Chapter 20 – Figuring Out a Plan
After sending off Wang Hu and the others, Gu Yu began tidying up the courtyard. He swept and picked up scattered items, returning everything to its proper place. Seeing that no trace was left behind, Gu Yu nodded in satisfaction.
After Gu Yu returned to his room for a nap, Mengyao Gu and her brother belatedly returned.
When Gu Yu saw his wife with a cold expression and his younger brother-in-law looking excited, he became curious about what had happened on this trip. It was definitely big news that made Gu Qingheng so happy.
“Brother-in-law, brother-in-law! Did you encounter any strange strangers at home?” As soon as he entered and saw Gu Yu, Gu Qingheng’s eyes lit up as if they were about to glow. He ran to Gu Yu’s side, his tail wagging like a puppy, looking so eager that Gu Yu found his brother-in-law incredibly cute. Looking at him, it seemed he wanted to share some gossip he’d heard from others.
“I met someone passing by asking for water. Because of the recent rampant disappearance incidents, I didn’t dare to open the door and let him leave directly.”
“It’s fortunate you didn’t open the door, brother-in-law! When we were coming back, someone in the village saw a group of men stripping naked at the village entrance…”
“Qingheng, stop talking! Quickly forget such filthy things, and don’t tell your brother-in-law!” However, just as Gu Qingheng was about to finish his sentence, Mengyao Gu directly interrupted him, telling Gu Qingheng to go play elsewhere.
Upon hearing Mengyao talk about filth and connecting it to Gu Qingheng’s mention of seeing a group of men stripping naked at the village entrance… Gu Yu suppressed his urge to smile and pretended to know nothing, looking at Mengyao and her brother with confusion. Compared to Gu Qingheng, who was scratching his ears in frustration, Mengyao calmly invited Gu Yu back into the house to prepare dinner. They hadn’t had a proper meal at noon, so dinner had to be grand!
“Qingheng, if I find out you spoke about that matter, I will really hit you.”
“Wuwu, I won’t say it, is that okay!” As they were about to enter the kitchen, Mengyao didn’t forget to warn her brother, so as not to cause serious harm to Gu Yu’s young mind… After all, knowing that those men at the village entrance had done such shameful things in broad daylight still made her feel disgusted! Truly shameless!
“Brother-in-law, it’s not that I don’t want to say it, but my sister won’t let me…”
“It’s fine, since your sister doesn’t want to talk about it, it’s probably not a good thing… If you know about it, your sister must already regret it.”
“Heh heh, when others were talking about that matter, I was right next to them listening. By the time my sister remembered to chase me away, it was already too late.”
“Did you go to Auntie Wang Er’s place? Did you gain anything?” After Mengyao entered the kitchen, Gu Qingheng appeared dejected. Not being able to tell Gu Yu the gossip he knew was like having a feather constantly tickling his heart, making him feel extremely uncomfortable.
However, Gu Yu was not as dejected as Gu Qingheng. After Mengyao entered the kitchen, he immediately changed his expression from curiosity. It was his trap in the first place, and Gu Yu already knew what consequences Wang Hu and the others would face. Therefore, at this moment, Gu Yu no longer asked Gu Qingheng what had happened at the village entrance, but instead asked if they had heard any clues about Juan Liu’s disappearance at Auntie Wang Er’s house.
“Alas, there were no related clues. Instead, I listened to several women crying for an entire afternoon and they even told my sister and me to be careful, warning us to be wary of kidnappers… I would never give kidnappers a chance to succeed!”
“Is there anything else?”
“No, in the end, I had to drag my sister away, otherwise they would cry until nightfall.” Speaking of their experience at Auntie Wang Er’s house, Gu Qingheng said with an extremely helpless expression, wishing time could turn back. Back then, he definitely wouldn’t have left home with Mengyao. A group of crying women offered no help at all to the missing person case!
“Don’t go out for a while, just stay home with your sister! After a few more days, it should be fine.” After hearing Gu Qingheng’s words, Gu Yu didn’t ask any more questions. Instead, he carefully instructed his younger brother-in-law, who loved to join in the fun, to stay home with Mengyao for the next few days and not go out until the disappearance incident was resolved.
The reason he was confident that it would be resolved in a few days was because Gu Yu had already found the mastermind. Now he just needed to find a way to bring them out from the shadows and expose them to the sunlight.
“Brother-in-law? Have you found any clues?”
“Don’t worry too much, just believe that your brother-in-law is capable and can resolve this troublesome matter.”
“Yes, I absolutely believe in my brother-in-law! I won’t reveal any information to sister.” However, Gu Yu had underestimated his eight-year-old brother-in-law’s intelligence. Gu Qingheng immediately guessed that Gu Yu had made new progress from some subtle clues in his words, otherwise he wouldn’t have said such things. It will be fine in a few days… Doesn’t that mean his brother-in-law is about to make a move! The thought of everyone being terrified, even the government unable to solve the disappearance, and Gu Yu finding clues after just two trips to town today made Gu Qingheng extremely admiring, wishing he could write “impressed” on his face, one on each side. What do you call a capable person? Clearly, it was his brother-in-law! Those officials were not as capable as his brother-in-law…
While Gu Qingheng was constantly flattering Gu Yu in his heart, Gu Yu was quite surprised by his brother-in-law’s cleverness. However, after remembering Gu Qingheng’s talent for remembering everything he saw, he stopped being puzzled. The three of them in the Gu family each had their own unique skills! Afterwards, Gu Yu didn’t reveal anything more, lest Gu Qingheng be implicated.
When Gu Yu discovered that Wang Hu’s father was the culprit behind the disappearance, he had hesitated whether to take action… After all, if the pampered Wang Hu alone was lawless in town, how much more formidable would his father be! However, on second thought, if they had fallen out with Wang Hu, he would definitely retaliate against the Gu family in the future. Since that was the case, it would be better to act now and seize the opportunity to bring down Wang Hu’s father. At that time, Wang Hu, who relied on his status to commit evil, would be no different from a grasshopper in autumn, unable to leap very high.
As Gu Yu was planning what to do next, Mengyao had also finished preparing dinner. After the three of them had dinner, they went out for a stroll before returning to their rooms to rest. Mengyao, who was exhausted from the day, wanted to fall asleep immediately after washing up. However, Gu Yu did not let her have her way at this moment.
“Mengyao, get up and soak your feet first. Just washing your feet won’t relieve your fatigue. You walked for such a long time today. After sleeping a night, your body will definitely be very sore tomorrow.”
“A’yu, I’m so tired right now~ I don’t want to move, just let me sleep!” When Gu Yu asked Mengyao to soak her feet, his wife even acted spoiled. Mengyao pulled the cotton quilt covering her higher, completely covering her head. Her voice was a little muffled, and the last few words were very cute and charming. This appearance of her shrinking like a little quail made Gu Yu unable to help but smile.
However, Gu Yu did not soften his heart afterwards. He still pulled Mengyao out from under the quilt and brought the prepared wooden basin to her. Gu Yu had already added quite a bit of restorative spring water to the wooden basin, so Mengyao didn’t need to soak for too long… It was just that Gu Yu wasn’t by her side when she washed up, so he couldn’t add the spring water in time.
“A’yu, I’ll do it myself!” Dragged out of bed by Gu Yu, Mengyao saw that she couldn’t refuse any longer. After she finished speaking, her two fair and tender little feet immediately stretched into the wooden basin. She was afraid that Gu Yu might impulsively offer to wash her feet. It wasn’t that Mengyao was overthinking, but seeing Gu Yu’s eager expression, it was truly possible! If she were to wash Gu Yu’s feet, then that would be acceptable… It was extremely embarrassing for her husband to personally help wash her feet, and if word got out, it would be shameful. Gu Yu looked at his wife stealing glances at him, her vigilance extremely high, which made Gu Yu feel like a creepy uncle trying to be perverted with a little loli… But clearly, he was one year younger than Mengyao! However, considering both lifetimes, his age was not small. After watching Mengyao obediently finish washing her feet, they then got into bed, blew out the candle, and soon fell asleep…
The next morning, Gu Yu, who was rarely an early riser, didn’t even eat breakfast at home. After informing Mengyao and her brother, he set off for town. The kidnapper, Wang Hu’s father, needed to be dealt with quickly. However, the method of dealing with him was rather difficult. If Gu Yu directly infiltrated the Prince’s Mansion and put Wang Hu’s father into his space, and then threw him into wolf dens and tiger lairs on the mountain, no one would even find a corpse. This method of resolution was simple and brutal, but if he really did it, there would be quite a few subsequent troubles. Firstly, Wang Hu’s father disappearing out of thin air from the mansion would definitely attract attention from all parties. Secondly, the women and children he had kidnapped would not be rescued, and their fate would remain tragic. Gu Yu didn’t just want to deal with Wang Hu’s father this time; he also had to find those who were kidnapped. Thinking about these things, Gu Yu began to wander around the desolate and deserted market. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he only came to his senses when he bumped into someone head-on.
“Sorry, I was spacing out just now. I’m really sorry for bumping into you. Are you okay?”
“I… I’m fine, little brother, no need to worry.” Knowing that he was not himself at the moment, Gu Yu immediately looked up and apologized to the person he had bumped into. When Gu Yu looked at the group of people in front of him, the effeminate young man standing in the middle smiled and indicated that he was not seriously injured. However, his sharp voice, pale and beardless appearance, coupled with his unconscious orchid finger gestures, made him look awkward no matter how you looked at him… This person looked so much like the legendary eunuch?