Chapter 144: Movement In The Separate Courtyard
“You’re talking like I sold her off.” Shang Wan pursed her lips. “She paid for the ride, I took her into the city, and we parted at the city gate. How would I know where she went?”
Wei Lao Tai anxiously said: “Why didn’t you bring her back?”
Shang Wan was speechless. “I’m not her mother.”
Wei Lao Tai wanted to say more, but Shang Wan said: “Get out of the way quick. This ox has a bad temper—whoever blocks it gets hit.”
Remembering the last time she was nearly hit by the ox cart, Liu Shi hurriedly supported Wei Lao Tai and stepped aside. Wei Lao Tai unwillingly watched Shang Wan drive the ox cart away.
She turned her head and scolded Liu Shi. “I said to keep her locked up, but you insisted on letting her out. Now she’s gone. See where you can find her.”
Liu Shi said sheepishly: “I didn’t expect Yuzhi to enter the city. Wasn’t I worried about locking the child up too long?”
She patted Wei Lao Tai’s back. “Mother, don’t worry. Tomorrow I’ll have the eldest go into the city and bring Yuzhi back.”
“Not worried? How can I not be worried?”
Wei Lao Tai wished she could grab Liu Yuzhi back right now. Things were almost settled—if something unexpected happened, it would all go down the drain.
“She has legs and can run. Tomorrow, where will you have Jianshan look for her?”
Liu Shi said: “But it’s too late to enter the city now.”
Wei Lao Tai got even angrier. “You know it’s late now? What were you doing earlier?”
Liu Shi muttered: “There’s so much work at home. Can’t just leave it undone to go into the city looking for someone, right? Entering the city costs money too.”
“Money, money, money. Once the matter is settled, will you be short of it?” Wei Lao Tai angrily pinched Liu Shi’s arm twice. How could she only see what’s right in front of her?
Liu Shi rubbed her pinched arm that hurt, and seeing her mother-in-law angry, continued to persuade: “Yuzhi is timid and doesn’t have much silver on her. She won’t run around.”
“Besides, Yuzhi is a filial child. She absolutely won’t disappoint you, her grandmother. She might even come back on her own tomorrow.”
These words barely soothed Wei Lao Tai’s anger a bit. She snorted: “Tomorrow morning, go into the city to find her. Ungrateful little thing. As her grandmother, I only wish her well—how could I harm her?”
“Yes, yes, yes. Mother, it’s all for Yuzhi’s sake.” Liu Shi went along with Wei Lao Tai’s words and supported her as they walked home.
On the other side, Shang Wan, driving the ox cart home, pricked up her ears and heard a bunch of confusing things.
It had to do with money. Could the Lin Family be planning to sell Liu Yuzhi?
But Liu Yuzhi wasn’t the Lin Family’s daughter. Even if they wanted to sell her, it wouldn’t be up to the Lin Family, right?
Shang Wan found it strange. After getting home, she told the matter to Lu Chengjing.
But there was too little information, so Lu Chengjing couldn’t analyze much from it.
“It has nothing to do with our family either way. Just watch and wait.” Shang Wan put the matter behind her and handed the letter and bundle from Qiao Yu’an to Lu Chengjing together.
Lu Chengjing opened the bundle and found account books inside, so he set the bundle aside. He opened the envelope, took out the letter paper and unfolded it, and a slip of paper fell out along with it.
Shang Wan picked up the paper slip and looked. She saw a drawing of a thin, tall man in gray short clothes. That face looked somewhat familiar.
Lu Chengjing temporarily ignored the content on the paper slip. He skimmed the letter and then read it softly to Shang Wan.
The letter mentioned just one thing: movement at the separate courtyard that Lu Chengjing had asked Qiao Yu’an to keep watching.
Last night, the separate courtyard sent two children away, and the one in charge of escorting them was the person drawn on the paper slip.
“Take a look.” Shang Wan handed the paper slip to Lu Chengjing. “Feels like I’ve seen him somewhere.”
Lu Chengjing took it and examined it closely, recognizing the person in the drawing through his eyebrows and eyes.
He said confidently: “It’s Gao Qi.”
“Gao Qi?” Shang Wan stared at the person on the paper slip. How did this look like Gao Qi?
The person’s cheeks on the paper slip were sunken inward, making his cheekbones protrude even more. His gaze was sinister, with an air of gloom all over. He was completely different from the Gao Qi in Shang Wan’s memory.
Moreover, the person on the paper slip had a beard.
As everyone knew, a eunuch couldn’t grow a beard.
So Shang Wan hadn’t thought of Gao Qi at all.
“This beard must be fake.” Lu Chengjing raised his hand to cover the lower half of the face in the drawing, then added two strokes to the eyebrows and eyes with a brush, signaling Shang Wan to look closely.
This time, Shang Wan finally matched the drawing to Gao Qi himself.
No wonder she hadn’t recognized him. She was used to realistic portraits, and suddenly seeing an ink painting character, it was hard to equate the two at first.
Shang Wan frowned and said: “Gao Qi has been in the separate courtyard all along. Why didn’t the government find him?”
“The government’s wanted poster was drawn based on Gao Qi’s previous appearance.” Lu Chengjing stared at the person on the paper slip. “Gao Qi looks like this now. Even if he appeared in front of the officials, they probably wouldn’t recognize him.”
Shang Wan nodded, vaguely feeling something was off.
Great changes could indeed alter a person, but a person just changes—they don’t swap out. You could still see traces of the old self, but not with Gao Qi.
Just from the drawing on the paper slip, whether in appearance, temperament, or gaze, it didn’t connect to Gao Qi at all—like a completely different person.
If this really was Gao Qi, Shang Wan even suspected the previous Gao Qi was a deliberate disguise to deceive people.
She raised her hand and pinched her brow, feeling like she had overlooked something.
Lu Chengjing poured a cup of medicinal tea and pushed it to her hand, saying gently: “Whether this person is Gao Qi or not isn’t important. The goal is.”
Qiao Yu’an’s people were already following. It all depended on where this person went.
“Trouble.” Shang Wan sighed lightly and took two sips of the medicinal tea.
“You’ve worked hard, Niangzi.” Lu Chengjing’s lips curved into a faint smile. “There’s already movement at the separate courtyard. Once Lu Chengyuan arrives in the capital city, this matter will soon be resolved.”
Shang Wan reached out and poked his lip corner. “Smile again.”
Lu Chengjing complied, raising his lips, his eyes rippling with laughter.
“Good-looking.” Shang Wan leaned in and pecked his lip corner. “I’ll go check the field. You settle the accounts properly.”
Lu Chengjing lightly hummed in agreement.
Shang Wan drained the medicinal tea in the cup and got up to leave.
“Hey!” Chu Xu saw Shang Wan pass by and grabbed her skirt hem. “Can you control her?”
This “her” naturally referred to Yuan Yuan.
Shang Wan glanced at the two children on the soft cushion and asked: “What’s wrong?”
Yuan Yuan obediently placed her small hands in front of her. Chu Xu pointed at Yuan Yuan and complained angrily: “She made the turtle crawl all over me.”
Shang Wan asked: “Did it touch your wound?”
Chu Xu: “No, but I don’t like it.”
Shang Wan: “Did you tell Yuan Yuan you don’t like it?”
Chu Xu pouted. “I did. She didn’t listen.”
Shang Wan squatted down and patted his head. “You can reason with her. You’re six years old—can’t you out-talk a one-year-old baby?”
Chu Xu glanced at the little girl playing with the turtle nearby. “But she doesn’t even speak properly.”
Shang Wan patted him. “That’s called not speaking fluently, with a small vocabulary. She’s only one. Be patient and talk to her.”
“But…”
“No buts.” Shang Wan didn’t want to be a kindergarten teacher. “Don’t be a crybaby running to adults for every little thing. Handle it yourself.”
“I’m not a crybaby.” Chu Xu’s face reddened. He snorted. “I’ll talk to her myself. I can convince her.”
