A Time-Traveling Mishap: I Became an Ancient Nobleman

Chapter 254 Jiang Mingyun Disappears

Zhou Tong's face fell. "I'm still stuck in a bottleneck. I always feel like I've figured something out, but when I try to take it a step further, all sorts of problems always arise."

"It's not good for you to stay here every day. We're planning to go out for a stroll. Today is the fifteenth, and there's a night market in the capital. Would you like to come along?"

Zhou Tong was already dizzy from working, but when she heard about the night market, she became interested and immediately decided to go.

The three hit it off immediately and set off right away.

As Zhou Tong went outside, she saw Xiao Ba and Ye Gui chatting casually. She immediately said to Xiao Ba, "Xiao Ba, let's not keep watch today, let's go out for a walk together."

It was getting late, and there weren't many people in the shop, so we decided to close the shop and go out to relax.

Xiao Ba had long heard about the night market in the capital and had always wanted to visit it, but time had never allowed it. Now that Zhou Tong had taken the initiative to invite him to go together, he was more than happy to oblige.

He then closed the shop and set off with the group.

Ye Gui had originally planned to get to know the Zhou family and Jiang Mingyun better, but he never expected that Zhou Hanzhang would invite Zhou Tong and Xiao Ba along.

However, this makes me even more certain of what I'm thinking, but I still need to confirm it with the Crown Prince.

He originally intended to get to know Zhou Kezhen better today, hoping to find a breakthrough through this young girl and improve his relationship with Zhou Hanzhang.

I'll have to do it next time.

When they arrived, they saw Zhou Kezhen already waiting at the entrance of the night market with Tao Hong.

She was very happy to see Zhou Hanzhang and Jiang Mingyun. "Brother, Sister Mingyun, you're here too."

Then I saw Zhou Tong and Xiao Ba behind Zhou Hanzhang. "Boss Zhou and Xiao Ba are here too! That's great! The night market is more lively when there are lots of people."

Upon seeing these people, Zhou Kezhen completely ignored Ye Gui.

Ye Gui had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward to greet her, "Miss Zhou."

"Young Master Ye, thank you for inviting us to the night market. It's been so long since I've strolled through a night market with my brother."

Ye Gui felt a lump in his throat, but could only force a smile, "It's okay, I haven't been shopping in a long time either."

"By the way, where is that carpenter you mentioned who makes small toys? Shall we go and take a look now?"

After she finished speaking, she turned to Zhou Hanzhang and said, "Brother, let me tell you, Young Master Ye told me that there is a shop in this night market that makes trinkets. The trinkets are all made of wood, and he said that some of them can even fly in the sky. Let's go and take a look."

Zhou Hanzhang's heart stirred, remembering that there were many talented and extraordinary people in ancient times, and perhaps there were people here like Lu Ban.

Even if it isn't, being able to make wood fly is not something an ordinary person can do.

She immediately became interested and said, "I'll trouble you to lead the way, Young Master Ye."

Zhou Kezhen kept chattering away, "Brother, brother, look at that."

Zhou Hanzhang looked in the direction Zhou Kezhen was looking and saw a group of acrobats performing.

Before she could even think about what to do next, Zhou Kezhen had already pulled her over.

Zhou Kezhen led them to the acrobatic performance, where a flame came straight at them, startling them so much that they retreated.

Zhou Kezhen was so excited that she clapped her hands vigorously, "Brother, this is so good!"

Only then did she have a chance to look up and see the performers dressed in colorful costumes, nimbly leaping and tumbling in the confined space, displaying astonishing contortion and balancing skills.

The performer holds a long iron rod with a strip of cloth soaked in flammable material wrapped around one end. With a gentle shake, the cloth instantly ignites, transforming into a winding, dancing fire snake.

He seemed to be intentionally heading towards the two of them. Zhou Hanzhang had no way to avoid him. He had just pulled Zhou Kezhen behind him and was about to draw his whip when the performer suddenly moved away from them.

Just then, Zhou Tong rushed over with Xiao Ba, "We've finally found you! Where's Ming Yun?"

"Wasn't Mingyun always with you?"

"No, Kezhen took you to see the performance just now. That guy surnamed Ye said something to Mingyun, and Mingyun went with him."

Seeing that she only had Xiao Ba by her side and Ye Gui and Ming Yun were nowhere to be seen, Zhou Hanzhang's heart skipped a beat. Could this be a trap?

However, it was Ke Zhen who initially agreed to come along with Ye Guiyue. She and Jiang Mingyun met him on the road later and were invited by him to come along.

She suddenly realized that if Ye Gui had already guessed that she had heard Ke Zhen would come to the night market with him, and then pretended to bump into her and Ming Yun, then given their personalities, the chances of them following along would be much higher.

She wanted to go up and grab the performer, but she was afraid of causing a commotion. If Mingyun hadn't disappeared, that would be fine. But if she really had, she would be the subject of a lot of gossip in this era.

Seeing her brother's grim expression, Zhou Kezhen realized what had happened. "Sister Jiang is missing? Could it be that Young Master Ye took her to see something else first?"

Zhou Hanzhang didn't know how to explain their relationship with Ye Gui to her, so he could only ask Zhou Tong, "Please help me send Ke Zhen back, and then tell my master about what happened here, and ask her to help find people. I'll take Xiao Ba to look for them first."

"Xiao Ba, go look somewhere else. I'll secretly follow that group of acrobats."

Zhou Tong stopped her, "Let Xiao Ba go with that group of people. They were clearly targeting you just now, probably trying to distract you. Xiao Ba is good at agility, and even if others see him, he's less likely to arouse their suspicion than you are."

“Brother, I can go back and inform Aunt Liu myself. Boss Zhou can stay here and help you find someone.”

Even though Zhou Kezhen was innocent and naive, she knew that things were serious. If Jiang Mingyun had really been kidnapped, her reputation would be ruined. So she hurriedly took her maid and rushed home.

Zhou Hanzhang was extremely annoyed. "I knew it. I failed to plan against Mingyun at the chrysanthemum appreciation banquet. There would definitely be other tricks up my sleeve. I was too careless."

"Now is not the time to talk about these things. Xiao Ba, go look around. I'll go with that group of people. I look ordinary, and if I wear a headscarf, no one will recognize me."

Zhou Tong simply took out a piece of cloth and wrapped it around her head. And it's true, she was dressed simply to begin with, so with this covering, it was really hard for anyone to notice her.

She patted Zhou Hanzhang on the shoulder and quietly followed him out.

Zhou Hanzhang then took Xiao Ba and started searching everywhere.

She first went to the carpentry shop that Ye Gui had mentioned. There was indeed an old master craftsman doing carpentry work inside, and the shop was also filled with many strange and unusual items.

"Boss, have you seen a young master bring a young lady here?"