Chapter 677 - 679: Where did the Kidnapper Come From?
The next afternoon, Cui Fan returned with a report, saying that the old Mistress Meng had sent a manager to the government office to express her fondness for the dim sum of Ronglang Pastry Shop. She felt it would be a pity for such an ancient establishment to go under and asked Kuai Minglang to carefully investigate the matter, so as not to let an honest man be wronged.
Kuai Minglang, a man who typically paid respects to no one, dared not show any disrespect to Mistress Meng. He promptly responded to the manager in the Meng Residence, promising to thoroughly investigate the matter.
"Miss, after we delivered the message, Official Kuai immediately went to arrest someone from the Zhou family. He feared that Wang Dianji might intervene, so he ordered an urgent investigation. They really arrested that merchant from the Zhou family!" Cui Fan exclaimed, looking somewhat exhilarated. In these days at the Bai family, he finally had some serious work to do.
"Later, it seemed that Wang Dianji did not send anyone to interfere, nor did Lady Zhou," Cui Fan added.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, "You don’t need to worry about the Wang family. We are dealing with the Zhou family this time. If they want to blame anyone, they can only blame their own crafty hearts. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have an opportunity."
Mistress Meng kept pressurizing the Wang family, and even Wang Dianji wasn’t a fool. He probably wanted to be rid of his wife now.
When a man takes a wife, he should not abandon her easily. But Zhou was involved in a plot to harm a pregnant woman, even letting a maid commit suicide to take the blame. Wouldn’t that scare any man?
"That Zhou merchant insisted on his innocence, claiming that his goods could be checked and that his almonds were fine. Today’s inquiry only goes as far as here," Cui Fan said with a tinge of regret.
Bai Ruozhu began to think. She hadn’t seen the cake that poisoned the child or Zhou merchant’s almonds, so she couldn’t know the precise situation.
On the third day, Cui Fan returned and reported: "Miss, the coroner at the government offices re-examined it. The almonds in the pastry were not poisonous, the poison was inside the pastry."
"What?" Bai Ruozhu was surprised. Wasn’t that proof that the almonds provided by the Zhou merchant to Ronglang Pastry Shop were not the problem, but the problem lay with the merchant couple Wang Shuan instead?
"So, Official Kuai detained both Wang Shuan and the Zhou merchant for further investigation."
Bai Ruozhu didn’t speak for a while, pondering possible scenarios in her head. She felt extremely frustrated not being able to figure this out.
"You continue to keep an eye on the Zhou family’s movements. If you can’t find enough evidence, plant some," Bai Ruozhu whispered.
Cui Fan bowed his head and said: "Yes, those who want to accomplish great things don’t stick to trifles. You’re right, Miss."
Bai Ruozhu was pleased that the guard from Mistress Meng wasn’t an obscurantist. "Alright, keep me informed of any developments, and be careful," she said.
"Yes." After Cui Fan answered, he left.
Jiang Yichun walked in, obviously annoyed, and said: "It’s enough that I arranged for someone to help you. You shouldn’t always be whispering with that guard."
As he spoke, he cast a sideways glance, appearing quite aloof.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t help but laugh. "Oh, our distinguished third son is jealous of a guard? Then you shouldn’t have any subordinates around you, I do have to think a lot about it."
"All my subordinates are men, so what are you thinking about?" Saying this, he suddenly flicked his finger, bouncing it off Bai Ruozhu’s forehead.
Bai Ruozhu let out a soft cry, covering her sore forehead and complaining: "Isn’t it between men that there are sparks of friendship?"
"What are you thinking in your head?" Jiang Yichun gave Bai Ruozhu an irritated look. Seeing this, Bai Ruozhu quickly covered her forehead with both hands, fearing he would flick her again. She looked slightly disoriented, making the scene very amusing.
Jiang Yichun, always careful and astute, couldn’t help but laugh at Bai Ruozhu’s quirky side. His cold facial features softened as he laughed.
In the yard, Lin Pingr looked towards the main house and snickered. Wan Caiyue, who was accompanying her, also looked towards the main house and saw Bai Ruozhu and Jiang Yichun sitting at the table, speaking to each other. From her angle, she could see the side of Jiang Yichun’s face clearly.
He was smiling as he looked at Bai Ruozhu, his eyes never leaving her as if nothing else in the world could distract him.
"The relationship between the younger sister and Chang Sheng is quite good," Wan Caiyue sincerely praised.
Lin Pingr’s laughter grew louder, "Isn’t it? Ruozhu is lucky. After going through a lot of trouble, she eventually ended up with Dengdeng’s father. Things are finally perfect."
"That’s right, we didn’t expect this at the beginning," Wan Caiyue said with a smile.
"Yes, we are now looking forward to Ruozhu having another child following you. When Er Lang marries a wife, I would wake up laughing from my dreams," Lin Pingr said.
"It will happen soon, Mother, don’t worry," Wan Caiyue casually said to cheer Lin Pingr. However, she didn’t expect Lin Pingr to immediately think of Tu Ying and feel worried.
She thought Tu Ying was a good girl, but the Bai family could hardly afford her. When she asked Er Lang about his thoughts, he insisted he was not considering it yet. He had decided that if he were to marry, it would only be after he had finished high school, but she still felt uneasy about it.
In the afternoon, after feeding the baby milk, Bai Ruozhu asked Jiang Yichun to put the baby to sleep while she visited Hua Xiangrong. Jiang Yichun,d not worried knowing he had arranged plenty of people to protect her, smiled and said: "Go ahead and do your work. When the baby wakes up, we’ll come to pick you up from the shop."
Bai Ruozhu immediately felt like her husband and child were coming to pick her up from work. Hadn’t she been hoping for this kind of peaceful and warm life in her previous life?
"Alright, I’ll be waiting for you." She smiled at him, a particularly sweet smile that made him feel a tickling sensation in his heart.
Bai Ruozhu asked Wa San to ready the horse carriage. As she rode towards Hua Xiangrong’s place, she pondered about the issue with the almond crisp. Suddenly from ahead, Wa San shouted, "Be careful!"
Before she had time to think, a thud sound was heard as the carriage violently collided with something. She stumbled and fell down within the carriage. Fortunately, the carriage was padded with thick cushions which prevented her head from being severely hit. She got up and asked. "Wa San, what happened?"
There was no response from the outside, but the neighing of horses could be heard. It seemed like two carriages had collided. She worried that Wa San was severely injured and hurriedly lifted the carriage curtain to check on him. Suddenly, a hand covered her mouth while two skilled men grabbed and tied her arms behind her back.
"Be good. We’re going to take you somewhere nice to eat and drink and let you become someone’s mistress," One of them whispered, envy apparent in his tone. It was as if he was disappointed that he wasn’t a woman and so couldn’t be the ’mistress’.
Bai Ruozhu spun her eyes around, trying to silently instruct Furball not to attack and to wait and see. Over this period, she had discovered that she could mentally communicate with the little creature.
She was curious about the sudden appearance of these people and what they meant by ’mistress’. They seemed odd, so she decided to go along and see what was up.