing all these circumstances, Liu Qin grew increasingly convinced that the matter was not as simple as a stolen hairpin. She summoned Chang Kang to question him closely, and only then did Chang Kang reveal that Xiaoxing had been subjected to physical punishment within the estate.
Such brutality?
Liu Qin felt her skin crawl just hearing it. She had not expected that the young mistress of the Fang family, an unmarried young lady, could be so vicious. This only solidified Liu Qin's determination to rescue Wen Xing.
Yet with the situation murky and ransom refused, what should be done?
Jiang Li, who had been frowning in thought beside her, spoke up, "Why don't I go to the Fang residence's back courtyard tonight to sound out the situation?"
"You?" Xiao Wu, who had remained silent all this while, raised an eyebrow with a look of utter disdain. "I'm afraid in the end we'd still have to trouble adoptive father to rescue you."
"You..." Jiang Li was riled up again. "I've spent over two years studying under the master, and I'm not going there to brawl, why wouldn't I be able to do it?"
"You think the Fang residence is so easy to break into? To say nothing else, do you even have the slightest idea how many people are planted in our own household in secret?"
What Xiao Wu said was true. They could not afford to implicate Jiang Li further; should the Fang family discover it was someone from the Liu household, there was no telling what greater trouble might ensue.
Liu Qin firmly kept one principle in mind: at this stage, they must never make an open enemy of the Fang family, because they stood absolutely nothing to gain. Even if they won, it would be a pyrrhic victory of trading a thousand of the enemy to damage eight hundred of their own—only a fool would engage in such foolishness.
And Liu Qin considered herself far from a foolish person.
Therefore, Liu Qin reassuringly pulled Jiang Li's hand, turned to Xiao Wu, and asked, "Brother Xiao Wu, then what do you suggest we do?"
"Naturally, I'll go," Xiao Wu replied coolly.
Oh, Liu Qin nearly collapsed. Was this Xiao Wu incapable of feeling comfortable unless he put Jiang Li down for even a moment? True to form, Jiang Li's face instantly gathered storm clouds, dark currents darting back and forth across his brows and eyes. Had he not exerted immense self-control, he would likely have lunged at Xiao Wu to fight it out right then and there.
The dark night arrived as scheduled.
Just as the drum signaling the hour of the rat faded away, a faint "thud" echoed near the perimeter wall of the Fang residence's back courtyard, as though something—or someone—had landed on the ground.
Immediately, two figures darted out from concealed spots in the southwestern and northern corners, converging on the source of the sound. Reaching the spot and peering through the dim moonlight, they found nothing. Exchanging a glance in the dark, the two turned back and retreated to their posts.
Yet the very instant the two turned away, a dark figure that had been hugging the courtyard wall descended upon them like a roc spreading its wings. It glided forward silently and vanished into a nearby patch of shrubbery.
When the two guards turned back to look again, apart from tree branches and flowers swaying violently in the wind, the courtyard was dead quiet and utterly empty.
Using the same method, Xiao Wu slipped past three guard posts and finally shook off the covert sentries of the Fang family. He quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead, never imagining the guards at the Fang residence would be so rigorous. Fortunately, he was the one who had come; had it been Jiang Li, he certainly would have failed to breach this airtight web of hidden sentries.
Navigating gardens and traversing covered corridors, he groped his way through the courtyards. The back grounds of the Fang estate were comparable in size to those of the Liu family; finding a locked-up person in such vast quarters was by no means a task that could be accomplished in a moment.
Just as he was growing secretly anxious, he caught sight of a flickering light ahead. The light bobbed back and forth, drawing closer and closer, prompting Xiao Wu to hurriedly spin around and conceal himself behind a large tree nearby.
As the light drew near, illuminating a patch of ground, it revealed a middle-aged maidservant holding a lantern in one hand and an empty bowl in the other, hurrying along.
Just as she passed right beside him, Xiao Wu bolted out, pressed the blade of a dagger against her throat, and lowered his voice in a threat: "Don't make a sound, or I'll take your life right now."
Trembling violently, the maidservant bit her lower lip so hard she nearly drew blood, nodding her head like a rattle-drum.
"Speak! Where is the maid your young mistress had locked in the woodshed?"
The maidservant froze. Suddenly struck by an even greater terror, she shook like a leaf in the wind, and the empty bowl in her left hand slipped from her grasp, tumbling toward the ground where it threatened to shatter into pieces... (To be continued.)