174 Chapter 174
◎ "The young lady...maybe she was kidnapped..."◎
Xu Qinghe was awakened by the noise of Xie Qi getting up.
She has always been a light sleeper, so she could feel it even if Xie Qi just loosened his hand that had been holding her.
"Did it wake you?"
Seeing her drowsily open her eyes, Xie Qi gently stroked her cheek and explained, "Before the sun comes out and the weather is not too hot, I will take the little girl for a few laps. If she gets too hot or tired later, we can do something else."
He became more and more careful in taking care of his daughter.
Xu Qinghe felt warm in her heart, and she pressed her cheek against his palm, advising him, "Ping'an is young and likes to make noises, so you should pay more attention to him."
Because he had just woken up from a deep sleep, the girl's voice was unusually soft, like a feather, gently sweeping across his heart.
If he hadn't promised the little girl long ago, at this moment, Xie Qi really wanted to indulge in the gentleness of life.
He leaned over and kissed her softly, his voice gentle, as if afraid to drive away the last bit of sleepiness in her.
"Don't worry, I will definitely bring the little girl back to you safely. It's still early, you can get some sleep."
There is a wilderness outside Lanzhou City. Now the grass is lush and the trees are verdant. It is a great place for horse racing.
Now the sun is just showing half of its face, and the morning breeze blowing on my face is rare and cool.
Children sleep a lot. Yesterday, she vowed that she would get up at dawn this morning. However, when Xie Qi washed, dressed and went to look for her, the little girl was still curled up in the soft bed and didn't want to get up.
Even after getting on the carriage, he still looked sleepy and drowsy.
However, now that she had just mounted the horse, the cool breeze blew, and the surrounding scenery quickly passed by in the wind. The little girl was no longer sleepy, but instead her face was full of excitement.
"Uncle Xie, please make the horse run faster! We need to catch up with the little rabbit in front!"
Xie Qi held the reins with one hand and gently whipped the horse with the other to urge it forward.
The wind in his face became a little whistling. Ping'an stared at the fat white rabbit running on the green grass in front of him, watching it getting closer and closer to him.
When they got closer, she felt a tightness around her body, and her father grabbed her waist and lifted her off the horse. In the blink of an eye, they were flying through the air almost touching the tips of the grass!
Looking at the little rabbit that seemed right in front of her, Ping An understood what her father meant in an instant.
She reached out her hand and actually held the white rabbit firmly in her arms.
A light laugh came from above his head, and in the blink of an eye, the scenery in front of him became wide, Ping'an's hair fluttered in the wind, and soon he sat back on the horse steadily.
Behind him was his father's broad chest.
Ping'an's heart was pounding, and he couldn't calm down even after he got off the horse and lay on the blanket that had been laid out under the tree.
The little girl held the rabbit in her arms, her face flushed, but her big eyes were shining with intelligence.
"Thank you, uncle. You are awesome."
Ping'an stroked the rabbit's fur with an adoring look on his face.
Xie Qi was arranging the string for her kite, and when he heard this, he smiled and said, "Why, your mother has never taken you horse racing before?"
He remembered that the girl also loved horse racing, and no matter how busy she was, there was no reason not to bring the child along.
Sure enough, Ping An shook his head and said, "Of course I have run before, but Mom never took Ping An to run so fast, saying it was too dangerous. But Uncle Xie is so awesome, Uncle Xie is not afraid of danger."
This seemed to be the first time the little girl compared him with that girl and said that he was better.
Xie Qi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked tentatively, "Then Uncle Xie, can you take Ping An out to race horses more often?"
Ping An Ping An said "OK" in a long tone, and his eyes turned into crescent shapes when he smiled.
"But Uncle Xie is also very busy and may not always have time."
The crescent moon disappeared, and Ping An immediately had a bitter face and asked helplessly, "What should I do?"
Xie Qi patiently coaxed: "But if Uncle Xie and your mother get married, we will be a family in the future. We will live together as a family. Uncle Xie will be able to spend more time with you and your mother, and he will have more opportunities to take you horse racing."
Ping An was stunned for a moment: "But isn't Uncle Xie living with us now?"
Xie Qi coughed awkwardly, "That's different. Living together before marriage is different from living together after marriage. Ping An, what do you think, if Uncle Xie marries your mother and becomes Ping An's father?"
Ping'an's big black eyes rolled around, and he said crisply, "I'll listen to my mother."
Xie Qi gritted his teeth: "But your mother asked Uncle Xie to ask about Ping An's intention."
Ping An was stunned again, and after a long while, he gave the same answer: "No, Ping An only listens to his mother."
Xie Qi was about to bite his teeth off.
This mother and daughter, one pushing the other, kicked him like a Cuju!
After resting, the little girl ran on the grass and flew a kite. When the kite really flew up, Xie Qi just stood aside and watched, no longer interacting with her.
Looking at the figure of the little girl running freely, he always remembered the young Xu Qinghe, who was also full of vitality and energy.
But then, she could think of the five years she was trapped in the deep palace.
The bird that should have been flying freely in the sky had its wings clipped and was locked up in the palace. At that time, she was only a teenager with only a Nanzhi by her side. She must have been extremely helpless.
But he was not around at that time.
By the time the little girl was really tired of playing and everyone returned to Lanzhou City, dusk had already fallen and the streets were crowded with pedestrians. Xie Qi had no choice but to abandon the car and walk.
The little girl had played wildly during the day, but now she had no strength left. She opened her arms and asked him to hold her before she even got out of the car.
Xie Qi didn't move: "If you agree to let me be your father, I will hold you."
"Uncle Xie is using coercion and bribery! Uncle Xie is a bad guy!"
Ping'an's expression changed immediately.
This little girl knows how to use threats and inducements.
Afraid of really making the little girl angry, Xie Qi stopped teasing her, picked her up and easily stepped out of the carriage.
The little girl was angry at first, but after a while, she was attracted by the lively scene on the street and forgot what had just happened.
"Thank you, Uncle. Ping An wants that!"
The little girl pointed at a big eagle kite.
I took her to fly kites several times during the day, and the little girl had a lot of fun. But now she was obviously not satisfied with her original delicate but small butterfly kite, and wanted a bigger one.
"Call me daddy, and I'll win it back for you."
The little girl pursed her lips, hugged her short arms and snorted, "Then I don't want peace anymore!"
Xie Qi laughed and scratched the little girl's nose.
"Why are you just like your mother, so angry? If you don't want to bark, then don't bark. Uncle Xie will go and win it back for you. Look at that pouty mouth. It's almost longer than the eagle's beak."
There were too many people crowded in the front, and there was a jugglery show next to it, with darts and flames flying in the air.
Xie Qi took a look and gave up the idea of taking the little girl with him, and handed the child to the wet nurse and the servants.
"Take good care of the young lady."
Then he squeezed into the almost packed crowd in front of him to compete in archery with the people and win the prize for the little girl.
The shouts from the crowd grew louder and louder, making the already busy streets even more crowded.
A few pedestrians hurriedly passed by from nowhere, as if they had a target in their eyes. They crossed the edge of the crowd and were somewhere else in the blink of an eye.
A moment later, Xie Qi walked out of the crowd with a smile, holding the kite, but found that the door of the shop where the servant had just stood was empty.
His first reaction was that the little girl had taken a fancy to something else, so he asked everyone to take him to buy it.
But even so, there will be someone left there waiting to inform him.
Xie Qi's heart tightened and he immediately looked around. After a moment, he finally found the unconscious wet nurse and several maids in the corner.
When he woke everyone up, his first words were, "Where's the young lady?!"
The wet nurse and the attendants all knelt on the ground in panic.
"Young lady... the child was in my arms just now. I lost consciousness when I wasn't paying attention. When I opened my eyes again, I saw my husband. Young lady... Young lady might have been abducted by someone..."
Xie Qi's eyes went dark and the eagle in his hand fell to the ground.
The first thing that flashed through his mind was the little girl who was pouting and angry at him just now, and then Xu Qinghe's instructions to him this morning.
It was he who solemnly promised her that he would bring the little girl back safely, and now it was also he who lost the little girl!
"Go back to the mansion and report to the lady. Tell her that I will take the young lady to stay at Young Master Fu's residence outside the city today and bring her back tomorrow."
"this……"
Everyone was a little hesitant.
Logically speaking, they are the Madam's people and should only obey her orders in this life, but the Marquis Xie in front of them is not an ordinary person.
What's more... In the past few days, Lord Xie has clearly been with their wives...
He might be the future male owner of the mansion.
Xie Qi's expression became even colder: "Now that the young lady is lost, you all have a share of responsibility. If you can't hide it from Madam, considering how much Madam values the young lady, I'm sure you can imagine what will happen to you."
Everyone shuddered, and the wet nurse was the first to nod in agreement.
"Please find the young lady as soon as possible!"
Ping An was lost in the city, and now the city gates have been locked. Even if he was kidnapped, he would only be inside the city.
Xie Qi must find the little girl before the city gate opens tomorrow.
A young lady surrounded by servants would not be favored by ordinary kidnappers.
Therefore, if the person who kidnapped the person was not his enemy, it must be Xu Qinghe's.
He went to find Lin Xiao and asked him if Xu Qinghe had any grudges against anyone in Lanzhou City.
Lin Xiao put down his work. Although he didn't understand why, he still shook his head and replied, "Madam has always been kind to others and never held any grudges. However... during the Lantern Festival this year, the young lady fell from the window - the same time that the Marquis rescued her. Madam learned that it was Boss Wang's son who did it, so she asked me to buy out all the Wang family's assets. Since then, the Wang family's business has plummeted..."
It is not impossible that the Wang family holds a grudge against him for this.
But this happened almost half a year ago, why are you thinking of revenge only now?
However, Xie Qi didn't have time to think about the reason.
"Where are the Wang family's houses and shops in the city?"
Lin Xiao mentioned several places.
Xie Qi roughly determined the location in his mind, and before Lin Xiao could ask what had happened, he had already stepped out the door.
He summoned Chen Tai and others who had been hiding in the dark waiting for orders, circled several locations on the map of Lanzhou City, and ordered everyone to search separately.
"Remember, the safety of the young lady comes first."
Chen Tai responded, then reported, "The man the general sent to Ting'an Town to investigate has just returned this morning. Would the general like to meet him now?"
A month ago, when he returned from Caoqu Township, he ordered people to go to Ting'an Town in Kyoto to find out everything about Xu Qinghe's past there and the Nan Si incident.
However, Xiao Ping'an's whereabouts are unknown now, so he has no time to care about this.
"No need. Let him wait for a while. The most important thing now is to find the young lady safely."
【Author’s words】
I'm sorry I only have 2,000 words today [burst into tears]
I also slightly corrected some typos [burst crying]
Woohoo, my seedlings are gone too [burst into tears]
--
Revised the text, added some details and plot: father and daughter riding horses to catch rabbits + mentioned that the subordinates who went to Ting'an Town to inquire about the past are back
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
