The carriage was too slow, and the waterways were not safe either, so Lu Nianfu could only choose to ride a horse.
Daughters of wealthy families in Jiangnan liked to play polo, and their equestrian skills were generally first-class. However, the Lu family was not high on the list among the wealthy families. Even with Lu Chaosheng's willingness to spend money on his daughter's upbringing, he couldn't make other young ladies think highly of Lu Nianfu.
With the Lu family's background, those who could afford to play polo truly looked down upon them.
Lu Nianfu also didn't have the drive to squeeze into that circle. She played twice and found it boring, so she never participated again, which meant her equestrian skills were rather ordinary.
However, being able to ride a horse was enough.
Lu Nianfu rode at full speed with Song Ming, while also observing the carriages on the road, hoping to find Lu Fei. Unfortunately, they rode all the way to Xiangshui County and into the Lu mansion without spotting any suspicious carriages.
The white mourning banners in front of the Lu mansion had not been removed, but the servants' steps were clearly lighter than when Lu Chaosheng had just passed away.
Tomorrow was the young master's birthday, so the mansion was quite busy.
Upon hearing the news of Lu Nianfu's return, Madam Li hurried out. Although her son had attended school before, he always returned home at night. Ever since he went to Yangzhou, she hadn't seen him for many days. She didn't realize how much she missed him until she didn't see him for a period of time.
As soon as she came out, she looked behind Lu Nianfu. Not seeing her son, she heard Lu Nianfu anxiously ask, "Mother, did you send someone to pick up Xiao Fei?"
Madam Li was stunned. "Didn't your letter say you would send Xiao Fei back?"
"But someone came to where Xiao Fei was studying today and took him away in advance."
Song Ming immediately turned around. "I'll report this to the authorities right away. We will definitely find the young master."
Lu Fei was Madam Li's only son. Realizing he had been taken by an unknown person, she felt as if her spine had been suddenly pulled out. If not for the support of a maid, she might not have been able to stand.
Lu Nianfu was even more anxious. In her previous life, Lu Fei had a high fever that turned him into an idiot and then he went missing. She had thought that keeping him by her side would spare him this misfortune. Unexpectedly, a moment of carelessness had allowed Lu Fei to be taken away by someone in advance.
What if that person harmed Lu Fei?
But she couldn't panic, as Lu Fei was still waiting for her to save him. She forcibly suppressed her racing heart. "Mother, please don't worry. Quickly think about who might have taken Xiao Fei? Qing Ya asked. Xiao Fei willingly got into that person's carriage. The other party must be an acquaintance."
Madam Li said, "How long has Xiao Fei been in Yangzhou? Who else does he know there besides you?"
"What if it was someone from Xiangshui County, Mother? Think again, could the dye house have offended someone?"
The dye house had offended many people recently. With the son-in-law of the Commander as their backing, the dye house had been snatching a lot of business. The people whose business had been snatched, who would dare to offend Commander Gu?
Let alone kidnapping his younger brother-in-law.
She suddenly pushed Lu Nianfu away and glared at her fiercely. "Lu Nianfu, stop crying wolf! You hid Xiao Fei, didn't you?"
Lu Nianfu: "......What are you saying, Mother?"
"Stop pretending. How old is Xiao Fei? Who could he have offended? The only thing is that he inherited the dye house left by Father. Lu Nianfu, Father has already left you so many things, why are you still trying to snatch your brother's dye house? Give me back my son quickly."
Lu Nianfu's eyes widened. "How could you think that?"
Madam Li's eyes were full of hatred, and she yelled hysterically, "Who else could it be? Xiao Fei was fine by my side, but something happened as soon as he went to Yangzhou with you? I'm telling you, if anything happens to my son, I'll fight you to the death."
Seeing Madam Li's frenzied state, Lu Nianfu remembered someone.
In her previous life, the Wu family had taken over the Lu family's property, but now the Lu family and the dye house were in Madam Li's hands. Li Chuanhu wanted to obtain it, and Lu Fei was the biggest obstacle.
She suddenly turned and ran towards the door. The horse stood quietly by the door.
Ignoring Madam Li's frantic curses from behind, Lu Nianfu mounted the horse and galloped towards the yamen.
Song Ming was a step ahead of her and had already reported the case to the yamen. Magistrate Luo did not dare to delay when he learned that the Commander's brother-in-law was in trouble. He immediately sent people to investigate. However, since the incident occurred in Yangzhou and there were no clues, they gathered to discuss.
It wouldn't do to just run around aimlessly like headless flies.