After I stopped being a lady from a rich family, I fought all over the capital

Chapter 391 Multiple People Missing
Pretend! !
"Find him! Get everyone out there to search!! We must bring the young master back to me today."

"If I find him, I'll break his legs."

"How dare you lie to your mother!"

"I must teach him a lesson he won't forget!!"

The fragrance of osmanthus is quite strong.

But a day passed, and the servants of the Liu family still hadn't found Liu Wu's whereabouts, which made Liu Guixiang panic.

"That little rascal, could it be that he didn't go out fooling around, but got into some kind of trouble?"

Liu Guixiang felt empty and very sad.

When Tan Ci heard the news, she couldn't help but suggest, "I think we should ask Madam Song about this?"

"Perhaps she can find some clues?"

Aren't all these gods and ghosts supposed to be able to predict the future?
Liu Guixiang was tempted.

The main problem is... Liu Wu hasn't been home for four whole days.

I don't know if they've been missing for a long time, or what happened.
"You are right!"

Liu Guixiang called out loudly, "Someone! Prepare a car for me, I need to go to the Song residence!"

Song Lan was somewhat surprised to learn of Liu Wu's disappearance.

"That day, I held a housewarming banquet at my residence, which was organized by Liu Wu. Afterwards, he did say that he wanted to stay at my place."

"But I refused."

"He had already left by then."

Song Lan frowned: "Could it be that he hasn't come home all this time?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Guixiang became even more anxious.

"Yes!"

She said urgently, "I originally thought he was staying at your place, which is why I didn't think much of it and didn't look for him."

"I only found out when Yunniang came back and told me that he wasn't with you."

"At first I thought he was just messing around and had learned something bad outside, which is why he was keeping it from his family."

“But I sent people to search almost the entire capital, and we still couldn’t find any trace of him.”

"That's why I thought of coming over to ask you if you could find any clues about him?"

"Where is he now? Is he alive or...?"

The thought of that possibility brought tears to Liu Guixiang's eyes.

If something really happened to Liu Wu that's why he hasn't been home for so many days, how desperate he must have been!

Song Lan checked it out.

Discovery—"Hmm?"

I can't find it.

Liu Wu seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.

Life or death unknown.

There wasn't even a trace left.

It's as if Liu Wu is no longer in this world.

They never came, nor did they ever exist.

If she hadn't remembered that such a person existed, Liu Wu would have never existed in this world.

"This is indeed strange."

Song Lan told Liu Guixiang about how she couldn't find any trace of Liu Wu.

Liu Guixiang's vision went black.

"Is there any hope? Can my son be found?"

Although she couldn't quite understand what Song Lan meant by Liu Wu's disappearance, after all, how could a perfectly healthy person, the child she carried for ten months, just vanish like that?
It has never existed in this world.

Song Lan shook her head: "I've never encountered such a situation before..."

Just then, a ghost servant from the Song residence suddenly appeared and reported, "My lord, a man claiming to be a high-ranking official from the Jingzhao Prefecture has come to see you, saying he has important matters to discuss with you."

"Jingzhao Prefecture?"

Song Lan thought of Jiao Bubai.

She glanced at Liu Guixiang, thought for a moment, and then had the ghost servant bring the person in.

Jiao Bubai arrived in a hurry and said as soon as he saw him, "Lord Song! I apologize for disturbing you, but the situation is urgent."

Song Lan raised an eyebrow, inexplicably feeling that Jiao Bubai's visit was related to Liu Wu's disappearance.

as predicted……

"Suddenly, a large number of people have mysteriously disappeared from several streets near the West Market."

Jiao Bubai frowned deeply.

Song Lan frowned slightly: "A large number of people have mysteriously disappeared?"

"That's right!"

Jiao Bubai explained the situation in detail: "Many people suddenly disappeared overnight."

"At first, no one cared, after all, not everyone sees each other every day."

"The first person to discover the problem was a woman who was going from the East Market to the West Market to buy sesame cakes. She heard from others that many shops in the vicinity had not been open recently."

"At the time, I felt something was wrong, but I didn't think much of it."

"After all, it's normal for them not to want to do business."

"It's really strange that so many people suddenly stopped doing business."

"At the time, everyone just thought that something had happened that forced everyone to close their doors."

"Until she was on her way home, passing through those streets in the West Market, she felt that it was a little too quiet."

"When I told my mother-in-law, I found out that she had gone to visit her old friends, but no one was home. Even the old friends who used to chat and sew shoe soles with me at the street corner hadn't shown up for several days."

"The woman sensed something was wrong and knocked on the doors of several other houses, but found no one home. So she went to the Jingzhao Prefecture to report the case."

Liu Wu needs to pass through the West Market to get back from Song Lan's place.
"I might need to go to the site to take a look."

Without saying a word, Song Lan got up and walked out.

Some things can only be confirmed when you're actually there.

Jiao Bubai immediately led the way.

Liu Guixiang and Tan Ci also prepared to follow.

Song Lan shook his head: "Madam Liu, just wait for news at home."

"That way, if we hear any news about Liu Wu, we can make some plans."

How could Liu Guixiang possibly feel at ease?
They couldn't wait in peace.

Since Song Lan had said so, she could only nod.
-
"Miss Song, this is the place."

Jiao Bubai pointed to the houses in front and briefly told Song Lan about the situation of each family.

"...So, according to you, most of these people's homes only contain elderly people, women, and children?"

Song Lan raised an eyebrow, sensing that this matter was indeed unusual.

Jiao Bubai nodded: "That's right. These are all military households. The men in these households have either died on the battlefield or are guarding the border or fighting."

“Even the male members of these families, once they turn fourteen, must join the army.”

Song Lan gave a soft "hmm" to indicate that she understood.

She entered the first house, which was clean and tidy, with no trace of evil spirits.

Then they went into the second, third, and fourth houses, which were also empty and devoid of any trace of life.

After visiting more than twenty stores, and seeing that they were about to reach the end, Jiao Bubai couldn't help but ask a question.

"How is it? Have you noticed anything wrong?"

Song Lan shook her head: "There's no problem. This place is clean and there's no trace of any evil spirits left behind."

"no problem?"

Jiao Bubai was stunned.

How could there be no problem?

If there's no problem, then how did the people living here suddenly disappear?

They couldn't have really just vanished into thin air, could they?

"Can……"

Song Lan seemed to have guessed what he wanted to ask and interrupted him: "But the fact that no trace was left behind is the biggest problem." "It's impossible for perfectly healthy people to all disappear overnight."

"Even if you're going to travel, there should always be some explanation or trace."

But the people living here disappeared overnight.

"Yeah!"

Jiao Bubai breathed a sigh of relief: "That's what I think too."

He was genuinely worried that Song Lan would think there was no problem and then stop caring about anything else.

In that case, he would really be in trouble.

"Then what do you think, Madam Song?"

Jiao Bubai looked at Song Lan with a cautious expression.

Song Lan: "I'm afraid the two of us alone cannot resolve this matter."

"Madam Song, just tell me how many more people you need, and I will do everything in my power to gather them!"

So many people vanished from the capital overnight; this was a major incident.

If the news gets out, it will likely cause widespread panic.

But even if you want to hide something like this, you probably can't hide it for long.

If the palace were to investigate, even eight hundred heads wouldn't be enough to pay off him.

More importantly, so many people can't just disappear like this, without any explanation!

His professional ethics and sense of responsibility did not allow him to turn a blind eye to so many lives!
"I need to dig up all the ground in these houses."

"As for how many people are needed to complete this task, Lord Jiao can arrange it as he sees fit."

Song Lan finished speaking in a calm voice.

Jiao Bubai was stunned: "Huh?"

What are you doing?!

Dig up the ground in every single house here?!
"Madam Song, this..."

Jiao Bubai looked troubled.

Song Lan raised an eyebrow: "Can't you do it?"

It's definitely possible; it's just a matter of digging up the ground. As long as we have enough manpower, digging it up is only a matter of time.

Can……

"Such a large-scale digging will likely attract gossip and rumors."

"If it gets discovered that so many people have disappeared from the city without any reason, it will probably cause a huge uproar."

"Don't we have..."

Is there a more discreet way?

Do we really have to dig three feet into the ground like this?

Jiao Bubai wanted to ask, but before he could speak, he was silenced by Song Lan's indifferent gaze.

“If you find it difficult, you are free to choose not to do it.”

Song Lan: "I can't hold a knife to an adult's neck and force them to do things my way."

"No no no!"

Jiao Bubai quickly waved his hand: "Madam Song, you misunderstand. I absolutely did not mean that I did not want to listen to your arrangements."

"I just think that with so many people suddenly disappearing in the city, it's best not to let the news out before we get any useful leads."

"Otherwise, if everyone spreads the word, who knows how exaggerated it will become."

"If this causes panic and unrest among the people, it may lead to chaos."

"This will do us no good at all in terms of helping us to solve the case."

"But for the person behind the scenes, who orchestrated this disappearance, it makes it easier to fish in troubled waters."

"It is entirely beneficial and without any harm."

"I……"

Jiao Bubai appealed to his emotions and reasoned with him.

I wanted to persuade Song Lan to use a gentler approach, or at least a more low-key one.

Song Lan said calmly, "What you need to know, you will know sooner or later."

"It's better to guide than to suppress. Your constant cover-ups and silence are the breeding ground for conspiracy theories."

"If you explain things clearly, people may understand and even cooperate with you."

What's the point of simply hiding it?

You'll find out sooner or later what you need to know.

"Madam Song..." Jiao Bubai still wanted to persuade her.

Song Lan had lost his patience: "Whether or not to dig it up is up to Lord Jiao to decide."

"And if you actually dig something up, you will naturally think of coming to me."

"Of course, if nothing is found, there's no need to contact me."

"Please do as you wish."

Jiao Bubai was immediately in a real bind.

However, he couldn't make such a decision on his own. After thinking it over, he had no choice but to report the matter to the Prefect of Jingzhao.

"what?!"

The Prefect of Jingzhao was shaken awake from his sweet dream and was initially very angry.

After hearing Jiao Bubai's words, he was so frightened that he immediately woke up completely and became wide awake.

"When did this happen?"

"Are you sure these people are all missing? They didn't go out to visit relatives or friends or anything?"

After asking this question, the Prefect of Jingzhao felt that he had said something pointless.

One or two people disappearing could mean they've gone out to visit relatives and friends without informing anyone.

Or perhaps no one will know at all.

The disappearance of eight or ten people could be due to a pre-arranged trip together for some purpose.

If nearly a hundred people disappear, that would be a major incident!!

"Madam Song went to those houses and only said that she wanted to dig up the ground to take a look?"

"Didn't they say anything else?"

"Is it another evil spirit...?"

Jiao Bubai shook his head: "Madam Song said it wasn't an evil spirit, but she didn't say anything else."

"They only said they wanted to dig up the ground and take a look first."

"As for what she wanted to see, Madam Song didn't say..."

Jiao Bubai pondered for a moment: "However, Madam Song said that if we find anything, we will definitely go to her."

"If we don't find her, there's no need to look for her."

"Also, when I went to find Miss Song, I happened to run into Madam Liu and the others."

Jiao Bubai's expression turned serious: "Liu Wu has also disappeared."

"what?"

The Prefect of Jingzhao was shocked: "When did this happen?! Why didn't anyone report it?!"

"According to Madam Liu, Liu Wu hasn't returned home for several days. We initially thought he was staying at the Song residence, but after asking around, we found out that Liu Wu wasn't at the Song residence at all."

"Later, after searching the entire city, no trace of Liu Wu was found, and that's when we began to suspect that he had simply disappeared."

Jiao Bubai said.

The Prefect of Jingzhao frowned: "Are these two matters related in any way?"

Jiao Bubai shook his head.

"No evidence has yet been found to link these two events."

"However, through our people's visits and investigations, we can roughly determine that the time of Liu Wu's disappearance is not much different from the time of the disappearance of people in several streets near the West Market."

So, these two things are very likely related?

"I'm afraid we need to report this to His Majesty."

"You should return to the capital and gather your men. We'll make a decision after I leave the palace!"