I Reloaded the Save File! [Transmigration] - Chapter 51

While the guards were conducting the search, the three—Zuo Wuyi, Qiu Wu, and Yun He—secretly approached, exchanging information.

“Eldest Senior Sister hasn’t returned yet, so she might have found something. What we need to do now is stall for time,” Zuo Wuyi said. “Even if you did as I said and got the City Lord to temporarily agree to our demands, the outcome of the matter might not align with your expectations.”

Mo Xiao had previously thought that since the City Lord was willing to send people with her, he intended to handle the matter impartially. Regardless of how Gongsun Qiu would be punished, he would definitely be made to hand over Xiao Que.

Zuo Wuyi’s thoughts differed from Mo Xiao’s. She believed that the City Lord would not easily change his nature, and if they softened their stance, he would certainly show favoritism towards his nephew.

To put it harshly, even if his punishment was to confine Gongsun Qiu for ten or twenty years, as soon as they left, the City Lord might release him immediately.

Mo Xiao knew she couldn’t compare to Zuo Wuyi when it came to reading people. Since Zuo Wuyi had a different idea, Mo Xiao simply followed her lead.

The guards were slow in their search. It took nearly half an hour before they finished, and the group returned empty-handed.

“True Monarch Yun Mu, we haven’t found any trace of your friend. Shall we move to another location and continue the search?” the guard captain asked.

“Are you sure you searched every corner?” Mo Xiao asked. “For example, did you search the storerooms, servants’ quarters, secret rooms, and water dungeons?”

“This…” The guard captain looked troubled. Searching storerooms and servants’ quarters was fine, but they couldn’t search places like secret rooms and water dungeons if they couldn’t find them.

“What’s wrong? Is there a difficulty?” Mo Xiao asked. “Is there a place here that the City Lord’s personal guards are forbidden from searching?”

“Could it be that the culprit is hidden in those places, which is why they’re being stopped from searching?” Zuo Wuyi chipped in from the side.

“No, it’s just that we didn’t discover any secret rooms or water dungeons…” The guard captain’s expression was awkward. “So we couldn’t search them.”

“Ah, so it’s that you’re unwilling to disclose the locations of the secret rooms and water dungeons,” Zuo Wuyi naturally misinterpreted the guard captain’s meaning, looking at the steward with an accusatory tone. “Why won’t you tell us where the secret rooms and water dungeons are?”

A simple search certainly wouldn’t find the person. All they needed to do now was sow discord and stall for time.

“…” The steward genuinely had a lot of complaints. Who would willingly open up their secret rooms and water dungeons when someone was searching their home? Had they lost their minds?

“My respected senior, our manor does not have any secret rooms or water dungeons,” the steward managed his facial expression, forcing out a very strained smile. “The only place that hasn’t been searched is where my Young Master is cultivating.”

“If you truly wish to check, how about waiting until my Young Master finishes his cultivation before going in?” the steward suggested.

Just moments before the search, the steward had received a message that he needed to stall for as much time as possible until the Young Master’s people could fetch the City Lord.

“How long does he need to cultivate?” Mo Xiao asked. Isn’t this the exact pillow sent for a sleepy head?

“At most, no more than an hour,” the steward replied. An hour was enough time for a round trip to the City Lord’s manor.

Mo Xiao nodded. “Fine. Then bring some tea and refreshments. We will wait here.”

Just like that, the two groups, which should have been fiercely confronting each other, settled down quietly. One side provided tea and refreshments, and the other enjoyed them. Anyone unfamiliar with the situation would likely assume Mo Xiao was merely a visiting guest.

The steward was waiting for his people to complete their task. As long as there was no living witness, once the City Lord arrived, they could reverse the accusation, filing a counter-complaint that Mo Xiao and the others trespassed on private property under false pretense of the City Lord’s authority, attempting to commit murder and plunder wealth.

Mo Xiao was also waiting—waiting for the City Lord to be compelled to appear and waiting for her Eldest Senior Sister to thoroughly investigate the Gongsun Manor. Once Yun Yu found evidence in the manor, and the City Lord still failed to intervene, they would have a perfectly valid reason to draw their swords.

The City Lord was the one who ultimately cracked first. He knew that delaying the matter would only make it harder for him to handle. So, after less than half an hour, he appeared with his own people.

“Where is Gongsun Qiu? Hurry and call him out!” The City Lord’s face darkened upon hearing the guard captain’s report.

The steward looked awkward. “City Lord, our Young Master is cultivating. If he is…”

“You, go bring him out! I have matters to ask him!” The City Lord ignored the steward and directly commanded his trusted aide.

“Yes, sir.” The aide accepted the order and soon returned with another person.

“Uncle, why are you looking for me? I was cultivating,” Gongsun Qiu was wearing simple white robes, and his aura seemed slightly erratic, looking very much like someone whose cultivation had been interrupted.

“Where were you this morning?” the City Lord asked with a frown, very displeased with Gongsun Qiu’s manner.

What an idiot! I specifically sent my aide to instruct him on what to do, yet he still looks so sloppy. Is he so sure that I won’t do anything to him?

“This morning? Of course, I was cultivating. Where else would I be?” Gongsun Qiu still maintained an indifferent attitude. He was nagged every few days anyway; the worst outcome was a few days of house arrest.

“Who can vouch for you?” The City Lord’s tone carried displeasure. This time, he wasn’t faking it; he was genuinely angry.

The City Lord could let Gongsun Qiu mess around and turn a blind eye to his actions, but that didn’t mean Gongsun Qiu could treat him with such disrespect.

If this were at home, it would be one thing, but this was in public, in front of the people from the Asking Dao Sect and his own subordinates. If he couldn’t even manage his nephew, where would he put his face?

How did I end up with such a stupid nephew!

“Uncle, my guards and the steward can vouch for my cultivation,” Gongsun Qiu wasn’t entirely brainless. Seeing that the City Lord was genuinely angry, his attitude straightened up considerably.

“If you don’t believe me, Uncle, you can investigate all you want. I haven’t left the manor this morning, or rather, I haven’t left all day,” Gongsun Qiu said, standing up straight, his tone much more sincere.

“If I’m not mistaken, the guards and steward you mentioned are all people from your Gongsun family, correct?” Mo Xiao asked. “Testimony from one’s own people on their behalf does not seem very credible.”

“Then what do you want? Should I have outsiders constantly monitor me just to have an alibi?” Gongsun Qiu retorted grumpily.

“Be respectful! This is an Elder from the Asking Dao Sect!” the City Lord snapped. “Answer the Elder’s questions properly.”

Gongsun Qiu pouted. “Uncle, I was indeed at home, but there were no outsiders in my home. If the word of the guards and steward isn’t considered evidence, then I can’t help it.”

“Besides, before you arrived, these people already turned my manor upside down and found nothing,” Gongsun Qiu added. “She claims I hid someone. I think she’s deliberately slandering me!”

“I asked around, and many people saw the Gongsun Manor guards kidnap a young woman this morning and bring her directly into your manor,” Zuo Wuyi said. “How do you explain that? Would people slander you for no reason?”

“Who said that? Where are the people? I want to confront them face-to-face,” Gongsun Qiu challenged, confident they couldn’t produce the witnesses.

Zuo Wuyi raised an eyebrow. “We merely asked a few passersby and don’t recall who they were.”

“Then your so-called witnesses are nothing but hearsay. Do you expect me to believe whatever you say?” Gongsun Qiu smiled. If he had known they were just casual inquiries, he wouldn’t have bothered sending people to silence witnesses.

“However…” Zuo Wuyi drew out the word and a faint smile appeared on her lips. “I also know that sometimes hearsay isn’t enough to convince others, so I specifically took statements and had the people I questioned sign their names.”

“If Young Master here doesn’t believe what I say and insists on a face-to-face confrontation, you can certainly follow the names on the statements. It will take some time, but the people can definitely be found,” Zuo Wuyi said with a laugh.

Since she knew the person she was dealing with was no good, of course, she would prepare some evidence in advance.

If this statement hadn’t been forged beforehand, Zuo Wuyi would have already used the confession to pin the crime on Gongsun Qiu and immediately taken action.

Seeing the statement in Zuo Wuyi’s hand, Gongsun Qiu’s expression changed. “These people must hold a grudge against me…”

“Enough! Since you claim you didn’t hide anyone, let me search thoroughly once more,” The City Lord couldn’t help but interrupt Gongsun Qiu. “Let’s see if what you say is true or false.”

Has this two-hundred-year-old fool been living in vain? Why does he speak without thinking! The more he talks, the more mistakes he makes. Anyone can tell there’s a problem with what he’s saying!

“Of course, Uncle. Search all you like. The innocent clear themselves,” Gongsun Qiu’s intelligence briefly came online, and he fell silent.

The City Lord intended to go through the motions and search the place to provide some semblance of an explanation to Mo Xiao and the others.

Of course, he would certainly find Xiao Que, but not now and not here, but in an hour, in a location nearby.

The City Lord searched with confidence this time, and it took half an hour to finish. During this time, he also invited Mo Xiao and the others to join the search.

“City Lord, we did not find Miss Xiao Que,” the guard reported.

The City Lord nodded, looked at Mo Xiao, and proactively offered a way out. “Since the person isn’t here, how about we check the nearby area? Perhaps the witnesses mistook the location.”

“They didn’t mistake it. The person is right here,” Before Mo Xiao could say anything, Yun Yu’s voice suddenly rang out.

Following that, Yun Yu’s figure appeared in everyone’s sight. Right behind her, two infuriated Nascent Soul cultivators were relentlessly pursuing her.

“Who are you?” The City Lord’s eyebrows twitched. Things seem to have taken a turn.

“City Lord, this is my Senior Sister,” Mo Xiao said.

Seeing the two Nascent Soul cultivators still chasing Yun Yu with a look of utter frenzy, Mo Xiao immediately drew her sword and rushed out.