Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 1186 - 1183_1

Chapter 1186: Chapter 1183_1

Zhao Youwei suddenly thought of something and asked the old man, "Old gentleman, since this courtyard is yours, I assume you’ve lived here for decades? You must be familiar with everyone around here. Have you heard any crying from a child in a family that didn’t have one before, or have you seen a dark-skinned lady carrying a dark-skinned child into any courtyard?"

The old man shook his head after hearing this, "I’m old, and my hearing is not good. I could hardly hear you knocking just now. Moreover, all sorts of people live in this area. I tend to keep my gate closed, so I haven’t seen any dark-skinned woman with a dark-skinned child."

Zhao Youwei didn’t say anything after hearing this.

"Next household!" ordered Shangguan Xuanyi.

So, they moved on to the next house.

Only once they had left did the old man close the door again, and the sounds of carpentry started up once more within the house.

Shangguan Xuanyi took the lead, continuing to search from one house to another, but they found nothing.

By now, it was nearly twilight. They arrived at the gate of a house where a man carrying a wooden barrel on his shoulder was standing. Before they could knock, he opened the door.

Seeing several soldiers at his door, he was visibly startled and stammered, "S...sirs, how may I assist you?"

"There has been a breach within the Imperial Palace. We are inspecting every household by royal command! This is a search warrant, please cooperate!" Zhao Youwei handed the search warrant to the man. He had spoken these words more times that day than he could remember.

On hearing this, the man, without even looking at the warrant, stepped aside, "Please, sirs, feel free to search. My house is free of any hidden assassins."

While talking, he placed his barrel in a corner.

Zhao Youwei proceeded to search the house with his team but found nothing irregular.

Shangguan Xuanyi glanced at the well in the courtyard. There was no water in it, it was probably why the man had been about to fetch water.

Shangguan Xuanyi and his team continued their search in the west of the city but found nothing.

Shangguan Xuanhao led another group in a search of the eastern part of the city, but they also found nothing.

Back in the Imperial Palace, an afternoon had passed.

The Empress was getting more anxious, "It’s been so long, why haven’t they found Chen’er yet!"

Xiao’er was also getting worried. Since morning, her child had been kidnapped and hadn’t been fed yet. How hungry he must be!

She didn’t know how her child was being treated now!

She desperately wanted to go out and search for her child herself!

Then, Xiao’er thought that she could ask Bai Tian for help. After all, they’d found Shangguan Xuanyi when he was swept far away by a wave. The kidnappers certainly hadn’t left the Imperial City yet with her child; it was sure that Bai Tian would find them!

Why hadn’t she thought of this before!

Xiao’er quickly called out to Bai Tian in her mind: "Bai Tian, can you sense where Wu’er is?"

Bai Tian had been unaware of what had taken place since the children didn’t need care during the Sacrifice to Heaven ceremony. It had been in the space workshop conducting research. Xiao’er’s words took it by surprise: "What happened to Wu’er?"

"Wu’er was taken away by an assassin. The soldiers have been searching for him, but there’s been no sign of him. It’s been several hours."

Upon hearing this, Bai Tian immediately responded, "Let me try to sense him."

Bai Tian was very familiar with the children’s energies, having spent a lot of time with them. It quickly determined, "Master, the little master is in the north of the city!"

Upon hearing these words, Xiao’er immediately stood up. The Empress, startled by her sudden movement, asked, "Xiao’er, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing." Xiao’er glanced at the children on the bed and hesitated. If she left the palace now to find people, what would she do about the three other children?

Yang Liu and Yang Mei had both been sentenced to twenty lashes by the Emperor and were still recovering. They couldn’t look after the children.

She couldn’t put the children in the space in front of the Empress, but if she didn’t put them there, she would have to leave them with the Empress while she left to rescue Wu’er. With the situation as it was, she didn’t feel at ease with that either.

She thought it over. The assassin’s target was Wu’er, and now that they had taken him, they probably wouldn’t come after the other three.

Moreover, the Imperial Palace was now under strict security. The guards were even more vigilant than usual, and it wouldn’t be easy for the assassin to slip by.

Thus, Xiao’er decided to leave the children to be cared for by the Empress. She needed to rescue Wu’er as quickly as possible. Even if the assassin moved locations, if she was personally involved, she’d know immediately!

"Empress Mother, I have to leave the palace and go find Chen’er myself. I entrust these three children to your care for the time being."

"Xiao’er, I understand your anxiety, but we’ve already sent so many people to search. You should stay in the palace and wait. I’m sure we will find Chen’er!"

"Empress Mother, a mother has a special connection to her child. I believe if I go search myself, I’ll know the moment Chen’er is nearby. Even if you dispatched ten thousand soldiers to perform a door-to-door search, it wouldn’t be faster than me!"

"This... "

"Empress Mother, Chen’er must be hungry by now, and we don’t know how those people are treating him. I can’t wait!" Xiao’er stated anxiously.

"All right, I’ll send someone with you!" The Empress finally relented; she too wanted to find her grandson as soon as possible.

Xiao’er didn’t decline. Turning to her children in bed, she said, "You need to be on your best behavior while staying with your Imperial Grandmother, okay? Mommy is going to bring big brother back to play with you!"

Perhaps these children understood that their big brother was missing. They had been crying and acting out the whole afternoon. They would fall asleep only to be startled awake, and then they would begin to cry again.

But now, hearing Xiao’er’s words, the children really did quiet down and just watched Xiao’er.

Xiao’er gave each one a kiss on the forehead, entrusted them to the Empress, and then left the palace.

....

After an afternoon’s search turned up nothing, which meant the assassin couldn’t have escaped from the palace and the city in such a short time, the Emperor issued an order: All officials’ residences must be inspected. Anyone who dared to dissent was treated as disobedient and disrespectful!

Today the entire dynasty was truly a spectacle!

...

Shangguan Xuanyi was still conducting a search in the dense northern city, which hadn’t been completed even after a full afternoon.

Shangguan Xuanyi looked around, wondering which places could be used to hide people.

He arrived in front of a well in one of the courtyards and found it clear of any water and asked, "Why is there no water in this well?"

Digging a well required a large quantity of silver. Therefore, not every household in this era had a well. This was especially true in the northern part of the city, an area inhabited by the poor. Shangguan Xuanyi, having inspected a few houses in the afternoon, had only seen three that had a well!

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