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墨書 Inktalez
"Isn't Xiao Ye following along?"
That little girl was playful, naive, and still struggling to articulate her words; asking her would be pointless. "Don't worry, our child is capable. I'll ask the Flower Spirit here."
Sang Qingxiao remained surprisingly calm, telling everyone that the child was lost and Old Vine was searching for her. "Let's eat first."
The server bringing the dishes overheard Sang Qingxiao's words. Having just discussed the menu with her, he knew she was easygoing, so he responded with a light-hearted tone. The child was missing, yet the young lady maintained such a demeanor—could it be that she had already heard about our Kishu's reputation?
"What reputation?"
"The reputation of losing children," Li Cu asked curiously. "Is it true that you Kishu have a reputation for losing children?"
The server nodded with a smile. "Yes, that's right."
This attitude seemed off; in other places, if a child went missing, people would be clamoring to report it to the authorities. How could this server still be smiling?
Li Cu continued to inquire, "Do children often go missing around here?"
"Yes," the server nodded again before quickly explaining, "but the term 'missing' isn't entirely accurate. In Kishu, every household is well-off, and the people are particularly united. In recent years, no children have gone missing. If a child does disappear, just head towards the city center and look for the most luxurious building—the Ji Mansion. Knock on their door and you should be able to find the child."
"If you can't find them there, then you must report it to the authorities."
"Oh, and once you find the child, remember to ask for an explanation from Ji Mansion; their compensation is quite generous."
As he concluded his explanation, there was a hint of envy in his eyes.
Kishu Castle was indeed interesting; losing a child had become something enviable.
Sang Qingxiao casually tossed him a piece of silver. "Now tell me more."
His eyes brightened as he smiled more sincerely. "Are you interested in learning about Ji Mansion? Then let me elaborate."
Ji Mansion is the first family in Kishu Castle engaged in business for daughters. Their contributions helped the entire state prosper. I can't recall exactly when it happened; I probably wasn't even born yet, but out of gratitude for Ji Mansion's efforts, the state name was changed to Kishu.
The Ji Family holds significant power in the city but has always remained humble and charitable. Their Old Master often greets everyone politely during his morning walks.
It's unfortunate that such a good family struggles with heirs; this generation of the Ji Family has only one daughter. After she was born, they finally had a Male Descendant who is weak and sickly at home. I've seen him a few times—he's quite frail.
This issue of lost children is somehow related to Ji Family's Big Girl.
Ji Family's Big Girl, Ji Rui, is capable, determined, kind-hearted, has an excellent temperament, and is exceptionally beautiful. At that time, when Ji Family had only one daughter—Miss Ji—who was merely eight years old, they directly sought a husband for her.
In Kishu and the surrounding prefectures, many people signed up, but in the end, Miss Ji surprisingly took a liking to someone with an unknown background. This person stayed at Ji Mansion for just over two months before disappearing without a trace.
Later, it was discovered that Miss Ji was pregnant. A few months later, she gave birth to a baby boy, whom she cherished and cared for until he mysteriously vanished. Miss Ji completely broke down, spending nearly a year searching for him. When she returned, she was in a state of madness, alternating between lucidity and confusion.
When she was clear-headed, she made decisions for the Ji Family, which thrived under her leadership. During her moments of insanity, she became obsessed with finding her child. Whenever she saw someone in the city who bore even the slightest resemblance to her son, she would bring them home and care for them for a few days. Once she regained her senses, she would immediately return the child.
Sometimes, her father would intervene first, and the Ji Family would send the child away with compensation in silver.
Li Cu sighed after hearing this; what a pitiful person. How long had the child been missing?
Ten years.
Ten years?! If that child were still alive, he should be ten years old now. This meant that the son-in-law had been missing for ten years without any news?
Alas, the Ji Family had spent a considerable amount of money searching for that child. The reward for information increased year by year. There were even instances where people tried to deceive them by bringing random children, only to be exposed by the Ji Family on the spot. Such scams occurred several times each year.
As for the son-in-law's side of things, they had only searched for six or seven years. After failing to find her child, Miss Ji completely gave up on searching just a few months after returning.
Xiao Jian had said enough and was eager to attend to other customers. After receiving permission from Sang Qingxiao, he left.
At Ji Mansion, the elders of the Ji Family were quite troubled by the sudden appearance of four children. However, seeing that they were not causing any trouble and were happily chatting with Ji Rui improved their mood somewhat.
Buddha Treasure said, "Auntie, don't cry; it makes Buddha Treasure sad."
The Office of Censors patted his chest and said, "Auntie, our family has extensive connections. If you share some details, perhaps we can help you find him."
Yin Can remarked that it was strange for a child to disappear so suddenly from within the mansion while there was still light in the evening. They should interrogate everyone in the household thoroughly; if they couldn't do it themselves, he could help.
Yin Can bared his teeth in anger; he was ready to burn everything down if necessary and wasn't afraid they wouldn't talk.
Liu Cong remained silent as he unwrapped his small bundle and handed Ji Rui a toy that Riri couldn't touch.
Listening to the various ways the children tried to comfort her only made Ji Rui cry harder. She kept saying sorry and lamenting that she didn't want this to happen but sometimes couldn't control herself. The only thing she felt grateful for was that she hadn't harmed them. "Where is your home? I'll take you back."
The Office of Censors rubbed his growling stomach and said, "Auntie, I'm hungry! Our family shouldn't be too anxious; can we please have a meal?"
How could they not be anxious? They needed to eat and also search for their family!
Ji Rui felt even more guilty. How could she let such a good child go hungry? After a flurry of activity, ensuring the children had hot meals, Ji Rui finally asked where their family was.
Before she could hear a response, a maid hurriedly approached and whispered a few words to Ji Rui. The sunny expression on her face was suddenly overshadowed by a heavy gloom.
After entrusting her Kissing Relative to take care of the children, Ji Rui comforted them for a moment before turning to leave.
She quickly made her way to the desolate area of the Ji Mansion's backyard. Inside the dilapidated house, however, there was an unexpected world. It may not have been luxurious, but it had everything one needed.
In the bedroom, a middle-aged man lay on a carved nanmu bed. Upon hearing someone enter, he didn’t even bother to look and continued resting with his eyes closed.
Ji Rui spoke urgently, "Have you found him?"
The man replied irritably, "Why don’t you ask me how I am first?"
Ji Rui quickly inquired, "Are you hurt again?"
"It's all because of you that we lost our son. I was just outside nursing my injuries, yet you all call me a heartless man. Now that I'm back in this Kishu Castle, I can't even show my face."
"For those years I was healing, I thought about you every day. My injuries weren't fully healed when I rushed back only to hear such terrible news. I had no choice but to push through my illness and search for our son."
"If I had found him, would I have returned alone to see you?"
Ji Rui took out some medicine commonly kept in the house and began treating the man's wounds. "This time your injuries are quite serious. How did you get hurt so badly while looking for the child?"
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