vrcanaries Chapter 171 Flower Shooting
Chapter 171 Flower Shooting
On the bustling street, the two did not continue the conversation.
Thinking of the matter in Jing'an Prefecture, Meng Fuqing didn't mince words, "I wonder if Young Master Xie could do me a favor?"
As if knowing what she was going to say, Xie Jin said directly, "Tomorrow, I will send Mu Feng to Jing'an Prefecture in advance. At that time, we only need to wait for him to send a message by carrier pigeon."
"Thank you for your help, Young Master Xie. I won't say much more about gratitude; I'm sure everyone will remember your kindness. Once we're settled, we'll treat you to a proper meal."
Xie Jin stopped and bowed slightly to Meng Fuqing, a gentle smile playing on his lips. "It's good that you remember. You'll have to pay it back someday."
Meng Fuqing: ...
She naturally understood what those words meant, so she took a step back and deliberately asked, "You're telling me not to repay others? Are you perhaps targeting me, Young Master Xie?"
Xie Jin was slightly displeased by her stepping back, and upon hearing this, he was taken aback, instinctively explaining, "It wasn't directed at me..."
He paused slightly, clearly seeing the sly smile in Meng Fuqing's eyes.
Seeing the person in front of him take two steps back, turn around and wave lightly with their back to him, Xie Jin chuckled softly and chased after them without thinking.
Yan He was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle and didn't even notice that someone had appeared behind him.
Seeing well-dressed maids and servants distributing porridge and snacks to refugees by the roadside, and others handing out old cotton-padded clothes to refugees in the city, I was somewhat tempted.
"Qingqing, shall we line up to get some food?"
Meng Fuqing could easily see that she wanted to take advantage of him. Thinking that Doctor Zheng wanted some snacks, and that free snacks were even better, the two hit it off and joined the group of refugees.
Xie Jin, left standing there: ...
Seeing that it was still early and his two men wouldn't be back for a while, he decided to wait there.
Dan Qiyu drove a carriage with her two children out to shop. Perhaps because she had seen the higher prices of grain, she didn't feel that prices in Qingzhou City were expensive.
I bought a lot of vegetables and ready-made steamed buns and mantou. Thinking that I had Xiaobai, I gritted my teeth and bought some more meat.
Besides fresh food, they have no shortage of anything else.
On the way back to the inn, Meng Ranran and Meng Ali, who were sitting in the carriage, saw someone distributing food, and their eyes lit up with surprise.
The two children kept pestering her to get some snacks, so Shan Qiyu didn't dare stop the carriage.
There were many people on the street, and the carriage couldn't be left unattended. She wasn't comfortable letting just the two children go, so she thought of leaving the carriage at the inn before taking the two children out.
The innkeeper's assistant led the carriage to the backyard of the inn, and Shan Qiyu, holding one in each hand, went out onto the street again.
The bustling streets gave one the illusion that the natural disasters and wars had never happened. Perhaps it was because the Lantern Festival was approaching, many shops had lanterns displayed in front of them, and the crowds were bustling. With two children in tow, Shan Qiyu dared not be distracted.
The mother and her two children successfully stood in line among the refugees.
When it was their turn, the maids and servants started packing their things. Meng Ali used her sweet talk skills and blurted out a string of auspicious words, making the maids laugh heartily.
The mother and her two children walked back with the snacks and old cotton clothes and shoes given to them by the maid. As the great contributor, Meng Ali held a osmanthus cake and ate it with crumbs all over his mouth.
"Ali, remember more auspicious words in the future. Noble people love to hear these things, and you might even encounter such good fortune in the future," Meng Ranran instructed.
Meng Ali chewed and chewed: "I understand, Second Sister!"
Shan Qiyu was also happy, but still couldn't help but remind her, "When you encounter crowded places, ask your mother and your eldest sister to accompany you. You can't go by yourself, or you'll get lost and have nowhere to look for them."
Meng Ali chewed and chewed: "Mother is right!"
Just as Shan Qiyu was about to say something more, she suddenly realized that something was wrong.
She was holding her cotton-padded clothes and shoes, so she had her two children hold onto her clothes. But it seemed like no one was holding onto her right side.
Looking down, Meng Ali, who had been following him, was nowhere to be seen.
Dan Qiyu's mind went blank for a moment. He turned around abruptly and saw many figures in front of him, but he couldn't find that small figure anywhere.
She hurriedly asked, "Ranran, where's Ali? Have you seen Ali?"
At this moment, Meng Ranran also realized something was wrong. She nervously squeezed the oil paper package containing the snacks in her hand, then shook her head blankly, "Mother, I didn't see it either..."
She quickly realized that her younger brother seemed to be missing.
Her eyes quickly welled up with tears, but she didn't cry. She just looked up at her mother and said, "Mother, you go find Ali first. I... I'll go back and tell my sister!"
In Meng Ranran's heart, nothing could stump her older sister.
Shan Qiyu quickly calmed down and squatted down to ask, "Ranran knows that the inn we're staying at isn't far from here, right?"
Meng Ranran nodded quickly.
"Alright, Mother will go find someone. You go back and tell your eldest sister that if you run into Grandpa Village Chief or the others, remember to tell them to help look for them."
The mother and daughter were separated from then on.
As Meng Ranran ran towards the inn with her cotton-padded clothes, shoes, and snacks in her arms, she suddenly bumped into someone.
Yan He pulled the little girl back from the ground, but her cotton-padded coat and shoes still fell to the ground.
After getting a good look at the person in front of her, she said, "Why aren't you watching where you're going, little girl?"
Upon hearing the familiar voice, tears quickly welled up in Meng Ranran's eyes. "Sister Yan, my brother is lost. We can't find him. My mother is looking for him on the street and told me to come back and tell you."
Although she was crying, she still managed to say everything she needed to say.
Yan He's face immediately turned ugly. He reached out and patted Meng Ranran's head, "Don't cry. Our people are still in the city. It's easy to find them if there are many of them."
Comforted by her words, Meng Ranran immediately wiped away her tears and cheered herself up.
Before long, Meng Fuqing and Meng Bochang learned that Meng Ali had gone missing on the street. People scattered throughout the city put down what they were doing and began to search for her. They searched until it was almost dark and the city gates were closed, but they still couldn't find her.
While they were searching for Meng Ali, Meng Fuqing hid in her room and transformed her hair into countless vines again. She searched almost every corner of the city but still couldn't find Meng Ali.
Her eyes betrayed her anxiety.
Retracting the vines, her wood-based abilities were exhausted. She simply secured her long hair with a wooden hairpin and paced back and forth in the room, her mind racing.
Her tendrils could penetrate even the densest, most impenetrable places. She checked every street in Qingzhou City. The only unusual thing was that there were uniformly dressed servants in the city searching for people just like them, as if a wealthy family had also lost a child.
Both sides were searching for Meng Ali, but still couldn't find any trace of her. This could only mean that Meng Ali was not in Qingzhou City, Meng Fuqing concluded.
The most likely explanation is that he was taken out of the city by someone.
On the other hand, Meng Ali was indeed stuffed into a carriage and taken out of Qingzhou City.
When I woke up in the pitch-black carriage, the first thing I heard was soft, faint sobbing. It seemed there was more than one person.
His mouth was stuffed with something foul, and he twisted his body but couldn't move. He instinctively wanted to cry, but then he heard people talking outside. He immediately stopped crying and pricked up his ears to listen.
"Who the hell told you to knock that girl unconscious too? That girl had a longevity lock hidden in her clothes; if you took it off, it could buy your dog's life! You made us flee the city overnight, and you were afraid we wouldn't be discovered, weren't you?"