northernbook Chapter 345 Is Xiaoxia'er Lost?
Chapter 345 Is Xiaoxia'er Lost?
Gui Shan's heart tightened. So, the Crown Prince had already planned to marry Gui Yuan off to someone else in order to win over people's hearts?
Her hands clenched slightly into fists.
No, absolutely not. She was willing to compromise because she hoped that her brothers and sisters would no longer have to suffer such injustice.
Whether Yuanyuan wants to marry Feng Zizhou for him or for his family background, it is her own decision.
How could she allow her sister to become a pawn in the Crown Prince's game?
Gui Shan concealed her panic and asked suspiciously, "What does Your Highness mean? Does Your Highness have other ideas about my sister's marriage?"
The Crown Prince turned to look at Gui Shan, the tenderness in his eyes fading, replaced by a cold indifference that seemed determined to win.
He raised an eyebrow: "Shanshan is beautiful. If she becomes my concubine in the future, she must assist her cousin in managing the affairs of the Eastern Palace. As for anything else, Shanshan doesn't need to know."
Gui Shan couldn't hide her fear; for a moment she regretted stepping into this game of chess.
There were too many people at the Lantern Festival. Neither Du Zhirong nor Yu Wangong had children of their own, and they didn't usually have much patience for children.
After trying to coax Xiaoxia for a while, they lost interest and went to their second sister's side, vying to coax and amuse her.
Xiaoxia wanted to come down and play by herself, so they put her down and held her hand.
Seeing this, Du Shangge said unhappily to his younger sister, "Look at my fourth brother and Yu Erlang, they are really unreliable. Let's bring Xiaoxia back."
She went up to hug Xiaoxia, but Xiaoxia resisted and struggled to get down.
"Aunt Du, look at the lanterns, the lanterns..."
Du Shangge had no choice but to take her hand and say, "Okay, Aunt Du will take you to see the lanterns."
The younger sister followed, and when she turned around, she saw that Princess Roushu was feeling unwell and was resting with her maid.
She quickly stepped forward and said to Si Muyan, "Elder sister, I have asked someone to reserve a private room at the restaurant ahead. We will go there to rest in a while."
Princess Roushu smiled and said, "You all handle things properly."
In just a short while, Du Shangge saw some trinkets being sold across the street, and was particularly happy, so he led Xiaoxia over.
But she was a child at heart. She took a fancy to a delicate nine-linked ring and, after some haggling with the vendor, bought one for only thirty coins.
She proudly held up the nine-linked rings: "Xiaoxia, let me tell you, back when I was stationed at the border, this is how I learned to bargain. Look at this beautiful nine-linked ring, do you like it?"
Du Shangge turned around, but did not see Xiaoxia'er.
She thought that Xiaoxia was too small and had blended into the crowd, so she searched everywhere but couldn't find her. She then hurriedly returned to Princess Roushu's side and asked repeatedly.
"Wan'er, did you bring Xiaoxia'er back?"
The younger sister turned around, her face filled with panic: "No, weren't you the one holding Xia'er's hand?"
Everyone looked at Du Shangge and saw that she only had a nine-linked ring in her hand, and there was no trace of a child.
Hearing the commotion, the second sister rushed over anxiously: "What? Xiaoxia'er is missing? Where's Yumeng?"
There were many masters today, and none of the young ladies' maids and servants had come along; only Yumeng was with Xiaoxia. Coincidentally, she had seen a osmanthus cake for sale nearby and went to buy some for everyone.
Princess Roushu was extremely anxious: "With so many of us, how can we not even take care of a child?"
The second sister panicked: "It's all my fault. Why did I bring Xia'er out? And I didn't take good care of her after bringing her out."
Du Shangge was both anxious and frightened, tears welling up in her eyes: "It was my recklessness, I... I shouldn't have bought the Nine Linked Rings, I should have stayed by Xiaoxia'er's side all the time. I never imagined that in the blink of an eye, Xiaoxia'er would... she would..."
The younger sister was filled with remorse. She couldn't blame Du Shangge, she only hated herself. Knowing that Du Shangge was unreliable, how could she have let him take Xiaoxia away?
Everyone panicked.
Xie Lan remained calm: "If Xiaoxia got lost while playing, she shouldn't be too far away. Let's split up and search the area. But we should be safe just in case, since there are so many people around, and we're worried she might run into bad people. Here's what we'll do, cousin, you're more familiar with the people at the Military Garrison, so go ask the person in charge here for help in finding her."
Yu Wangong, no longer caring about competing with Du Zhirong, quickly bowed and left.
Xie Lan added, "It's better to report it as soon as possible. Brother Du, you're fast on your feet, so I'll trouble you to make a trip to Shuntian Prefecture."
Du Zhirong, naturally, didn't hesitate and turned away as well.
……
Two quarters of an hour earlier, Prince Ning and Zhao Ning were sitting in a private room drinking tea and enjoying the scenery. They seemed to be sitting quietly and in harmony, but in reality, they were both feeling a little bored.
Zhao Ning stared blankly, propping her face up with her hand. Her maid tried to talk to her and make her laugh, but she couldn't be bothered to respond.
Prince Ning was even less likely to care about her, and continued drinking tea while looking out the window.
Before long, a group of people walked forward downstairs; it was Princess Roushu and Si Muyan.
Prince Ning, seemingly unintentionally, got up and strolled to the window to look outside.
He recalled hearing Yu Changying's words in the file room yesterday, saying that his younger brother, Yu Wangong, would be watching the lanterns with the Si family's daughter today.
It is unknown which woman Yu Wangong was with.
Prince Ning's mind raced with images of Yu Wangong, and his gaze followed hers. But upon seeing Yu Wangong, his face darkened.
Yu Wangong is with Miss Si.
Not only that, there was also a young man over there. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that it was the Du family's son who had just returned to the capital recently.
Prince Ning was somewhat puzzled. Of the three young ladies in the Si family, only the second young lady had already been married and had a daughter.
It seems that neither Du Jialang nor Yu Wangong were ever married.
Why do they insist on following the second young lady instead of bothering the other two young ladies of the Si family?
Seeing the second young lady being coaxed by the two young men, even though they were far away, they could only barely distinguish the three girls from one another and could not see their expressions clearly.
For no apparent reason, Prince Ning felt that Miss Si must have been amused and was laughing heartily.
Remembering Yu Changying's words, his younger brother was getting married, so the Yu family had their eye on Miss Si.
Prince Ning felt a tightness in his chest, but he didn't understand why.
Could it be that he has feelings for the second young lady of the Si family?
The thought had just crossed his mind when Prince Ning immediately suppressed it.
Impossible. He's already engaged, how could he possibly like another woman? They probably just got to know each other a few times and developed a sense of familiarity.
Du Jialang is a military officer, rough and careless, and doesn't know how to be considerate. Yu Wangong is the youngest son, and it seems his mother spoils him a lot; she probably won't be an easy mother-in-law to get along with.
He simply didn't want Miss Si to entrust her love to the wrong person.
Seeing Prince Ning standing by the window, holding a cup of tea that he hadn't drunk for a long time, Zhao Ning became curious and came over to ask.
"Your Highness, what are you thinking about?"