Chapter 104: The Vanishing Trail

Ding Wu watched Wang Erlang, whose skin was lacerated from the beating, and eased the force of his whip. This was, after all, the eldest grandson of Grand Scholar Wang; if they had apprehended the wrong person, and the Grand Scholar were to hold them accountable, none of them would be able to bear the consequences.

"Stop."

Ji Changge walked up to Wang Erlang. "Do not think that just because you refuse to speak, I have no way to find Qiniang. Even if I have to scour every inch of the capital, I will find her."

Wang Erlang raised his head and glanced at Ji Changge. "Then be quick about it."

"Keep a close watch on him. If anything happens to him, you will answer to me with your heads," Ji Changge commanded the two guards before walking out.

Wang Jue was waiting outside. "He still won't talk?"

Ji Changge nodded, then asked with a frown, "And why did you try to stop the wedding ceremony?"

Wang Jue hesitated for a moment, then pulled two sheets of paper from his chest and handed them to Ji Changge. Ji Changge took them and saw two portraits, both with large, bright red crosses drawn over the faces.

"Is this Qiniang?" Ji Changge asked.

Wang Jue nodded. "I found these at the Wang estate. They were the ones I had given to Wen Qiniang. Today, I suddenly discovered two of them lying in the bushes. Wen Qiniang would never deface her own image, so I suspected someone in the Wang household had ill intentions toward her. I wanted to warn her, but when I arrived, she was already..."

Ji Changge studied the drawings again. They depicted a man and a woman; the man was in a wheelchair, clearly Wang Jue, and although the woman’s face was crossed out, it was still recognizable as Wen Jing. The two figures appeared somewhat intimate. Could it be that Wang Erlang had seen these drawings, flown into a rage, and abducted Wen Jing? If so, the motive for harming Wen Jing would be the same as in the case of He Yunxiu—in the eyes of the killer, these were acts of impropriety.

"What on earth has happened! Has Qiniang gone missing?!" Wen Qiran burst in, staring at Ji Changge. Seeing Ji Changge’s silent expression, Wen Qiran became even more frantic. "People from the Wang estate just came to report that Qiniang has disappeared. Erlang has been arrested, too. Do you suspect that Erlang did this?"

"Yes, he is a prime suspect. It is highly probable that the perpetrator is someone within the Wang family," Ji Changge said in a deep voice.

"Impossible! Erlang has always treated my daughter so well; how could he possibly harm Qiniang?" Wen Qiran insisted adamantly.

Ji Changge glanced at him. "Lord Wen, you once served as a Vice Minister in the Ministry of Justice. You know that anyone could be a killer. In investigations, one must avoid jumping to conclusions; those involved are often blinded by their own bias."

Wen Qiran fell silent. Ji Changge was right; now that the tragedy concerned his own daughter, he had lost his composure.

"Lord Wen, look at this. Qiniang dropped this at the Wang estate, and Wang Jue found it," Ji Changge said, handing over the drawings.

Wen Qiran took them, his heart sinking. "Perhaps this was just some mischievous child's scribbling."

"Lord Wen, have you not noticed? There is a red line across Qiniang's neck and another across her chest. Do you not find it familiar?" Ji Changge pointed to the chaotic red lines on the drawing.

Wen Qiran was struck with horror. This was precisely the method of He Yunxiu's murder. Was the killer targeting Qiniang this time?

"Lord Ji, let us go find Qiniang quickly. We cannot waste time debating this here; it will be too late," Wen Qiran’s voice trembled.

Wang Jue realized the gravity of the situation. He had been unaware of the previous cases and had merely assumed someone was playing a prank to prevent Wen Qiniang from marrying into the Wang family. Now, it seemed Qiniang’s life was in danger.

Ji Changge shook his head. "Blind searching is useless. The capital is too vast; we do not have the luxury of checking every corner. Years ago, the Shen family mobilized so many people and still could not find Shen Ying. It was the same with He Yunxiu; even with General He’s connections, he mobilized every soldier he could, but they could not find her before the killer struck. We cannot repeat those mistakes."

"But how can we determine a general location? What about Wang Erlang?" Wen Qiran asked anxiously.

Ji Changge furrowed his brow. "He refuses to speak, and we only have suspicions, not concrete evidence that he is the killer. We have used interrogation methods, yet he maintains he knows nothing and did nothing."

"What about the others? Have they been questioned?" Wen Qiran continued.

"Ding Wu is interrogating them. The sedan chair bearers have already fled, and I have sent men to find them. They must know the killer’s identity. If we can find them, we might find Qiniang."

Qingliu walked out and knelt upon seeing Wen Qiran. "I am sorry, Master. I deserve to die; I failed to watch over the young mistress."

Wen Qiran grabbed her. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I only remember that the procession suddenly stopped. I didn't know why, then something covered my nose, and I lost consciousness. When I woke up, my mouth was gagged, and my eyes were covered. I didn't know what was happening; I thought it was some sort of custom. When I arrived at the Wang estate, I realized something was wrong—they seemed to think I was the bride. Then Lord Ji appeared and said the young mistress was gone," Qingliu said.

"They must have abducted Qiniang during that stop, then disguised Qingliu as the bride and carried her to the Wang estate. Even the dowry was replaced with stones. How could they have pulled this off in such a short time? Those sedan chair bearers could not have been ordinary; they must have been disguised by the killer."

"Which means Qiniang never reached the Wang estate; she was intercepted halfway," Wen Qiran said, filled with dread. As Ji Changge had said, the capital was immense. Unless the entire city helped search, how could they ever find her? Yet, such a search would alert the killer and perhaps put Qiniang in even greater danger. He did not care about the lost dowry; he only cared if Qiniang could return alive. He had thought marrying into the Wang family would be a good home for her, but instead, he had sent his daughter into a pit of fire.

"Lord Ji, why are you so certain that Wang Erlang is the killer?" Wang Jue asked.

"Based on several cases, Wang Erlang is highly suspicious. For instance, in the He Yunxiu case, he told me that Lu Xun was a suspect, yet it was proven that Lu Xun had an alibi. In the Shen Ying case, Wang Erlang and Lu Xun were close friends, and since Shen Ying was also close to Lu Xun, Wang Erlang surely knew her as well. And in the Liang Shuxuan case, she disappeared at the Wang estate. All three cases are connected to Wang Erlang in one way or another," Ji Changge replied.

Wang Jue said noncommittally, "These connections are tenuous; you cannot be certain Wang Erlang is the killer."

Ji Changge nodded. If he were certain, things would be easier. His concern, like Ding Wu's, was that if Wang Erlang were innocent, the consequences of using heavy-handed interrogation would be severe—not only would they fail to save Wen Qiniang, but the entire Court of Judicial Review would be implicated.