A Foodie Transmigrated into the Palace

Chapter 1471: Chapter 1469: The Collapse of the Mansion

Lv Zhaoliang had been missing for several days.

The Fuguo Duke’s Mansion was nearly in chaos, or rather, it was Lady Sun who was nearly going mad.

Lady Sun initially pretended to be calm and ordered people to look for him.

Within two days, she couldn’t hold it together and began to weep all day long.

"It’s all that little wench’s fault. My son grew up so well without any incident! Ever since she came, things have been happening constantly!"

"Our Fuguo Duke’s Mansion has always been low-key, but since that little wench arrived, we’ve been the laughing stock of the Capital City."

"My lord, you must stand up for our son!"

Second Master was uncomfortable with her constant reference to ’little wench’, and frowned slightly to admonish her.

"Don’t say such things! It’s our fault in the end!"

"I’ve told you before, matters of marriage shouldn’t be forced. If you’d listened and considered other families, it wouldn’t have come to this!"

Lady Sun, feeling wronged and regretful, but also somewhat unwilling to give in, threw a tantrum and approached him.

"It’s easy for you to say!"

"You’ve never cared about our son growing up. He’s over twenty now and still not married, yet you show no concern!"

"Had it been possible to marry another girl, would I have waited till now?"

She cried as she spoke.

"He wasn’t interested in marriage before; I’ve suggested several and none worked out!"

"Now that he’s finally considering marriage, he’s run into such a family!"

"Oh, my poor son, your fate is truly harsh!"

As she spoke, she sat on the ground, wailing and lamenting.

The Second Master grew impatient.

"Stop making a scene here; crying won’t help. Quickly, have people go and search!"

Lady Sun, hearing the increased sternness in her husband’s voice, ceased her sobbing, hurriedly wiped her tears, and rose on her own accord.

"My lord, then... now I should..."

The Second Master, annoyed to death, clutched his pounding head and waved his hand dismissively.

"I’ll handle this matter; you should go now!"

Lady Sun dared not speak further, respectfully bowed and left.

The Second Master breathed a sigh of relief.

After tidying his clothes, he opened the study door and summoned a servant boy, giving him a few hasty instructions.

He then left the study and headed to the backyard concubine’s quarters.

Nothing was more important to him than his newly-wedded concubine, not even his troublesome son.

Judging by past experience, the number of times that kid didn’t come home was too many.

One more or less didn’t matter; after a few days without silver, he was bound to come back.

...

The vast Fuguo Duke’s Mansion.

Aside from Lady Sun, the most worried person was the old Madam; Lv Zhaoliang was her most beloved grandson.

So, having hit a wall with the Second Master, Lady Sun couldn’t sit still and went to the old Madam to complain tearfully.

"Mother, Liangliang hasn’t come home for several days now, you..."

"Mother, could Liangliang be in danger?"

Lady Sun babbled on and on.

The previously cheerful old Madam was driven to anger!

"You’re a mother, can’t you stop cursing your own son?"

"Hasn’t Liangliang gone out before? Why make such a fuss over nothing!"

"He’ll be back in a few days!"

The old Madam spoke with great confidence.

She even kept a little treasure trove for her grandson; how could he not come back?

If he returned, he’d come see her first thing.

After all, any man enjoying himself outside needed silver to spend!

Lady Sun was speechless but still struggled to argue.

"Mother, but he hasn’t come back for several days already!"

She was anxious and harbored a strong sense of foreboding, but why did no one believe her?

Not only did the old Madam feel this way, but even the Princely Heir’s Madam, who was beside the old Madam peeling grapes, couldn’t sit still anymore.

"I say, dear sister-in-law!"

"Mother is quite old now; she can’t handle your constant shocks!"

"Moreover, there’s nothing significant about this; it’s just a few days without coming home, hasn’t he done this often before?"

"A grown man, who could possibly do anything to him!"

The old Madam wholeheartedly agreed with the Princely Heir’s Madam.

She ate a grape and nodded with a smile.

"Exactly, who dares harm my Liangliang?"

"Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon!"

Having said that, she continued chatting and laughing with the Princely Heir’s Madam.

Lady Sun stiffly answered ’yes’, enduring the uneasy feeling in her heart as she accompanied the old Madam for the meal.

Only after the meal, when the old Madam rested, did she excuse herself.

She and the Princely Heir’s Madam walked one behind the other.

The Princely Heir’s Madam still comforted her: "Rest assured, dear sister-in-law, nephew is surely safe; you needn’t worry too much!"

Lady Sun anxiously acknowledged, fleeing as if escaping.

...

A few more days passed.

Lady Sun truly couldn’t hold it in anymore. The Fuguo Duke’s Mansion gradually realized something was amiss and only then began to investigate seriously.

But by this time, nearly ten days had passed since the Double Ninth Festival.

Additionally, the Fuguo Duke’s Mansion couldn’t fathom that Lv Zhaoliang’s disappearance was related to the Princess’s Mansion and had been searching the Chuguan Brothel instead.

So... after searching over ten days, they hadn’t found a single trace.

The few servant boys around Lv Zhaoliang knew the real story.

But that day, the young master said he wanted to go alone and ordered no one to follow him.

So, none of them went.

Later, seeing that the young master hadn’t returned, they realized he was in trouble.

Overwhelmed with fear, each of them took some valuables and fled.

As of now, even the masters of the Fuguo Duke’s Mansion hadn’t realized something was wrong. It was clear what kind of state this mansion usually was in.

...

However, the Fuguo Duke’s Mansion did have some power.

The disappearance of an upright son was indeed a major issue.

They first reported it to the authorities, then conducted their own search with people.

After more than half a month of efforts, there was still no progress, and by this time, it was already mid-October.

The Mayor of Capital felt a bit weary, not wanting to continue the search, but since the Fuguo Duke’s Mansion had some influence, he didn’t dare to say anything.

So, every day after going to the Yamen, he took his subordinates to patrol the streets.

Initially, they searched earnestly; later it was merely going through the motions.

The people from the Fuguo Duke’s Mansion weren’t doing any better.

Although the missing person was one of their own, most were either bullied by Lv Zhaoliang or envious of him, and there were only a few who were genuinely worried.

So their search efforts were also weak, but no one dared to abandon the search due to the old Madam’s presence.

In this situation, even if there was sincerity in the search, they wouldn’t find anything, let alone the fact that the person was already dead; finding him would be a miracle!

Just when both inside and outside were utterly exhausted.

The palace suddenly issued a document to the Fuguo Duke’s Mansion. It was a memorial impeaching Duke Fuguo.

It listed the ’glorious’ deeds of corruption, bribery, bullying, dominating the weak, oppressing good people, and forcefully taking common girls by the first, second, and third households in the Fuguo Duke’s Mansion.

The memorial was over an inch thick, with the signatures of numerous Imperial Censors.

This memorial was like a massive rock, adding several waves to an already tumultuous sea.

By this point, the Fuguo Duke’s Mansion was in complete disarray.

Forget the second household, even the first and third households were in total panic.