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Chapter 366. Escaping the Huang Mansion 32

366. Escaping the Huang Mansion 32

"Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!!!" A panicked shout came from afar, and the words of that person made Wang Shi, who had just calmed down, tense up.

"The young lady is missing—!"

Wang shuddered and almost lost her balance. Wuchou, who was standing beside her holding an umbrella for her, saw this and quickly caught Wang, preventing her from falling to the ground.

After helping Wang Shi to her feet, Wu Chou, supporting her, loudly reprimanded the person who had come to deliver the message: "Speak clearly, don't suddenly startle Madam with your shouting."

"Alas..." The servant was sweating profusely, but he didn't dare to wipe it away at all.

The servant knelt down with a thud and kowtowed repeatedly to Madam Wang: "Madam, I was just about to ask Miss's personal maid, Guixi, to come and get a pair of shoes for Miss so she can change into them and be more comfortable on her way back to the mansion."

"I didn't expect Guixi to not show up for so long, so I sent someone to call for Guixi, but we couldn't find him anywhere, and the young lady disappeared too!"

Upon hearing what the servant had said, Mrs. Wang covered her forehead, her eyes rolled back, her legs went weak, and she nearly fainted.

Upon seeing this, Wuchou quickly spread his legs to make himself more stable, and then grabbed Wang to prevent her from falling to the ground.

Then, Wuchou gave orders to the servants who rushed up from all directions: "Go find the young lady quickly, lest something happen; and her personal maid, capture her alive! How dare she encourage her master to escape, she's really got some nerve!"

"Don't even think about running away now!" Wu Chou added with a frown, "Anyone who dares to escape will be caught and given 50 lashes like that lowly servant girl, plus another 60 lashes, and hung under a tree for the whole night!!"

Upon hearing this, the servants immediately scattered like birds and beasts to search for Huang Muyan and Mu Wanqing.

Seeing that someone had gone to look for Huang Muyan and her personal maid, Wuchou ordered someone to bring a chair and help Wang Shi sit down, soothing her: "Madam, don't worry, Miss must have been bewitched by that wicked woman, which is why she wanted to escape."

"This mountain road is so difficult to walk, and it's the young lady's first time here. She probably hasn't gone too far and should be able to find her soon." Wu Chou said comfortingly while holding up the umbrella, hoping that Wang Shi could calm down as soon as possible.

Wang was both anxious and angry, tears welling up in her eyes. She clutched her chest and murmured, "What kind of sins have we committed! My husband just died, and now my daughter is going to run away and not come home!"

"Achoo!" Huang Muyan sneezed.

"Miss, are you alright?" Mu Baiyuan asked with some concern when he heard Huang Muyan sneeze.

"It's alright. I'll buy two doses of medicine when we get to town, brew them, and drink them myself," Huang Muyan said, rubbing her nose and adjusting the cloak she was wearing over her mourning clothes, which was the same color as the forest.

"And don't call me 'Miss' anymore," Huang Muyan said as she jumped over a small mud puddle, but lost her balance. Luckily, Mu Wanqing caught her.

After thanking Mu Wanqing for helping her up, Huang Muyan continued, "I'm only a few years older than you. Besides, once we leave the manor, we won't be master and servant anymore. There's no need to call me 'little young lady' every day. Just call me 'elder sister'."

"Huh? Is this... really okay?" Mu Baiyuan was a little embarrassed—he had always considered himself the older brother, and suddenly having to call someone else "older sister" made him feel a little awkward.

Mu Wanqing didn't know what her brother was thinking, but she could guess roughly what it was—Mu Baiyuan probably felt embarrassed.

So Mu Wanqing quickly said, "Brother, if you keep calling her Sister Huang or Miss Huang outside, the chances of us being discovered will increase—who knows if those people will send people to town to look for us?"

"Besides, we won't lose out by recognizing Sister Huang as our older sister. Sister Huang is truly more capable than the two of us."

Hearing her younger sister say that, Mu Baiyuan changed her tune: "Okay, I'll call you Sister Huang from now on."

After saying that, Mu Baiyuan continued walking forward, pulling away the weeds blocking the road as she went, complaining to Mu Wanqing, "Sister Huang... has been back for two days, and you're already calling me 'sister' so enthusiastically, but when you call me, you only say a single word."

Hearing Mu Baiyuan say this, Mu Wanqing was a little surprised: "Why are you unhappy about this? I call Huang 'sister' to show intimacy, and I call you 'brother' to show intimacy. There's no difference between the two words, is there?"

Upon hearing Mu Wanqing's words, Mu Baiyuan was somewhat unconvinced, but unable to find any words to refute them, he could only mutter under his breath, "It's still a bit different, isn't it..."

"What's different?" Mu Wanqing still couldn't figure it out.

Mu Baiyuan stopped talking. He carried his sister over a rather deep mud puddle, and together with Mu Wanqing, they reached out and pulled Huang Muyan over.

Huang Muyan observed the path she was walking on through the rain while listening to the conversation between the brother and sister, finding it quite interesting.

The three of them thought that this not-too-tense escape could continue until they reached the town, but Mu Wanqing's ears caught the noise mixed with the rustling sound of rain hitting the leaves.

It was the sound of footsteps on the grass; the Huang family had come chasing after them!

"Someone is catching up." Mu Wanqing immediately became nervous and told Mu Baiyuan and Huang Muyan about it.

After listening to Mu Wanqing's explanation, Huang Muyan and Mu Baiyuan both had the same serious expression on their faces.

Mu Baiyuan looked around and found a relatively large tree. He led Huang Muyan and Mu Wanqing towards it. Mu Baiyuan asked Mu Wanqing, "Xiao Wan, can you hear where those people are coming from?"

"It seems to be over there, it's getting closer." Mu Wanqing pointed in a direction—she did all sorts of chores at the manor, which honed her keen hearing.

Mu Baiyuan looked in the direction Mu Wanqing pointed and realized it was the path they had come from. He quickly looked around and then heard Huang Muyan say, "Hide here." Then, both brother and sister were pulled over by Huang Muyan.

The brother and sister were both covered by Huang Muyan's cloak, which was similar in color to the forest, and hid under a huge bush.

The three of them walked together under the bushes, holding their breath. Mu Wanqing quietly peeked out from under her cloak to distinguish the footsteps mixed with the sound of rain and the voices of the people talking.