Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Returning from the military camp, the two waited anxiously. Several times, Lin Sui wanted to go to the Li family to search for Qing'er, but Wang Ying dissuaded him each time.

"If they dared to snatch the child so openly, they certainly wouldn't hide Qing'er at home. Even if we went, we wouldn't find her, and we'd only be mocked by that old hag."

"But... how long are we supposed to just wait like this?"

Wang Ying said, "You heard General Zheng earlier. Those two men were specifically assigned by the Marquis. Their skills must be extraordinary. Just wait calmly—they will surely bring her back."

Back home, Wang Ying first checked on his son. Witnessing Qing'er being snatched had terrified Yuanbao. Though he had stopped crying, his spirits were low, and his eyes were swollen like peaches.

"You were really scared, weren't you?" Wang Ying said, holding the child close with a pained heart.

"When will Sister Qing'er come back?"

"We've already sent people to look for her. She'll be back soon."

"Catch the bad guys! Waaah... catch them and take them to the magistrate to be beaten!"

"Alright, Father will definitely catch them and send them to the magistrate. Mutou, Chunsheng, take Yuanbao outside to play for a while."

After the child left, Lady Li inquired, "How is it? Any news of Qing'er?"

Wang Ying shook his head. "Not yet, but we're certain it was the Li family's doing. When we went to the military camp, General Zheng provided two men, saying they were specially assigned by the Marquis. Their martial arts skills are excellent, and they should be able to find her."

Lady Li pressed a hand to her chest. "I was playing with the child when suddenly two men rushed out from behind, grabbed Qing'er, and ran. I wanted to chase them, but I was afraid someone might take Yuanbao. It was truly terrifying."

"It's my fault. I never imagined the Li family would be so persistent."

"Let's not dwell on that. No one expected them to dare snatch a child so openly. Make sure you comfort Sui'er properly and tell him not to worry too much."

"Alright. You should rest now; I'll go check on him."

Wang Ying went to Lin Sui's room and found him clutching Qing'er's clothes, tears streaming down his face. A few words of comfort had little effect. They could only hope that Qing'er would be found soon; otherwise, his cousin would suffer too much.

They waited until evening, as the sun began to set. Suddenly, there was a knock at the gate.

The gatekeeper opened the side door and saw two strangers, with Qing'er carried on one of their backs!

Chen Fang wasted no time and quickly opened the main gate. "Miss Qing'er is back! Miss Qing'er is back!"

Wang Ying and Lin Sui hurried out at the sound. They saw Qing'er slumped over one of the guards' shoulders, her hair much shorter, her clothes changed, and a bruise on her cheek.

Lin Sui's heart ached, and tears immediately fell. He quickly knelt down and kowtowed. "Thank you both! Thank you!"

The two guards stepped aside. "We dare not accept such gratitude, young master. Please rise!"

Wang Ying helped Lin Sui up. "Quick, check on the child. We can talk about the rest later."

Lin Sui carefully took Qing'er and carried her to the inner courtyard. The child had cried herself to sleep. After changing her into clean clothes, Lin Sui didn't wake her but tucked her in and kissed her forehead. The joy of getting her back made him shed tears again, his heart aching with a mix of sourness and bitterness.

After a while, he came out of the room and asked, "May I ask where you found Qing'er?"

One of them spoke up. "You may call me Qiao Da, young master. This is my brother, Qiao Er. We are entrusted by the Marquis and will stay by your side from now on to prevent any further harm from villains."

"Thank you both," Lin Sui bowed once more.

Qiao Da then explained where they had found Qing'er. "We first went to the Li family. Since Miss Qing'er was kidnapped by the Li family, someone would surely go there to deliver a message."

The two were highly skilled. One hid nearby to keep watch, while the other scaled the wall into the Li family's courtyard, making his way to Lady Li's main room and hiding on the roof to eavesdrop.

After half an hour, sure enough, a suspicious-looking person slipped in through the Li family's back door and was taken to Lady Li's room. There, he revealed how the child had been snatched and where she was hidden.

Initially, Lady Li had planned to kill Li Qing'er outright to vent her anger. But after being turned away at the Chen family's door, she changed her mind.

Killing her was too easy. Instead, she decided to sell the wretched girl to a human trafficker, condemning her to a life of servitude, prostitution, or concubinage. After all, a mute girl couldn't speak a word, and she would spend her life atoning for Li Mu's sins!

The man took the money and hurried away. Qiao Da and Qiao Er tailed him all the way to a desolate, ruined temple outside the city.

Inside the temple, Qing'er was tied up, her face streaked with tears, her beautiful dress replaced with rags.

"You're back. What did Lady Li say?"

"She told us to sell her to a lowly trafficker. The money is ours to keep; we don't need to worry about anything else."

With that, he took a pair of scissors to cut her hair. Qing'er, terrified, bit his hand hard!

The man cried out in pain and pinched Qing'er's face. "Ouch! This little mute bites like a dog! Let's see what you'll do after we sell you!" He then cut off her jet-black hair.

Qing'er covered her head and sobbed, her throat emitting a faint sound. "Fa... Father..."

She struggled to cry out, but her throat felt clogged with cotton, unable to produce a sound. Straining too hard, she vomited a mouthful of blood.

The other man was startled. "Don't kill her!"

Before they could say more, Qiao Da and Qiao Er burst through the door, killed the two men on the spot, and carried Qing'er back to the Chen family.

As long as the child was safe, Lin Sui finally felt relieved.

However, Wang Ying was still worried. "Will the Li family cause trouble again?"

Qiao Da and Qiao Er exchanged a glance. "Don't worry, they won't cause any more trouble. We are staying at the Xiangyun Inn on Zhenghe Street. If you need anything, you can come find us anytime."

"Thank you both for your trouble."

They clasped their hands and left the room.

At first, Wang Ying didn't understand why the two said the Li family wouldn't cause trouble. But a few days later, news spread that Lady Li had suddenly hanged herself in her own home.

The authorities were notified, and the magistrate ruled it a suicide. Lord Li didn't believe it but had no evidence, so the matter was eventually dropped.

After waking up, Qing'er developed a fever and took four or five days to recover. To Lin Sui's surprise, the child could now speak!

Though her voice was very soft and her words came out one at a time, she could indeed speak!

It seemed the extreme fright in the temple had accidentally unblocked her vocal cords, which had been sealed for four or five years, allowing her to produce sound again.

This was tremendous news. Lin Sui began teaching Qing'er to speak. Over time, little Qing'er could stammer out words, though her vocal cords were still tender from disuse, causing pain after a few sentences. She would need gradual practice to adjust.

*

In the blink of an eye, it was late March. Chen Qingyan and his party finally returned from the capital, bringing with them the news that he had topped the imperial examinations as the Zhuangyuan.

The local government once again came to the Chen family with gongs and drums to announce the good news. This time, the fanfare was much grander than before, almost rivaling the scene at Qingyun's wedding.

The procession was filled with the sounds of gongs, drums, and firecrackers. Two bailiffs carried a plaque inscribed with "Zhuangyuan Jidi" all the way to the Chen family's doorstep.

Crowds of onlookers gathered layer upon layer, tightly packing the area around the Chen family's entrance.

This was the first Zhuangyuan from Jizhou Prefecture, and everyone wanted to see what a literary star descended to earth looked like.

Chen Qingyan stood at the doorway, wearing a ceremonial red silk flower as he cupped his hands in greeting to everyone. Wang Ying, holding Yuanbao, along with Lady Li, Qing Song, and Qing Yun, stood beside him, beaming with joy.

Passing the imperial examination as the top scholar was a momentous occasion, and Wang Ying planned to host a continuous banquet. However, having never organized such an event in the prefectural city, he went to the Liu family to ask Mrs. Liu for help.

Mrs. Liu immediately agreed with delight. Her own son had also passed the exam, though with a lower rank, and their family also intended to hold a celebration. However, compared to the Chen family's top scholar achievement, their result seemed somewhat less impressive, so they decided to help Chen Qingyan host his *zhuangyuan* banquet first before organizing their own.

With ample experience in hosting banquets, Mrs. Liu was well-versed in such matters. She pulled Wang Ying aside to start planning, asking, "How many tables are you preparing?"

"I'm not entirely sure. To be honest, we don't have many relatives in the prefectural city, but I expect many guests will attend the banquet."

Mrs. Liu nodded. "Then let's prepare extra—around thirty tables. Each table seats eight people, which should accommodate over two hundred people. We'll serve four cold dishes and eight hot dishes, making twelve dishes in total, with plenty of meat. The cost should come to about two hundred taels of silver."

Wang Ying replied, "Alright, I'll follow your advice, Auntie. With your experience, I'm sure nothing will go wrong."

"I'll reserve five additional tables at the Hongyun Lou for distinguished guests. Officials from the prefectural office will surely attend, so you don't need to worry—I'll handle everything for you."

Wang Ying was so grateful he hardly knew what to say. Truly, this was all thanks to Qing Yun!

Once everything was settled, Wang Ying asked Chen Qingyan to write the invitations and send them to all their acquaintances. These included Deputy Prefect Wang, who had previously helped them, Prefectural Governor Lin, and Vice-Prefect Zhao, whom they had to invite to maintain appearances despite past tensions.

Invitations were also sent to Liu Changyi's relatives. After all, they were related by marriage, and not inviting them would put Qing Yun in an awkward position.

They didn't forget the military camp either. General Zheng and several Centurions had helped them repeatedly, so invitations were extended to them, along with long-time customers from their shop, neighboring shopkeepers, and fellow merchants.

Several dozen invitations were sent out, and on the day of the banquet, a whopping four hundred guests arrived!

Thirty tables were not enough, so Er Shun was hastily sent to nearby restaurants to book seven or eight additional tables, just barely managing to seat everyone.

A steady stream of gifts arrived—gold, silver, treasures, property deeds, and more. According to custom, some gifts could be accepted, but excessive amounts had to be declined, requiring careful discretion.

Even merchants they had never met came bearing gifts, typically starting at one hundred taels of silver. Their intentions were simple: they didn't necessarily seek favors from Chen Qingyan but hoped to make a favorable impression so that he wouldn't trouble them in the future when he became an official.

Chen Qingyan turned over all the money to Wang Ying. He had never been good at managing household matters, and keeping the silver would be of little use to him.

That evening, the couple sat in the experimental field counting the gift money. After half an hour, they tallied over 13,700 taels of silver, with other gifts worth an additional 3,000 taels. In total, the value amounted to nearly 16,000 taels—truly proving the saying, "In books, there are houses of gold."

After counting the money, Wang Ying clutched the silver and giggled with delight. "We no longer have to worry about making a living."

Chen Qingyan smiled at him. "So, did your husband make you proud?"

Wang Ying leaned in and kissed him. "My husband is absolutely amazing!"

Chen Qingyan held the back of his neck and kissed him back, both breathing heavily when they parted.

"When the imperial examinations were reinstated, I vowed to pass with top honors and give you a good life. Now, I've finally fulfilled that promise."

"I always believed you could do it."

They kissed again, their reunion more passionate than a wedding night. Sparks flew between them, and the atmosphere quickly heated up.

Wang Ying raised his hand and changed the experimental field's environment to nighttime. As the moonlight rose, their affection deepened. That night, their passion was so intense it felt like their backs might break.