The wet nurse's shriek pierced the night, rousing countless people who had only just fallen asleep, tossing and turning.
Madame Zou jolted awake and shouted, "Someone, what's happening outside? What's gone, who's gone?"
Mama Yuan, Madame Zou's dowry maid, disregarding the cold night wind, rushed into the room, shivering, "Madam, it's bad! The young master is gone!"
"What did you say?"
Madame Zou broke out in a cold sweat, jolted upright, her vision blurring, almost collapsing to the ground.
"Madam, Madam, what's wrong?"
Mama Yuan hurried forward, supporting Madame Zou, asking anxiously.
Madame Zou waved her hand; her vision still swam, and the world felt as if it were spinning. But more pressing than her discomfort was her worry. With the master gone, if anything were to happen to the child, she would have no reason to live, and would follow her husband.
"Go, quickly find Ming'er in the mourning hall and tell him to gather people to search. Also... send someone to give Yun'er a message, tell her about the master's passing and the child's disappearance. Now, the Zou family can only rely on her!"
Madame Zou was desperate, with no other options. In this situation, if the child were to be lost, not to mention the Empress Dowager's potential wrath, even the Qin family, if they wished to cause trouble, would find them helpless. They could only hope that Yun'er, now reinstated, could win the Emperor's favor.
Ideally, she would give birth to a dragon son for the Emperor.
"Yes, Madam, leave it to this old servant. Madam, please rest for a while. At this time, you absolutely cannot fall ill. The entire Zou family relies on you as their backbone."
Madame Zou nodded. Despite her anxiety, she didn't overexert herself but obediently sat back on the bed. Mama Yuan adjusted the pillows to make her more comfortable. After settling Madame Zou, Mama Yuan walked out.
First, she found her son, who served in the outer court, and assigned him the task of delivering the message. Then, she headed towards the mourning hall.
Inside the mourning hall, Zou Yunming, having heard everything, remained unmoved. Mama Yuan watched Zou Yunming kneeling before the coffin, unmoving, and was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, constantly trying to persuade him, "Young Master, this old servant knows you are filial and want to keep vigil for the Master, but the deceased are gone. Even if your grief is unbearable, you cannot neglect the lives of the living. If the Master has spirit in heaven, he would surely want you to find the young master!"
"Young Master, the Master's departure was sudden. The Zou family is now like a rudderless boat, and the young master..." Mama Yuan paused, then continued, "No matter what, the young master is the child of you and Miss Qin. With this child, our Zou family still has some reliance and hope... This old servant knows you disdain their support, but at least with the young master here, they won't kick you when you're down, will they?"
"Young Master, this old servant, this old servant knows you are unhappy, but Young Master, the Master is gone. You are now the head of this family. Some things, even if you have to grit your teeth and swallow them with blood, you must endure."
Zou Yunming suddenly looked up. His eyes, red from staying up all night, looked as if they were stained with blood. He looked at Mama Yuan, his lips twitching, but he couldn't force a smile no matter how hard he tried.
Mama Yuan's heart ached as if it were being shattered.
"Young Master, my Young Master!"
Mama Yuan's eyes welled up, and she wiped away tears with heartache. She had been Madame's dowry maid and had watched the Young Master grow up. She had never seen him like this before.
Zou Yunming truly wanted to laugh.
He didn't know if the Zou family had made a wrong move at some point, or if every step had been wrong, leading them to this predicament in such a short time.
He stood up, rubbed his numb knees from kneeling, and said to Mama Yuan, "Mama Yuan, go find Steward Wang and have him find some household retainers or servants bound by a death contract to search the entire Zou Mansion. Also, you personally go and watch that wet nurse. Before I return, she is not to speak a word."
"If the child is found, so be it. If not..." Zou Yunming paused, his voice laced with a chilling coldness, "then make sure everyone who knows about this incident keeps silent. The child... we can find another one." He then lowered his tone, speaking in a low murmur as if to himself, "After all, newborns all look alike."
Mama Yuan looked up abruptly, momentarily stunned.
...
Mama Yuan's son, Liu Biao, hitched a horse and headed towards the Imperial Palace.
The road from Zou Mansion to the Imperial Palace had to pass the square outside the Ministry of Justice. As the horse stepped onto Yunlan Street, the deafening sounds of fighting from afar startled the horse's hooves. Liu Biao reined in the reins, preventing himself from falling.
From a distance, the chaotic metallic sound of iron boots trampling the ground and the clash of weapons could be heard incessantly. Just hearing the sounds, without seeing the scene, was enough to know what was happening far away.
Liu Biao's heart sank, but he managed to keep a calm expression. He dismounted, tied the horse to a nearby post, and cautiously walked forward. After about a few hundred meters, as the sounds around him exploded, he saw the scene in the distance.
It looked like two armies clashing, or perhaps fighting a group of men in black.
The troops fighting within the capital were likely either the Emperor's Imperial Guards or the Regent's Demon Hunter Army.
Liu Biao suddenly remembered the unusual occurrences along the way. Besides Zou Mansion, several other residences he passed seemed to be brightly lit.
This meant that apart from Zou Mansion, all other officials' residences knew what had happened?
This was not good news!
He needed to get the message to the palace as quickly as possible, so that Miss would know what had happened at the mansion and could make plans.
Thinking this, Liu Biao decided to take a different route to the Imperial Palace. He retreated, did not ride his horse again, but took a small path, detouring through the streets adjacent to Yunlan Street towards the Imperial Palace.
...
On the other side, Qin Qianyu had already left the city gates and was heading in the direction of Dengying Village.
Outside Dengying Village, there was a river. The river surface was frozen, and the wind, carrying the cold air from the ice, blew into Qin Qianyu's collar. He shivered, tugged at his wound, causing another wave of pain.
The infant in his arms, whether awakened by hunger, cold, or his tight embrace, began to wail loudly. The cry was like thunder in the silent night, audible from a mile away. Qin Qianyu was startled, his hand trembled, and he almost dropped the infant.
He quickly held him close, breaking out in a cold sweat. The baby's cries made him panic. He tried everything to stop the crying but failed. He could only cover the infant with the bedding and quicken his pace.
Entering Dengying Village, a house at the village entrance was still lit. Qin Qianyu, holding the child, pushed the door open and quickly entered the house.
"I..."
Qin Qianyu quickly closed the door and turned, about to say something, but upon seeing the figure sitting on the bed, he was so astonished that he almost bit off his tongue.
On the bed sat a woman dressed in coarse homespun cloth.
The issue wasn't the woman, nor the coarse homespun cloth, but the fact that her coarse homespun cloth was gaping open, revealing her prominent mounds.
Completely unclothed, it was all too clear!