Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 644: Chapter 644: Life and Death in Two Days and Two Nights (Part 1)
 

Da Niu was slightly surprised but still replied.

“Yes, Madam!”

It was only then that Liu Sisi looked at Di Yelei: “Ye Lei, you’ll handle the rest.”

“Alright, I understand. You should go check on the children. Last night, the mansion was in chaos, and the three children didn’t sleep well.” Di Yelei whispered.

“Okay.”

Liu Sisi glanced at Di Xuan but didn’t say anything else. She stood up, lifted the curtain, and walked into the inner chamber.

Just as she turned and walked towards the back hall, she stopped in her tracks, thinking that this matter might not be resolved so easily after all!

“Guards!”

In the darkness, a figure flickered: “Madam.”

“Send a flying pigeon letter to Zuo Xingyu immediately, telling him that I have a request…”

By the time the man was brought back in, his appearance had completely changed, and his body emitted an unbearable stench of urine.

“Old Master, this coward peed his pants as soon as he was locked up in the dark room!”Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Da Niu, holding the man at arm’s length with his nose covered, said with disgust.

“Mmm, I know. You’ve worked hard.”

Di Yelei waved Da Niu away before glaring at the man: “Well? Are you still not going to speak? Or do you want to taste the true suffering in the prison cell?”

“Old Master, I confess! I’ve already confessed, so can’t you let me go? Wuuu…”

He cried, tears and snot flowing down his face. “I didn’t do it! I didn’t kidnap or kill anyone! It was that old man, the old bastard! He gave me a letter and told me to find an opportunity to stuff it in the official residence’s main entrance, and after it was done, he’d give me some money. I was tempted, so I agreed, but I didn’t expect to be caught just as I appeared. I really didn’t…”

“An old man? What did this old man look like? Where did you see him?”

Di Yelei asked urgently. “If you’re thinking of covering for him, I don’t mind showing you what living hell feels like!”

The man quickly recalled. “His appearance… he was skinny, hardly any meat on his bones. Yes! He was lame, with his right leg amputated. He’s not the mastermind behind this. I didn’t know they wanted me to do such a thing. Even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn’t dare…”

He wailed, tears and snot flowing.

Di Yelei, thinking of his own Ying Er whose life and death were uncertain, had no sympathy. “Speak! Where did you see him? Just tell the truth, and I can make sure your merits and faults cancel each other out, otherwise… Hmph!”

“I’ll talk! I’ll say everything! I beg you to spare me! I shouldn’t have been greedy for that little bit of money…”

The man wept loudly.

It was just before dawn, and the city gate had not yet opened. A large group of people led by Di Yelei rushed towards the City God Temple outside the North City gate.

The City God Temple had fallen into disrepair over the years, and the temple’s shrines were no longer inside. All that remained was an empty frame and a barely standing half-thatched roof. Hardly anyone went there on a regular basis.

Di Yelei was the first to arrive at the City God Temple, leaping off his horse and charging inside.

“Ying’er! Ying’er, Ying’er…”

He called out loudly, searching inside and out.

At a glance, the Temple was barren with no trace of people. The surroundings were bare.

After a thorough search, he didn’t find anything. He looked again, more carefully this time, and his gaze fell on a tiny ribbon flower near the corner of the southeast wall.

Di Yelei bent down, picked it up and looked at it for a moment before tightly clenching it in his hand.

“Guards! Expand the search area and look carefully! Don’t miss any small clues!”

These tiny ribbon flowers, no bigger than a little finger, were used by Sisi to dress Ying’er, as she especially liked to decorate her.

Now that a flower had appeared here, it proved that the captive’s confession was true, and the person who had taken Ying’er had been here before.

His sharp eyes assessed the surrounding area, finally resting on a patch of wild weeds behind the City God Temple.

“Over there! Send more people to search!”

Di Yelei, after all, had been a hunter and constable, excelling in tracking skills!

Today, he had brought only his most trusted servants from the mansion.

Sure enough, someone soon reported, “Your Honor, a few miles up the mountain, some brothers found a recently extinguished fire. There’s some food and messy footprints nearby, as if someone left in a hurry. Do you want to go over and check for yourself?”

At last, there was some good news. Di Yelei was overjoyed, “Where is it? Hurry and lead the way!”

As Di Yelei searched carefully, in the official residence, Liu Sisi scrutinized the ransom letter. The letter was short, with only one sentence: If you want Di Ying to live, bring 1000 taels of silver!

“Third Sister-in-law, what have you found after staring at that paper for so long?”

Di Ah-Bao beside her impatiently asked.

Liu Sisi didn’t answer but put the letter aside and looked up at Di Cheng. “Cheng’er, what do you think?”

“I’ve seen the letter too, and the handwriting is terrible.”

Di Cheng thought for a while, then added, “What’s most surprising is that there are three written errors in just a few words. It’s strange.”

“There’s nothing strange about it. It just shows that the person who kidnapped Ying’er is very uneducated.”

Liu Sisi glanced at everyone. “At first, I thought it was Di Yelei’s political enemy responsible for this. However, according to this letter, it shouldn’t be his enemy. Of course, it’s possible that the political enemy hired someone who is illiterate.”

The reason she sent Da Niu to guard the mansion’s gate was because she thought someone might try to use Ying’er as leverage against Di Yelei. If that were the case, they would definitely make another move.

<>But as it turns out, Da Niu managed to catch only the man who delivered the message, and there must have been more people keeping watch. The news of the messenger’s capture had probably already leaked, and the adversaries were undoubtedly on the run, but who would get to them first?!