With speed likened to a long serpent and swift as a lightning, Huan Qiu’s whip crackled in the air, ’in a flash of lightning’, then ’swooshed’ towards the heads of a few young boys.
The boys were so frightened and immediately ducked, instantly feeling a chilly breeze graze their heads. Upon looking up, they saw the whip had skimmed the tops of their heads and landed with a ’crack’ on a stone lion at the gate.
The stone lion, carved from green stone and weighing thousands of Jin, was as hard as iron. Yet at the instant the whip met its target, a ditch an inch deep shockingly appeared.
The faces of the little boys changed drastically. That was a stone lion, and it was sculpted a deep groove by this woman’s single whip. If that whip were to hit their bodies...
The little boys looked at each other, their eyes full of terror.
Holding the long whip, Huan Qiu observed the boys with icy eyes and asked coldly, "Are you going to open the door, or not?"
"Er... Open... Open..."
Under her daunting gaze, several boys, streaked with sweat, opened the gates to the Duke An’s Mansion and let her in.
The Duke An’s Mansion was vast. Huan Qiu hurried along with light and quick steps, heading straight for Changchun Garden.
However, the door to Changchun garden was tightly shut. There was no sound from within. Huan Qiu vaulted into the courtyard and pushed into the rooms. The rooms were empty, with only furniture and items placed inside; there was no sign of anyone.
The Second Miss was not here, where could she have gone?
Huan Qiu, her face tense, left Changchun Garden and quickly headed for the Osmanthus Pavilion of Duke An’s Mansion. On the way, she passed by Fangfei Pavilion, where a little girl, about eight or nine years old, was squatting on the ground outside the door, playing. Huan Qiu walked over and softly asked, "Little sister, did you see Mu family’s Second Miss from the back garden?"
The little girl looked up. Her round face and clear, big eyes blinked twice. She looked somewhat similar to Wu’er.
"Are you talking about Sister Cai Fei?"
"Exactly, did you see her? Where did she go?"
Huan Qiu squatted down, her tone somewhat urgent.
The little girl pointed in the direction to the east and said, "Sister was taken away by Brother Yuheng, but I don’t know where they’ve gone."
Brother Yuheng? Du Yuheng? The first son of the family, Du Yuheng?
The sound ’buzzed’ in Huan Qiu’s head, as though it exploded instantly!
She had heard that when the Mu family was framed by the Duke An’s Mansion, Du Yuheng had taken advantage of the chaos to lure Cai Fei away. Cai Fei was only eleven years old, still an ignorant child. If she fell into his hands, she would certainly not have the power to resist and would only be violated.
How does a girl, if defiled, live on?
Huan Qiu’s eyes reddened. She pulled out the whip at her waist, and with her anger blazing, fiercely headed towards the East Courtyard where all the legitimate sons and daughters lived.
The Second Miss had been away from the estate for more than a Shi Chen. By this point, she might have already been violated. Huan Qiu was determined. If something had happened to the Second Miss, she would kill Du Yuheng and commit suicide to apologize when the Master returned to the capital.
The layout of the Duke An’s Mansion was distinctively demarcated, dividing into three parts: East, Central, and West. In the East, the courtyards were mainly the homes of the legitimate sons and daughters. In the West, it was primarily the homes of the illegitimate sons, daughters, and concubines. The Central part was the main courtyard of the Duke’s Mansion, the residence of the old Duke and the madam. However, the old Duke recently moved from the main courtyard to live in the Fangfei Pavilion located in the West.
Huan Qiu left the compound where the illegitimate children lived in the West and walked into the rear garden located in the middle of the mansion. The front of this garden was the former residence of the old Duke and madam - Fushou Hall.