Chapter 208 Hints of the Conspiracy
“Don’t be afraid. This is a honey pastry, would you like to taste it?”
Lin Mengya spoke tenderly and then handed the honey dessert that Baizhi had left in the carriage to the little kid.
Maybe it was the warmth in the carriage or Lin Mengya’s gentle voice that attracted the little kid to reach out his chubby hands and take the honey pastry from Lin Mengya’s hands.
“Come on. Come here. Don’t worry. We’ve driven away those bad guys.”
The little child raised his head, whose appearance surprised Lin Mengya slightly.
He had a pair of beautiful, energetic, big eyes and a fair face. Although he seemed timid, he was fair-skinned and lovely.
“Sister…”
The honey pastry worked. The little boy looked at Lin Mengya with his spirited, big eyes.
Although his face was still dirty, his childish, soft call pa.s.sed through into Lin Mengya’s heart.
“Come here. Give me a hug.”
Women would never refuse a lovely thing. Especially from a kid with such a lovely, cute look, it really attracted her.
Lin Mengya embraced the little guy in her arms and the lovely boy soon recovered.
Glancing at Lin Zhongyu and then looking at the little boy in her arms, Lin Mengya frowned slightly.
“Xiaoyu, do you remember the characteristics of those kids they kidnapped?”
Xiaoyu found the little guy to be lovely as well. Hearing what Lin Mengya asked, he thought about it for a while and then replied.
“Those kids kidnapped along with me had lovely appearances. And I heard from the Willow Gang that they were of great use. They would grade us. But because I was different, they took me to the street to extort money under false pretences.”
An absurd idea came into being in Lin Mengya’s mind.
One thing that happened in her childhood came to her mind.
That year, she was only seven years old. She didn’t know the reason why, but Shangguan Qing took her to the temple outside the city to offer incense to Buddha.
She had a vague memory of Shangguan Qing plotting something with a person in a room.
She was so young at that time that she heard nothing clear.
But she firmly remembered some of Shangguan Qing’s words. Shangguan Qing told that man to take her away.
But that man stalled because Lin Mengya looked a little goofy, even though she was cute.
Was that man from the Willow Gang as well?
Dozens of years ago, the Willow Gang began to collect boys and girls with lovely, beautiful appearances.
If it had carried on until now, what a tremendous number of boys and girls had been kidnapped!
“Boy, where is your home?”
Lin Mengya lowered her head and asked him. She believed that she seemed to be close to an unfathomable conspiracy.
At present, she had lots of things to deal with. If she got herself involved in the affairs against the Willow Gang, she would be deeply troubled.
The boy looked at her and then spoke in a vague, lovely voice.
“It’s not far away. A man was selling sweets outside. So my parents agreed to let me out.”
Lin Mengya nodded. Those men must have disguised themselves as sellers of sweets.
The kids without precaution were their targets. It was really impossible to defend against effectively.
“Okay. We’ll send you back home now. Remember, never go out alone, okay?”
The boy nodded, not fully understanding her. But Lin Mengya knew clearly that their targeting this boy was by no means accidental.
Perhaps they had already observed him for a long time.
Lin Mengya and Lin Zhongyu secretly sent the boy back home and didn’t tell anyone else.
On the way back, Lin Mengya and Lin Zhongyu found a couple of boys who were either lame or had damaged limbs, begging in the streets.
Xiaoyu squatted down and leafed through their clothes as he gave them money.
“What did you find?” Lin Mengya lowered her voice and asked.
Xiaoyu looked at her and quietly said, “I saw willow patterns on their clothes. I believe all of them are from the Willow Gang.”
Xiaoyu looked gloomy. If Lin Mengya had failed to save him in time, he would not be any better off than them.
“What are you thinking?”
On the street, Lin Mengya took Xiaoyu by the hand and tenderly asked him.
Lin Zhongyu turned and looked at Lin Mengya as if he wished to speak but stopped on second thought.
“Say what you want to. I strongly support you.”
Looking at Lin Mengya, Xiaoyu seemed to have made up his mind.
“Senior Sister, I believe that my kidnapping was not as simple as we expected. As for where I come from… I can’t tell you yet. But I want to figure out what actually happened that year.”
Sensing his determination in his eyes, Lin Mengya lightly let out a sigh.
She didn’t want to get into trouble, nor bring up any unexpected troubles.
But Xiaoyu was involved, so she had to reconsider it.
“Is this really important to you?”
Looking into Lin Mengya’s eyes, Xiaoyu firmly nodded.
He stared at Lin Mengya in antic.i.p.ation, as if her approval mattered the most.
“Fine. Well then, just do it. No matter what happens, I’ll support you.”
She took Xiaoyu back, so in the future, everything involving Xiaoyu was also her matter.
Now that Xiaoyu was determined to figure out what actually happened that year, she had to take the responsibility to offer her help to him.
“Senior Sister, thank you.”
Lin Zhongyu suddenly cracked a big smile, which stunned everyone around them and made their eyes sparkle.
Eye-catching brilliance was emitted from his bright eyes.
Lin Mengya touched his face. No matter what, even it would be a mountain of swords or a sea of flames, she would give it a try with Xiaoyu!
“What? Are you insane, Master? You want to investigate the Willow Gang? Oh no! Our peaceful, happy life is coming to an end.”
Baizhi screamed in an exaggerated voice in a private room for Lin Mengya in Restaurant Ruyi.
She opened her dark eyes wide and lightly patted her chest with her hands, as if she were frightened by something scary.
“Sit down. We are drinking tea.”
Lin Mengya seemed very calm while drinking her tea. “How could I help Baizhi to change her disposition of screaming whenever it comes to an incident?”
“Little girl, why will you try to understand the Willow Gang?”
It was abnormal for Qinghu to not join in the fun right away, he just sat off to the side.
“Because of me. They kidnapped me at that time. I want to figure out what the truth actually is.”
Lin Zhongyu managed to explain before Lin Mengya could open her mouth. Then, everyone fixed their eyes on him.
No one mentioned where Lin Zhongyu came from. Therefore, other than Steward Deng or Lin Kui, few people knew about it.
Of course, all four of the maids knew.
“In fact, I was kidnapped here by the Willow Gang as well.”
After Qinghu uttered the last word, the room fell into such a silence that even the sound of a needle dropping down on the ground could be heard.
“Your chin is close to the ground. Pick it up and put it back on.”
Glancing at those extremely stunned people, Qinghu calmly spoke.
But, everyone, other than Lin Mengya, still kept the same facial expression with their mouths and eyes wide open.
Lin Mengya stuck out her finger and lightly lifted up Baizhi’s chin. But it dropped down the second after she took her finger back.
It seemed that she was so astonished that her brain had stopped working.
“So, you know how powerful the Willow Gang is now. I’m not the only one. Yunzhu and every killer who was not collected from other gangs, were all kidnapped by the Willow Gang over here. “And, in the Capital City, the wh.o.r.ehouses and officials’ harems are full of people that were kidnapped by the Willow Gang.”
Qinghu told them another piece of news in a plain tone. Even Lin Mengya couldn’t help frowning after hearing that.
“They made the plan a few decades ago. What is the Willow Gang planning?”
Lin Mengya thought that the Willow Gang was just a gang of rascals. But what Qinghu said warned her to face up to it.
Noticing that they got his point, Qinghu got closer to Lin Mengya and seriously spoke to her while looking into her eyes.
“I don’t know what their plan is. But I have to remind you that the Willow Gang has great power. We still have don’t have a big enough power to fight against them.”
Lin Mengya nodded. She was no longer a naive girl.
She understood what Qinghu meant.
After a sigh, she held Xiaoyu’s hands and said, “Xiaoyu, I will definitely keep my word regarding you. But, we have to endure it for a few days, okay?”
Lin Zhongyu nodded firmly. He was already discouraged and wanted to give up. But to his surprise, Lin Mengya didn’t give up.
“That’s good. I’ve already gotten tired of that s.h.i.tty gang as well. Don’t worry, I’ll send someone to keep an eye on them. When the time is right, I will help you as well.”
Qinghu’s guarantee touched Lin Zhongyu like a cardiac stimulant injection.
Both Lin Mengya and Qinghu regarded his thing to be important.
“Sister, I… I…”
Xiaoyu was too excited to speak smoothly.
Lin Mengya pet him on the head and said, “Don’t worry. Your matter is my matter. No need to say thank you. We are family.”
All of them smilingly nodded. It was settled then.
All of a sudden, a knock on the door was heard.
They immediately fell silent in the room.
“Who’s there?” Qinghu asked vigilantly. From outside came Moran’s voice.
“Master, someone sent a letter for you just now.”
“For me?” Lin Mengya thought about it and confusion arose in her mind.
“Come in.”
Moran opened the door and entered. He was holding a big envelope respectfully.
Lin Mengya took it from him and turned to give it a look, asking, “Who gave this to you?”
Moran must have checked it out, and the radar in her brain didn’t give off any warning.