Chapter 201 Xiuxiu was kidnapped (two chapters combined into one)
Zhao Yunnuan went to see Zhao Tinghan and told him everything about Fan Qiujun's relationship with the third prince, and that she was currently working as a female official in the palace.
Although they were relatives, before Fan Qiujun and his daughter came to Liangdu, not only Zhao Tinghan, who grew up in the capital, but even Zhao Yunnuan only knew that the Nie family and the Fan family were in-laws, but she didn't know which branch of the family they were related to.
Zhao Yunnuan said, "It seems the old princess must have promised the Nie family a marriage. Because the Nie family had to observe mourning for the sudden death of Second Master Nie, and lacked suitable women of marriageable age, they approached the Fan family. While the Fan family has long since left the political arena, they have considerable wealth. If the Nie family could arrange this marriage, it would bring in a good income for these prodigal sons who have been living off their savings, and allow them to enjoy themselves for years."
Zhao Tinghan's eyes were deep. Fortunately, his eldest sister had already arranged a new identity for Xiaotang, and brought Xiaotang in front of the public to confirm her identity as the future princess. The father and daughter of the Fan family could only return empty-handed.
But if they had come a month or two earlier, Xiaotang's identity was still unclear, and with the Fan family's methods, they would definitely stir up trouble. Add in the Nie family's interference, and although they could be fearless, they would still cause a lot of trouble.
Thinking of this, Zhao Tinghan felt even more grateful to his two younger sisters. Without his younger sister, Meng Xiaotang would not have been able to come to Liangdi smoothly. Without his older sister, Meng Xiaotang would not have been able to gain a foothold in the circle of noble ladies in Liangdi and then successfully marry into the Prince of Liang's Mansion.
"My younger sister is in the capital now, and so are you. When you get there, you're bound to run into Fan Qiujun again. Even though she's with the Third Prince now, she's bound to hold a grudge against Prince Liang's Mansion. It's best to be careful when you're in the capital."
Zhao Tinghan paused, then continued, "If she's doing something bad to you, hiding isn't the solution. You still have to completely suppress her. Pick some more men from the Royal Guards, preferably ones who are good at fighting alone."
Zhao Yunnuan understood what Zhao Tinghan meant. They would not provoke Fan Qiujun, but if Fan Qiujun was so shameless as to provoke them, they would kill her if they could, or suppress her if they couldn't, leaving her and the people behind her unable to fight back.
Zhao Yunnuan would not refuse Zhao Tinghan's kindness. Although blood is thicker than water, her elder brother is the lord of a place. He also has Liangdi, the Liang Palace, his own wife and children. As long as she is not married, she is still a member of the Liang Palace. No matter how much her elder brother gives her, it is not too much.
But once she gets married, it is impossible for her to ask her parents for help in everything. It is okay once or twice, but if it happens too often, the affection will eventually run out.
So now no matter what her elder brother and sister-in-law give her, Zhao Yunnuan will gladly accept it, because she knows that accepting it now and asking for it after getting married have different meanings.
The more money the better; the more sophisticated the people the better.
The next day, Zhao Yunnuan was about to go to the Royal Guard Camp to pick people when the maid came to report that Master Murong from Baihe Mountain had arrived.
The person who came was Zhao Shiqing's master. Zhao Yunnuan did not dare to neglect him and greeted him personally.
Murong Linlang still looks as charming and beautiful as ever.
Zhao Yunnuan remembered that she looked like this when he first met her ten years ago. So many years have passed, and time seems to have stopped for her. She is still young and beautiful.
"Master Murong, Happy New Year." The Prince of Liang's Mansion had sent New Year gifts to Baihe Mountain long before the New Year. Although Zhao Shiqing was not on the mountain, the New Year gifts for Murong Linlang and the rewards for the villagers had never been missed.
"My Lady, Happy New Year."
Murong Linlang clasped her fists and saluted Zhao Yunnuan, then said to the people following behind her, "You have met the Grand Princess."
Zhao Yunnuan had already noticed that Murong Linlang had brought several people with her. She narrowed her eyes slightly. She knew the one walking in front!
Shen Guanyue!
Xiao Zhen’s younger brother Xiao Yue!
In addition, there was a young man and woman whom Zhao Yunnuan had also seen. The man was called Wei Ren and the woman was called Jian Deng. They were both orphans adopted by Murong Xiang and his wife. Murong Linlang taught alone in Baihe Mountain. Murong Xiang was worried about his daughter who had mediocre martial arts skills, so he let Ren Deng stay with her. When the two got married a few years ago, Zhao Yunnuan also sent a gift.
However, their apparent identities were Murong Linlang's maids and servants.
At this time, Wei Ren was holding a child in his arms, and Jian Deng was holding an older child in his hands.
Murong Linlang explained to Zhao Yunnuan that the one she was holding was Rendeng's own child, and the older one was Niuqiu's younger brother Xiaobao.
Zhao Yunnuan had seen Xiaobao once before when he first came to Liangdu, but children grow up so fast and look so different now that she couldn't recognize him.
Zhao Yunnuan was puzzled. Over the years, Murong Linlang rarely came to the palace. Why did she not only come this time, but also brought her family with her?
Murong Linlang got straight to the point: "My Lady, I heard you're recruiting people to go to the capital. What do you think of us?"
Although the fact that Zhao Yunnuan was recruiting people was not spread outside, the Murong family knew about it because among the people Zhao Yunnuan was going to bring to the capital, there were people from the Murong family, and they were recommended by Murong Xiang.
Zhao Yunnuan nodded: "That's right."
Murong Linlang smiled and said, "Then what do you think of me? I will add Wei Ren and Jian Deng."
Zhao Yunnuan was stunned. She never expected that Murong Linlang would recommend herself.
Don't ask why Murong Xiang didn't recommend his own daughter. Is there any need to ask? Of course, it's because his daughter's martial arts skills are not good enough.
Zhao Yunnuan suddenly thought of Zhao Shiqing and immediately understood. She asked, "Master Murong is thinking about Qingqing, right?"
Murong Linlang rolled her eyes: "I don't miss her. That heartless little thing has been gone for so long and didn't even come back for the New Year. I taught her for nothing."
Listen, she is still being stubborn. It's just that when she saw Zhao Shiqing didn't come back for the New Year, she couldn't sit still as a master. But she works for the Liang Palace. If she wants to go to the capital to find an apprentice, she has to inform the Liang Palace first, so she brought her family here.
Zhao Yunnuan's eyes fell on Xiaobao, and Xiaobao immediately understood: "My Lady, I miss my brother. I want to go to the capital to find him. And my aunt who loves me, I miss her too."
Zhao Yunnuan looked at Chen Guanyue again. She remembered her sister saying that Xiao Zhen's younger brother had caused a lot of trouble in the capital, so his brother sent him to Liangdi. However, he was a concubine's son, and his brother was worried that he would have a hard time in the Xiao family, so he gave him money to let him live in Baihe Mountain temporarily.
"Chen Guanyue, you want to go to the capital too? Does your brother agree?"
Chen Guanyue blinked her extremely beautiful peach blossom eyes and said, "I'm not going. I'll stay on the mountain and look after the house."
Zhao Yunnuan nodded and said, "That's good."
She said to Murong Linlang, "After the first month of the year, a few of my people will be heading to the capital. If Master Murong misses me, you can go with them."
If I see Master, I will definitely be happy.
Zhao Yunnuan seemed to see her little sister grinning and laughing heartily. Just thinking about her little sister's smile would make her feel happy.
Murong Linlang was delighted when she heard this: "Okay, when do they leave? Let's set a date and we'll come over then!"
Zhao Yunnuan said, "If my younger sister knew that Master Murong had gone there, she would definitely be very happy."
Before Murong Linlang could speak, Chen Guanyue interrupted her: "The eldest princess should not tell the second young lady yet. Master Murong wants to give her a surprise."
Although this guy was a bit rude, Zhao Yunnuan didn't have time to mind it. She heard Murong Linlang say, "That's right. It's better not to tell her for now."
Zhao Yunnuan thought about it and agreed, but when she wrote to Zhao Shiqing, she still mentioned that Master Murong missed her and would come to the capital soon.
......
At this time, Zhao Shiqing had not received Zhao Yunnuan's letter yet, and she didn't know that a big surprise was waiting for her.
She was standing on the street with Loach.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, shops on the street began to open for business, and Xiuxiu went to buy materials for disguise early in the morning.
Although the disguise appeared to be done with makeup, in fact the makeup she used was all made by herself, and Xiuxiu went to a shop she often visited.
But Xiuxiu didn't come back until noon. It happened that Aunt Ji was about to go home after cooking, so Zhao Shiqing asked her to ask when she passed by the shop to see if Xiuxiu was still in the shop.
Unexpectedly, not long after Aunt Ji left, she hurried back. She asked the people in the shop, and they said that Xiuxiu came when the shop just opened, bought something and left. She also said that today was the fifth day of the New Year and there were a lot of things to do at home, so she had to go back early.
Zhao Shiqing became anxious when he heard this, and immediately took Loach and went out to find Xiuxiu.
They found a few pieces of ochre lying on the ground not far from the shop.
Zhao Shiqing had seen ochre being ground, and Xiuxiu also bought ochre in that shop today!
Several people asked around, but unfortunately no one had seen Xiuxiu. At this moment, Zhao Shiqing saw two little beggars playing and playing as they walked towards them.
Her eyes lit up. She had seen these two little beggars before. They were there when she was eating chicken in the dilapidated temple that day.
She walked over and said, "Do you still remember me? That day in the dilapidated temple, I chipped in and treated you to beggar's chicken."
The two little beggars stared at her with wide eyes: "Hey, you look familiar, but how did you become a woman?"
Zhao Shiqing: "I just changed today. Do I look okay like this?"
The little beggar said: "It's great, you look so beautiful when you become a woman."
Zhao Shiqing asked, "I'm looking for someone."
She described Xiuxiu's height and appearance, pointed to the place where the ochre fell, and briefly explained what had happened.
The two little beggars patted their chests and said, "Brother, no, sister, leave this matter to us. The eldest brother said, brother, no, sister, if you ask us to do it, we will definitely do it well."
After saying that, the two of them ran away.
After a while, they came back and said, "We found out. This morning, a girl was passing by here. A man carrying a load came towards her. The load hit the girl and knocked her down. Two women happened to come over and told the man not to leave. They grabbed him and took the girl to the clinic together."
Zhao Shiqing frowned. This routine sounded a bit like that of human traffickers.
"Do you know which clinic it is?" Zhao Shiqing asked.
The little beggar shook his head. They were also asking about the beggar. When he heard the noise, the beggar came over to watch the fun, but was driven away by the two aunts. Later, when the beggar came over again, these people were all gone. From this, they inferred that he had taken the girl to the clinic.
Zhao Shiqing remembered that there was a clinic nearby. Without waiting for her instructions, Niuqiu rushed there. After a moment, he came back and shook his head: "There are no patients in that clinic today, let alone a young girl."
Zhao Shiqing's heart was pounding. Xiuxiu was not an ordinary girl. She was also a survivor of a family massacre.
Zhao Shiqing didn't know whether this was simply a case of human traffickers kidnapping a girl, or if the people from the mountain gate were trying to eradicate the problem.
She didn't even know whether reporting to the police would be of any use.
"Whether it's useful or not, let's report it to the police first."
Many girls from different families went missing, but their families kept it a secret and refused to report it to the authorities, fearing that it would affect their reputation.
But Zhao Shiqing is not afraid. Reputation or lack of reputation is not as important as life.
Loach went to report to the police, while Zhao Shiqing called Xiaoguai and ran home to tell Zhen Wuduo about the incident.
Zhen Wuduo immediately called his guards together and asked them to go out and look for someone.
But just as everyone was about to go out, a voice suddenly came from outside. Zhao Shiqing's ears moved. Was this voice Xiuxiu?
Xiuxiu actually came back by herself!
Seeing the living Xiuxiu, Zhao Shiqing breathed a sigh of relief.
However, upon closer inspection, one can still see that Xiuxiu is different from usual.
She was a dexterous girl, and her hair was always combed neatly, but now it was disheveled and her clothes were torn in several places.
Zhao Shiqing hugged Xiuxiu: "Are you okay?"
Xiuxiu shook her head: "It's okay, it's okay. I met a kidnapper, but luckily I was rescued."
I really met a kidnapper!
Zhao Shiqing patted her and said to Wan Ruyi, "Aunt Ruyi, please accompany Xiuxiu to change clothes first."
She also asked Lingbo to get some pearl powder for Xiuxiu to calm her down.
A moment later, when Xiuxiu sat in front of them again, her hand holding the teacup was still shaking.
It can be seen that the girl was very scared today, and she was calmer than most girls of her age.
Xiuxiu recounted her experience today. After she was knocked down in the morning, the two aunts appeared. Without giving her a chance to speak, they asked the porter to take her to the clinic. Then she lost consciousness. Looking back now, she might have been drugged by them.
When she woke up, she was already on the official road. She shouted loudly, but as soon as she shouted, the three men realized that she was awake and immediately covered her mouth. Just as they were about to give her another sleeping pill, the mule cart was stopped by a horse-drawn carriage in front.
Zhao Shiqing hurriedly asked, "Who saved you?"
Xiuxiu said, "I was lucky. I happened to run into officials. The carriage belonged to the government. Someone in official uniform pulled the driver down. I took the opportunity to bite one of the women's hands. As soon as her hand loosened, I screamed for help. The officials lifted the curtains and I was rescued. It was the officials who brought me back. I didn't want to cause trouble, so I just let them take me to the alley ahead and I walked back on my own."
Zhao Shiqing asked, "Do you know which government office this person belongs to?"
Xiuxiu nodded. "They are from the Ministry of Revenue. They have several carriages. The carriage that saved me was full of runners from the Ministry. They said that the master in front heard someone shouting for help and asked them to come and stop the carriage. I asked which master it was, and they said they didn't dare to tell me without the master's order. I have made up my mind. I will make some snacks and send them over. If I can't see that master, I will give them to the runners who caught the bad guys."
Zhao Shiqing smiled and said, "Repaying a favor is great!"
Zhao Shiqing felt relieved when he heard Xiuxiu say that the yamen runners had already sent the coachman and the three human traffickers to the Beijing government. Although it was a false alarm, if no one from the Ministry of Revenue happened to pass by, it would be difficult for Xiuxiu to escape.
"You kids, and Zhang Ye, no one is allowed to go out alone from now on. Do you hear me?" Zhen Wuduo said.
Chen Wangxing hurriedly said: "Don't count me in, I'm neither a girl nor a child."
Zhen Wuduo: "You can't do that either. Haven't you heard of the illegal kilns? If I send you to a black kiln to be a slave, you'll never come back alive in this life."
Shen Wangxing shrank his neck in fear. I'm so scared!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com