Back at Jiang City…
Even before Shen Yi received a call from the Silver Leaf Academy about his wife’s sudden disappearance, he was already informed by the people he had sent to look after her about it. His eyes were as dark as a starless night, his lips drawn into a grim line upon hearing the news. His jaw was clenched tightly, his entire body taut as he gave off a menacing aura.
“What do you mean she’s missing? Didn’t I tell you never to let her out of your sight?” Shen Yi growled dangerously as he looked at the hidden guard that he a.s.signed to protect his wife. A look of death reflected in his cold eyes.
Jin De knelt on the floor, not daring to speak. He knew he had failed his master.
Shen Yi’s hands clenched at the report as he read the details about his wife’s disappearance. He wasn’t surprised that it was instigated by Meng Jiao at all. Lu Xinyi had once told him that it was weird that the woman wasn’t making any drastic moves against her. But who would have thought that Meng Jiao was just waiting for the right time to strike?
“Hmm? I wonder why the academy hasn’t reported it yet.”
Kang Wei, who was sitting at the lounge area at Shen Yi’s office, cupped his chin with a thoughtful expression on his face. Lu Xinyi had been missing for hours, and yet, not a single call had been made by the Silver Leaf Academy.
“I’m asking you, where’s my wife?”
Sweat appeared on Jin De’s brow. He was able to follow Lu Xinyi until she reached the village and left with the Su family. However, he had lost track of her once she and the Su family entered the forest. It was only after he overheard Li Yuren’s subordinates that he had learned that Lu Xinyi had fallen off from a cliff during an encounter with the bandits.
“This subordinate is incompetent,” Jin De admitted his fault.
He was one of the top family guards of the Shen family, and yet, he’d failed to protect his mistress. He had truly done his best to locate her. He’d searched the whole mountain. However, there wasn’t the slightest sign of Lu Xinyi anywhere. For him, failing to protect his mistress was his greatest failure since he joined the Shen family’s elite guards.
“What punishment should you get for failing this mission?” Shen Yi’s tone was low and dangerous; Jin De hadn’t seen him this angry before.
“This humble servant deserves to die,” the terrified servant replied humbly. He threw a quick glance at his master’s impa.s.sive face before bowing his head as he waited for his command. But none came.
Shen Yi didn’t speak any further, and the servant began to feel despair building in his chest.
All guards had been professionally trained to protect the Shen family, and being a.s.signed to protect the Young Mistress put a lot of pressure on Jin De’s part.
Lu Xinyi’s reputation to the special guards of the Shen family wasn’t high initially, because no one had regarded her as worthy enough to become Boss Yi’s wife. But after weeks of following her like a shadow since she attended Silver Leaf, Jin De finally understood why Shen Yi had chosen her.
She wasn’t a pretentious woman at all. Contrary to what others thought of her, Lu Xinyi didn’t spend Shen Yi’s wealth and lived as a trophy wife. Most of her purchases were food, food, and more food. Why would she waste her money on jewelry if she could have good food?
Too bad, though, that Jin De wasn’t able to show himself to Lu Xinyi.
Shen Yi had specifically told him to hide, letting their enemies think that Lu Xinyi was vulnerable. Although it would be dangerous for Lu Xinyi, the Sun family wouldn’t make a move easily if her bodyguard was known to the public.
Kang Wei and Shen Xue saw the devil’s face grew darker. They originally thought that as long as Jin De followed Lu Xinyi, even if the Sun family dared to harm her, the other would be able to stall them or stop them until help arrived.
Was sending Jin De to guard Lu Xinyi not enough?
Did Shen Yi need to send extra guards to keep her safe?
Alas, in the end, at the first strike of the Sun family, Jin De had failed Shen Yi terribly. The news brought by him made Shen Yi’s mood fall into the pits, his expression pitch black. He hadn’t seen his wife for almost a week now and had been regretting his previous actions. If Jin De couldn’t really find her, then what did that mean?
Shen Yi refused to believe that Lu Xinyi had died from falling from the cliff. That would be impossible! His heart refused to believe that she could leave him like this. Even if he had to search day and night just to find her, he would. He would only believe that she was dead if he could see her corpse!
Under normal circ.u.mstances, Jin De should be able to locate Lu Xinyi’s whereabouts. With his ability, even if someone dared to kidnap Lu Xinyi, they could never get past him. Since she had fallen into the river with Li Yuren, the possibility that she’d been swept away was high. Shen Yi would have to dispatch more people to search for his missing wife.
Just as Shen Yi was about to deliver his punishment to Jin De, his phone started ringing. Checking the caller ID, it was from an unknown number. He picked up the phone but didn’t say a word, waiting for the other line to introduce himself.
“President Shen, my sister is in trouble.”
As soon as Shen Yi heard the voice, he instantly recognized it as Tian Lingyu’s. So, his brother-in-law was the first one to contact him? Shen Yi started to wonder what was Han Zhiling was thinking or was it because she was using Tian Lingyu to deliver this news to him?
“I know. I intend to find her at any cost.”
It was the truth. If he needed to send all of his people just to find her, he would, but he would also not pretend that he didn’t know who started this mess. Meng Jiao and the Sun family would pay the price for harming his wife!
“I’m on my way back to Jiang City. We’re already on the road. We’ll be arriving in two hours,” Tian Lingyu informed him.
Shen Yi didn’t respond but ended the call. His attention once again settled on Jin De.
“I’ll give you 24 hours to find clues where Lu Xinyi is. If you fail again, I’ll kill you with my own hands and throw your corpse to be eaten by vultures.”
Jin De gulped but didn’t dare to disobey his master.
“This subordinate understands. I thank Boss Yi for giving me another chance.”
That was right. The demon king himself rarely gave people another chance to live. If he so deemed that Jin De was utterly useless, he would have asked the other guards to throw him in a pit of snakes before killing him.
Jin De had recalled the rules Shen Yi had set for the Shen family’s elite guards. There was no room for mistakes. He had been clear how he would award and punish his people. For a great mistake like this, Jin De’s should pay with his own life.
“Remember, if you fail again, you cannot escape death the next time.”
It was Shen Xue who gave Jin De the final warning. The seriousness in his voice was so unusual that Jin De thought dying once wouldn’t be enough to satisfy the Shen family if something bad really happened to their Young Madam.
“This subordinate obeys.”
Jin De excused himself and left at once to fulfill his master’s command. He went back to the mountain where Lu Xinyi got lost, to find out if something was set up ahead. That woman Meng Jiao who was with her mistress before her disappearance must have done something to harm Lu Xinyi.
According to what he’d heard from Li Yuren and Proctor Xuan, the students should stay away from the route near the southwest border because of possible threats to their safety. Li Yuren’s protection was only a favor asked by the academy. The blame wouldn’t fall on them if any students disregard this warning.
So how come Meng Jiao was able to lead Lu Xinyi to the southwest border? Lu Xinyi must have been aware of the warning. But how would she know where Meng Jiao had taken her?
That day, not a single guard in the Shen family was spared. Shen Yi ordered an all-out search for Lu Xinyi. His father had also called the officials of the area – the governor, the mayor, and many more to find her. Everyone was anxious as they waited for news.