Ye Tiancheng's conditions were by no means difficult, and what he asked her to do was not a bad thing. He was doing it purely out of concern for his family, friends, and lover.
Moreover, it was merely to investigate someone's identity, and with the Helian family's influence, this was not a difficult task.
In this world, at least within their country's borders, even someone with an extraordinary identity would find it hard to completely conceal their existence from a behemoth like the Helian family. No matter what, Helian Yue would be able to find some information to report to Ye Tiancheng.
From Helian Yue's perspective, she had to try her best to complete the task assigned by her elders, regardless of whether she wanted to do it or not.
Now, there was something she could do with just a raise of her hand, and the final outcome of this matter would benefit her long-time friend. It would threaten Hou Mingzhu's existence, and Helian Yue would find it hard not to care. So, what reason did she have not to agree to Ye Tiancheng's request?
Therefore, after only a few moments of thought, Helian Yue had clearly calculated the cause, effect, advantages, and disadvantages. Even before she spoke, Ye Tiancheng could tell that Helian Yue's mind was already leaning towards an answer.
As expected, Ye Tiancheng soon saw Helian Yue nod slightly at him, "I can agree to this transaction."
"I will do my best to investigate as much information as possible and then hand it over to you. Such a request is not difficult at all. I know you are doing this for Mingzhu's sake, which is why you are willing to offer such an opportunity."
"Otherwise, with your abilities, as well as your status and position, even if you acted yourself, you would surely have many ways to accomplish these things without needing to rely on others."
"I appreciate this favor and thank you for agreeing to visit the Helian family."
Ye Tiancheng waved his hand and replied, "As you know, it's because you are Mingzhu's long-time friend, so it's no big deal. I've only agreed to go with you; he hasn't agreed to definitely help your Helian family with anything."
"If I go to the Helian family and your family's request is too unreasonable, I absolutely will not cooperate with you."
Helian Yue nodded seriously and said, "That is only right. No matter what connection we have, there is no reason for you to unconditionally agree to our Helian family's unreasonable demands."
Ye Tiancheng saw that Helian Yue was a straightforward person and, observing her attitude, knew that there would basically be no problems. He then simply confirmed the conditions with Helian Yue, and after both parties officially reached an agreement, they left Helian Yue's room.
He still needed to maintain a distance from Helian Yue. Staying in her room for too long was not a good thing.
If it weren't for the fact that this matter should ideally not be known by too many people, requiring them to meet discreetly, Ye Tiancheng wouldn't have wanted to enter Helian Yue's room in the first place, as it was easy to cause misunderstandings.
However, just in case, Ye Tiancheng made an extra preparation.
It was obviously not advisable to keep such matters completely secret, as it would easily allow others to exploit loopholes and create misunderstandings. Therefore, it was better to tell some of the truth. As long as no lies were told, some issues could be reasonably explained. Whether to reveal anything else would obviously depend on the future outcome.
Thus, after leaving Helian Yue's room, Ye Tiancheng took the initiative to find Hou Mingzhu and told her about his visit to Helian Yue.
Ye Tiancheng didn't go into too much detail, only saying that for Hou Mingzhu's sake, he had agreed to Helian Yue that if there was no other way, he would be willing to visit the Helian family to at least allow Helian Yue to report back. He had already spoken with Helian Yue and had just returned from seeing her.
Hou Mingzhu trusted Ye Tiancheng and Helian Yue implicitly. After listening, she didn't think much of it and didn't doubt Ye Tiancheng at all, merely nodding to indicate that she knew about it.
After Helian Yue agreed to Ye Tiancheng's conditions, she acted almost immediately. Her family was quite perfunctory, and they couldn't provide a proper reason for half a day. Relying on her family to extend an invitation to Ye Tiancheng was already destined to be difficult.
Therefore, it was up to her to do something reliable to persuade Ye Tiancheng.
Helian Yue was indeed very dedicated to the matters Ye Tiancheng assigned her, but no one could have predicted that things would develop this way.
On the third day after Helian Yue and Ye Tiancheng reached their transaction agreement, everyone gathered at a table for breakfast. Most people had already arrived in the dining room and were eating. After all, they were all friends and family, with very close relationships, and there was no rule about waiting for everyone to arrive before starting the meal.
Helian Yue was the earliest to arrive. Later, Fatty and Little Fox also arrived. Shao Ying arrived with Fatty. As a couple, they lived in the same room, and regardless of whether Shao Ying had any issues, she mostly acted with Fatty.
However, Hou Mingzhu, who usually arrived quite early, had not appeared for a long time.
Ye Tiancheng didn't have much to do, and they weren't busy with anything at the moment. They were basically on vacation. It wasn't strange for them to be a little late in the morning.
However, Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu were husband and wife, and they naturally shared a room.
Therefore, Ye Tiancheng also knew that Hou Mingzhu had already gotten up early, but Hou Mingzhu had gone to see if Ye Qingcheng was awake. The mother and daughter usually came down together in the morning.
Ye Qingcheng was not a troublesome child; she had always been obedient and well-behaved, rarely being willful. She didn't have the common childish habits of oversleeping or being playful. She basically got up as soon as she was called and was very self-disciplined. There was no reason for her to delay so long and not appear.
As Ye Tiancheng thought about it, he suddenly felt a pang in his chest, a very bad premonition creeping into his heart.
He rarely felt this uneasy, and he couldn't pinpoint the source of this feeling. He just felt as if something bad had happened. Combined with the prolonged absence of Hou Mingzhu and Ye Qingcheng, this made Ye Tiancheng increasingly unable to sit still.
Just as Ye Tiancheng was about to lose his patience, Hou Mingzhu's footsteps finally arrived. However, Ye Tiancheng did not relax because of this.
Because anyone could hear that Hou Mingzhu's footsteps were very hurried and rapid. This sense of anxiety, at this moment, seemed very unusual.
And what about Ye Qingcheng?
Ye Tiancheng did not hear Ye Qingcheng's footsteps. With his hearing, he should have been able to hear them. And if Hou Mingzhu were with Ye Qingcheng, why would she be walking so fast and so anxiously?
This made Ye Tiancheng truly unable to sit still.
He immediately stood up and looked in the direction of Hou Mingzhu's footsteps. Almost instantly, Hou Mingzhu's figure appeared in everyone's sight.
Hou Mingzhu's appearance was somewhat disheveled, her expression very anxious, her face even a little pale, almost devoid of color, her demeanor panicked and exceptionally helpless. This clearly indicated that something had happened!
Everyone noticed this detail and immediately looked at Hou Mingzhu with concern.
Ye Tiancheng was the first to walk towards Hou Mingzhu. Before he could even ask, Hou Mingzhu firmly grabbed Ye Tiancheng's wrist, her face pale, and said to him, "Qingcheng, Qingcheng is missing!"
Ye Tiancheng was immediately greatly alarmed, "What did you say?!"
Ye Qingcheng's disappearance was clearly a major event. With such an incident, no one could sit down and eat breakfast with peace of mind.
Everyone began to ask with concern what had happened, because no one had noticed anything unusual, not even Ye Tiancheng.
Even more so, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but feel regretful upon hearing about Ye Qingcheng's disappearance.
Previously, Ye Qingcheng did not live in the same room as Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu. She had her own room and, most of the time, did not sleep with her parents.
Ye Tiancheng deeply regretted it. If his daughter had lived in the same room as him, even if someone wanted to harm Ye Qingcheng, they would have had no opportunity to act!
Fatty and Little Fox also comforted her, "Sister-in-law, don't worry, quickly tell us what happened!"
Helian Yue was also very surprised, "How could the little niece be missing? What happened!"
Hou Mingzhu said anxiously, "This morning I went to wake Qingcheng up, and she wasn't there. At first, I didn't think much of it, thinking she might have gone to the washroom or somewhere else."
"And this is our own territory, with so many servants and bodyguards outside. They should know where Qingcheng went, and they wouldn't let Qingcheng be in danger."
"But who knew, when I couldn't find Qingcheng anywhere and asked the servants and bodyguards, I found that absolutely no one had seen Qingcheng leave her room, nor had they noticed anything unusual. But, but Qingcheng was completely nowhere to be found!"
"I searched the entire room and then looked around the house, but I couldn't find Qingcheng!"
Everyone was greatly shocked. To make Ye Qingcheng disappear out of thin air right under their noses, how capable must the perpetrator be!
Although they instinctively didn't want to think about the worst-case scenario, everyone present knew that they had to prepare for the worst.
Little Fox frowned and asked, "Are you sure she's completely not in the house? Have you searched everywhere?"
Hou Mingzhu replied, "I've searched everywhere. To prevent any oversights, I've now mobilized all the servants and bodyguards for a thorough search for Qingcheng's whereabouts."
That meant it was still uncertain whether Ye Qingcheng was still at home.
Finally, everyone agreed that each of them should take action and investigate Ye Qingcheng's whereabouts from different angles. If she was just hiding in some corner of the house and hadn't been found yet, that would be good. But if something happened to Ye Qingcheng...
Then Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu would definitely not be able to accept it, and it would be difficult to predict what would happen.
Moreover, they had to find Ye Qingcheng's location as quickly as possible. With disappearances, the sooner the person is found, the better. Otherwise, who knows what kind of accidents might occur and lead to irreversible consequences.
However, the most heartbreaking thing for everyone was that they all knew that Ye Qingcheng was not an ignorant child. She had no reason to disappear at home and cause Ye Tiancheng and Hou Mingzhu to worry about her. Ye Qingcheng was not like that.
Unless Ye Qingcheng got lost at home, it basically pointed to only one conclusion: Ye Qingcheng had indeed met with misfortune, and was possibly even kidnapped!
Everyone was mobilized. The servants and bodyguards ordered by Hou Mingzhu to search for Ye Qingcheng's whereabouts did not dare to slack off at all. After all, Ye Qingcheng was the young mistress of the house. The result of her disappearing right under their noses was something that none of them could escape responsibility for!