A Good Country Wife-Chapter 695 - 688_1

Lin Yue, upon hearing that Quan An had people locked in this small warehouse, immediately ordered the Hidden Guard of the Jiang Family to escort Quan An as she hurriedly went inside with Haishi. When she saw that the warehouse door was wide open and that there were no guards around, Lin Yue felt that something was amiss. Indeed, as she went inside, she found the warehouse empty, devoid of even a ghostly shadow. Lin Yue’s face, once full of anticipation, now darkened in an instant as she turned her fierce gaze towards Quan An.

"Quan An, I’ve given you enough chances, and yet you still dare to deceive me! Where are the people? Didn’t you say Dalang and several others were locked up here? Now where are they? It seems that the methods we used earlier on you were too gentle, which is why you dare to mock and lie to me again and again," Lin Yue said, furious with both anxiety and anger, her words filled with ruthlessness, which turned Quan An’s face pale with fear.

"But they were locked up in here!" Quan An rushed into the warehouse to check, equally baffled by the situation. He had clearly ordered his men to lock up the kids and to guard outside. Yet now, not only were the guards gone, but so were the captives. What on earth had happened?

Quan An’s face showed confusion and incomprehension, but above all, fear and dread. Although he had been in severe pain, he knew deep down that the man in black had shown restraint. Otherwise, he feared he would not even be able to stand here. The previous methods had already been too much for him, and now, with Zhao Lin believing that he was lying to her, he dreaded to think how she might deal with him. With these thoughts, Quan An shuddered.

"I truly don’t know what happened. They were definitely locked up here. How could they just disappear? I really didn’t lie to you, I swear, I really wouldn’t dare deceive you," Quan An explained repeatedly, feeling it would be too unjust to suffer for this as he had not lied; how on earth did things get to this point, where had everyone gone?

These damned fools, this is how they handle their tasks for him. He’d see how he’d deal with them! Quan An was scared to death but also furious—he couldn’t do anything to Zhao Lin, nor could he vent his anger on the servants.

Lin Yue had spoken out of urgency and anger, accusing Quan An without thinking. Having calmed down, she too found the situation odd. The traces in the warehouse showed that people had indeed been detained here, and given how miserably she had treated Quan An, he was unlikely to dare lie to her for the time being. Besides, his expression didn’t seem deceitful. So what exactly had happened, where were Dalang and the others?

If Dalang and his brothers were really locked here, they couldn’t just vanish into thin air. Could someone have taken them away, or had some people stayed hidden during the fray when she had subdued the kidnappers? Upon realizing the situation was not in their favor, did they come back to send word for the transfer? But that didn’t seem right either, without Quan An’s orders, they should not dare make such a move, given that the safety of their boss, Quan An, was in their hands.

Lin Yue pondered from every angle and found everything out of place. She looked at Quan An with some irritation, "Since you were the one who kidnapped them, whether what you said earlier was true or not, now that the people are gone, you owe me an explanation. Do you think I will let you off just like that? Or perhaps I should ensure that you disappear as silently and tracelessly as they did."

Lin Yue’s words were mostly a threat, but not totally in jest. If anything had truly happened to Dalang and his brothers, she’d indeed make Quan An endure the most excruciating torments in the world before allowing him to vanish without a trace. In these ancient times, human life could sometimes be exceptionally cheap.

Quan An had seemingly guessed the serious intention behind Lin Yue’s words. His legs went weak, and he knelt to the ground, "Madame Zhao, good lady, I truly didn’t deceive you this time, I—I really don’t know what happened. I had assigned guards, and they’re gone too, I—I... Let’s go to the Government Office and have a look. Those two are my men, usually doing odd jobs at the Government Office to make a living. Now that they’re gone, going to the Government Office to look for them, we might find something."

Lin Yue looked at Quan An with an almost amused expression, "You’ve come up with quite the idea. Going to the Government Office, which is your turf, what, you think I can’t do anything to you once we’re there?"

"No, no, I didn’t mean that," Quan An stammered with trepidation, his words tinged with guilt. "It’s just that now that we can’t find the people, I—I can’t think of any other way."

After saying this, Lin Yue fell silent, trying to calm the chaos in her mind as she contemplated what to do next. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

"Madame, we haven’t found the young masters, what should we do now?" Haishi, seeing Lin Yue standing silently for a while, worriedly asked.

Lin Yue looked up at Haishi, her expression becoming calmer, and said, "We wait, we wait right here. Once our men arrive, we’ll take Quan An to the Government Office to demand the Magistrate to hand over the people!"

"Go to the Government Office and demand the Magistrate to hand over people?" Haishi repeated Lin Yue’s words, unsure if he had misunderstood. Quan An was under the Magistrate’s command. Although the Magistrate hadn’t orchestrated the incident, he wasn’t entirely uninvolved. Furthermore, the Magistrate had designs on Madame, and now they were considering approaching him directly.

"Exactly. I have already instructed Manager Liu to bring people over here. Once all are gathered, we’ll escort Quan An to the Government Office to demand justice from Ceng Lu, and for him to hand over the people. Since Quan An’s men have kidnapped Dalang and his brothers, it’s only natural for me to go to the Government Office and demand an explanation from Ceng Lu, to surrender them. Besides, this could all be his doing, so it’s only right that I approach him for the people," Lin Yue explained. She had no other option and had to resort to this plan. It was now clear that Quan An had ordered his men to pretend to be kidnappers and abduct Dalang and his brothers, so she had solid leverage. She could use this as grounds to demand Ceng Lu release the hostages, and if they weren’t with Ceng Lu, she could still utilize the power of the government office to find them, which was better than searching blindly.

Lin Yue wasn’t taking Ceng Lu lightly, but although he harbored ill intentions towards her, he only dared to operate in the shadows and couldn’t be overly aggressive in the open. As long as she brought enough people to prevent Ceng Lu from seizing any opportunities, that would be sufficient.

"Madame, isn’t this a bit imprudent? No matter what, Ceng Lu is the Magistrate of Xin’an City. If we just show up at his doorstep demanding people, I fear we won’t end up with a favorable outcome," Haishi remained worried, but the Hidden Guard of the Jiang Family quite approved of Lin Yue’s idea, recognizing her as a shrewd woman.