When Madam Houqing woke up, Han Chiyou told her that Xiao Douya and Xiao Mi"er had been lost. Madam Houqing did not believe it at all and rummaged the whole courtyard. In the mansion, except only little girls and stewards, there was no trace of Xiao Mi"er and Xiao Douya. Madam Houqing got fl.u.s.tered and rushed out of the courtyard, but was stopped by Han Chiyou. It was not the right time to make more trouble. Han Chiyou did not allow that anything wrong happened to her mother. Otherwise, if discovered by Di Qing, she could expect nothing but a road leading to death. So, Madam Houqing and Han Chiyou were waiting with anxiety.
Lin Xiaosa and Di Li hurried to the Qi palace, but were stopped when they arrived at the gate of the palace. And they knew that Di Qing was about to leave the palace. Lin Xiaosa had his carriage stopped at the corner. When the gate of the palace was open, Di Qing"s Lie Huo galloped out. Seeing Lie Huo, Lin Xiaosa realized that it used to be Xu Linghe"s and was a Heavenly horse. So how Di Qing tame it? Today, Di Qing seemed to be a bit strange, because he only had several guards with him. Not until the group of people had left did Lin Xiaosa entered his carriage. Perhaps because Di Li was too exhausted, she slept sound. Lin Xiaosa raised the whip, and the horse let out neighs and began galloping. Di Li woke up by the jolts, and raised the curtain, only to find that it was not the Qi palace at all. Lin Xiaosa was busy driving the carriage. When he almost caught up with Di Qing, Lin Xiaosa was startled by Di Li"s scream, so he pulled the rein to slow down the carriage.
"Husband, where are we going? Why don"t we enter the palace but come out of the city gate, instead?"
"Have you ever heard of the Rong Village? Rong San mainly conducts deal in human beings. I"m afraid that Xiao Mi"er has been trafficked." Lying to the closest person, Lin Xiaosa felt his heart was beating so fast. But some lies had to be made up. How could Lin Xiaosa allow Ah Li to know her brother"s true face? Just let Xiaoli dream. Lin Xiaosa fixed her hair and touched her lips gently with his fingers. Di Li blushed, thinking why the husband still had that thought at such a critical moment. Lin Xiaosa smirked, because he did it deliberately and just hoped to release stress on Di Li.
"Take more sleep. I will tell you when we arrive."
When Di Li slept sound, Lin Xiaosa used the sorcery, and then a paper crane flew out and guided the horse to go the right place. Viewed from afar, Di Qing hovered outside a yard. Lin Xiaosa set a defensive cover for Di Li, and then got off the carriage quietly, only hoping that he could handle everything properly before his little woman woke up so that she would never see Di Qing"s wicked side.
Lin Xiaosa shifted himself into a plump of smoke and drifted into the yard. It was a peasant"s small yard where the owner had cleaned up thoroughly. Not knowing why Di Qing came here, Lin Xiaosa came closer and found Di Qing inside through the door. Di Qing seemed to be finding something, but was in vain after searching several times. Di Qing was utterly discomfited, even broke the part.i.tion door inside the room, but once again, he found nothing. Di Qing thought whether Zhou Yi did lie to him—although he had promised to wait for Di Qing, Zhou Yi still left in advance. Di Qing had intended to threaten Jiang Wuyou with the kid, but now Zhou Yi was missing. Pondering for a while, Di Qing concluded that Zhou Yi would go far field. After all, Di Qing was the King of the human world with the power that could not be overlooked. If Zhou Yi made deal with Chidi, Zhou Yi could not get too many benefits because Chidi had allied with the Ninth-level Heaven, and Zhou Yi had no power to take a share from them. In this regard, Zhou Yi would not be too silly to go to Mount Da Huang.
"Go and see nearby."
Having made great efforts to make this trap, how could Di Qing not get angry when the trap was ruined?
"Your Excellency, there is no Zhou Yi and the kid."
Di Qing"s face was startling scary, and the little guard took a few steps back.
"A bunch of rubbish! Even cannot find a person!"
Timid guards shrank their bodies backward, afraid that Di Qing"s fury burnt to them. Di Qing seized a guard"s pillar and threw him out. What useless things! Di Qing thrust a palm. Lin Xiaosa heard the reason. It turned out that it was Di Qing who asked people to rob Xiao Douya away.
"Your Excellency, it"s late. We"d better go back to the palace."
"If you can"t find the little boy, just stay here." The courtyard became silent. At that moment, Di Qing was in a rage. Whosoever dared to provoke him would be killed without a doubt.
"Your Excellency, will Zhou Yi lie to us?"
The guards head asked with great caution. After all, the King was in a fit of anger, and anything would provoke him. But if the guards head did not remind the King, the guards head was afraid that the king would blame him, so he had no alternative but to brace himself to do that. Then, Di Qing gathered all the people, about to return to the palace, because waiting there just consumed time. What was worse, someone still kept an eye on Di Qing in the palace. Di Qing leaped onto Lie Huo, and guards hurried to leap onto their own mounts as well. With horses neighing and dust flying, Lie Huo galloped to the Qi palace. Lin Xiaosa did not show up until Di Qing faded away. And Lin Xiaosa checked the courtyard again but did not find any trace. He was kind of disappointed and helpless. Being Xiao Mi"er"s father, he let his daughter suffer, which made him blame himself a lot. However, what sent a chill to his heart was that Xiao Mi"er was taken away by her uncle. Lin Xiaosa felt unbearably heartached on the way back to the carriage, and just collected himself after getting on it. He thought he could not let Di Li worry about him. Then, he put down the curtain and withdrew the carriage"s defensive cover.
"Rong village is ahead?"
"What Rong..." The word just came out of Lin Xiaosa"s mouth, and he stopped the topic. In fact, the Rong village was made up to cheat Di Li. But Lin Xiaosa forgot it first. A suspicious look took on Di Li"s face. "What"s wrong with my husband? Is it a sh.e.l.l game to go to Rong Village? Does he want to hide anything?" Di Li thought and stared at Lin Xiaosa.
"Xiaoli, your stare makes my face red. Don"t you have any thoughts?"
Lin Xiaosa bantered Di Li, which made her blush again. Then, she gave a pat on him and thought her husband did not behave himself. How could he be in a flirting mood at that moment? Lin Xiaosa gave a vivacious laugh, thinking that he could not let Di Li know that Di Qing had robbed the kid. He flipped at the horse with a whip, and the horse galloped wildly, leaving a cloud of dust.
Di Qing returned to the Qi palace in a hurry where Leng Cang had been waiting. Di Qing had servants to prepare the food and send it to the imperial study. When entering the room, Di Qing sat on the soft couch and sighed. Leng Cang saw his master had a gloomy countenance.
"Mr. Leng, what happened?"
Di Qing lifted up the cup and took a swig of tea. But why did it taste so bad? Di Qing threw the cup and it crashed to the ground. The palace servants outside the room held their breath with fear, not knowing what to do next. If they entered the room, they were afraid of drawing the fire upon themselves. If not, they were also afraid of being accused of neglecting their duty. So, they were caught in a dilemma. Knowing the King was in a fury, Leng Cang stood there, silent, and did not take out letters until Di Qing unfolded his eyebrows.
"Your Excellency, you"d better have a look."
"Why is it Yan Shen again?"
"Your Excellency, this is what you"ve told me to do. I"ve devoted myself to it."
"Who is Madam Yu? Why haven"t heard of her?"
"The scout reported that Madam Yu brought strong soldiers and hid on the border of the Qi Kingdom. I did not believe it first, and sent people to spy on them. And then I knew it was Yan Shen"s influence."
"To get this Madam Yu taped. If you can finish this task, you will be promoted to a.s.sistant Prime Minister of the Qi Kingdom."
"How can I have this ability?"
Di Qing had his own scheming. It was not easy to be the a.s.sistant Prime Minister because it meant that Yan Shen had to be dragged down from that post. However, Yan Shen was the senior statesman of three rulers in succession, powerful and influential in the imperial court. It was not easy to replace him. Now Di Qing made a bright promise to Leng Cang to lure this young man. Whether Leng Cang could fulfill that promise depended on his own ability. Di Qing would not take charge of that. What Di Qing wanted was the outcome—to see the old thing collapse, because Di Qing wanted to seize tightly Qi Kingdom"s power in his hands. No one dared to cast greedy eyes on it.
The two were plotting how to bring Yan Shen down. Meanwhile, the people of Yan residence were not idle at all. Yan Shen"s son, Yan Bao, brought the things back from the border that Yan Shen wanted. After being demoted to the border by Di Qing, Yan Bao had been waiting for good news from his father everyday. But two years had pa.s.sed, and all he received were his father"s letters which persuaded him to be more patient. Yan Bao used to be a playboy enjoying beautiful dresses and nice food and had never suffered it before. So, he once fled to home sneakily, but was sent back secretly. Afraid of being tripped by Di Qing, Yan Shen was much severer on his son"s escape, so he ordered dozens of home servants to accompany Yan Bao to the border. For one thing, they could protect his son; For another, they could prevent Yan Bao from making trouble. Yan Shen had made an agreement with Madam Yu—if he would win the world one day, he would give the territory on the southeastern part of the sea under Madam Yu"s control. Madam Yu was certainly delighted at it because the rock layers of the East Sea had been destroyed by Jiang Wuyou so that hundreds of thousands of Yi people had a hard in surviving. Before that, the Wolf King and Phantom of the Wind City ruined Nanyi jointly. Luckily, Madam Yu had made good preparation and hid in the rock layers of the East Sea so that she could escape that tribulation. But it was a pity that her daughter failed to survive from it because of being playful. Hatred sprang up in Madam Yu"s heart—she hated Xiao Qi and hated Jiang Wuyou. To make deal with Yan Shen was an inevitably general trend. Madam Yu was fully confident about it.
"Father, Madam Yu said Jiang Wuyou had saved the little girl. Our chip is gone. How can we coerce Lin Xiaosa?"
"Look at you! How can you make accomplishments? Learn from Jingyu, that girl."
"Thanks for your praise. I want nothing but my mother"s good health."
"Here. Send a message to Madam Ou to come to the main house."
The home servant responded and came out of the room. Jingyu looked at her mother anxiously. It was a long time since she saw her mother. Concerned about how her mother was, Jingyu kept peeping outside. Yan Shen watched everything in his eyes, thinking that he did take a right movement to take Madam Ou to his residence. Ou Jingyu was a filial child, who could serve for Yan Shen by taking advantage of her filial piety. "Di Qing, just wait. Wait to see the good thing is yet to come!" Yan Shen"s face broadened into a bigger smile. Yan Shen was discouraged by his father"s blame. Being despised by his own father made him depressed to some degree.
"Where are you going?"
The son"s incompetence annoyed Yan Shen, since his son appeared impatient when asked to learn from Jingyu. Yan Shen let out a long sigh. Hearing the footstep outside the room, Ou Jingyu came to greet her. Yan Shen coughed to pull Ou Jingyu"s heart back and make her realize that she was just a p.a.w.n and that she needed to obey rules. Therefore, Jingyu just stood by and her heart fell when her mother turned up at the door. Her mother looked rather fine and ruddier. It seemed that Yan Shen had been treating her mother well.
"Yu"er."
However, her mother became moody and hugged her daughter, unwilling to loosen the hands. Ou Jingyu consoled her mother. As long as her mother lived well, Ou Jingyu was willing to do everything for Yan Shen. Ou Jingyu just stayed with her mother and did not return to the palace until Yan Shen urged her because it was too late. In order not to make Di Qing suspicious about her, Ou Jingyu had to part with her mother unwillingly. When the door closed, Yan Shen restored his stern look.
"If you want your mother to live comfortably, you should show your ability."
"Jingyu is at a.s.sistant Prime Minister"s service."
"I heard that Chidi had some spies in the palace. You need to think about some methods to let Chidi lose trust in Di Qing. It would be best to break their alliance treaty."
"Jingyu will go all out."
"Go out."
After walking out of the room, Ou Jingyu was not reconciled that she had to be others" p.a.w.n, and she wiped tears on her face and took a glance at the door, thinking, "Yan Shen, you dare to detain my mother to threaten me. One day, I will make you double repay me." Ou Jingyu leaped onto the high wall and flew to the Qi palace.
"Father, Jingyu is pretty good and loyal to you."
Yan Bao flattered, hoping his father would think highly of him. But unexpectedly, Yan Shen"s face darkened and Yan Shen thought this son was hopeless because he could just notice a person"s appearance, but lack the ability to see through the person"s thoughts.