Someone is asking her to acknowledge a child?
Of the seven children, four—Tian Shu, Tian Ji, Yu Heng, and Xiao Yao Guang—have unknown origins.
She was waiting for Old Man Luo to decipher the characters on the four bamboo plaques so that Duobaoge could help her find information. Only then would she have a direction to find the families of these four children.
There's been no word from Old Man Luo. She had prepared herself for the uncertainty of how long it would take to get any news, or that the characters might be too worn to easily find out about the children's background.
Surprisingly, someone actually came looking for the child and wanted to claim him.
The letter was short, concise, and easy to understand.
It wasn't just one family that came to claim the child, but five families; they came as a group.
The reason is clearly stated above: it was because news spread in the capital that General Gong Wei, who was guarding Huazhou City, had also found his son who had been lost for many years.
Adding to the fact that Prefect Ye of Jiaozhou had just found his lost child not long ago, it reminded everyone of the year before when Minister Wei's family found their lost grandson.
A single family finding a child lost for many years wouldn't cause a sensation, but several families in succession, and these weren't ordinary people, but high-ranking officials in the imperial court.
The children were all around one year old when they went missing.
Most importantly, these children who were found are all together, having been rescued and adopted by the same person.
It is said that the person who kidnapped the children was the same person, a villain nicknamed Black Impermanence, who committed this heinous act out of revenge.
This matter was originally just a conversation among a few officials in the capital. They told their families about it when they returned home, but no one expected it to spread so quickly and become known to more and more people.
Among them, there was a family that had also lost a child, who was also around one year old at the time. Calculating the time, it was close to the time when the children of Minister Wei of the capital, Prefect Ye of Jiaozhou, and General Gong of the garrison in Huazhou were lost.
For them, this meant they could also find a glimmer of hope for their own children.
The location of these families was not close to the three families whose children had already been found, and they did not know where the young woman who had rescued and taken in the children was now. So they simply thought of using money to buy information from Duobao Pavilion.
Upon learning of this, Pavilion Master Lan Zechen immediately ordered that the people looking for Hong Xiaoduo be informed of her current location.
Those families had met on their way to Huazhou, and some of them had met before. When they started chatting, they realized that they all had the same purpose for coming here.
Perhaps because they had both lost their children, they naturally became much closer to each other.
Upon arriving in Huazhou, they encountered several other families who had arrived a day earlier and were being waited for by Duobaoge.
Upon hearing that Hong Xiaoduo was still in Baishi City, everyone disregarded the well-intentioned advice of the people from Duobaoge and insisted on coming over.
So what if Hongliu City and Baishi City were captured less than two months ago? Along their journey, they only heard that Yunwu Kingdom had sent people to negotiate, but they never heard of any war that Yunwu Kingdom had sent troops to retake the cities.
There's only one possibility: Yunwu Kingdom isn't confident it can recapture the lost cities. To put it bluntly, the enemy country is no good!
So, what could be unsafe?
So the group headed straight for White Stone City. The messenger from Duobao Pavilion told her that the families would arrive around noon.
"No need to pack anymore, we're not leaving for now," Hong Xiaoduo said to Tian Shu and the others who were getting ready to hitch up their carriages after the messengers left.
Tian Shu and the others had only heard the person say to Hong Xiaoduo that those families would arrive around noon, so they were all a little confused when they heard her say that she wasn't leaving for the time being.
"What's wrong?" Quan Jinghuai happened to walk over and asked when he saw the disciples' expressions.
Hong Xiaoduo explained the reason simply and clearly. Quan Jinghuai and Fei Yan nodded after listening, so that's how it is.
Tianquan and Tianxuan immediately looked towards Tianshu, Tianji, Yuheng, and Yaoguang; this was good news.
The four of them, including Tian Shu, were initially excited, but then couldn't help but worry. If she really was their family, would they allow them to continue following her and their master?
Will they be as easy to talk to as the families of Tianquan, Tianxuan, and Kaiyang, allowing them to change only their surnames back and keep their current names?
But then, a moment later, I thought to myself, why am I worrying about this?
Kaiyang was the second youngest of the seven. He was the first to find his family and the first to insist on changing only his surname while keeping the name his mother gave him.
I'm older than him, so why can't I do what he can think of and do? Am I even worse than my younger brother?
Everything depends on human effort!
Tianxuan prepared breakfast and asked her where she wanted to eat. Hong Xiaoduo pointed to the kitchen.
Chicken soup wontons, fried eggs, and a plate of fried dumplings.
"Tianxuan, don't pack up anymore, we're not leaving for now." Hong Xiaoduo only remembered to tell him this after watching Tianxuan quickly pack up his kitchenware.
The child was busy making breakfast for himself in the kitchen, so he didn't know yet.
"Huh? Oh, I see." Tianxuan was only stunned for a moment before happily putting her kitchen utensils back in their original places.
"Aren't you going to ask why we're not leaving?" Hong Xiaoduo couldn't help but ask.
Upon hearing this, Tianxuan looked at her, thought for a moment, and asked cooperatively, "Why?"
Hong Xiaoduo rolled her eyes at him and said, "It's because you're such a good cook. Tianquan's parents didn't get enough to eat and didn't want you to leave, so they strongly urged you to stay."
Tianxuan knew immediately that she was lying to him. He really didn't care why he wasn't leaving again. After all, there were reasons for leaving and reasons for staying.
Whether I stay or leave, I'll just stick with her and the rest of the group!
"What do you want to eat for lunch? It's been a long time since I've made duck and bamboo shoot stew. Do you want some?" Tianxuan took off her apron, picked up the basket next to her and put it on her back, and picked up a large bamboo basket. She looked at Hong Xiaoduo with bright eyes and asked.
Since he wasn't leaving, he needed to hurry and buy ingredients for lunch and dinner.
Seeing his posture, Hong Xiaoduo understood everything.
"Sweet and sour pork, fish balls, and braised pig's trotters," Hong Xiaoduo ordered without hesitation.
She hadn't eaten this guy's cooking for over forty days, and she was genuinely craving it; she really wasn't trying to make things difficult for him.
"Okay, no problem." Tianxuan, carrying a basket on her back and a large bamboo basket, happily agreed and walked out.
Hong Xiaoduo watched his hurried departure, shook her head helplessly, and picked up a fried dumpling.
While eating, I wondered how many of the children from the families I was going to visit in the afternoon might actually be among those four children.
It's definitely not that lucky; it's all the same.
Because he still has four children whose families haven't been found, but the letter from Duobao Pavilion mentioned five families coming...
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