Several women soon learned that there was news about the child and ran over. Chunxiao's house was packed with people.
"Dad, Mom, Uncle Village Head, and everyone else, now we know something about the child's whereabouts. I'm going to Yunzhou to look for him. Everyone go back and wait for news."
"Let's go together. It'll be easier to find someone if there are more people."
"Yunzhou is a long way away, and it's always inconvenient for so many people to travel. I know everyone is anxious, and I will definitely find a way to find them back."
"Chunxiao is right. We've been searching for so many days, but he's not even in Zuoyuan County. We're just searching blindly. I think it's better to do this. I still have the handle, so we can go with Chunxiao and everyone can go back and wait for news."
"Dad, I want to go too. How can I stay at home if you don't let me go?" Yan Mingze looked at them with a determined expression.
"Uncle Lizheng, then let's add Brother Mingze and Shuwen. You can sit in my carriage. Shuwen will drive the carriage, and we can take turns resting with him."
Zhou and the others knew that too many people would be a burden, so they had no choice but to agree to their plan and go back to wait for news.
Shuwen drove a horse-drawn carriage to send a few women back in the afternoon, and they agreed to set off at the beginning of the next day. If he left early, he should be able to catch up with the time.
After Shuwen and the others left, Chunxiao took Yan Bangfa to the horse company and asked if they had a bus to Yunzhou the next day. They said they were unfamiliar with the route and wanted to tag along. Ma Xing did have a bus to Yunzhou the next day, but it left early and couldn't possibly wait for them. Knowing they had a kidnapped child and needed to find someone, he felt very sympathetic. A regular driver gave them the specific route, rest stops, and times. Chunxiao and the others thanked him and returned to the inn.
When they arrived at the inn, she asked everyone to rest and wait for departure tomorrow, and she returned to the guest room to paint the portrait.
Early the next morning, she went to the yamen to withdraw the reward notice. Just as noon arrived, Shuwen arrived in a carriage. Everyone packed their luggage and got on the carriage, setting off for Jiangyin.
"It's been a few days. What if we go to Jiangyin and they go further away?" The village head looked worried.
"They kidnap children simply for profit. They won't run away endlessly. As long as we have clues, there's always hope of finding them."
"Chunxiao, you're smart and capable. We'll follow your instructions. We'll do whatever you say. I just hope both children are safe."
Safety is the most important thing. Chunxiao has heard a lot of bad things about being abducted before, and she doesn't want to think too much about it. Both of her children are educated, and she hopes that the traffickers can see their value and not do anything wrong.
The group traveled non-stop and finally arrived in Jiangyin County on the morning of the third day. They found an inn to stay in.
"What should we do now?"
"Jiang Yin doesn't belong to Qingzhou Prefecture, so this ultimatum from the prefecture is useless. However, the yamen runner said we can take the ultimatum to the local prefecture to report first. If we really have any clues about the child, we can ask for their assistance."
"Then let's go to the government office first and put up the reward."
However, after reporting to the government office, they received bad news. They were not from the local area, so they could not put up a reward in Yunzhou unless they had an official disc from the Qingzhou government office. The Zuoyuan County government had also mentioned this before, but they were in a hurry and had no time to go to the government city to get an official disc.
"What a broken rule! There's no loss in offering a reward to them. We're paying for it ourselves, so why shouldn't we be allowed to post it?" Yan Mingze was indignant.
"They have their own rules. Some enemies seek revenge and offer a reward for their crimes. People don't know the reason, so giving them information would be like helping someone kill someone. So it's understandable that such matters have to go through the provincial capital." They walked along the streets of Jiangyin. "They don't allow us to post, but they haven't stopped us from asking. We can always hope if we take the portraits and look for them." Chunxiao took out the portraits he had drawn and gave them two each. "Let's split up and look for them, and meet up at the inn tonight."
Everyone received the portrait and set out to look for someone.
Chunxiao was very troubled, mainly because Jiangyin was an unfamiliar place. If the government did not intervene, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack in the vast sea of people.
On the first day, everyone returned tired and frustrated, but they cheered up and continued looking for the children the next day. Finally, on the third day, Shuwen met a woman who said she thought she had seen one of the children in Qingfeng Town. Shuwen took the woman back to the inn. The woman didn't want to wait, as she had originally gone to the city to buy something. After hearing Shuwen's offer of a 10-liang reward for any useful information, she readily agreed.
In the afternoon, Chunxiao returned to the inn and Shuwen told her what the woman had said and took her to see the woman.
"Sister-in-law, have you really seen one of these two children? Which one is it?"
The woman looked at the portrait and was not sure. "Anyway, this portrait looks familiar. I must have seen it before."
"Sister-in-law, are you from Qingfeng Town?"
The woman nodded.
"How about this? It's getting late today. How about I book you a room at the inn. You can stay overnight. Tomorrow morning we'll take a carriage to Qingfeng Town. If we find the child, we'll reward you handsomely."
The woman thought about it and nodded. She couldn't go back today anyway. She could still take a carriage tomorrow and stay for free, so it was a good deal.
When they came back in the evening and heard the news, they were all excited. As long as there was news, there was hope.
Early the next morning, everyone set out for Qingfeng Town in Jiangyin County.
The distance from Qingfeng Town to Jiangyin County is about the same as that from Luokou to the county seat. The carriage took three hours to arrive. Chunxiao and the others sent the woman home and began to look for her in the town. However, they searched the town with the portraits for an entire afternoon but no one had seen them.
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