However, the two men followed orders and carried out the task.
That evening, they returned to the residence to report.
"Your Highness, the woman Grand Duke Chu seeks is a peasant girl from Heming Village by the name of Gu Miaoliao. As for why Grand Duke Chu is looking for her, we were unable to uncover anything."
"Just a peasant girl?" Li Yingfeng narrowed his cold eyes slightly.
"Your Highness, it truly is strange. Grand Duke Chu told you he came across Heming Village and helped find the girl out of a momentary kindness, but that is not the case. I heard that at the break of dawn today, he took his household guards to Heming Village, as if he had gone specifically for someone. However, I also asked around in Heming Village, and the villagers all said they do not know Grand Duke Chu." Yang Xing added.
Upon hearing this, Li Yingfeng's cold eyes narrowed even further.
From his understanding of Chu Zhiyang, Chu Zhiyang was not the type to be lustful, and the Chu family's principles would not allow for the forceful taking of a common woman.
"Your Highness, I took men to search along the moat, but there is no trace of that woman." Li Hui reported immediately after.
"Find her! Make sure you capture her and bring her back to the residence before the Chu family finds her!" he ordered with a cold face.
Yang Xing and Li Hui looked at each other, once again baffled.
She was just a peasant girl—what did the prince want with her?
No, capture her for what?
At the Minister's Residence.
Chu Zhiyang searched with his household guards for an entire day, but Gu Miaoliao seemed to have vanished into thin air. No matter how they searched, there was no sign of her.
With no other choice, Chu Zhiyang could only return to the residence to report the situation to his grandmother and parents.
"What? She still refuses to come back?" Grand Lady Zhen's face showed a hint of anger, quite displeased with her granddaughter's attitude.
Chu Yongzheng also frowned in agreement. "She agreed to return today, yet she avoids us. This is utterly willful!"
Lady Yao pursed her lips and said nothing, but her eyes still held dissatisfaction with her daughter.
Their biological daughter had been living outside, and they bore some fault for that.
But no matter how great the fault, they were willing to make amends. For her to hide away without a word and make them search for her—if word of this got out, wouldn't it make the Chu family a laughingstock?
Chu Zhiyang listened to their words and looked at their displeased expressions, then said with some disagreement, "Grandmother, Father, Mother, from what Zhiyang can see, there may be hidden circumstances here. When I met with Rao'er a few days ago, she was well-behaved and sensible, and very much looking forward to returning home to reunite with her family. For no reason at all, how could she avoid us?"
Grand Lady Zhen frowned and said, "Could it be the Gu family's doing? Have they hidden her away?"
After a moment of deep thought, Chu Zhiyang said, "Gu Quanfu and Lady Liu were also searching everywhere for Rao'er today. Judging by their frantic and anxious manner, they do not seem to be trying to stop Rao'er from returning to the Chu family."
Grand Lady Zhen took a few steps with her cane, growing more impatient. "The Prince of Yunan has returned to the capital, and Consort Dowager Qin has already begun preparing for Qiang'er's marriage to the Prince of Yunan. I had intended to bring that girl back, take her to see Consort Dowager Qin, explain the truth, and let Consort Dowager Qin decide which one to choose as her daughter-in-law. Now that girl pulls this stunt—she truly is causing us trouble!"
Outside the door.
Eavesdropping on the conversation in the hall, Chu Lingqiang's face turned pale, her eyes filled with venom, her nails nearly digging into her palms.
That wretched girl truly could not be kept alive!
It would be best if she died out there, but even if someone found her, she would make sure the girl died a miserable death!
…
A month passed, and the Chu family's search yielded nothing.
Worried that Gu Miaoliao's disappearance was the doing of that couple, Gu Quanfu and Liu Shuixiang, Chu Zhiyang had even sent people to secretly monitor them. But after a month of surveillance, the spies discovered that they too were desperately searching for Gu Miaoliao.
Meanwhile, at the Prince of Yunan's residence.
Consort Dowager Qin had wanted to arrange her son's marriage while he was back in the capital, but instead, her son was nearly killed by poison from a friend on his way back. What infuriated her even more was that, due to the poison, her son could no longer perform as a man!
Faced with such a matter, Consort Dowager Qin was deeply stricken and unable to accept it.
Li Yingfeng comforted her, saying that the ailment was only temporary, and that he was secretly searching for several medicinal herbs—once they were all gathered, the illness would be cured with a single dose.
Consort Dowager Qin knew well her son's medical skill, and since this was a matter that humiliated a man's dignity, she naturally believed every word he said without doubt.
But regarding her son's marriage to Chu Lingqiang, she felt somewhat reluctant. "Feng'er, in terms of family background and status, your mother feels that Chu Lingqiang is quite a match for you…"
"Mother, your son holds no feelings whatsoever for the daughter of the Chu family. Besides, with my current ailment, marrying any woman would only bring me shame." Before she could finish, Li Yingfeng interrupted with a furrowed brow.
Consort Dowager Qin thought it over carefully—indeed, given her son's current condition, even if the woman didn't mind, how could her proud and strong-willed son bear such a loss of face?
She sighed inwardly. It seemed the Chu family was simply not destined to be connected with them!
Half a month later, the Chu family received an imperial edict of betrothal.
Shunyi Prince Li Mingxin, having taken a liking to Chu Lingqiang, the legitimate daughter of the Chu family, had taken the initiative to petition the Emperor for a marriage decree, wishing to take Chu Lingqiang as his principal consort!
The moment the edict arrived, the entire Chu household was stunned.
For Li Mingxin was not only notorious for his romantic dalliances, but also infamous as a violent prince…
…
Six years later.
Li Yingfeng returned to his fief, the city of Yunan.
The city's officials held a banquet to welcome him, and while reporting on the major and minor affairs of the city over the past few years, Prefect Wei Minghan brought up a remarkable person and an extraordinary matter to Li Yingfeng.
"Your Highness, a great talent has emerged in the city. Not only has this person composed numerous poems, songs, and literary works, but they have also invented a Replication Technique capable of reproducing every book and scroll in the world with perfect accuracy. I have brought this person's writings and replicated books for your perusal."
With that, he had his attendant present two volumes before Li Yingfeng.
"Replication Technique?" Li Yingfeng raised his thick brows, quite intrigued by what Wei Minghan had described.
He picked up one volume from the attendant and opened it.
At first, his demeanor was somewhat casual and relaxed, but the next moment, a glimmer of admiration appeared in his cold, clear eyes, and his thin lips even murmured involuntarily, "In life, when joy arrives, one must savor it fully—do not let the golden cup sit empty beneath the moon. Heaven gave me talents; they must be put to use. Though a thousand in gold be scattered, it shall return again…"
Seeing his keen interest, Wei Minghan added, "Your Highness, this is one of the works composed by that great talent. I was fortunate enough to obtain this copy, and after reading it, I felt that this person's brilliance is extraordinary. Surely none but a person of great wisdom and virtue could write something so bold and magnificent?"
Li Yingfeng nodded.
He then picked up the other volume from the attendant.
Opening it, his gaze grew even more intense and focused.
Earlier, he had only noticed the exquisite craftsmanship of the poems within, but now he realized that the handwriting in this book did not appear to be done by human hand—and the two volumes, whether in brushstroke or character size, were identical in every way, without the slightest difference!
Wei Minghan added, "Your Highness, you must have seen it as well—this is the most miraculous skill of that great master. If there exists such an extraordinary person in this world, and we could make use of them, it would truly be a blessing for our nation of Yuliu and a blessing for you, Your Highness."
Li Yingfeng's gaze was deep and thoughtful. After a moment of deliberation, he ordered, "Prefect Wei, investigate this person's identity and whereabouts, and bring them before me."
"Yes!"
…
In a two-courtyard residence on the outskirts of the city.
A young boy of five or six years old was practicing martial arts with a small sword in hand.
Despite his tender age, the boy's small frame was both agile and steady. Every move and stance flowed like water, controlled and effortless, rivaling any seasoned adult martial artist.
"Young Master, an old gentleman surnamed Wei has come requesting to see the Master. This is his visiting card," the maidservant Caier reported hurriedly.