Good Luck with That

*[What a shame. This case was destined to remain unsolved.*

*If the authorities ever traced it back to me, I'd stand on my hands and eat shit right then and there.]*

"..."

Jiang Wanrong lowered her head, her feelings complicated.

Her little sister had been taking revenge for her, in a way, but while her brain had evolved a little, it hadn't evolved much.

Why make such an absolute declaration? What if they really did find out?

Couldn't she make someone else eat that stuff? Why insist on doing it herself?

But before she could say anything else, Jiang Yourning's next thought nearly choked her to death again.

*[Hurry up and make a huge fuss! Hurry up and make a huge fuss! Once the duke's estate turns into a pot of boiling chaos, I can fish in those muddy waters.*

That fortune's bigger than the imperial treasury. I can't let that damned lunatic reap the benefits. Better let me have them instead.

*After all, I lost a huge sum today~]*

At the thought of those 100 points, Jiang Yourning's heart gave a little twinge.

But when she thought of the duke's fortune, she felt it couldn't have been a better bargain.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Jiang Wanrong quickly grabbed the tea on the table and gulped it down.

So her little sister had gone to all that trouble to abduct the duchess not just to vent her anger, but with such grand ambitions in mind?

That was a duke's estate-a duke's estate of extraordinary standing!!!

She wanted to steal its valuables, but even if she somehow managed to find their treasury, she still had to be able to pack everything up and carry it away.

If she was so capable, why didn't she just fly into the heavens?

"Wanrong, why are you choking again, child? Are you all right?"

As Lin Xiangyin looked at Jiang Wanrong now, her eyes genuinely held a little of a mother's concern for her daughter.

"Mother, I'm fine."

Her mother's concern warmed Jiang Wanrong's heart.

At the same time, though, she was at a loss for words.

She was perfectly healthy, but being able to hear her little sister's thoughts was far too bizarre. There was no way she could explain it.

That afternoon, as dusk approached, the servant the Jiang Family had sent out returned to report.

The expressions playing across his face were more vivid and complicated than anything the Jiang Family had ever seen.

"Master, Madam, young masters, young ladies, the duchess has been found."

"Where did they find her? Is she dead or crippled?"

Lin Xiangyin's eyes shone with excitement.

The servant felt that his mistress seemed rather frightening today.

He stammered:

"She... she's alive and well, but... they found her at the Spring Breeze House.

"I heard the duchess was still unconscious when they found her, and plenty of people had a laugh at her expense."

With young ladies and young masters who had yet to come of age standing before him, the servant didn't dare continue.

"Nothing else happened? Whoever did this good deed should have gone all the way!"

Regret showed on Lin Xiangyin's face, but her hands snapped the piece of jade in her excitement.

"..."

Jiang Yourning couldn't help pressing a hand to her forehead.

[Mother really lives up to being a blatantly wicked cannon fodder character. Every one of her crooked schemes is written across her face. She doesn't even bother hiding them.]

"What sort of place is the Spring Breeze House?"

Jiang Heng, the Jiang Family's fourth young master, who was still attending school and loved nothing more than teasing cats and dogs, spoke up slowly.

With a strange look on his face, Jiang Huai'an gave two light coughs.

"Children shouldn't ask so many questions. All you need to know is that it's not somewhere you can go."

As for Jiang Wanrong, she didn't dare make a sound and lowered her head instead.

Fortunately, they had already finished dinner. Otherwise, she feared a few more incidents like this would have her choking to death at the table.

From what she could see, her mother didn't seem particularly clever either. No wonder her little sister's brain didn't work very well.

For some inexplicable reason, she began to feel a little glad she hadn't grown up in the Jiang Family.

As for her little sister...

Dumping someone in a brothel-her sister's thought process really was something else.

Chicken... and... prostitute.

The words did sound quite similar in Chinese, and her little sister had actually managed to connect the two.

She had certainly had her eyes opened today.

"By the way, have the authorities found out who did it?"

Still uneasy, Jiang Wanrong asked.

The servant obediently shook his head.

"In answer to the fifth young lady, the last place the authorities traced the duchess to before her disappearance was the Embroidered Garments Workshop.

"But they couldn't find the slightest clue after that. It was as though the duchess had vanished into thin air.

"The duchess is in a poor mental state at present, so they haven't been able to get any answers from her. The matron who fainted knows absolutely nothing either. She only said she felt her waist go numb, and then she lost consciousness.

"But a physician examined her and found no injuries whatsoever around her waist."

As he spoke, the servant couldn't help continuing in amazement:

"And it was the same at the Spring Breeze House. None of them had ever seen the duchess before, and no one knew how she had appeared there."

"That uncanny?"

Jiang Huai'an couldn't help frowning.

A method of committing a crime that left not the slightest trace-it truly was unheard of.