Chapter 674: Chapter 673: Only for Her Smile
Lantern Festival night turned into a night of terror; when Wufu heard that a child had been kidnapped, she couldn’t help feeling dreadful. Perhaps because she had been an orphan herself in a previous life, she found nothing more distressing than seeing a healthy child turned into an orphan, especially due to abduction — utterly innocent and pitiable.
Wufu, dispirited and joyless, got into the carriage to return ho. Ah Jiu saw that her little face had lost much of its brightness and felt correspondingly displeased.
"Don’t think too much about it. Lord Wen should be able to find the children. He’s the official in charge, trust him," Ah Jiu patted her hand.
Wufu forced a smile and said, "That’s all we can do."
She was neither an official nor a savior; upon hearing such news, she was inevitably distressed, but she couldn’t beco a heroine and search the entire city. That was a job for the officials — otherwise, what could the people depend on?
One could only hope that Wen Congrui was a competent official.
Ah Jiu saw Wufu ho before leaving.
Upon entering, Wufu heard that Madam Zhou had not yet gone to bed, so she went to the main hall, and indeed, Madam Zhou was there, flipping through a scripture book and muttering prayers with a string of sandalwood beads in her hand.
"Mother."
Madam Zhou, seeing her, imdiately put down the prayer beads, got off the couch, and put on her shoes, but Wufu quickly walked a few steps forward to stop her: "There’s no need to get up."
"Is anything the matter?" Madam Zhou surveyed her from head to toe, completely intact, and with hands clasped, she murmured a Buddhist phrase: "I’m glad you’re alright; you had
worried to death!"
"I’m fine, nothing would happen to . But what about you, why are you reciting scriptures?" Wufu picked up the handwritten scripture book; on the cover was the Diamond Sutra.
Madam Zhou said, "Tonight, I saw that pavilion collapse, so people were crushed underneath, I was so uneasy... I had to recite so prayers."
Wufu sat beside her and comforted her with a few words, "It’s already the end of the Hai hour. You should rest, Mother. Qiu Xiang prepared so Calming Soup for you, drink it and go to sleep. Everything’s fine."
Madam Zhou, tired and shaken, did not reject the suggestion.
Soon after, Qiu Xiang brought the Calming Soup, and Wufu watched her drink it and lay down before she herself retired to her room to rest.
anwhile, Ah Jiu’s mind kept revisiting the troubled expression on Wufu’s face; she looked quite unwell.
For those lost and kidnapped children, she must truly feel unsettled in her heart.
He did not like to see her distressed and sorrowful; she should be laughing boisterously and flamboyantly, not filled with such anxiety.
"Yuan Ye," Ah Jiu called out, "get Tang Shi here."
Tang Shi, who preferred to linger in the shadows, seldom making an appearance in front of others, ca to his side.
"My Lord," Tang Shi quickly appeared before Ah Jiu.
"Several children were lost in the city tonight, likely due to kidnappers. The lost children an the city must be under martial law, and those people won’t be able to escape right away. Go and find those children," Ah Jiu instructed, "If you find where those kidnappers are holed up, you don’t have to do a thing, just report it to Prefect Wen and let him arrest them."
Tang Shi was taken aback for a mont but didn’t say anything; he simply acknowledged the order and departed.
Ah Jiu rubbed his temples, and Xiao Li ca forward with a mischievous grin and a cup of tea, saying, "If Miss knew about your kindness, I wonder how happy she would be."
"Mind your own business!" Ah Jiu shot him a cold glance.
His actions were not out of goodwill, but solely to see her face relax and to make her joyful and free of worries. That’s why he was getting involved in this matter. Otherwise, would he proactively add rit to Wen Lao Si’s record? Wishful thinking!
It was all just for the sake of her smiles.
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