The highest-ranking official she had ever met was Magistrate Qin, and Granny Shen's legs went weak, and she almost knelt down.
Your Highness, this could very well be the future emperor!
It was Zhui Feng who was quick-witted and agile, and helped Old Lady Shen up.
Old Mrs. Shen wanted to express her gratitude, but when she thought that Zhui Feng was someone close to His Highness the Crown Prince and naturally of noble status, she became too reserved to speak clearly.
It was Lili who led Xia Ning over, diverting Old Lady Shen's attention: "Grandma, this is Sister Xia Ning."
Lili briefly recounted how she met Xia Ning (of course, omitting the bloody parts; in her grandmother's eyes, Xia Ning was still a simple, innocent, and adorable child). She also mentioned that Xia Ning needed to stay at home for a while until her family came to pick her up.
When Old Lady Shen heard that the child had also been kidnapped by bad people, she immediately agreed.
Xia Ning was overjoyed and eagerly anticipated living with Li Li.
Especially since Lili promised to take her to the river to catch fish tomorrow, Xia Ning wished she could jump to tomorrow right now.
Qin Renjie and Gu Ziyi exchanged a few more words before Qin Renjie led the group back to Xinghua Village, while Gu Ziyi was to ride back to the border at full speed.
Gu Ziyi arranged a carriage for the group. Before getting into the carriage, Old Lady Shen knelt down before Gu Ziyi with a thud: "Your Highness, you have done a great favor for my Shen family!"
Gu Ziyi helped Granny Shen up, but he did not agree with her: "Please get up, Granny Shen. I really feel ashamed to accept this gift. Not to mention that I did not contribute much to today's matter, Lili is intelligent and talented, and I have learned a lot from her. It would be more accurate to say that Lili has been kind to me."
Gu Ziyi's words were not an exaggeration.
Even if Zhui Feng isn't here today, Li Li is still capable of driving everyone in the yard crazy by herself.
Moreover, by the time Gu Ziyi arrived, the walk had already ended, and Lili had already "built an empire" for him. Gu Ziyi was essentially just picking up the scraps left over from those evidence.
However, Old Lady Shen was unaware of these inside stories. She naively believed that it was His Highness the Crown Prince who had rescued Lili from her predicament.
Old Mrs. Shen insisted on kneeling before him no matter what.
Xia Ning sat quietly in the carriage, watching as if she were seeing the Crown Prince for the first time.
According to her father, although the Crown Prince is young, he is no less than the First Prince in any way, and may even be more outstanding.
She didn't understand before, but now she does.
Gu Zian would never speak to ordinary people so calmly.
Old Mrs. Shen and Gu Ziyi struggled for a while before Lili came out to interrupt and persuaded them for a long time before they finally embarked on their journey home.
Lili lifted the curtain, peeked out, and said to Gu Ziyi, "If you have any questions, just write to me."
Fearing that her writing was not comprehensive enough, she earnestly told Gu Ziyi the same thing.
The little girl stood on the carriage, barely as tall as him. Gu Ziyi smiled, looking at her eye to eye, his gaze full of tenderness. Upon closer inspection, one could also see his undisguised admiration.
"good."
Lili was relieved and pulled her head back to sit obediently.
The carriage gradually shrank until it left the city gate, at which point the sharpness in Gu Ziyi's eyes reappeared.
"You personally escort Zhou Wukui back to the capital, so that my good brother doesn't find a loophole."
Han Xi accepted the order and immediately set about carrying it out.
Gu Ziyi lowered his eyes. He couldn't afford to make any mistakes with the big gift that Lili had prepared for him.
Old Mrs. Shen sat in the carriage behind with two young girls. Old Mrs. Shen did not know that Xia Ning was a noblewoman in the capital. The two girls had changed their clothes at the prefectural government office. Unlike Lili, Old Mrs. Shen could not make any judgments about Xia Ning based on her clothes.
But Old Mrs. Shen thought that Xia Ning was also a pitiful child who had been kidnapped by those heartless human traffickers, so she was very kind to her.
When Lili suggested sleeping with Xia Ning, they said it was up to them to decide.
The group returned to Liucheng and reunited with Shen Lao Er and Wang Er Gou.
When Shen Lao Er saw that Li Li was unharmed, he was extremely excited: "Li Bao!"
"Second Uncle!"
"Lili, are you alright?"
"Oh dear, my second uncle's darling niece, she's worried us all to death!"
Thinking of her family's anxious faces, Lili felt a surge of warmth in her heart: "I'm sorry to have worried everyone, I'm fine!"
After comforting Lili for a while and confirming that she was not injured, Shen Lao Er asked his mother angrily, "Mother, what exactly happened? Who kidnapped Lili?"
Wang Ergou was also furious. This man was not only the murderer who kidnapped Lili, but also the murderer who almost killed his daughter Wang Hongfang!
"Yes, I'll make sure they pay!"
Old Mrs. Shen shook her head. She was too excited to see Lili when she was in the prefectural city, and then she was shocked by the identity of Young Master Gu. Overwhelmed with joy and surprise, she didn’t have time to ask about the details.
Old Mrs. Shen could only briefly recount how Young Master Gu saved Lili, without revealing his identity. She figured he probably wouldn't want his identity to be known.
Shen Lao Er had no choice but to turn his attention to Qin Renjie: "Magistrate Qin, you went to the prefectural city in person, did you have any clues?"
Qin Renjie was also a little confused. He had already sent people to Xinghua Village last night, and all the villagers could testify that they had gathered together in the square in front of the back mountain at that time.
After questioning them, no one matched the suspect.
But according to the Shen family, this incident seems to be the work of someone they know.
First of all, this person must be from the vicinity of Xinghua Village. The fact that Xinghua Village held a feast to celebrate the completion of the canal was something that people from Xinghua Village and several nearby villages would talk about when they visited each other.
Otherwise, the villagers of Xinghua Village wouldn't go to the town market or the city to go around telling people that their village is going to hold a feast, would they?
Secondly, Lili was always in everyone's sight. She had just finished eating and went out to play with her friends for a while when the thief kidnapped her. It's hard to believe that he just happened to see it. What other explanation could there be besides keeping an eye on Lili's movements?
All things considered, the most likely suspects are people from the same village.
Lili smiled and said, "Oh well, that thief should be in the gambling den right now."
Everyone was puzzled, but Old Lady Shen asked her, "Lili, did you see what that person looked like?"
Lili nodded.
Qin Renjie's face lit up with joy. The thief's face had been seen, which made things much easier!
Upon hearing that Lili remembered the man's face, Wang Ergou wished he could go and catch the man right now and beat him up, making him pay for hurting his daughter.
"Lili, tell me, who is that person?"
Everyone held their breath, waiting for Lili to speak; even Xia Ning couldn't help but concentrate.
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