Chapter 126 Regret
The little girl raised her head with sobs, "I... I can't find my mother, wuwu..."
She turned her gaze to Ruan Yunsheng and said pitifully, "Fairy sister, can you help me find my mother?"
Ruan Yunsheng glanced around. It was a very busy street with people coming and going shoulder to shoulder, making it impossible to tell who the child's mother was.
She said to the guard beside her, "Take her and ask around. If you can't find her relatives, send her to the government office and ask the officials to help find her."
The guard stepped forward as instructed and was about to reach out to hold the child's hand when the little girl burst into tears.
She hid behind Zhishu, her small hands tightly clutching the corner of Zhishu's clothes: "Wow... I'm scared... I don't want to go with a strange uncle..."
She poked half of her face out from behind Zhishu and looked at Ruan Yunsheng timidly, "I... I want the fairy sister to hold my hand... Sister smells so good, just like mother..."
Ruan Yunsheng frowned slightly. Although the little girl was sweet-mouthed and pitiful, she intuitively felt that something was strange.
Zhishu also said to the little girl: "This uncle is not a bad person. He will take you to find your mother."
The little girl shook her head vigorously and choked, "I... I don't want to..."
At this time, an old woman carrying a bamboo basket happened to pass by and stopped when she saw this.
She advised Ruan Yunsheng, "Miss, look at this child crying her heart out. How pitiful! Please be kind and help her find her mother. It won't take much time. Just consider it a good deed and accumulate merit."
The little girl nodded repeatedly: "I like Fairy Sister..."
Ruan Yunsheng smiled faintly, but there was no warmth in his tone. "Since this is a good deed, and the old man is kind-hearted, why don't you take her to look for her yourself?"
The old woman's face froze. She looked Ruan Yunsheng up and down, her tone somewhat harsh, "You look so brightly dressed, you must be a daughter of some noble family. How can you be so hard-hearted? You have no sympathy at all!"
Ruan Yunsheng narrowed his eyes slightly, and his gaze gradually became colder.
There were people coming and going on the street, but this child was running straight towards her.
It was just too much of a coincidence that my cousin met "poor Ah Xiao" in Linlangzhai a few days ago and I ran into the "lost girl" on the street today.
Could it be the work of General Sun again?
She gathered herself and ordered the guards, "Take this girl to the government office and find out whose child is missing."
When she turned her gaze to the old woman, the smile on her lips deepened: "Since the old lady cares so much about this child, why don't we go to the government office together to be a witness?"
The old woman's face suddenly changed, and she waved her hands hurriedly: "No, no, my grandson is waiting for me to go back and make lunch, how can I have the time to go all the way here?"
Before she finished speaking, she turned around and disappeared into the crowd.
Ruan Yunsheng gave a wink to the guard beside him, and the guard understood and followed quietly.
Another guard was about to pick up the little girl, but the child suddenly burst into tears: "Wuwuwu, I don't want my uncle to hold me! I want my mother! Mother, where are you?"
The crying attracted many passers-by to watch, and there were voices of pointing and talking one after another.
The guard was frozen in place, in a dilemma. It would be inappropriate to forcibly pull a child in public.
Zhishu whispered, "Princess, how about you return home first, and I will take the child to the government office to deal with it?"
At this time, a young woman in a blue cloth dress squeezed out of the crowd and ran over quickly: "Chun Ya! Mom is here!"
The little girl immediately threw herself into the woman's arms, "Mom! I missed you so much!"
The woman held her daughter in her arms and looked up at Ruan Yunsheng with an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry to have troubled you, young lady. I'll take her home right away."
After saying that, she took the little girl and walked quickly towards the corner of the street.
The remaining guard immediately followed after receiving Ruan Yunsheng's signal.
Ruan Yunsheng frowned slightly as he watched the mother and daughter hurriedly leaving.
After being disturbed like this, she lost interest in strolling around and turned around to get on the carriage back to the Marquis' Mansion.
At the corner of the street, a figure was watching Ruan Yunsheng. When he saw her getting into the carriage, a hint of viciousness flashed across his eyes, and he turned and left silently.
An hour later, the two guards returned home to report.
The guard said ashamedly, "My Lady, I am incompetent. The old woman turned into an alley, and I thought she was a resident there. But after she went in, she never came out again."
Another guard also said, "That mother and daughter chose to walk in crowded places. I was bumped into by a drunk on the way and was entangled with him for a while. When I looked up again, they were gone."
Ruan Yunsheng tapped the table lightly with his fingertips. It seemed that there was indeed something wrong with the mother and daughter. However, who was the mastermind behind it still needed to be investigated.
She asked the guards to continue investigating the whereabouts of those people and then asked them to leave.
Zhishu said worriedly, "Princess, it seems you should be more careful when you go out in the future."
Ruan Yunsheng nodded and sighed silently.
*
Prince Xuan's Palace.
Xie Yan returned to the palace in a daze, and couldn't even remember how he got back.
He sat in the study in a daze, his fingertips unconsciously clutching the plain handkerchief.
The emotion surging in my chest is nothing but regret...
He really shouldn't have been so eager to confess to Shengsheng that he was "Chuwu".
He never expected that Shengsheng would ask him why he was injured.
At that time, Sheng Sheng had already been engaged to Xie Huaiye, but he secretly had a fantasy. Not only did he hide her personal handkerchief, but he was also caught by Xie Huaiye. From then on, Xie Huaiye had a hold on him and he had to run around for him.
If Shengsheng knew all this, she would definitely think that he was scheming and dirty, even disgusting, right?
It was clear that a few days ago, Shengsheng was no longer as distant and annoyed with him as before, and she could even fall asleep on his shoulder without any precautions.
Even if she only regarded him as a brother, as long as he was patient and took his time, he would be able to warm her heart one day.
I have waited for so many years, but now I can’t wait any longer and am eager to reveal the identity of “Chuwu”.
Originally, he wanted her to stop thinking of him as just a brother, but if he couldn't explain it well, Shengsheng's attitude towards him would probably go back to how it was before...
Xie Yan's knuckles were tense and white, and he unconsciously clenched the handkerchief into a wrinkled ball.
He didn't know how long he sat there, until he came back to his senses when he heard two knocks on the door.
It was already dark outside the window, and the study was plunged into darkness.
The handkerchief in his palm was ravaged beyond its original shape. Xie Yan hastily loosened his hand, and with a barely perceptible tremor in his fingertips, he smoothed out the wrinkles bit by bit, his movements so gentle as if he was protecting some rare treasure.
Outside, the butler hesitantly knocked again, his voice filled with cautious concern: "Your Highness, it's late, it's time for dinner."
Xie Yan frowned slightly, his tone filled with lingering irritation: "This prince is not hungry."
The butler sighed softly outside and was about to leave when he heard another pair of footsteps.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
