However, before Lin Qingge could steady herself, Lin Zimo’s soft, childlike voice rang out from afar:
“Daddy!
Why are you so late!
Daddy, you must avenge Mo’er for me!
These bad guys not only captured Mo’er, but they also stole all the candy Mo’er had saved up!
They’re simply terrible!”
…
Everyone present, whether they knew the truth or not, fell into silence.
For once, Lin Qingge did not scold the child. Instead, she cradled the little one in her arms, examining him thoroughly.
Once she was sure the child was unharmed, the tension that had gripped her all day finally eased, and her tear ducts became somewhat uncontrollable.
Lin Qingge sniffled forcefully, then put on a stern face and scolded:
“Eat, eat, eat!
You only know how to eat all day!
Do you know how scared you made Daddy?”
Seeing the tears shimmering in his aunt’s eyes, Lin Zimo nervously tugged at his clothes. “Daddy, Mo’er knows he was wrong. Mo’er won’t let Uncle Yan sneak me out to buy sugar figurines next time.”
“Anything else?”
“Mo’er won’t steal other people’s candy when he gets caught next time!”
“There’s a next time?!”
After yelling, Lin Qingge realized, “Wait, you stole other people’s things?”
Seeing the child bury his head even lower, Lin Qingge took a deep breath and tried to soften her voice:
“As the saying goes, taking without asking is stealing.
But the situation was urgent at the time. Daddy believes Mo’er did not intentionally steal other people’s candy.
Tomorrow, when we have time, Daddy will accompany you to the candy shop to apologize and make amends for the stolen candy, alright?”
Lin Zimo, who had been prepared for a scolding and spanking, blinked his eyes and then nodded vigorously.
Having dealt with her troublesome child, Lin Qingge finally had time to look around. Upon seeing the familiar figure in water-blue, she couldn’t help but exclaim:
“Madam, how did you get here?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Lin Qingge belatedly remembered the case of Xu Changling’s daughter being kidnapped.
Thinking back to the previous strategy of passing off a fake for the real thing, she asked uncertainly:
“Could it be that the flower thief abducted Mo’er?”
“I’m not entirely sure about the specifics. After I was brought here, I was locked up with Mo’er and the others.
Hearing a commotion outside, I went out to investigate.
Who would have thought that none of the kidnappers survived.”
“None survived?”
Hearing Leng Ningyue’s words and seeing the bloodstains on her skirt hem and shoes, Lin Qingge finally noticed the abnormality in the ruined temple.
“Why don’t I see Constable Yan?”
Lin Qingge had assumed that Leng Ningyue was the bait, and the highly skilled Yan Tinghao had followed the trail to rescue them.
But she had been here for half a day and hadn’t heard even Yan Tinghao’s goofy voice, let alone seen him. She couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
Leng Ningyue, who had not expected Lin Qingge to find her so quickly, her eyes flickered.
“Oh, Constable Yan had an urgent matter and returned to Changzhou County.”
“What!?”
Lin Qingge’s eyes widened, her expression contorting with anger.
“So, you came here by yourself?”
“Of course not!”
Knowing she was in the wrong, Leng Ningyue denied it without thinking, appearing completely different from her stern demeanor moments ago.
“Although Constable Yan is absent, there are still guards from Fengtian Prefecture and a group of warm-hearted men in black.
It must have been them who dealt with all the kidnappers.”
Although it felt a little unfair to Constable Yan, Leng Ningyue, determined to keep up the pretense, could only use the men in black, whom she had just admonished, as a shield.
The men in black, hiding in the shadows, having trouble thrust upon them: …
“Men in black?”
Lin Qingge, who had also noticed, first glanced at the two men in black leading the horses nearby, then looked at Hua Jinrong walking towards them, raising an eyebrow:
“Master Hua, were the gruesome scene inside the work of your friend surnamed ‘Ye’?”
“What gruesome scene?”
Hua Jinrong craned his neck to peer into the ruined temple. Upon seeing the two corpses lying at the entrance, he habitually took out his fan from his sleeve and tapped it on his palm. “The people sent by Young Master Ye should still be here. I will call them out now and question them thoroughly.”
While Hua Jinrong went to find the people, Lin Qingge walked up to another woman who had remained silent the entire time.
“Miss Xu, I am Lin Jingxing, the county magistrate of Changzhou, a disciple of your father. I was sent by your father to find you.”
The woman, whose back remained ramrod straight despite not wearing a waist sash, finally spoke upon hearing this:
“I am Xu Siyun. Greetings, Magistrate Lin. I thank you and Madam for saving my life.”
With that, Xu Siyun bowed deeply to Lin Qingge and the other.
Both possessed a poker face and an aloof demeanor that kept others at a distance.
Unlike Leng Ningyue, who was as cold as frost, capable of making people cower with just a glance.
The calm composure of this prefect’s daughter stemmed mostly from the reserve of a young lady from a good family and the backbone of a scholar.
Lin Qingge was unsure if Xu Siyun was acquainted with her supposedly elder brother. She nodded, indicating she understood, and stepped aside.
Before long, several men in black emerged from the shadows and stood before everyone.
Hua Jinrong strolled over, fanning himself, and asked:
“I am a friend of your Young Master Ye. Did you deal with the people inside?”
The man who stepped forward was still the one previously called ‘Big Brother.’ “Reporting to Young Master, it was not us who acted. Rather, these kidnappers began arguing among themselves due to infighting.
The leader who planned this kidnapping intended to frame the flower thief for all the crimes.
The flower thief, sensing this, fought back, leading to a situation where both sides suffered heavy casualties.”
Fearing that admitting to it might lead to them being imprisoned by the county magistrate, the men in black shifted the blame to the flower thief.
After all, the scarred man’s original plan was to pin the blame on the flower thief, so he was merely going with the flow.
However, when Lin Qingge entered the ruined temple with the men in black.
The flower thief, who should have been slumped in his seat, had already disappeared without a trace.
In his place was a pool of blood on the chair.
Seeing that the bloodstains were still fresh, and combining this with the situation described by the men in black earlier, Lin Qingge deduced:
“It seems he must have punctured his thigh, using the pain to regain his mobility.
Yan…”
Lin Qingge was about to call for Constable Yan, but remembering his absence, she shifted her gaze to the men in black beside her.
“If you have time, could you help me search for that flower thief?
The kind that doesn’t involve any reward.”
The men in black: …
Whether it was Ye Shengxiao’s swift escape or the men in black intentionally letting him go.
Ultimately, the men in black did not find Ye Shengxiao.
As Lin Qingge searched the ruined temple, she discovered that everyone had been killed with a single, clean strike.
Although she still had doubts, because this area was not under the jurisdiction of Changzhou County.
Lin Qingge could only hand the case over to Xu Changling, who arrived with his men shortly after.
“Siyun, are you alright?”
After discovering that his prized disciple’s wife was missing, Xu Changling had hurriedly sent people to search everywhere.
Because they had considered this situation beforehand, they had prepared a contingency plan.
His men quickly found the markers left by Leng Ningyue along the way and followed them here.
However, it seemed they were a step too late?