Mrs. Hong looked pale, and she looked at her husband and said firmly, "Master, you don't have to say more. I know in my heart that nothing will happen to me unless I see Ah He return safely..."
Hong Xinyuan waited until she drank the tranquilizer and fell asleep before coming out and telling the maids to serve her well before going to the study.
He and his wife were married at the behest of their parents and matchmaker. They were only childhood sweethearts. The marriage was arranged between the two families when Xu Anying was a prefect. Xu Anying was promoted step by step and finally became the Minister of War, but their family had already fallen on hard times.
Originally, the family had given up hope on this marriage, thinking that it was impossible for the other party to recognize such a poor relative. However, they did not expect that the Xu family would take the initiative to come to them and demand to fulfill the marriage contract.
After getting married, his wife never complained or got angry about marrying down from a lower class. She was always respectful to her superiors and friendly to her subordinates. He respected and loved his wife very much. Even after he passed the imperial examination and became a weaving manufacturer, he never had any concubines.
He also doted on his only daughter.
Now that his wife and daughter were in trouble, he was extremely furious. He went into the study and waited for the housekeeper to come, then asked, "What happened?"
The butler stood beside him, hunched over. Although he looked calm, he actually replied in a panic, "Master, I found out something..."
He paused, and whispered to Hong Xinyuan: "We have checked it out. They said... they are just subordinates, and they know very little. They only know that every time their superiors follow this kind of escort, they will deliberately throw the darts..."
Hong Xinyuan paused with the pen in his hand and asked, "Did you throw the dart intentionally?"
"Yes." The housekeeper's tone was also very angry: "They said that according to what they knew, their superiors had already colluded with people outside the Great Zhou, and they were looking for beautiful girls in the Great Zhou to sell to the Tatars. But at the beginning, they were not very courageous, and they only kidnapped some orphans or girls from ordinary families. Later, the Tatars heard that the young ladies of wealthy families were good at managing the household and many of them were beautiful, so they gradually became interested..."
The pen in Hong Xinyuan's hand snapped. What did these people really think of the girls from their Great Zhou? !
He suddenly remembered the information he had collected before, and remembered that Ping An Escort Agency was actually owned by the Xie family. He couldn't help but sneer: "Although the Xie family is a prominent family, even if they have someone in a high position like Minister Xie, do they dare to be so bold and reckless?"
What's more, Minister Xie is no longer a direct descendant of the Xie family.
Could it be that the Xie family only relies on Minister Xie, and dares to be so arrogant
"Jingxi is the Xie family's territory after all." The housekeeper told Hong Xinyuan everything he had heard: "These escorts were recruited later. They said that the Xie family has a very good relationship with the government in Jingxi, and they are related by marriage. The Xie family's Ping An Escort Agency was also famous for its reliability..."
It was already late at night when Xu Anying received the letter, but because it was sent by her son-in-law who lived far away in Yangzhou, the doorman did not dare to delay and delivered the letter to the inner courtyard in time.
Because he had to go to Xiyuan for night duty the next day, he usually lived alone that night. After receiving the letter, he stood up and read it, and then felt a little unbelievable.
Of course he knew the Xie family. It was a family that had been around for many years. Although they had encountered many accidents in recent years, it was still a well-known family in Shanxi.
Why would they do such a thing out of the blue
He was a little bit skeptical, but he knew his son-in-law's character and knew he would never joke about such things. He must have evidence in his hands to say that.
But... ... Xie family... ...
He never expected that there was such a connection behind the kidnapping of his granddaughter, and he was a little undecided for a moment.
The person must be found - he has always loved his daughter, who is very sensible and never causes him any trouble. His granddaughter is the apple of his daughter's eye and the apple of their eye. If she is lost, his wife and daughter may not be able to survive in the future...
But how do I find it? What’s going on with this Xie family
He thought about it and finally closed the letter. He got up early the next day and wrote a letter to his student, Mao Zixun, the garrison commander of Datong, asking him to help keep an eye on the bodyguards and escorts coming and going from the Ping An Escort Agency.
No matter what, we have to catch the adulterer in pairs and the thief in possession of the stolen goods. Once we have caught both of them, we can talk about other things later.
After all, he was the Minister of War, and his subordinates dared not disobey his words, especially the garrison commander of Datong, who was promoted by him. After learning about this, he searched the whole city for the escort from Yangzhou.
More than ten days later, the group of bodyguards who kidnapped Hong He were finally found in Datong.
Hong He was weak to begin with, and the young lady was tormented and almost lost half her life by running around everywhere. When she was found, she had a high fever and was dying.
Because they were searching everywhere and the court had issued a warrant for her capture, these escorts had an internal conflict and wanted to abandon her halfway, but they were afraid of exposing their tracks - they were looking for them everywhere, and even if they killed her and threw her away, it would inevitably bring disaster, so they had no choice but to carry this hot potato with them.
The situation in Datong was even more serious. They hadn't figured out what to do yet, so they just let Hong and himself get sick. They didn't even think about calling a doctor, and they didn't even give him any medicine.
Mao Zixun's wife was shocked when she took possession of the girl. She quickly asked a doctor for treatment and finally managed to save Hong He from the brink of death.
Mao Zixun has already sent a reply letter to the capital.
When Xu Anying received the reply, he first breathed a sigh of relief, but then he became extremely furious - trade with the Tatars had been banned long ago, and the Tatars were restless and never quiet for a moment, but the people of the Ping An Escort Agency not only did not restrain themselves, but they even went further and even smuggled people across the border. It was simply unheard of.
This matter was of great importance, and after much deliberation, he still wrote a letter to Emperor Longqing, asking him to investigate the matter thoroughly.
The granddaughter of a senior cabinet official could be abducted under multiple protections and was almost sold outside the Great Wall. This incident shocked the court and the whole country as soon as it was reported. Even Emperor Longqing was horrified and cursed the governor of Shanxi and others in the court, accusing them of being in office but doing nothing and allowing such bad behavior to occur in the country without being discovered.
After scolding, he asked the Censorate, the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice to hold a joint trial to find out where this route to the outside of the Great Wall started and who was backing them behind the scenes, allowing them to smuggle goods outside the Great Wall without fear.
Emperor Longqing's health was getting worse and worse. He was already at the end of his strength, and because of this incident, his health became even worse. He summoned the imperial physician again that night.
Under such circumstances, the three courts dared not delay and immediately began to investigate the case.