Kidnapping

Xu Qi'an received a warm welcome from Song Qing. The two sat at the table, sipping fragrant tea and engaging in friendly conversation.

"To be honest, I'm a little suspicious of you," Song Qing said, taking a small sip of her drink. "I've investigated your entire family history these past few days."

Is it really appropriate to tell someone their ancestors for eighteen generations in front of them? Xu Qi'an wasn't surprised at all, and smiled as he asked, "How did the investigation go?"

"It's too clean." Song Qing shook her head, not continuing the topic, and pulled out a stack of Xuan paper, handing it over. "Let me show you my recent research."

Xu Qi'an thought to himself, "I've already come up with the whole 'Wandering Master' storyline, and you're not even asking? You tech geeks don't care about these things at all."

He took the manuscript, glanced at it, and almost spat out his tea.

Besides the plant grafting theory he told Song Qing, this guy also applied it to other situations, demonstrating his divergent thinking by creating several case studies. For example:

Human and horse grafting.

The advantages are numerous. For example, the Great Feng no longer needs to worry about warhorse resources, and soldiers no longer need to worry about not having good warhorses. Because we are mature soldiers, we can be our own warhorses.

For example, capturing bird-like Demon Race and breeding them with humans to create half-demons that can serve as air force units.

Devil Creature girls, anyone? Pshaw, reproductive isolation, anyone? Xu Qi'an put down the Xuan paper, calmed his shattered worldview, and said, "I've come to the Bureau of Astronomy this time because I need Senior Brother Song's help."

"Please feel free to speak."

You should know that I offended Vice Minister Zhou.

"Caiwei told me," Song Qing put down his teacup and said seriously, "I regret to inform you that I cannot help you. The Bureau of Astronomy does not interfere in court affairs; His Majesty does not allow it. Besides, a vice minister with real power is already beyond my capabilities."

"Senior Brother Song, don't rush. I need you to keep it simple," Xu Qi'an said, revealing his idea.

"That's impossible," Song Qing refused outright. "I am an upright and honorable man; I would never do such a thing."

Xu Qi'an thought for a moment, then said with shame, "It was my oversight, Senior Brother Song. Let's continue discussing your grafting theory. Forgive my bluntness, but it's impossible to succeed."

Song Qing frowned, straightened his posture, and adopted a rigorous attitude for academic discussions.

"I'm sure you know why; that cat that had to be kept in a glass bottle is a perfect example. But you're probably wondering why it failed, and what the problem was."

Song Qing leaned forward, her breathing becoming rapid, and stared wide-eyed at Xu Qi'an: "You know?"

Xu Qi'an said, "I wasn't involved in the research, so I don't know the real reason, but I can provide you with a theoretical basis."

Theoretical basis?!

What Song Qing lacked most was theoretical support. After all, masters who founded their own schools of thought were rare. Alchemy was profound and complex, and theoretical support was indispensable if he wanted to continue to advance.

Under the sudden, bright gaze of Song Qing, Xu Qi'an slowly said:

Have you heard of the periodic table?

What periodic table? What does this have to do with my experiment? A million questions flashed through Song Qing's mind.

His breathing quickened, and he felt he was about to touch the door to the truth of alchemy. As a fanatic of alchemy, every hair on his body stood on end with excitement.

Before anyone could ask a question, Xu Qi'an said leisurely, "The principle of alchemy is equivalent exchange."

The Marquis of Weiwu's mansion is located on Quefu Street in the inner city. This street is the domain of nobles, and along the way, one can find marquises, earls, and dukes.

The title of Marquis of Weiwu is a hereditary title that rose to prominence during a power struggle three hundred years ago. While it has been passed down through generations, the title no longer wields much real power.

The side door opened, and a beautiful young woman with a slightly round face walked out, surrounded by maids and attendants. She wore a gorgeous silk robe with a hem that reached her ankles, and her embroidered shoes were faintly visible as she walked.

At sixteen or seventeen years old, she was pretty with bright, expressive eyes and a haughty demeanor. The spirited look in her eyes added to her aura, making her extremely eye-catching.

Zhang Yuying entered the sedan chair at the entrance, and the sedan chair bearers carried it slowly towards the City God.

Today she is going to the City God to burn incense and eat vegetarian food, and then go to the Wen Yuanbo Mansion to have tea and chat with her close female friends.

Let's peek at the forbidden books secretly circulating among young women, chat about which young masters have reached marriageable age, comment on the outstanding students who passed this year's autumn imperial examinations, and guess whether they will pass next year's spring imperial examinations.

Perhaps his ideal son-in-law is among them.

After walking through two streets, the maidservant following the sedan chair suddenly heard a commotion.

The two carriages behind had somehow gone out of control; the drivers were gripping the reins tightly, frantically waving their whips.

"Make way, all of you make way!"

Pedestrians scurried around trying to avoid them.

"Quickly, stop the carriage!" The maid was terrified. She directed her attendants to block the carriage while ordering the sedan chair bearers to get out of the way.

The guards were short-handed and could only intercept one sedan chair. The other sedan chair hit two sedan chair bearers, sending them flying, and the sedan chair overturned instantly.

The remaining two sedan bearers and maidservant instinctively tried to save themselves, scrambling to the side to avoid the danger, and the scene instantly descended into chaos.

After a brief moment of chaos, the two carriages sped off again. The maidservant then hurriedly got up and ran to check on the sedan chairs.

"Second Miss, Second Miss, how are you?"

No one answered.

The maid's heart sank. She abruptly lifted the sedan curtain, froze, and after a few seconds screamed, "The Second Miss is gone!!"

The sedan chair was empty.

A small courtyard in the inner city.

Zhang Yuying knew she had been kidnapped, though she didn't know who had taken her hostage.

She had been awake for a while, and after the initial headache subsided, she remained in a state of fear.

As the concubine's daughter of the Marquis of Weiwu, her treatment was only slightly worse than that of the legitimate daughter, and far superior to that of her other sisters. Her father and mistress doted on her, and the legitimate daughter, who was both her elder sister and cousin, had an extremely close relationship with her.

They live a life of luxury and pampered privilege; when have they ever experienced anything like this?

She was terrified. Her hands and feet were bound, and her mouth was gagged.

"Bang!"

Outside the courtyard, the sound of a door opening was heard, followed by footsteps.

Zhang Yuying's heart leaped into her throat, a surge of fear exploding within her. She didn't know what she was about to face, but it certainly wouldn't be anything good.

"Hey," footsteps stopped outside, and someone chuckled lewdly, "That woman's really pretty. I just secretly checked her out, beautiful!"

"You're so cheap," the other person said, paused, and added, "You didn't even invite me to come."

Zhang Yuying felt both ashamed and angry, and tears welled up in her eyes.

The two figures continued their conversation:

She's still a virgin.

"Nonsense, the second daughter of this Marquis of Might is still unmarried."

Zhang Yuying was shocked. They knew who I was, knew that my father was the Marquis of Weiwu, yet they still dared to kidnap me?

This shows that the person behind it all is no ordinary person.

"What do you think Young Master Zhou will do with this woman? Although she's an exceptionally beautiful woman, keeping her around indefinitely doesn't seem very safe."

"Ha, you're overthinking it. Young Master Zhou will just play around for a while, and when he gets bored, he'll strangle him and bury him in this yard. Who would know?"

"Once Young Master Zhou has had his fill of this, we'll join him for a few drinks. This woman has such delicate skin and is much more alluring than the girls in the brothels."

"Yes, if it weren't for Young Master Zhou wanting to try something new, we would have done it with her right now."

"Well, he's the son of the Ministry of Revenue, after all. Come on, let's go for a drink."

"Isn't this inappropriate?"

"It's almost dusk, let's buy the wine and come back."

The footsteps faded into the distance, followed by the sound of the courtyard gate closing; it seemed the two had gone out for drinks.

Young Master Zhou? The son of the Ministry of Revenue?

An image of a richly dressed young man flashed through Zhang Yuying's mind, reminding her of what happened during the Lantern Festival last year.

He still couldn't forget himself.

Tired of playing around, he took a sip of soup, then murdered the victim, buried the body in the courtyard, and disposed of the evidence. The pampered young lady, raised in a wealthy family, trembled with fear, tears streaming down her face.

"Ugh, ugh," she tried to make sounds while twisting her limbs, attempting to break free of her bonds.

Suddenly, he noticed that the rope on his wrist had loosened a little.

Zhang Yuying froze for a moment, then fell silent, no longer making a sound, but her hands were twisting tightly together.

After an unknown amount of time, her delicate wrists were chafed raw and burning with pain, and she finally managed to free herself from the bonds.

She immediately sat up, untied the ropes binding her feet, and tiptoed to the door. After listening patiently for a moment to make sure no one was in the yard, she carefully entered the yard.

After looking around for a while, he gritted his teeth, ran at a speed he had never seen before, rushed to the gate of the courtyard, and unlatched the door.

The door was locked from the outside.

"Waaah!" Miss Zhang let out a desperate wail.

Across the street from the courtyard, Xu Qi'an held a bowl of noodles in his hands, with Xu Xinnian standing beside him.

"That's a pretty good dirty talk," Xu Dalang teased Erlang as usual.

Erlang ignored him, his gaze fixed on the courtyard gate. "What if she can't get out? Why is the gate locked?"

"A strong will to survive will unleash a person's potential. Believe me, she'll get out. She can just climb over the wall." Xu Qi'an took a sip of noodles and explained in a low voice, "Leaving the door unlocked will leave too many marks."

This small courtyard is Zhou Li's private residence, where he keeps a woman of good looks. Now, that woman, along with the maids, servants, and gatekeepers—a total of four people—are all locked inside the mirror by Xu Qi'an.

That small jade mirror can hold objects and living creatures; Xu Qi'an tested it on his household servants.

If it weren't for that mirror, the plan to kidnap Miss Zhang would have been extremely difficult, and might even have backfired.

Just then, the two saw a head pop out from the wall; Zhang Yuying, with her hair in a messy bun, peeked out.

After carefully observing for a while, it climbed over the wall and jumped down.

She seemed to have twisted her ankle, lying on the ground for a long time without moving. After a while, she bravely got up while crying, and, holding onto the wall, hopped and skipped out into the street.

As a pampered heiress from a wealthy family, to have come this far is truly an immense injustice.

They went out to buy wine and would return at dusk. She glanced at the setting sun and knew she was truly safe now.

Perhaps they won't get far before being caught up, or perhaps they'll run into each other after just a few more steps.

Just then, a squad of heavily armed and well-equipped Imperial Saber Guard passed by.

Fearing that she might encounter kidnappers on the way or be caught by them, Zhang Yuying rushed towards them as if she had seen a savior, crying as she went.

Before the Imperial Saber Guard could draw their swords, she screamed, "I am the daughter of the Marquis of Weiwu! I have been kidnapped! Please save me!"

Several Imperial Saber Guard exchanged glances and immediately surrounded them.

The surrounding crowd stopped to watch, and the head of the Imperial Saber Guard asked, "Who kidnapped you?"

"It's Zhou Li, the son of Zhou, the Vice Minister of Ministry of Revenue." Zhang Yuying broke down in tears.

Boom boom boom. The curfew drums sounded in unison.

Xu Qi'an put the bowl down on the street and said, "Let's go, find an inn to rest, and wait for news when we get home tomorrow."

PS: This chapter is 3200 words long and difficult.