Volume 14
Chapter 30: The Disappearance
Grandma Zhu was missing.
The Miko of the Zhu family was possibly the most omnipotent person in the world. So when Lu Li heard this news, his first reaction was to wonder if Grandma Zhu had left on her own to relax. He thought of the times he had visited Grandma Zhu before and then wondered if she had really ascended to heaven in broad daylight.
But if she had just gone to relax, there would be no need to take the Colored Stones. And as for the talk of ascension, Lu Li just laughed it off. Then there was another possibility: someone had broken into the ancestral hall, snatched the crystals, and kidnapped Grandma Zhu. Who had this motive? And who had this ability? Was it the remnants of the Yan Matriarch’s faction? Or a foreign power? A bolder guess: had someone from the future returned to this time to seize the crystals?
In any case, Lu Li hadn’t even warmed his seat at home before he rushed to the Capital City. He met Zhu Xi and Zhu Qiao at the ancestral hall. At this time, the Zhu Family Ancestral Hall had been sealed off by the police. Lu Li was brought in by Secretary Hu. Although Lu Li was no longer his superior, Secretary Hu was still very respectful and polite to him. All the paths in the ancestral hall were cordoned off. The incense he had seen before had already burned out, leaving only a pool of white ash in the incense burner.
Zhu Qiao’s eyes were red. It looked like she had cried more than once. Her features were scrunched up, looking extremely aggrieved. Zhu Xi was talking to her, seemingly trying to coax her, but with little effect. Beside Zhu Xi, there were a few slightly stout men. They were also saying something to Zhu Xi, but she ignored them.
Lu Li walked up and called out Zhu Qiao’s name. Little Qiao was clearly stunned, then ran toward Lu Li with a “waah,” the tears she had been holding back all flowing out. “Grandma Zhu is gone!” Grandma Zhu is gone. For this girl, whose world was only a small courtyard, Grandma Zhu was her mother, her teacher, her benefactor. Lu Li had underestimated the impact of Grandma Zhu’s disappearance on Little Qiao. Seeing Zhu Qiao crying in his arms until her throat was hoarse, a sharp pain went through his heart. Seeing them sad was more heart-wrenching than his own sadness.
Zhu Xi breathed a sigh of relief. On the contrary, she had been afraid that Zhu Qiao would keep her sadness bottled up. It was a good thing Lu Li had come. It was a little psychologically unbalanced to say, but Zhu Qiao had only known Lu Li for a few years, yet she trusted him more than she trusted her, her own sister… Was she usually too strict?
“This is…” The few men had roughly guessed Lu Li’s identity.
“Lu Li,” Zhu Xi introduced simply. “Little Qiao’s fiancé.”
“Brother Lu! Brother Lu!” The eyes of these few men lit up. For a moment, Lu Li felt as if he were seeing a few enthusiastic pugs wagging their tails at him. “Imperial son-in-law! No, Brother Lu! I’ve heard so much about you, so much about you!”
Zhu Xi didn’t even lift her eyelids, clearly not wanting to introduce these few people to Lu Li. Lu Li didn’t know their background either, so he just gave a normal nod. When they saw Lu Li, they immediately gave up on Zhu Xi and surrounded him instead, chatting away. Lu Li only heard them asking about his well-being, like a few gossipy aunts from the neighborhood.
“You all can go back first. Lu Li and I will handle things here,” Zhu Xi said impatiently.
These few men repeatedly said yes, said a warm goodbye to Lu Li, and then left the ancestral hall. Only then did Zhu Qiao’s crying gradually subside. She was tired from crying. “Gege, did Grandma Zhu abandon me… Is it because I left the ancestral hall that she’s angry… If I apologize to her, will she come back?”
Lu Li’s heart ached. He ruffled Zhu Qiao’s face. “Grandma Zhu won’t abandon you. She dotes on you so much. She certainly won’t be angry at you.”
“Then where did Grandma Zhu go?” Zhu Qiao was about to cry again, but her eyes were red from crying, and it seemed she couldn’t shed any more tears for the time being. Lu Li didn’t know how many times Zhu Qiao had cried these past few days.
“We’ll find Grandma Zhu, safe and sound.” Lu Li subconsciously avoided the worst-case possibility. He couldn’t tell Zhu Qiao that Grandma Zhu might no longer be in this world. If the person who had taken the Colored Stones was not hostile, then he wouldn’t have had to abduct Grandma Zhu. Since that was the case, it was very likely that Grandma Zhu had already been harmed.
But… could someone really harm the previous generation’s Miko?
This doubt flashed through Lu Li’s mind. Who could do it? It must have been someone Grandma Zhu trusted very much… so much so that Grandma Zhu wouldn’t use her ability to foresee his actions… Who was it… The image of Zhu Xi flashed through Lu Li’s mind. No, he trusted Zhu Xi. Zhu Xi had the ability, but she definitely had no motive. Zhu Qiao was also ruled out. Since that was the case, the next candidates were the royal family, who were of the same clan as the Zhu family. And then, there were the aristocratic clans who knew of Grandma Zhu’s identity and special nature. It must have been a big family. Finally, if all of the above were cleared of suspicion, Lu Li had no choice but to wonder if someone from the future had used the Colored Stone to backtrack to the present… This last possibility was the one that made Lu Li most uneasy. It gave him a sense of anxiety that reality could be tampered with at any time.
A flash of lightning went off in his mind… could it have been himself?
At some point in the future, he was at a dead end because of the Price and wanted to use the Colored Stone to change his fate…?
He rubbed his temples, telling himself not to let his imagination run wild.
“Who were those people just now?” Lu Li asked, after comforting Zhu Qiao, finally looking at Zhu Xi.
“Those good-for-nothing brothers of mine.”
Sweat beaded on Lu Li’s head. So that was a group of royals flattering him just now.
Zhu Xi said, “They’re very cunning. Seeing that the Changle Group will become a super-group under the merger of Chu and Yan in the future, they’re thinking of getting some official position in it. They came to me for it, and when I refused, they went to you. You scumbag man, you have to be careful. My useless brothers will definitely bombard you with sweet words. You must be cautious if you encounter any suddenly enthusiastic women outside!”
“They’re doing quite poorly, to actually be thinking of coming to work at my Changle Group,” Lu Li said, at a loss for whether to laugh or cry.
Zhu Xi shot him a look. “You underestimate the current Changle Group, and you overestimate the last two generations of the royal family. I can tell you that the members of these two generations of the royal family under the age of forty can’t even produce a proper university diploma. Don’t be fooled by their high academic qualifications; they were basically stuffed into their hands by the schools…”
Zhu Xi truly held everyone in equal contempt. Not only did she despise her own father, but she also looked down on her own siblings.
“Let’s not talk about this for now. Tell me about Grandma Zhu’s disappearance. How can I assist you?” They could chat anytime. But right now, the priority was to solve the matter of Grandma Zhu’s disappearance.
“I also got second-hand news,” Zhu Xi said, recounting the story. “The first to discover Grandma Zhu’s disappearance was the delivery driver who delivered ingredients and water to the ancestral hall. When he was delivering to the ancestral hall this week, he found that the goods from last week were still piled up at the door. The ingredients had already rotted and were giving off a foul smell. He immediately contacted his superior, and the news quickly reached Zhu Youcheng, and only then did it reach me. After I arrived in the Capital City, I first took control of the driver…”
She glanced at Lu Li. Lu Li felt her gaze seemed a little uneasy.
“I was afraid you would be angry, so I didn’t lock him up for too long, just for 48 hours, to confirm that he wasn’t lying…” Zhu Xi’s voice became a little smaller.
Lu Li took her hand. “I’ve long believed you’re a good girl. Why would I be angry? Besides, protecting the witness and confirming the testimony at the first opportunity is the right thing to do.”
Zhu Xi breathed a sigh of relief, and the look in her eyes as she looked at Lu Li softened a lot. “My good-for-nothing relatives didn’t even seal off the ancestral hall at the first opportunity. By the time I arrived, there were still police and reporters from who knows where coming in and out of the ancestral hall!”
“Mm, and then? Were there any clues at the scene in the ancestral hall?”
“There were. I found…”
