Chapter 437: Deep Affection?

Chapter 437: Deep Affection?

After waking up, Little Ancheng was still a bit dazed when she saw Xingxing. After a while, she looked at her own hands in disbelief, then raised her head to look at Xingxing again. Finally, she burst into tears and clung to Xingxing.

"Big sister, I want my mother, I want my mother..."

Xingxing comforted Little Ancheng and then took her onto the carriage.

On the carriage, Little Ancheng sobbed as she recounted what had happened over the past few days. It turned out that after she was abducted by the man with the scar, she had been locked in the tiny courtyard.

Once, she cried so hard, missing her mother and younger brother, that the man with the scar took her to a tree outside the courtyard. But she couldn’t help herself and called out to Master Hao, only to be quickly muffled and dragged away by the man with the scar.

Finally, Little Ancheng hesitantly asked Xingxing where the man with the scar had gone and if he would come back to take her again.

Seeing the unease on Little Ancheng's face, Xingxing gently patted her head and said, "Don't worry!"

It shouldn’t happen again, unless the man with the scar can escape from prison.

If that really happens, the Shuntian Prefect should just resign and go to sleep.

After bringing Little Ancheng back to An Ningxin’s courtyard, An Ningxin was both shocked and overjoyed, even wept with joy. She insisted on bowing deeply to Xingxing while holding Little Ancheng.

Xingxing quickly helped An Ningxin up and quickly explained what had happened. An Ningxin's face turned pale, and her lips trembled.

Xingxing comforted An Ningxin a few more times before leaving.

She was concerned about Cen Yueyi, who had gone to rest at the inn.

When Xingxing arrived, in the inn room, Cen Yueyi, throwing aside her usual decorum, was desperately pulling Yu Yonghuai's arm, trying to stop him from charging into the Marquis of Jiangtai's residence with his sword.

"Right now, there's no conclusion yet—is it them—"

Cen Yueyi's voice was hoarse, and her eyes were swollen, clearly having cried.

Yu Yonghuai said coldly, "We both know it’s that mother and daughter—who else would hire someone to harm a young lady like you?!"

Cen Yueyi pursed her pale lips, her expression dim.

Yu Yonghuai was about to leave again when Xingxing stood in front of the door, arms outstretched: "Big brother, please calm down a bit. The Shuntian Prefect is already interrogating them. He has been troubled by the bandits for a long time. At most by tonight, he will get them to talk."

Yu Yonghuai, holding his sword, paused for a while, then sheathed his sword and sat back down, muttering, "Alright, I'll listen to you."

Both Cen Yueyi and Xingxing breathed a sigh of relief.

However, while Cen Yueyi and Xingxing were thinking of being cautious, someone from the Marquis of Jiangtai's residence couldn't sit still anymore. They came out in a grand manner to search for someone, claiming that their Miss Cen had gone out to worship ancestors and had not returned yet.

Cen Yueyi stood on the second floor of the inn, the window slightly ajar. Snowflakes mixed with cold air rushed in, making her hands and feet icy. Through the crack, she looked downstairs and saw Cen Yuehua leading the household retainers of the Marquis of Jiangtai, braving the snowstorm, making a grand spectacle of "searching for her" along the street.

Cen Yueyi actually had a glimmer of hope, thinking it might be a misunderstanding.

Perhaps her personality was unlikable, and she had unintentionally upset someone.

Or perhaps it was just that the enemies of the Marquis of Jiangtai's residence had taken their grudge out on her.

But now, Cen Yuehua's exaggerated voice downstairs couldn't be drowned out by the snowstorm. In the midst of the snowstorm, with few pedestrians, Cen Yuehua asked everyone she met, "Have you seen my sister?" as if she was afraid that no one would know that Miss Cen of the Marquis of Jiangtai's residence was "missing." That scene mercilessly shattered Cen Yueyi's last bit of hope.

Cen Yueyi's hands and feet were icy cold.

Sister Cen stepped forward and slammed the window shut: "It’s drafty! The wind has made your face pale!"

Xingxing picked up her cloak from the nearby couch: "Wait, Sister Cen. To avoid raising any alarms, you'd better not show yourself for now. I'll go down and check the situation."

Cen Yueyi grabbed Xingxing's hand but didn't know what to say.

Xingxing held Cen Yueyi's hand in return, which was icy cold. She said solemnly, "Sister Cen, don't worry. Big brother and I have got your back."

Cen Yueyi's face was pale, her eyes welling up with tears. Finally, she nodded gently at Xingxing and let go of her hand.

As Xingxing went downstairs, Yu Yonghuai, who had been staying in a room next door to avoid suspicion, had already come down.

Yu Yonghuai looked as fierce as a demon in an exorcism painting. He stepped out of the inn and shouted at Cen Yuehua, "What are you doing!"

Cen Yuehua was startled by the shout and trembled. When she saw it was Yu Yonghuai, her face lit up with delight. She took two steps forward but suddenly remembered she was supposed to act like a concerned younger sister leading a search party...

Cen Yuehua immediately changed her expression, first calling out "General Yu," then looking worried, "General Yu, have you seen my sister?"

As if deliberately making sure others could hear, Cen Yuehua sighed loudly, "I heard bandits have been causing trouble outside the city lately. It's so late and my sister hasn't returned. I'm really worried about her..."

Upon hearing Cen Yuehua's words, Yu Yonghuai was seething with anger!

Yu Yonghuai retorted with a deep voice, "Oh? You're worried about her?"

Cen Yuehua wiped away non-existent tears with her handkerchief, saying sincerely, "Of course. My sister and I are very close..."

Yu Yonghuai sneered, cutting her off, "If you're so close, why didn't you go with her to pay respects to her late mother?!"

Cen Yuehua stammered, "That... that's because... my elder sister didn't want to take me... after all, we're not from the same mother."

Yu Yonghuai sneered again, "Is this what you call being close? If you were truly close, would you speculate ambiguously about your elder sister's intentions in front of so many outsiders? Would you smear her name? If you were truly close, would you make such a spectacle of searching for her in the streets, making sure everyone knows your sister hasn't returned?"

Yu Yonghuai's eyes were dark as ink.

Cen Yuehua had never seen this side of Yu Yonghuai and was so frightened her legs went weak. If it weren't for her maid supporting her, she would have collapsed on the spot.

Her heart was pounding, and for the first time, she wondered—was she and her mother wrong about this man surnamed Yu?

As Cen Yuehua was trembling with fear from Yu Yonghuai's outburst, the few onlookers braving the snowstorm started to get it—they were all excited, such a juicy scandal from a wealthy family playing out before their eyes was a rare sight!

The guests resting in the inn's lobby also craned their necks to see.

"Even if I overreacted, it was only because I was so worried about my sister," Cen Yuehua half-truthfully shed tears, her voice trembling, "General Yu, how could you think of me like that?"