Chapter 65065 The girl is investigating
Chapter 65
Seeing this, the guards immediately surrounded the carriage, their hands on the hilts of their swords at their waists, the blades were already three-quarters unsheathed, and everyone looked stern and alert.
Seeing that the woman was still rushing forward, Mu Yun frowned and said in a deep voice, "Mu Jiang."
Mu Jiang unsheathed his sword with a clang, and stepped forward, pointing the tip of his blade directly at the stumbling woman. "If you come even half a step closer, I'll kill you without mercy!"
Inside the carriage, Meng Yuning was rubbing Qi Jingyan's head. When she heard the noise outside, she immediately hugged Yi'er into her arms, sat next to Qi Jingyan, and looked out the window vigilantly.
Qi Jingyan also turned sideways and looked out the window.
The woman was frightened by the glittering knife light. She stopped abruptly while holding the child. She didn't dare to move forward, but she also didn't dare to retreat. She kept looking back with a look of horror.
Deep in the alley, two burly men were running towards them, waving sticks, and the heavy thud of their footsteps was like the beat of a death drum.
The woman was terrified. She fell to her knees, placed the child on the ground, and pushed him forward, crying heartbreakingly, "Sir, please save my grandson."
"Grandma! Grandma!" The child, who was about the same age as Yi'er, was so frightened that he burst into tears. His two little hands tightly held the woman's hands, refusing to let go.
Yi'er's little face wrinkled into a ball, his dark eyes full of confusion. He pointed out the window with his little hand, his voice filled with obvious uneasiness: "What's wrong with him?"
Meng Yuning held Yi'er tighter in her arms, just watching quietly without saying a word.
She understood too well where Mu Yun and Mu Jiang's vigilance came from. It was not because they were cold-blooded, but because the world was too dangerous and people's hearts were too vicious.
From Qi Jingyan to Mu Yun, and to every guard present, they have been in danger of death in the past few months. No one will easily trust anyone with unknown origins.
The sun was shining brightly, but suddenly the wind blew up, and the dark clouds were swept towards this side from afar.
The wind blew dust across the street, and gravel hit the carriage, making a crackling sound. The crying of the child and the woman became more miserable.
Everyone was silent.
Until Qi Jingyan said: "Mu Yun, go ask."
"Yes." Mu Yun clasped his fists and accepted the order. He quickly walked up to the woman and asked, "What happened?"
The woman hurriedly wiped her tears with her sleeve and hugged the child, who was almost out of breath, tightly in her arms. Her voice trembled as she spoke: "My lord, please understand. It's all my fault that my good-for-nothing old man has accumulated a huge gambling debt..."
The woman could no longer hold back her grief and burst into tears: "When the gambling den guys came to collect their debts, they saw how pretty my daughter-in-law was and tried to force her to pay off the debt."
"My son, enraged, picked up a kitchen knife and injured the two thugs, driving them away. Fearing retaliation from the gambling house, I forced my son and his wife to hide in the mountains that night."
The woman wiped her tears and continued, "Although I hated that old man, I still managed to sell the house at a low price to raise money to pay off my gambling debts. I thought that the matter was over..."
"The gambling debts were paid off, but then those bastards said my son had injured someone and they wanted to pay for the medicine or they would sue the authorities and have him put in jail. We scraped together our last bit of savings and put it to use."
"Unexpectedly, someone came to the gambling house again today, saying that one of the two people my son chopped off is dead. They want us to either hand over my daughter-in-law, one life for each, or take my poor grandson away."
At this point, the woman suddenly flinched and looked back in panic. She saw two burly men armed with clubs, some 25 feet away, staring men in the alley with menacing eyes. They neither approached nor moved away, as if they would immediately snatch the child away if no one was watching over her.
The woman's face turned pale. Trembling, she pushed the child toward Mu Yun, his forehead slamming heavily on the dirt floor as she cried out, "Sir! Please have mercy and save my grandson! Those people are really going to snatch him away!"
Meng Yuning was horrified after hearing this. She tugged at Qi Jingyan's sleeve and whispered, "Your Highness, this aunt's daughter-in-law is another 'Qiulian'?"
The sky suddenly turned gloomy, with thick clouds hanging overhead. Raindrops as big as beans fell without warning. Amid the crackling sound of the rain, the damp earthy smell rose from the mud.
The guards outside the car did not move, standing quietly in the rain, letting the rain pour down on them.
The two thugs in the alley hesitated and took two steps back, as if they were about to leave, but then stopped and continued to watch.
The woman hurriedly hugged the child in her arms, hunched her back, and tried to use her body to shield the child from the rain, but the rain still dripped down her hair and fell on the child's frightened face.
Meng Yuning pursed her lips tightly, feeling a mixture of emotions as if a heavy stone was pressing on her chest.
These two people, the grandfather and the grandson, really look pitiful. Their situation doesn't seem fake.
But Qi Jingyan's identity is too special. Who knows how many eyes are watching him in the dark? Who can guarantee that this is not a carefully designed trap against him?
She couldn't bear to see the grandparents kneeling there in the rain, but she was even more unwilling to put Yi'er and Qi Jingyan in any risk.
There are too many poor people in the world. If she has the ability, she will help them while ensuring her own safety.
But the casino incident involved the Zhang family and the Third Prince. This was a thorny issue, so entangled that Qi Jingyan, and everyone else, could be doomed if they weren't careful. This was completely beyond her purview; everything had to be decided by Qi Jingyan.
Qi Jingyan glanced at An Ning, whose eyes were filled with pity, and raised his hand to gently knock on the car window: "Mu Yun, take them in the car."
Meng Yuning was stunned and looked at Qi Jingyan: "Your Highness, aren't you afraid that they are sent by bad people?"
Qi Jingyan: "It's okay."
Mu Yun agreed and asked, "Your Highness, do you want to bring those two people in the alley here?"
Qi Jingyan said nonchalantly: "They are just a bunch of dogs and pigs, let them go." After that, he supported himself with his hands on the carriage and moved to the upper seat.
Mu Yun took the order, stepped forward, and helped the woman up: "My master wants you to talk in the car."
The woman was overjoyed when she heard this, secretly believing her grandson was saved. She held the child in her arms, hunched over, and bowed repeatedly, "Thank you for your grace, sir! Thank you for your grace, sir!"
Mu Yun took the crying child calmly and winked at the youngest, Mu Feng.
Mu Feng understood, stepped forward, clasped his fists towards the woman and said, "Excuse me."
Before he finished speaking, he quickly searched the woman's body, even carefully feeling through her hair. After confirming that she was all right, he nodded to Mu Yun.
Mu Yun took this opportunity to feel the crying child's body and confirm that there was nothing hidden on the child. Then he returned the child to the woman and took her to the carriage: "Please get in."
The woman, holding the child, bowed repeatedly, stepped on the horse stool that the guard had just put down, and staggered into the carriage.
Mu Jiang raised his knife and pointed at the two people in the alley: "Get lost."
The two thugs' faces suddenly changed, the sticks in their hands fell to the ground with a bang, and they turned around and ran away.
Inside the carriage, Meng Yuning placed Yi'er on the seat and opened the door curtain: "Auntie, come in and sit down."
The woman carried the child into the carriage, not daring to raise her head. She knelt down, holding the child and kowtowed: "Thank you very much for saving my life."
Meng Yuning glanced at Qi Jingyan and saw him nod. Then she stepped forward and helped the woman up: "Hurry and sit down."
The woman thanked him repeatedly, looked up tremblingly, and was stunned by the girl's beautiful appearance in front of her. Then she felt that she was being rude and quickly looked away.
But when she saw the man sitting in the upper seat, she was stunned again, thinking to herself, this might be an immortal from heaven who has come down to earth.
Meng Yuning found a handkerchief from a secret compartment in the carriage, handed it over, and said softly, "The child's clothes are soaked. Please wipe them quickly."
"Thank you very much, sir." The woman hurriedly lowered her head, took it with both hands in fear and trepidation, and sat down awkwardly in the corner of the seat with the child in her arms, wiping the water from the sobbing child's head and face with a handkerchief.
Meng Yuning sat down next to Yier, held Yier's little hand in her palm, and looked quietly at the grandparents and grandchildren opposite.
Yi'er looked at her for a while, then scratched Aning's palm. Aning looked down at him, and Yi'er pointed to the small blue purse hanging on his waist.
Meng Yuning guessed what Yi'er was going to do and nodded with a smile.
Yi'er took out a piece of candy wrapped in oil paper from her purse, got off the chair, walked to the opposite side, put the candy in the child's hand, and patted his shoulder: "It's sweet, eat it."
The child was frightened and sobbed without any reaction while holding the candy.
Seeing this, the woman quickly clasped her hands together and bowed to Yi'er: "Young Master, you have the heart of a bodhisattva."
Yi'er waved her little hand and said in a childish voice, imitating an adult, "No need to be so polite."
Then he sat next to An Ning. They looked at each other and smiled. Meng Yuning put her arm around Yi'er's shoulders and pulled him into her arms.
The woman carefully peeled the malt candy and fed it to her grandson. The sweetness melted on his tongue, and the child finally stopped sobbing.
The woman then used a handkerchief to wipe the rain off his head and face. Afterwards, she held the handkerchief in both hands as if she wanted to return it, but she felt that she had made the handkerchief dirty and it was not appropriate to return it like that.
Meng Yuning saw her embarrassment and said, "Keep the handkerchief for later use."
The woman was about to kneel again, but Meng Yuning reached out to stop her in time: "Auntie, please sit down. We have something to ask you."
The woman nodded: "Please ask, my lord."
Meng Yuning glanced at Qi Jingyan, who just raised his chin slightly, motioning her to ask.
Meng Yuning knew that this person was too lazy to speak in front of outsiders, so she began to ask according to her own logic: "You said you sold the house, where do you live now?"
The woman said: "In reply to your Excellency, I have rented a small courtyard at the end of Linwu Lane, which can barely shelter me from the wind and rain."
Meng Yuning: "Your son and daughter-in-law have taken refuge in the mountains. Is there anyone else at home?"
The woman looked ashamed and said, "And my good-for-nothing old man."
Meng Yuning frowned: "When those two thugs came to snatch the child, the child's grandfather just stood there and watched?"
The woman said, "In reply to your Excellency, the child's grandfather behaved like a man this time. He risked his life to stop those two killers, and I took the opportunity to run away with the child."
At this point, the woman shed tears: "I just don't know what happened to the old man now. Those two men hit him hard with their sticks just now."
As he spoke, he wiped away a tear and said with regret, "It would be better to beat him to death. It would put an end to everything. If it weren't for his gambling addiction... he would have ruined this family."
Meng Yuning glanced at Qi Jingyan, who instructed, "Mu Yun, go to the alley and check. If the person is still alive, send him to the hospital and then bring him back to the mansion for questioning."
"Yes." Mu Yun responded and gestured to Mu Jiang. Mu Jiang nodded and ran towards the alley with two guards.
When the woman heard this, she ignored Meng Yuning's attempts to stop her and knelt on the ground excitedly and kowtowed to the two of them.
Meng Yuning was tired of helping her. She waited quietly for her to finish her kowtow and sit back down after calming down a bit. Then she continued to ask, "Has your child's grandfather always been a gambler, or has he only recently developed this bad habit?"
The woman wiped her tears and sighed, "My old man was originally a blacksmith. When he was young, he worked hard and made some money with his blacksmithing skills and bought a house."
"But a few years ago, he injured his back swinging a sledgehammer and couldn't work anymore. With all the free time he had, he fell in love with drinking and gambling. It used to be just small fights, just playing around with a few coins, so he didn't lose much money, so we didn't say much to him."
"But last month, he suddenly started gambling heavily and was deeply in debt. Now, the house we all lived in has been lost, and our good family has been shattered."
This was very similar to the situation of Lu Qiulian's husband. Both of them had suddenly gambled a lot, which made people think about it. Meng Yuning glanced at Qi Jingyan and asked, "How many years ago was it?"
The woman thought for a moment and said, "That was four or five years ago. At that time, his back was sometimes good and sometimes bad. When it was good, he would go to work. When his back hurt, he couldn't work, so he would go out and hang out with a few drinking buddies, and occasionally gamble."
Meng Yuning was horrified. Four or five years ago, when Qi Jingyan was only fifteen or sixteen, he should still be training in the army. Could it be that at that time, the Zhang family and the Third Prince had already begun plotting to seize the throne?
Meng Yuning asked again: "How does your family make a living now?"
The woman's eyes finally lit up. "My son Lin Wang has been learning the blacksmithing craft from his father since he was young. He now works as a clerk in a blacksmith shop in the city. My daughter-in-law is very skilled and makes some food to sell at the morning market. Although we are not well off, we can make a living."
Meng Yuning nodded and asked, "Are they safe hiding in the mountains now? Will they be found by the people from the casino?"
The woman spoke of her son and daughter-in-law with pride in her tone: "My son can hunt, and my daughter-in-law is also very capable. As long as they don't come down the mountain on their own initiative, no one can find them easily."
Meng Yuning nodded and said yes. She couldn't think of anything else to ask, so she fell silent. Then she realized that the carriage was moving forward.
She lifted the curtains that had just been lowered to block the rain and saw that the carriage had entered the bustling area of the city, with shops on both sides.
She turned to Qi Jingyan and said, "Your Highness, where are we going? Aren't we going back to the mansion?"
Qi Jingyan: "Let's go eat."
Meng Yuning: "But," she glanced at Aunt Lin and the child sitting opposite her. She didn't want to say anything because their presence disturbed everyone's rhythm, so she changed the subject temporarily: "It's raining so hard."
Qi Jingyan: "It's okay, it won't delay the meal."
After saying that, he asked curiously, "Why does Aning call rain 'falling rain'?"
Meng Yuning thought to herself that she was really careless. When she returned to Lingnan, where the sun was shining brightly one moment and it was pouring rain the next, she spoke according to her old habits without even realizing it.
She had become quite adept at making up stories, and she smiled and said, "The rain falling from the sky, if you can call it rain, then of course you can also call it falling rain."
Yi'er followed suit: "It's raining, it's raining."
Seeing that the girl was talking nonsense again, Qi Jingyan did not expose her, and curled the corners of his lips slightly: "An Ning has a point."
Meng Yuning didn't want to continue discussing the issue of Luo Yu with him, lest she reveal the truth by saying too much, so she asked Aunt Lin again: "How old is this child, and what is his name?"
Aunt Lin quickly replied, "His name is Lin Xiaoxian, nicknamed Ping'an. He will be four years old this Chinese New Year."
Lin Wang, Lin Xiaoxian, and Meng Yuning thought about it carefully. The names of this family did not appear in the original book.
Yier stretched out four fingers, then retracted one finger: "Ping'an is four years old, one year older than Yier."
Meng Yuning smiled and squeezed Yier's little hand: "Yier's calculation is right."
The carriage came to a steady stop. Mu Yun quickly stepped forward and whispered through the window, "Master, we've arrived at the Canghai Restaurant."
Canghai Restaurant is the largest restaurant in Canghai County. The few of them had agreed beforehand to come here to try the dishes today.
Qi Jingyan didn't respond, so Meng Yuning said, "Aunt Lin, let's go downstairs to eat first."
"Hey, hey!" Aunt Lin responded hurriedly, holding Ping'an and carefully stepping on the horse stool to get out of the car. The two of them stood awkwardly by the pillars of the restaurant waiting.
A group of black-clad, sword-wielding guards, accompanied a carriage, stopped at the entrance of the restaurant. The waiter at the door was startled by the scene and then turned and ran back: "Boss, an important person has arrived."
The portly shopkeeper was fiddling with his abacus behind the counter. Upon hearing this, he quickly threw it aside, ran to the door to take a look, and clapped his hands in excitement: "Oh my God, this can't be the one! Quick! Please invite the boss down! What are you still standing there for? Go!"
The waiter responded, turned around and ran upstairs, shouting at the top of his voice: "Boss, Boss."
The fat host heard the noise, came out of the private room, walked to the stairs, and scolded in a low voice: "You are asking for death! You are shouting so loudly, aren't you afraid of startling the guests?"
The shopkeeper was standing at the entrance to the hall, whirling around anxiously. When he heard the boss's voice, he pointed outside and mouthed, "Your Highness Prince Shen."
The host stumbled upon hearing this, truly surprised and delighted. He took the stairs two at a time, his round figure as flexible as a ball, and ran down the stairs quickly. He hurriedly straightened his clothes and adjusted his hair bun, then called to the waiter: "Put down your work quickly and follow me out to welcome the guests."
Meng Yuning held Yi'er's little hand and walked out of the car holding a green bamboo oil-paper umbrella. She saw two sturdy and wealthy men running out of the restaurant door.
Meng Yuning's first reaction was that the food at the Canghai Restaurant must taste good.
Mu Yun and Mu Shan stood on either side, one supporting the other and holding an umbrella, and carefully helped Qi Jingyan down from the carriage and placed him in a wheelchair.
As soon as he sat down, the owner and manager of the restaurant came forward and knelt down to kowtow: "Your humble servant, Chen Chengsi, did not know that the prince had arrived and failed to greet him. I deserve death!"
Qi Jingyan said calmly, "Get up."
Everyone stood up to express their gratitude.
Qi Jingyan looked at Meng Yuning and said gently, "Let's go in and eat."
Meng Yuning agreed and was about to leave holding Yier's hand. When she turned around, she saw Aunt Lin holding Ping'an and standing in the corridor in shock, with fear and anxiety written all over her face.
She understood in her heart that if this pair of grandparents and grandchildren were to sit at the same table, they would probably not even dare to move their chopsticks.
Besides, one should always be on guard against others, and she didn't want Qi Jingyan and Yi'er to dine at the same table with two strangers.
So he said to Mu Feng, "Take them in, find a table, and order some dishes for them."
Mu Feng clasped his fists and said, "Okay, Miss Meng."
Meng Yuning brought Yi'er in first, and Mu Yun pushed Qi Jingyan behind.
Chen Dongjia bent over and led the way in front, while the shopkeeper stayed outside to arrange the carriage and horses. He ordered the waiter to take the carriage and horses and lead them to the backyard to feed them with hay. Then he welcomed the guards who were all wet into the house.
Today was neither a festival nor a holiday, and they arrived a little late. There were only a few tables of diners left in the restaurant lobby. When they saw everyone coming in, they all looked sideways in shock, wondering who was causing such a big scene.
Chen Dongjia extended his hand to make way for the upper floor: "Your Highness, the top-ranked private room upstairs is empty. Please come upstairs."
The four guards went upstairs first, looked around, and then stood guard at the stairs.
Qi Jingyan nodded slightly, and waited for Meng Yuning to take Yi'er away first before he let Mu Yun and Mu Shan carry him up.
After entering the Tianzihao private room, everyone took their seats. Boss Chen personally brought the restaurant's signature oolong tea, then tactfully walked over to Meng Yuning with the menu and said, "Miss, please take a look at our dishes."
Meng Yuning agreed, took the menu, and looked at it with Yier.
Qi Jingyan looked at Mu Yun and said, "Let the brothers go eat too."
Mu Yun agreed and went out and whispered to a guard, "Just find a place downstairs to cook some food, and brothers can take turns to eat." The guard agreed and went downstairs.
Mu Yun and Mu Shan were guarding the Tianzihao gate on either side.
Soon, Meng Yuning finished ordering the dishes and asked Qi Jingyan, "Your Highness, would you like to take a look?"
Qi Jingyan: "Just give it your order, An Ning."
Meng Yuning returned the menu to the host: "Please serve the food quickly, we are all hungry."
Chen Dongjia nodded in agreement and backed out of the private room. After leaving, he ran to the kitchen with his clothes in hand: "All stoves stop and start cooking on the list. Yes, yes, bring me all the cooked dishes first."
A cook reminded: "Boss, these dishes are very special. You know that guest is very troublesome."
Chen Dongjia waved his hand and said, "Don't worry about it for now. Bring them all to Tianzihao."
Meng Yuning took a few sips of tea and took Yi'er to look at the scenery at the window for a while. Then Chen Dongjia came personally with the waiter to serve the dishes with a smile on his face.
Mu Yun also followed in.
Chen Dongjia's face was wrinkled with laughter. "Your Majesty, Young Master, this pigeon soup with morels and bamboo fungus has been simmering for a full hour. Please try it."
"There's also this steamed grouper and this braised abalone. They were just caught from the sea this morning, so they're very fresh."
Meng Yuning smelled the fragrance and couldn't help swallowing, but still raised her hand to interrupt him: "These are not the dishes we ordered."
Chen Dongjia nodded, "Yes, yes, this is my filial gift to the prince and the two nobles."
Meng Yuning became wary and frowned, asking, "Then how did you make it so quickly? You've been cooking this soup for an hour. Could it be that you knew we were coming?"
Meng Yuning raised her hand and slammed the table. "How dare you! How dare you inquire about our prince's whereabouts?"
The sudden "pop" sound scared Yi'er, who was drooling over the plate of braised abalone, so much that he started and blinked violently.
Chen Dongjia's face turned pale, his knees weakened and he almost fell to his knees. He hurriedly held onto the edge of the table to steady himself: "Your Highness, you are wise! Young lady, you are perceptive!"
He was so anxious that beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "This is originally a dish ordered from the local private restaurant. I saw the girl said she was hungry, so I dared to move it over..."
He pointed to the door tremblingly: "If you don't believe me, go ask next door. The chefs in the kitchen also know..."
Is that so? Meng Yuning finally realized what was going on and fell into a slightly awkward silence. She stole a glance at Qi Jingyan, only to see him propping his chin up with his hand and laughing silently.
Being laughed at, Meng Yuning was a little embarrassed and angry. She patted his leg lightly under the table. After he stopped laughing, she asked, "Your Highness, the dishes are here. What do you think?"
Qi Jingyan put his hand down and straightened his face: "Since it is Mr. Chen's kindness, it would be disrespectful to refuse it, Mu Yun."
Mu Yun agreed, stepped forward, took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms, took out the silver needles from it, and tried all the dishes one by one.
Mu Shan then stepped forward again, took a chopstick of each dish, placed it in an empty bowl, and brought it to Chen Dongjia: "Chen Dongjia, please."
Chen Dongjia watched the two people's actions and looked at the bowl in front of him. Suddenly, he thought of something and was horrified.
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