Chapter 33: Mysterious Disappearance
When Jiang Lili heard Village Chief Yan’s words, she realized that she was the richest person in the village. No wonder her clothes were different from those of the other villagers.
Jiang Lili looked at the enthusiastic Madam Yuan in front of her and asked, “Madam, would you be willing to let our family stay at your house?”
“Yes,” Madam Yuan replied with a smile, her tone sincere, “The young lady’s medical skills are impressive, and she’s very intelligent. I admire her greatly.”
Madam Yuan’s face beamed with a warm smile, and her attitude was earnest: “Although your family is on the way to exile, I can see in your face a spirit and energy, a dignified air that stands out.”
Yang Yunzhao, standing to the side, saw that Jiang Lili and her group had been invited to stay at the richest family in the village, and she gritted her teeth in frustration.
She didn’t know if it was intentional, but the Yang family had to squeeze into a thatched hut at a villager’s house tonight. They would have to sleep on hay, without even a bed, and their only food was sweet potatoes.
“Ah-choo—”
Yang Yunzhao couldn’t help but sneeze. She sniffled and reluctantly followed her family.
…
Jiang Lili exchanged a glance with the others from the Marquis of Zhaoping’s household, nodded, and sweetly said, “Then we’ll trouble you, Madam.”
Madam Yuan gestured for them to follow her. “Please, come with me.”
Jiang Lili didn’t forget about Yin Zhen and her child. “Sister Yin, where has the village arranged for you to stay?”
Jiang Lili still needed to give Dabao some medicine that night. For some reason, she felt a strange familiarity with the child.
Yin Zhen’s face showed some difficulty, and she bit her lip slightly. “The Master and Madam left first and told me to find another place to stay. They don’t want Dabao to pass on his illness to them.”
Madam Yuan glanced at Yin Zhen and then said enthusiastically, “If you don’t mind, the cook’s residence is next to my house, and she has a small room where she can accommodate you and your son.”
Yin Zhen’s eyes lit up with surprise, and she quickly expressed her gratitude.
Jiang Lili and her group followed Madam Yuan toward the richest family in the village, the Ning family. On the way, Madam Yuan chatted casually with the other ladies.
Madam Yuan had been married into the Ning family for almost twenty years and had two sons and a daughter. Recently, she had accompanied Master Ning to Linzhou City.
The Ning family’s house was very conspicuous among the thatched cottages. Not only did it look grand from the outside, built with glutinous rice mortar, but it was also large—a two-courtyard layout, making it the most luxurious house in the village.
Yin Zhen gazed at the spacious courtyard, marveling, and asked, “May I ask what kind of business Master Ning does?”
Madam Yuan smiled as she opened the door to the Ning family’s house. “Our Ning family has been in the herbal medicine business for generations, supplying herbs to the pharmacies in Linzhou City.”
“There are also two or three other shops in Linzhou City that do different kinds of business.”
Yang Shi seemed puzzled. “Then why does Madam still live in this Langyan Village? Isn’t it inconvenient to travel to the city?”
“Oh, we supply the herbs to the city. We usually hire villagers to gather herbs from the mountains and then sell them to the city.”
“There needs to be someone to manage things here, right?”
Madam Yuan spoke smoothly, without revealing any signs of unease.
“My husband splits his time between Linzhou City and Langyan Village. Although it’s tiring, at least it allows us to live comfortably.”
As everyone entered the courtyard, they noticed how neat and orderly it was. There were gardenias and bamboo scattered about, adding a touch of elegance.
It was clear that the Ning family was not only the wealthiest in the village but probably the richest for miles around.
“Yin family’s lady, please come in. I heard there were guests in the village, so I had the cook prepare a table of good food before I left.”
Madam Yuan gestured for everyone to enter the main hall. “After dinner, I will take you to your rooms.”
Jiang Lili helped Madam Yang. “Madam Yuan, my mother is a bit tired. I’d like to take her to the room to rest for a while.”
Madam Yuan then instructed the maid who was following her to take Jiang Lili and Madam Yang to the guest rooms first.
After helping Madam Yang lie down to rest, Jiang Lili returned to the main hall, where dishes had begun to arrive at the dining table.
The large round table in the main hall was filled with nearly twenty dishes, with the majority being meat-based. The aroma was overwhelming, yet no one moved to take their chopsticks.
“Now that everyone is here, we can start the meal,” Madam Yuan said, noticing the guests’ hesitance, and she chuckled.
“Don’t worry, our village’s people are all like this—warm-hearted and hospitable. Did we scare you?”
After speaking, Madam Yuan picked up her chopsticks and sampled every dish, tasting each one.
“You are reserved and cautious, which is understandable. But now you can relax, right?”
“It’s not that we’re cautious, it’s just that we’ve been so hungry on the way here. We were waiting for Madam Yuan to start and help herself to some dishes first,” Jiang Lili spoke up, lightening the mood.
“Otherwise, we might end up devouring the entire table!” she joked.
As soon as Jiang Lili said this, everyone laughed, and the earlier awkwardness was quickly dispelled.
Jiang Lili picked up a bowl and chopsticks, turning to Madam Yuan: “Madam, I’d like to bring some food to my mother. I can’t relax knowing she hasn’t eaten yet.”
Madam Yuan nodded with a soft smile: “You’re such a thoughtful child. Go ahead. You should bring it while the food is still hot.”
After serving the food, Jiang Lili went to Madam Yang’s room. Madam Yang was taking a short nap, so Jiang Lili didn’t wake her.
She opened the group chat and privately messaged the class monitor.
[Jiang Lili: Class monitor, can you take a look at the food I sent over and see if it’s been tampered with?]
[Class Monitor: Sure, this is the specialty of the palace’s imperial physicians.]
Jiang Lili held the bowl of food in her hands, clicked on the red envelope icon in the chat interface, and sent a physical red envelope to the class monitor.
In the next moment, the bowl of food she was holding disappeared.
Jiang Lili then took out the nourishing soup she had prepared for Madam Yang from her basket, which was another one of Xiaopang’s contributions.
After delivering the soup, Xiaopang sent Jiang Lili a kneeling emoji.
[Zhang Xiaopang: Sister Li, you really helped me out this time! The dinner with the project manager went so smoothly today!]
[Zhang Xiaopang: You wouldn’t believe it, when I took out that Jiangshan map of yours, the project manager was in awe! His eyes were glued to it, and he was so happy, he almost knelt down to thank my dad!]
Jiang Lili breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Xiaopang’s family crisis had been resolved. Finally, she had helped Xiaopang in return.
Jiang Lili called out to Madam Yang to wake up and eat, reminding her to stay in bed and remain calm no matter what happened that night.
At that moment, a message from the mountain bandit’s leader, Guan Yue, popped up.
[Guan Yue: The second in command said a family who stayed in Lanyang Village has gone missing. Are you okay, Lili?! Hold on, I’m bringing people over to kill them!]
Jiang Lili shuddered upon reading the message. What kind of terrifying story was this?!
[Zhang Xiaopang: No way, that’s super scary! Sister Li, I had my dad get three crossbows, and I’ll send them over with the stun gun!]
[Jiang Lili: Send the stun gun first, it’s easy to hide in my sleeve. As for the crossbows, wait for my instructions. I’ll let you know when to drop them off.]
In the next moment, Jiang Lili heard a sound coming from her basket. She took out the stun gun and hid it in her sleeve, feeling a bit more at ease.
With her self-defense tools secured, Jiang Lili returned to the dining hall and sat down at the table. As she ate slowly, she waited for updates from the class monitor.
Madam Yuan, noticing that Jiang Lili always had a basket with her, couldn’t help but ask with curiosity, “Miss Jiang, why do you carry that basket with you everywhere you go?”
“Why don’t you put it aside for now? It must be tiring to eat with it.”