Chapter 9
A major incident has recently occurred in the capital. Leng Xue Ran, the daughter of the Great General, disappeared from her home yesterday. The entire Leng family has searched everywhere but to no avail. Today, soldiers are searching for Leng Xue Ran all over the capital. People in the capital are in a state of panic, fearing that they might be mistaken for the bandits who kidnapped the young lady of the Leng family.
Inside the Leng residence, Leng Shouqing sat in his study, a worried expression on his face. Less than ten days after returning from the palace, Xue Ran had disappeared from the house. If she were to leave home, she would surely leave a letter or inform them. Her disappearance without a word suggests that she may have walked away on her own! Frustrated, he swept the teacup off the table and angrily shouted towards the door, "Someone, prepare the sedan chair!" A sedan chair from the Leng family stopped outside the palace. Inside the imperial study, the Emperor, seated at his desk, smiled at Leng Shouqing kneeling before him and said, "My dear minister, have you come to question me about whether your beloved daughter is with me?" Leng Shouqing hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, I dare not. I only wish to beg Your Majesty to do justice for me. How dare such a daring person infiltrate my residence and abduct my daughter! I beg Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate this matter and find my daughter quickly." The Emperor smiled and said, "I grant your request. Let the Jingzhao Prefecture thoroughly investigate this matter! Are you satisfied, my dear minister?" Leng Shouqing hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!" "Alright, you may leave!" "Yes." Although he was a general, he could not mobilize troops without authorization, so Leng Shouqing could only summon his household guards and servants. At this moment, Leng Shouqing's face was somewhat pale. The injuries he had suffered a few days ago had not yet fully healed. Dragging his heavy body, he walked towards the sedan chair of the Leng residence outside the palace, his back view appearing somewhat desolate. "Perhaps this is retribution!" he thought to himself.
After Leng Shouqing left, a scout reported from outside the Imperial Study. Inside, the Emperor waved for his eunuch to summon the scout. The scout reported, "Your Majesty, the eldest daughter of the Leng family is indeed missing. Investigations have confirmed it wasn't Leng Shouqing who did it, and we've also discovered she is indeed the daughter of one of Leng Shouqing's concubines." "Investigate who abducted Leng Xueran. Continue searching for the woman in the painting I entrusted to you." "Yes."
Inside the Xi residence, a woman sat at a stone table in the courtyard. Opposite her sat a handsome man who smiled at her. The man chuckled, "Xue Ran, since you've been invited here, why not stay a few days and enjoy yourself? How about it?" The woman coldly replied, "I was invited here? I remember being knocked unconscious and kidnapped. Young Master Xi, you're quite the joker. Who could be happy in such a situation?" The young man chuckled, "Xue Ran, I just missed you. If I invited you according to etiquette, I'd probably be thrown out by the General. So I used this method. In a few days, I'll personally escort Xue Ran back. How about that?" The woman coldly laughed, "What if I say no?" "Then I'll force Xue Ran to stay. My residence is quite deserted. There are birdsong and fragrant flowers, but it lacks human voices. With you here, I'll have someone to talk to." The woman sneered, then fell silent, gazing at the peach blossoms in the garden. She wanted to see what this man's purpose was. Seeing that the woman remained silent, he continued, "Xue Ran, look at the peach blossoms in this courtyard. Don't you think their existence has more meaning now that there are people appreciating them?" The woman turned to look at the man opposite her. "Their meaning has never been to be appreciated!" Xi Yimin laughed, "Then why? Isn't it so that the peach blossoms and the woman's face can complement each other?" Looking at the laughing man opposite her, Leng Xue Ran remained expressionless: "Young Master Xi, are you like this with every woman?" "So attentive? No! I only have eyes for Xue Ran."
I was talking about sweet talk.
"My sweet words are only for Xue Ran's ears. How could any other woman catch my eye?"
"In that case, I am truly fortunate to have won the favor of Young Master Xi," Xi Yimin said happily. "You and I probably have a three-life vow. All the events of our past lives were erased after crossing the Bridge of Helplessness. If we hadn't been forced to drink Meng Po's soup, our love would have continued from the first moment we met in this life. How could I be chasing after you and you running away?" Leng Xueran sighed helplessly, rarely paying attention to someone who was arguing so illogically. She got up and walked to the peach tree in full bloom. There, her face and the peach blossoms reflected each other's beauty, captivating the person sitting on the stone bench. Leng Xueran turned around and saw the dazed person. The corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up, making her even more captivating. The person sitting there unconsciously also smiled.
In the capital these past few days, access to and from the city gates has been strictly controlled because the eldest daughter of the Leng family has not yet been found. Searches are being conducted everywhere, both inside and outside the city, and now door-to-door checks are being carried out, except for the residences of high-ranking officials and nobles. In the Leng family study, Leng Shouqing looked at the woman standing before him, his face filled with sorrow, and said, "Ye'er, Xue Ran, I have already sent people everywhere to search. Don't worry!" The woman laughed angrily, "How can I not worry? If something really happens, how can you, Leng Shouqing, bear the guilt!" Hearing this, Leng Shouqing's face turned even paler: "Tell me, is that child the Emperor's?" The woman was none other than An Ye'er, the birth mother of Leng Xue Ran, the woman the man before him deeply loved, and the very woman the Emperor was searching for. Looking at the man questioning her, she felt a pang of guilt. "Didn't you already guess? Why ask again?" "I did have a guess, but if you don't explain, I'll just treat Xue Ran as an ordinary family's child, as my own. I've been deceiving myself all along. Back then, for you, I deceived the emperor; now, for you, I'm deceiving the emperor again. I framed Hao Shan and killed her. So many sins, Ye'er, do you think I'll suffer retribution someday and die a horrible death?" "But, Guan Hao Shan isn't dead, is he?" At this point, the two of them froze. Could it be that Xue Ran had been kidnapped by Guan Hao Shan? Besides those trusted by Guan Haoshan, only Leng Shouqing probably knew her face and knew Guan Haoshan's name. He hurriedly went to his desk, picked up a brush, and began to draw earnestly. An hour later, a handsome young man appeared gracefully on the paper. An Ye'er, who was standing nearby, looked at it and asked, "Is this Guan Haoshan?" "It's her." "I thought Guan Haoshan would be a strong, burly man, but unexpectedly, he's a handsome young man like an immortal." Hearing this, Leng Shouqing felt regretful: "Everyone thinks she's him, but she's actually a girl. Otherwise, why would I have tried so hard to stop her?" "What about my daughter? If it weren't for her trust in me, telling me her identity after she was injured and letting me bring a female doctor to treat her? If it weren't for fear of outsiders discovering this secret, why would she have let her second daughter, who knows medicine, treat her? If it weren't for that, this tragic fate wouldn't have happened to Ying'er, and she wouldn't have been so scheming to achieve her own goals, thus losing herself in the process. This cycle of cause and effect will inevitably bring retribution!" Coming back to his senses, Leng Shouqing summoned a guard, handed him the painting, and said, "Find the person in the painting as soon as possible, and report any news about this person immediately." The person nodded, opened the door, and disappeared into the twilight.
In the garden of the relocated residence, voices could be heard. One person laughed and said, "Xue Ran, do you know how lively it is outside? There are soldiers everywhere. Can you guess why?" The woman holding the book replied coldly, "Thanks to you, the capital has not been so filled with panic for a long time."
"So, I have brought a different kind of enjoyment to the mundane lives of the people of the capital. What a great honor!" Not wanting to pay attention to such a shameless person, he turned and went into the pavilion over the pond. He leaned back in a chair, and seeing that the man ignored him, Xi Yimin didn't make a fuss. Smiling, he followed her and sat down next to the woman, saying, "Xue Ran, what book are you reading? Why do you seem so unwilling to talk to me? Is there someone you love in this book?" The woman replied slightly angrily, "Don't spout nonsense. It's just that this book lacks an annoying person, so it seems more pleasing to the eye."
"I must be in this book." What a shameless woman! It was rare for her to respond. She continued reading her book. Just then, Xi Yimin noticed someone outside the second gate and got up to walk towards them.
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