Chapter 13 The case of the missing men

The horse carriage halted, and Cheng Xiaoxiao woke from her slumber as Xiaowu said brightly from outside the horse carriage, “Master, the post is right up ahead.” “Okay,” said Chu Yunshen calmly with eyes closed. Then he gently patted Cheng Xiaoxiao, who was wriggling around. Xiaowu immediately brought servants to the post and make preparations for the prince. After traveling all day, the moment they arrived at the post, Xiaowu immediately instructed the servants to prepare a sumptuous dinner for the prince. As they waited for dinner to be served, Cheng Xiaoxiao, who had been stuck in the horse carriage all day, could no longer bear to stay put. She escaped through the open door with the baby bird on her head while Chu Yunshen talked to Xiaowu. The moment she left the room, Cheng Xiaoxiao found her way to the kitchen at the post. Fortunately, she was a cat and had a keen sense of smell, so she could easily sniff out the location of the kitchen. Just as she was about to feast, she suddenly the sound of a woman crying from behind the stove. Cheng Xiaoxiao was startled. As she was about to retreat from the kitchen, she heard another woman say, “Alright, stop crying! If the steward hears you crying, you’re going to get another scolding.” Cheng Xiaoxiao turned around and zipped behind the vegetable storage box and pricked her ears to eavesdrop. Then the woman suddenly cried even louder as she said, “My Xiao Hua hasn’t come back yet, and it’s killing me, so can’t I cry?” “Keep your voice down. If the steward comes, we will both get punished! Maybe Xiao Hua is having fun somewhere,” whispered the other woman anxiously. “I have scoured everywhere both inside and outside the village except for the Huangquan Forest…” said Xiao Hua’s mother hopelessly. “Stop imagining things. Haven’t you told Xiao Hua never to enter the Huangquan Forest since young? I think she probably isn’t there,” whispered the other woman as she suddenly leaned close to Xiao Hua’s mother’s ear and whispered, “Also, I heard Prince Jing is abusive by nature. When you send food to his room, you must control your emotions. If you offend the prince, you might get killed.” The moment Xiao Hua’s mother heard her, she suddenly started saying tearfully, “My darling little girl is lost! What use is it for me to be alive?” “Don’t say foolish things like that anymore!” said the other woman as she anxiously covered Xiao Hua’s mother’s mouth. Cheng Xiaoxiao suddenly felt teary-eyed as she hid behind the box and watched the woman standing behind the stove cry until her eyes turned red because she lost her daughter. Since young, Cheng Xiaoxiao and her mother survived on their own. But her mother passed away from cancer when she was 12 years old, and she became an orphan. Fortunately, she managed to make it to university with the aid of some kind souls in society. When she saw the woman who had lost her daughter cry in sorrow, Cheng Xiaoxiao keenly understood how she felt. Cheng Xiaoxiao lost all hope when her mother died too. It felt as though the entire world had forsaken Cheng Xiaoxiao. “Xiao Hua! My Xiao Hua!” Cheng Xiaoxiao could still faintly hear the sound of the woman crying in the kitchen as she left. After Cheng Xiaoxiao left the kitchen, she kept walking around with her mind preoccupied. Then Xiaowu’s voice suddenly came from up ahead. Cheng Xiaoxiao shrank and hid behind a pillar. “These horses need the best feed, understand?” “Yes, Sir!” “That’s all. Go on and get cracking,” Xiaowu instructed the horse groom before turning to walk away briskly. Cheng Xiaoxiao heaved a sigh of relief. She was planning to keep strolling around in the backyard with the baby bird on her head, Then a shadow suddenly loomed overhead, and a voice said, “Little fellow! Have you been running around again?” Her feet dangled in midair as Xiaowu pulled the cat into his embrace. Cheng Xiaoxiao shrugged her head helplessly. Xiaowu could tell that Cheng Xiaoxiao was unhappy, so he smiled as he said, “I told the servants to prepare you a big bucket of milk paste.” Cheng Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at Xiaowu. It was milk paste again. “Why are you unhappy?” asked Xiaowu in surprise, “Don’t you love eating milk paste?” Cheng Xiaoxiao glanced at him before resting her chin on his arm and looking at the ground listlessly. After failing to perk the cat up, Xiaowu thought in his heart how difficult it was to please the cat. It didn’t eat rats or fish to begin with, and now it even disliked milk paste. Xiaowu had already reached Chu Yunshen’s room as the thought crossed his mind. Then he raised his hand to knock Chu Yunshen’s door and said, “Master, I found the little fellow.” The moment Cheng Xiaoxiao made eye contact with Chu Yunshen, she hid her head inside Xiaowu’s arms. “Haha, Master. Is she afraid of you?” When Chu Yunshen glanced at Xiaowu, he immediately placed Cheng Xiaoxiao in Chu Yunshen’s arms discreetly. Then he scratched his head and said, “I'll go check in the kitchen and find out why dinner isn’t ready yet.” Only Chu Yunshen and Cheng Xiaoxiao remained in the room. It was so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard. “Meow.” Cheng Xiaoxiao couldn’t stand his frosty staring, so she immediately rolled around in Chu Yunshen’s embrace and acted adorable to please him. Instead, Chu Yunshen held Cheng Xiaoxiao with one hand while he continued holding a military book with the other without looking at the little fellow in his arms at all. “Meow.” She was sorry. Cheng Xiaoxiao raised her paw and pulled Chu Yunshen’s collar as she said, “Meow.” A while later, the glacial Chu Yunshen finally got melted by Cheng Xiaoxiao. “Pffft.” Cheng Xiaoxiao parted her mouth slightly in shock as she stared hard at Chu Yunshen with her contrasting eyes. He sure looked good when he laughed. At this moment, Xiaowu and the post officer appeared by the door. Then the skinny post officer looked at Chu Yunshen ingratiatingly and said, “Your Highness, the food is ready. Shall I send for dinner?” “Mhm.” Chu Yunshen had already reverted to his usual cold expression when he heard their footsteps. Cheng Xiaoxiao waved her paws viciously at Xiaowu, and the post officer who had both interrupted her while she was enjoying some eye candy. Xiaowu was at a loss as he looked at the little fellow brandish her claws at him while she lay in the prince’s arms. Sigh, how did he offend her this time? But before Xiaowu could figure it out, he heard the post officer say, “Send the food in.” “Yes, Sir!” voices chimed in unison outside. Very quickly, the table was filled with all kinds of tasty food. Cheng Xiaoxiao spotted Xiao Hua’s mother, who was crying in the kitchen with her sharp eyes before she even started drooling. The woman bowed her head as she carried a plate of steamed fish to Chu Yunshen’s left. When the post officer saw Xiao Hua’s mother attempting to approach the prince, he glared at the kitchen steward viciously. Damn! How could he have allowed this woman to send food over? Just as Xiao Hua’s mother was reaching Chu Yunshen, the post officer became anxious and suddenly shouted, “You stupid slave! You are so forgetful! The fish belongs there!” The post officer’s sharp voice startled Cheng Xiaoxiao so much that she shivered. Then Cheng Xiaoxiao turned to look at him angrily as she couldn’t stand the sound of his stern voice. Since the post officer had already spoken, it was too late for regret. Then he instantly knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, “Your Highness, forgive me!” Chu Yunshen looked at the post officer sternly as he comforted the little fellow. Xiaowu suddenly reprimanded him, “How dare you frighten His Highness’s cat? How many times can your head roll?” “I was wrong. Please forgive me, Your Highness!” begged the post officer as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Xiao Hua’s mother suddenly rushed up towards the prince and said, “Your Highness, I beg you! Please save Xiao Hua!” Xiaowu unsheathed his sword when he saw a silhouette lunging towards Chu Yunshen. Just as his sword was about to pierce through the woman’s chest, Chu Yunshen suddenly stopped him and said, “Xiaowu!” Xiaowu changed his attack and blocked the woman instead. Then he said coldly, “How dare you, woman! Do you want to die?” The woman suddenly cried even more loudly and became somewhat hysterical. She knelt before Xiaowu. Then she looked at Chu Yunshen and cried as she said, “Your Highness, please help me! My husband died young, and I pinned all hope on Xiao Hua! Nothing can happen to her! If anything befalls her, I’ll kill myself!” “How dare you, woman! This is the prince we’re talking about. How can you ask His Highness to help locate your child?” said the post officer with ridicule brimming from his eyes as he knelt, “Moreover, the county magistrate of Changshao told you countless times not to go to Huangquan Forest! But Xiao Hua got playful and entered the forest on her own! How can you beg His Highness to help you find your daughter?” The post officer immediately shut up the moment he saw Chu Yunshen staring at him. “What Huangquan Forest ?” asked Chu Yunshen as he narrowed his eyes and looked at the woman who was kneeling in front of Xiaowu. He raised his hand, and Xiaowu instantly understood his intention and removed his sword. Then the woman swiftly went closer to Chu Yunshen and wept as she said, “That forest killed my husband and many men in my village! Now it wants to kill my Xiao Hua!” “A forest that kills people?” The woman sounded incoherent and was unable to explain the situation clearly after a long time. Chu Yunshen glanced at the post officer. Then the post officer was instantly caught by surprise before he explained hesitantly, “Your Highness, it all started with an unsolved case related to Huangquan Forest.” “What unsolved case?” asked Chu Yunshen as he narrowed his eyes slightly. The post officer immediately sweated profusely on his back. After wiping the sweat on his forehead a few times, he gulped and continued, “Roughly 20 years ago on a stormy night, a few men from a village near Huangquan Forest went into the forest to look for medicinal herbs but failed to return. Their wives went to the Changshao county office to report this, so the county magistrate sent a search party into the forest. But those county officers didn’t return after entering the forest. Then the county magistrate ruled this as an unresolved case and ordered county officers to inform all villagers living in the vicinity of Huangquan Forest never to enter it again for medical herbs.” “Did he only send a handful of county officers?” Chu Yunshen stopped stroking the cat. Then his eyes became filled with a shred of fury as he continued, “Looks like it’s time we change the Changshao county magistrate!” The post officer knelt and kowtowed continuously the moment he heard the prince. Then he explained, “Your Highness, it’s not that the county magistrate wanted to ignore the case, you see! But Huangquan Forest is genuinely a strange place! When people walk past Huangquan Forest at night, they keep hearing terrifying cries and howls that don’t sound human!” The post officer couldn’t help lowering his voice as he looked at Chu Yunshen secretively. Then as though he was afraid something might hear him, he whispered, “Also, someone witnessed zombie-like creatures chewing on something in the forest!” “Who is he?” asked Chu Yunshen as he smiled coldly. The post officer suddenly became startled and stammered, “Erm…erm…” Chu Yunshen looked at the post officer kneeling on the ground as he scratched his face in anxiety until it turned red. Then Chu Yunshen suddenly flung his sleeve and reprimanded furiously, “Nonsense! How can the county magistrate disregard the lives of citizens because of some baseless claims?” “Your Highness, forgive me!” begged the post officer as he kowtowed nonstop. “How can there be such black sheep in the mighty Chu? He takes an official’s salary but doesn’t do anything for us. I will punish him severely!” Sir Liu sent Chu Yunshen a message by pigeon from the capital. The emperor was vigorously suppressing inaction among officials, so it was the perfect opportunity for Chu Yunshen to punish rotten officials like them. When His Majesty learned about the matter, his anger about Chu Yunshen killing the Wu envoy would diminish as well. “Xiaowu, we are going to the Changshao County office tomorrow!” “Yes, Master!”