During the days since Mingyue's accident, Ling Qingwan often had nightmares, recalling how Mingyue died in her previous life.
She remembered it was winter, the Marquis's Mansion was in decline, and General Shen was in danger. Song Zhiqing and Ling Chuchu pushed her into danger. In the midst of the war, Mingyue, wearing her clothes, rushed into the fighting crowd.
And then, he never came back.
"Miss, you've lost some weight." Mingyue choked up, feeling very distressed for Ling Qingwan.
Ling Qingwan was born petite, and always looked thinner when standing next to other girls. Now she looked even thinner. When shaking hands with Ling Qingwan, Mingyue pinched her hand, and the joints on her hand were very obvious, just skin and bones.
"Miss, you haven't eaten much these days. It would be strange if you didn't lose weight." Qiao'er complained hurriedly.
That's right, Wei Xun and Ling Xiao had been away from the capital for many days, and the old lady and Ling Chuchu had some troubles from time to time. All the big and small things were put on Ling Qingwan alone, so she had no time to think about eating and drinking.
Thinking of this, Mingyue held Ling Qingwan's hand tightly.
"Miss, I know you have something on your mind. But because of this, you should take better care of yourself. The Seventh Prince and the Crown Prince are outside, and they are most worried that you might not be able to take care of yourself."
"I understand." Ling Qingwan smiled gently.
Mingyue had just returned and hadn't even settled down yet, but he was already showing concern for her. Ling Qingwan was touched and a little ashamed.
At this time, the general's mansion was a completely different scene.
The atmosphere in the hall was depressing. Shen Chengzhou's face was gloomy, and his eyes were staring straight at the guard in front of him.
The guard lowered his head but did not dare to look at Shen Chengzhou.
"You mean, we still haven't found Xiao'er, right?" Shen Chengzhou asked the guard sternly. As he spoke, he clenched the armrest with one hand and couldn't help shaking all over.
"General, Suiyang's army has been sent to search for him. I believe they will find the prince soon."
"We've been searching for two days, but what's the result? We haven't found even a clue, so how can we expect to rescue Xiao'er?" Shen Chengzhou was extremely angry and snorted coldly.
He had fought on the battlefield for many years, and the deaths of his generals and commanders were not uncommon to him. Whenever he heard the guards say this, Shen Chengzhou would guess that the person might not be found. But now the person missing was his own grandson.
Shen Chengzhou only has one daughter, Shen Qingyun, and he has brought up Ling Xiao since he was a child. Both Ling Xiao and Ling Qingwan are as important as his life.
If it's really gone...
Shen Chengzhou didn't even dare to think about it.
"How about transferring some people from the capital? There is strength in numbers, and the possibility of finding the prince will be greater." Song Tian suggested.
"No." Shen Chengzhou refused without thinking. "If we transfer people from the capital, what if we alert the enemy and force them to attack again? Xiao'er's whereabouts are unknown now, and she may be in their hands. We can't act rashly without being sure we can rescue Xiao'er."
The current situation is not optimistic. Shen Chengzhou doesn't even know who killed Ling Xiao. No matter how reckless he is, he won't take Ling Xiao's life for granted.
"Then what should we do now?" Song Tian frowned, his expression becoming more solemn.
If we can't send anyone, we can only continue to search like this. Two days have passed, and there is still no clue. Time is urgent, and no one dares to take the risk and be sure whether it is a waste of time to continue like this.
"That's right." Suddenly, Song Tian thought of something and his eyes lit up. "General, Suiyang is only a day's journey from the border town. The Seventh Prince is in the border town. Maybe we can ask him for help."
Song Tian's words reminded Shen Chengzhou.
It would take half a month to get from Shangjing to Suiyang even if one galloped, but it was different for the border town. It only took one day to get there. Wei Xun and Ling Xiao had been close since childhood. When he learned that Ling Xiao was in trouble, Wei Xun would definitely help him.
"Okay! Let's do as you say! Send the message to the Seventh Prince as soon as possible." Shen Chengzhou seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw and urged Song Tian to act.
After Song Tian left, the house returned to silence. Shen Chengzhou's legs went limp, and he sat down on the chair.
At his age, Shen Chengzhou's only wish is for his family to be safe. Now Ling Xiao is in trouble and his life or death is unknown, Ling Qingwan is also entangled in things and exhausted. Shen Chengzhou sees it all, but he has no way to help.
He defended his country and saved countless common people, but now he can't even save his own grandson.
He feels uncomfortable!
After Song Tian left, he immediately sent his men to follow up and deliver the news to Wei Xun as fast as he could. He looked back and saw that the door of the study was closed and there was no sound. Song Tian shook his head and walked away.
Mingyue was in trouble, and An Yi heard Tan Hongbo mention it. Upon learning that Mingyue was back, Le Yao rushed to Ling Mansion, one to visit Mingyue, and the other to be happy for Ling Qingwan.
Ling Qingwan values feelings the most, An Yi knows that. Ling Qingwan must be feeling bad these days when Mingyue was injured. Although An Yi is noisy on weekdays, she is never vague when it comes to serious matters. Knowing that Ling Qingwan is in a bad mood, she naturally doesn't want to rush to bother her.
Anyway, I can't help much, and going there will only cause trouble for Ling Qingwan.
"How did Mingyue get injured? I remember that she was very skilled in martial arts."
An Yi and Ling Qingwan sat on the stone bench in the yard and chatted.
"There are always people who are better than you, and no matter how powerful you are, there will always be times when you can't beat them." Ling Qingwan replied in a gentle voice. "It doesn't matter how the injury was sustained. It's a good thing that Mingyue has recovered now."
An Yi has a simple personality, and Ling Qingwan would never let her get involved.
"How can this not be important? If you catch anyone bullying Mingyue, tell me and I will teach them a lesson." An Yi raised her head slightly, looking proud.
"A princess wants to avenge Mingyue, a maid. If Mingyue knew about this, she would probably feel that she couldn't bear it." Ling Qingwan was amused by An Yi and laughed.
Although An Yi was spoiled and somewhat arrogant, she had never acted like a princess, nor did she judge people by their status. When she met someone she was interested in, she was willing to make friends with them, no matter what their status was. This was one of the reasons why Ling Qingwan liked An Yi.
Ling Chuchu and Tan Jiao are somewhat similar to An Yi, but both of them have gone astray.
"By the way, I haven't heard from Miss Tan for a long time. How is she now?" Ling Qingwan thought of Tan Jiao. Since that heart-to-heart talk that day, she hasn't seen Tan Jiao for a long time.
"Tan Jiao? She went to study at the Imperial College and is very busy every day. She doesn't even have time to play with me." An Yi answered Ling Qingwan in an indifferent tone.
Reading more is also a good thing, Ling Qingwan thought. If Tan Jiao is not brought back in time, she might end up following Ling Chuchu's old path.
"Speaking of which, I went to the palace a few days ago to give her apricot blossom candy, and I saw Ling Chuchu."