Chapter 235: Chapter 235: Vanishing Without a Trace

Lu Lan said no more, but she made no effort to hide the disappointment and contempt on her face.

Lu Jinglan trembled with rage.

She never imagined that Lu Lan—who had always been so meek and submissive in her presence, who had always followed her lead—would one day look at her with such disdain and contempt.

’What right does she have?’

Driven mad with rage, Lu Jinglan lunged at Lu Lan.

"You ruined slut! What right do you have to laugh at me?"

Lu Lan shot up and dodged the attack.

Lu Jinglan’s lunge met empty air, and she tumbled off the bed.

She landed with a THUD, the pain making her see stars.

Thinking of how her day had gone, and of Lu Lan’s mockery, she suddenly began to pound the floor and weep bitterly.

Lu Lan looked down at her. "Crying is the most useless thing you can do. Go get revenge on the person who did this to you. What’s the point of taking your anger out on me?"

Lu Jinglan’s sobs hitched, and she stared up blankly.

She saw Lu Lan—the same Lu Lan she had always considered humble, cowardly, and beneath her notice—looking back at her with a face so cold it seemed to belong to a stranger.

Lu Jinglan froze, then let out a sudden laugh. "Every last one of you is hiding your true colors. You’re right. I’m the biggest fool of all!"

The corner of Lu Lan’s mouth twitched. "If you know you’re a fool, then you need to pull yourself together. Zhi Wan did this to you. Don’t you want revenge? But don’t expect anyone to get it for you. If you’ve got the guts, do it yourself. If not, then you’d better just swallow today’s humiliation!"

"What can I do?" Lu Jinglan murmured. "Zhi Wan is so clever, not even Old Madam Lu is a match for her..."

"Of course she’s clever. Why else would our aunt and eldest brother side with her? But what if... she lost her chastity? Do you think he would still marry her?" Lu Lan said unhurriedly.

Lu Jinglan started. "You mean..."

"I didn’t say a thing." Lu Lan shook her head. "The last thing I want is to see Zhi Wan suffer the same fate I did. Well, get some rest. I’ll be going now."

As she watched her leave, Lu Jinglan was filled with a whirlwind of complex emotions. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

’One after another, they all think they can walk all over me. Am I, the adopted daughter of the Lu Family, really that easy to bully?’

Lu Jinglan clenched her fists.

’It doesn’t matter. I’ll deal with them one by one.’

’Chastity?’

’That’s right. If Zhi Wan loses her virtue, Jinzhi will surely be disgusted with her.’

’Marrying into the Lu Family? A pipe dream!’

A venomous glint flashed in Lu Jinglan’s eyes.

’How hard can it be to find a few filthy men?’

’I will utterly destroy Zhi Wan!’

But before she could put her plan into action, her door was suddenly thrown open in the middle of the night.

Two burly old maids rushed in, clamped a hand over her mouth, and dragged her out.

Lu Jinglan’s eyes were wide with terror. She struggled with all her might but couldn’t break free.

A moment later, the two maids threw her into a carriage waiting by the back gate.

It all happened without a sound.

「The next day.」

Old Madam Lu was preparing to leave for Yangzhou and had sent someone to fetch Lu Jinglan to accompany her, but the servant returned in a panic. "Old Madam, Miss Jinglan is gone!"

"What do you mean, ’gone’?" Old Madam Lu looked stunned.

"I don’t know, Old Madam. I went to fetch Miss Jinglan as you instructed, but when I entered her room, she wasn’t there," the maid replied.

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Lu let out a breath, then snapped, "If she’s not in her room, she must be somewhere else! Don’t you know enough to take some people and search?"

The maid quickly gathered some people and went to search.

They searched the entire mansion from top to bottom but found no trace of Lu Jinglan.

Now, Old Madam Lu truly began to panic.

"Quickly, go and bring the Duke and the Madam back!"

Lu Zhenbei had spent the previous night in the barracks and hadn’t returned home. As soon as he received the news, he rushed back immediately.

At the same time, Lady Wei and Lady Lou also received the news and hurried back from the temple.

"A grown person just vanished from the mansion without a trace?" Everyone was stunned.

"It must have been—it must have been Zhi Wan!" Old Madam Lu suddenly hissed through clenched teeth.

"Lu Jinglan is missing, so why must it be Wan’er’s doing? Wan’er is a gentle young lady; how could she possibly do something like this? Old Madam, I know you are prejudiced against Wan’er, but you can’t just blame her every time something goes wrong, can you?" Lady Wei frowned, deeply displeased.

"That’s right, Mother-in-law. Zhi Wan is a delicate girl who doesn’t even have the strength to truss a chicken. How could she possibly make a grown woman like Lu Jinglan disappear?" Lady Lou couldn’t resist adding.

"We know you’re anxious, Mother, but please refrain from making such absurd accusations," Lu Zhenbei added, his face also showing his displeasure.

In his eyes, this was surely because he had spoken to his mother yesterday morning about his son’s marriage to Wan’er. She had been displeased, and now she was trying to sling mud at the girl.

"The priority right now is to find her as quickly as possible," Lu Jingbei chimed in.

"I think we should report this to the authorities," Lu Jun said gravely. "The Duke Mansion is heavily guarded. For Little Aunt Jinglan to suddenly vanish, I fear... a very capable intruder must have gotten in!"

"Let’s not report it to the authorities. If word of this gets out, wouldn’t we become a laughingstock? The great Duke Mansion can’t even keep watch over a single young woman?" Lu Jingbei countered.

"Father, this is about Little Aunt’s safety! This is no time to be worrying about our reputation. We have to find her as quickly as possible," Lu Jun said with a frown.

"Maybe she eloped with someone. What’s the point in looking?" Lu Jingbei said. Seeing his mother’s face darken, he quickly corrected himself. "I mean, we should send the household servants out to search for her immediately."

Listening to them all bicker back and forth, Old Madam Lu’s head throbbed with anger. "You... every single one of you! You don’t care one bit whether Jinglan is dead or alive! She’s missing! How can you not be worried?"

At her words, they all shot her an indescribable look. ’She’s the one who treats Lu Jinglan like a precious treasure, and now she expects them to do the same? How ridiculous!’

"I’ll send people out to search at once," Lady Wei said, turning to leave.

’Good riddance,’ she thought.

’The girl is a menace. The household has no peace with her in it.’

’I have no intention of wasting my time on that adopted girl.’

Lady Wei recalled her trip to the temple yesterday to pray for her son and Wan’er. She had even drawn the most auspicious fortune. Her heart filled with joy at the memory, and all she wanted now was to share the good news with Zhi Wan and see her happy.

"You! Stop right there!" Old Madam Lu suddenly roared.

Lady Wei jumped, clutching her chest. She turned back to face her. "Does Old Madam have other instructions?"

Old Madam Lu took a deep breath and snarled, "It was definitely that little bitch Zhi Wan! Tie her up at once and beat Jinglan’s whereabouts out of her!"

Lady Wei’s expression instantly darkened. "Wan’er is your future granddaughter-in-law, yet you insult her so viciously? Besides, what does Lu Jinglan’s disappearance have to do with Wan’er? Why must you always make things difficult for her?"

Old Madam Lu was so furious her chest ached. She slammed her hand on the table and yelled, "That wretched girl is far more capable than you think! Just yesterday, she..."

"Yesterday?" Lady Wei seized on the word, her expression full of suspicion. "Did you do something to her?"

At this, she suddenly realized something and shot a sharp glare at Lady Lou.

’Yesterday morning, Lady Lou had suddenly invited her to go to the temple to pray. Since she was already planning to go and pray for her son and Wan’er, she hadn’t thought twice about it and had happily agreed. But now that she thought about it, it wasn’t that simple. Lady Lou was probably acting on the Old Madam’s orders, deliberately luring her away from the mansion so they could make a move against Wan’er.’

Lady Lou’s eyes darted away, unable to meet her gaze.

That was all the confirmation Lady Wei needed.

Her face was like ice as she enunciated each word clearly: "Old Madam, if anything has happened to Wan’er, I will not let this matter rest!" With that, she hurried off toward Yaoguang Pavilion.