Chapter 459: Coddle When Necessary

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 Chapter 956: Shu Yu's Rare Item Sold

Jiang Gongzi understood and glanced back at the bamboo forest. He lowered his voice and said, "You don't know, but last year, there was a rare item in the black market in Jiangyuan County."

A rare item? How rare was it?

Jiang Gongzi replied, "It was a mirror with a smooth surface that could reflect a single strand of hair on a person's body. It was said that the mirror was sent to the capital city and eventually bought by the third prince's consort. Many wealthy ladies and young misses were envious at the prince's feast and inquired about where they could buy such a mirror."

Shu Yu said, "...So, this rare item is something I sold myself?"

She felt slightly uneasy and looked into the distance.

Jiang Gongzi continued, "The mirror was taken out of the black market in Jiangyuan County. According to the manager here, someone deliberately brought it to sell. The manager said that the other party would bring more good things to the black market in the future. As a result, many households came to inquire after hearing the news. A few months ago, things became chaotic, so they had to increase the guards."

Shu Yu exclaimed, "Huh?" When did she say that more good things would be brought to the black market?

It seemed that there was competition between the different black markets. That manager clearly intended to make the black market in Jiangyuan County stand out by saying that.

It was pitiful that she had ended up taking the blame. And now, the black market itself had increased its guards to maintain order. It served them right.

Shu Yu was deeply ashamed of this, but now that she understood the reason behind it, she felt relieved. In the future, if she needed money and wanted to sell rare items, she wouldn't come to this black market.

As they walked and talked, they reached the far left of the bamboo forest. This side of the mountain slope was a bit steep, and a careless step could result in falling down. It wasn't easy to climb up either.

Shu Yu noticed signs of a landslide on the ground with a start. She squatted down and examined it. Indeed, someone had fallen down.

"Could it be Little Ya'er?" Jiang Gongzi also noticed.

He glanced ahead and thought it wasn't too high, but it wasn't low either.

"Lady Lu, is there any rope on your cart? If not, could you please ride the carriage back to the manor and bring two ropes? I'll tie one to myself and go down to take a look."

Shu Yu had initially intended to go down herself, but she didn't expect this young gentleman to be quite chivalrous. At the sight of someone potentially being there, his first thought wasn't to go back and call for help but to go down himself.

She nodded. "There is a rope on the carriage. Ying Xi, go and get it."

"Yes."

Ying Xi ran back quickly and soon brought the rope.

Shu Yu tied one end of the rope to a thick tree trunk nearby and the other end around Jiang Gongzi's waist. She watched him carefully as he went down.

After a short while, a joyful voice came from below. "I found her."

Shu Yu breathed a sigh of relief. "Can you bring her up?"

"Yes." Little Ya'er was only five years old and had become thin due to chronic malnutrition. She was very light.

Jiang Gongzi separated a portion of the rope and tied the girl to his back. He then climbed up, bit by bit.

As soon as he stood steady, he quickly said, "She's unconscious, and her forehead feels very hot. She has a high fever. I don't know how long this has been going on. We need to take her back to the manor and have Hu Bo take a look at her."

Shu Yu quickly took the girl off his back. Indeed, she was running a high fever.

"I have fever-reducing medicine in the carriage. Let's bring her over and give her some."

After speaking, she carried the girl and started walking. Jiang Gongzi sighed helplessly and had no choice but to untie the rope himself.

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 Chapter 83: Gratitude

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 Chapter 458: Angry?

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 Chapter 457: The Impact on Marriage Matters

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  Chapter 180: Yan Yan's Peril (2)

Yesterday, Da Bai mentioned that Yan Yan hadn't visited it for a long time. Today, she brought Yan Yan over herself. If Da Bai was happy, it might be willing to teach her some unbeatable fighting moves. Ah, it had been looking forward to this for so long.

"Wait a moment. Lord Xiao has something to ask for your help. If you agree, for the next month, Lord Xiao will follow you into the mountains." Mo Yan quickly wiped off the saliva stains left by Xiao Hua on her clothes.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hua cast a sideways glance at Xiao Ruiyuan, its wolf eyes full of impatience: Hurry up, I'm busy!

This arrogant little demeanor was like night and day compared to how it treated Mo Yan.

Xiao Ruiyuan's eye twitched. Why did he always feel like Xiao Hua could understand human speech? What's more eerie was that he seemed to understand the meaning behind its gaze.

Speechlessly, he took out a green purse from his sleeve and pulled out a slightly larger red scale than a child's palm. He placed it under Xiao Hua's nose.

This scale was something he accidentally found last time he went into the mountains. After being identified by the Ghost Doctor, it was indeed left by the Red Python.

Xiao Hua sniffed at it, then shook its head disdainfully, not liking the snake-like smell on it.

A hint of amusement flashed in Xiao Ruiyuan's eyes. "The Red Savage snake is very powerful and dangerous. If you're unwilling, forget it."

Mo Yan looked at Xiao Ruiyuan suspiciously, feeling that he was trying to provoke Xiao Hua. Given Xiao Hua's proud personality, such provocation would surely make it agree. She looked worriedly at Xiao Hua, fearing that it would be provoked and agree regardless of the danger.

Red Savage snake? Wasn't that the big guy Da Bai mentioned?

Xiao Hua tilted its head. No, it needed to discuss this with Da Bai. Da Bai also wanted to find trouble with the Red Savage snake, but it hadn't been confident of winning, so it hadn't gone yet.

Now that Xiao Ruiyuan was here, he could lead the way first. When he and the Red Savage snake were both injured, the two of them could team up with no problem. Ah, it was really smart. After dealing with the Red Savage snake, Da Bai would definitely teach it how to fight!

Thinking of this, Xiao Hua arrogantly lifted its head, called out to Xiao Ruiyuan a couple of times, then turned around and ran towards the mountain.

Was that an agreement?

Xiao Ruiyuan looked at Xiao Hua's back, feeling a bit unbelievable. When did this fellow become so easy to talk to?

Mo Yan was also surprised. Seeing Xiao Hua stop in front and urge her, she didn't think too much and quickly followed.

Xiao Ruiyuan stepped forward to stop her, showing a disapproving expression. "There might be danger this time. Miss Mo should stay here. I guarantees that Xiao Hua will be safe."

Before Mo Yan could speak, Xiao Hua rushed over, snarling at Xiao Ruiyuan. Yan Yan had gone there, and they would be safer. You, surnamed Xiao, you fool!

Xiao Ruiyuan's eye twitched. Forget it, if there's danger, he'll stand in front of her.

The three of them, plus a wolf, moved quickly. When they arrived at Da Bai's cave, Da Bai was already waiting outside. Xiao Hua leaped up and rubbed against Da Bai's body, whimpering.

Xiao Shiyi stared in shock at Big White wolf, who was even taller than Xiao Hua. Inadvertently meeting Da Bai's cold eyes, he suddenly felt a chill in his heart, as if he wasn't a match for it.

Xiao Ruiyuan didn't show any expression on his face, but he was equally shocked. It was the first time he had seen such a large wolf. It seemed that, like the Red Savage snake, it had lived for many years.

Communication between wolves didn't include humans, but that didn't include Mo Yan.

After spending a long time with these two, Mo Yan could guess some things from their calls and certain body movements. At this moment, the two of them were communicating while keeping an eye on Xiao Ruiyuan. She always felt that something was not quite right.

▶▶The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor

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 Chapter 954: The Direction of the Black Market

An intense argument broke out between the two parties, escalating with each passing moment.

Who would have expected that Tang Shi had a hidden knife? In the chaos, she stabbed Old Man Cui in the thigh.

Xiao Ya'er witnessed this scene and was stunned. Old Man Cui instinctively urged her to run.

Unfortunately, before she could escape, Li Xiaoshan grabbed Xiao Ya'er, choking her neck and throwing her to the ground.

Seeing his only granddaughter immobilized, Old Man Cui became furious and lunged at Li Xiaoshan, ready to fight him to the death.

In a fit of anger, the explosive force was astonishing. Li Xiaoshan and Old Man Cui wrestled their way into the courtyard. Just as Old Man Cui was about to cry for help, Tang Shi didn't hesitate and stabbed him in the neck with the knife.

Blood spurted from Old Man Cui's neck, splashing Li Xiaoshan's face and even blurring his vision. It took him a while before he staggered to his feet.

Both of them were stunned at the moment, but the deed was done. They had to calm down and think carefully.

Tang Shi helped Li Xiaoshan to the kitchen to wash his eyes, and when they finished, they planned to dispose of the bodies of Old Man Cui and Xiao Ya'er.

However, to their surprise, Xiao Ya'er was nowhere to be found. They were alarmed but didn't have time to think. They immediately rushed out to search for her.

However, there was no commotion outside, and Xiao Ya'er hadn't sought help from the neighboring houses. But she had indeed disappeared.

Shu Yu furrowed her brows upon hearing this. "Are you sure she escaped on her own and wasn't harmed by you?"

Tang Shi immediately shook her head. "No, if we had really harmed her, we would have put her in the cellar."

"Didn't you hear her open the door and leave?"

The sound of the door in Old Man Cui's house was quite loud. Moreover, it was at night, so it was impossible for Tang and Li Xiaoshan not to hear if Little Ya'er had opened the door by herself.

Shu Yu believed she wasn't lying. If Tang Shi had lied, she could have easily framed it on Li Xiaoshan.

"Could she have gone out through the dog hole?" Lu Sanzhu suddenly appeared at the doorway of the hall and spoke.

"A dog hole?" Tang Shi was taken aback. "Does Old Man Cui's house have a dog hole?"

Lu Sanzhu rolled his eyes. "Of course it does. When I was looking for the child earlier, I went to check the dog hole first."

He used to crawl through dog holes to play around when he was a child, so he had a knack for finding them.

In the backyard corner of Old Man Cui's house, there was a very small opening covered by some commonly grown herbs, including peppermint and aloe.

Lu Sanzhu pushed them aside and searched, but he didn't find anyone, so he went to look elsewhere.

Upon hearing this, Shu Yu asked him to lead the way and got up to follow him to the backyard.

Lu Sanzhu knew the way and moved some herbs aside. Sure enough, a small hole was revealed, which was probably only big enough for a thin child to crawl into.

Shu Yu squatted down and saw some dark red marks around the hole—bloodstains.

"Xiao Ya'er did indeed leave through here."

This wall wasn't facing the village but rather in the direction of leaving the village.

Did Xiao Ya'er leave the village?

Shu Yu walked out of Old Man Cui's house and looked into the distance.

The place appeared barren and devoid of crops, except for a distant mountain.

And that mountain was where the black market was located.

It was a four-li journey, about two kilometers. Could a wounded five-year-old child run that far?

Regardless of whether she could or not, Shu Yu wanted to search along the way.

She instructed Ying Xi to bring the mule cart from the manor, and as they were about to depart, Jiang Gongzi unexpectedly got on the cart as well.

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