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18: The Truth

The prime minister's residence, within Ren Fengyao's study:

Ren Fengyao sat behind the desk, placid as water. Three days had passed. Men had searched no less than a hundred Li of the Raging River, but no trace of Zi Yinye had been found, as if Zi Yinye had been swallowed by the river, not even leaving bones behind. He truly would not be able to see her dead or alive.

Seeing the ugly expression on his young master's face, Mo Bai felt somewhat apprehensive. On the day of the Spring Hunt, he had been left behind at the residence. Who would have expected this kind of situation to happen? Although she merely held the title of Madam and the young master did not truly have feelings for her, the young master was surely feeling grieved. If only he had gone that day. If he had gone too, perhaps he would have accompanied the seventh lady, preventing the headstrong princess from prompting the seventh lady to ride and this wouldn't have happened! It was all that willful princess's fault! Even though the emperor had ordered the princess to be locked up and reflect on her mistakes, the seventh lady could not be brought back to life if she were dead.

Seeing Mo Bai lingering around the doorway, Ren Fengyao beckoned, "Come in. Any news?"

Mo Bai lowered his head, his voice low.

"No."

Ren Fengyao did not speak any more. Mo Bai secretly glanced at the young master. Noticing the young master's complexion did not have any large changes, he spoke.

"Young master, the imperial captain just asked if the search is to be continued."

Mo Bai said these words with incredible caution, fearing Ren Fengyao's reaction. After all, Ren Fengyao had declared an absolute order* to find her, "dead or alive". However, Ren Fengyao's expression suddenly relaxed. After a while, he spoke.

"Withdraw. There is no need to search any more. Even if they continued to search, they wouldn't find anything."

*The word for "absolute order" is like if they didn't carry it out, they would be killed

Mo Bai froze. There was a faint trace of a smile on the young master's lips. Was the young master about to go insane?

"Senior brother, I have returned!" With a flash, another person appeared. Leng Canxing had been gone for the past three days.

Ren Fengyao signaled Mo Bai to pour Leng Canxing a tea and seated him.

"Did you find anything?" Ren Fengyao asked leisurely.

Leng Canxing frowned. He took a sip of the tea, silent, not knowing what to say. "I did discover something, but at the same time, I did not find anything. Just as Mo Bai said before, nobody has seen the seventh lady's true appearance, including her own parents. As for the rumor of her ugly appearance, it started after the seventh lady was severely sick for a period of time at the age of seven, and the more the rumor spread, the more exaggerated it become, but as for where the rumor came from, I could not ascertain who."

"Mo Bai said that she is unfavored, but that is somewhat false. She is indeed not liked in the Zi family, but this seems to be on purpose. It seems she has a special status in the family. She lived alone in a small courtyard. Besides her parents, no one is allowed to enter without her permission, including her elder brothers or sisters as well as the two mistresses. She has no other servants besides her four personal maidservants, so nearly none of the other servants have ever met her before, not to mention know her lifestyle or other details."

Ren Fengyao muttered, "Although she is the daughter of the official wife, this does not justify the fact that the other two madams require her permission to enter. No matter what, she is part of the younger generation."