Chapter 963 - 957: Sugar Figurines
Su Jin took Young Master Li for two rounds of walking on the street.
No one stepped forward to recognize him.
Instead, a bunch of people praised how handsome Young Master Li was and envied her having a good son.
Su Jin, "....."
Xingxing, "....."
Xingxing, holding Young Master Li, who was tired and asleep, looked at Su Jin and said, "It seems like no one has lost their child."
Su Jin raised her hand to touch her forehead.
Although there was a Unity Gu, she could be sure Xie Jingchen was not in fatal danger, but she also wanted to know where he was now.
She was rushing to the border, even though she was not traveling fast.
Yet, she couldn’t keep delaying in Yu State.
Back at the inn, Su Jin started thinking about how to arrange Young Master Li.
Just as Su Jin was coming up with an idea, a carriage sped towards the city gate.
Although it was publicly declared that Young Master Li was found, the city gate was not opened and remained closed.
The assassins, to convince Eldest Young Madam Li that the child was really in their hands, kidnapped the Magistrate’s young master, pressuring the soldiers with a knife to his neck to open the gate.
The soldiers didn’t dare to jeopardize the Magistrate’s young heir’s life and quickly opened the gate.
As the carriage left the city, the sound of a child crying drifted from within.
The soldiers guessed Young Master Li was inside the carriage, but dared not pursue it, as the Magistrate’s young heir was still held hostage.
The soldiers quickly reported to the Magistrate, and the Magistrate sent people to chase after them.
Halfway, they found the Magistrate’s young heir thrown off the horse, but the carriage was nowhere to be seen.
Eldest Young Madam Li saw her son being taken out of the city and hurriedly took a carriage to pursue them.
The aim of kidnapping Young Master Li is clearly against the Li Family, which is four hundred miles away in Linzhou.
Along the way, inquiries confirmed that indeed there was a carriage with a child heading towards Linzhou.
Su Jin stayed in Yuzhou Prefecture for another day.
She already decided to leave the child and entrust him to Zhou Family’s steward in Yu State, asking him to help find his parents.
But giving him to someone still didn’t feel completely secure, so she took Young Master Li on the street again.
But the result was the same, nobody recognized him.
Only according to plan then.
That day, Young Master Li was tired and sleeping soundly in the inn’s bed.
Su Jin and Steward Zhou quietly left.
Before leaving, she instructed another steward from the Zhou Family, "Please, Manager Zhao, take care of him until his parents are found."
Steward Zhou also instructed Manager Zhao that the child’s identity might not be simple, and he must not be treated negligently.
Manager Zhao agreed one by one.
Su Jin left Yu State in a carriage.
She thought she might not have a chance to see Young Master Li again in this lifetime.
Who would have thought she met him three days later?
Manager Zhao sent Young Master Li back to Su Jin.
When he was sent back—
Young Master Li’s voice had turned hoarse from crying.
Manager Zhao was also at his wit’s end.
It’s not that he didn’t care for the child; he simply wasn’t up to the task.
Young Master Li saw Su Jin, rushed towards her, crying breathlessly, "Papa, you went back on your word!"
Not only was his voice hoarse, but his eyes were swollen, and he had lost weight.
Su Jin looked at Manager Zhao, "What happened?"
Manager Zhao sighed and said, "Less than an hour after you left, he woke up and wanted to find you. I lied that you would soon be back. He listened, didn’t cry or fuss."
"But when he didn’t see you at dinner, he started crying and wouldn’t eat, couldn’t be coaxed."
"For the past two days, he’s been crying, demanding you, I just couldn’t figure out what to do..."
Manager Zhao was utterly helpless.
Steward Zhou couldn’t blame him, but sending the child to Princess Consort Zhenbei was no solution.
She wasn’t the child’s mother, and since the child got separated in Yu State, his family was definitely there.
The Princess Consort of Prince Zhenbei was heading to the border; was she supposed to take a child?
Young Master Li clung to Su Jin, refusing to let go, insisting she promise not to leave him behind and to take him wherever she went.
Su Jin felt overwhelmed.
How was she supposed to agree to that?
Isn’t this obviously something that’ll be a broken promise?
Manager Zhao offered compassionately, "How about I continue looking for his family in Yu State while you take him along?"
"Once I find his family, I’ll have them search towards the border?"
Actually, Manager Zhao suspected that the child might have been abandoned.
The dark dealings within noble families are countless; who knows if the child is an innocent victim?
Though he was found in Yu State, it didn’t mean he was from there; what if he was kidnapped from elsewhere and abandoned in Yu State?
What Manager Zhao said seemed like a viable solution.
And currently, it looked like the only feasible option.
If he had the child brought back, in the end, he might be sent back to him.
If the family couldn’t be found, if he’s an abandoned child, raising him wouldn’t be too much.
Su Jin said, "So be it, thank you, Manager Zhao."
Manager Zhao was a bit embarrassed.
In these three days, to take care of Young Master Li, Manager Zhao couldn’t delay any of his responsibilities.
He needed to rush back to Yu State to handle affairs, so he didn’t stay long and bid farewell.
Just like that—
Young Master Li stayed with Su Jin again.
Initially, Young Master Li feared Su Jin wouldn’t want him, cried his heart out.
After Su Jin consoled him a few times, Young Master Li became increasingly upset and wouldn’t speak to her.
Ultimately, Xingxing used a string of candy figures to cheer him up.
Zhou Family’s Servant queried in amazement, "How did you know candy figures would console him?"
Xingxing boasted, "That’s how our Eldest Young Master cheered up our Young Master when he was upset."
"If one string of candy figures doesn’t work, then two strings."
"..."
If candy figures could cheer our Young Master, it surely could work for others.
With Young Master Li around, they found a lot more joy along the journey.
Su Jin’s morning sickness decreased, and the pace of travel quickened considerably.
The farther they got from Yu State, the less hope Su Jin held for finding Young Master Li’s family.
She was ready to give up hope.
But surprisingly, things aligned with wishes.
One day, the carriage halted at an inn.
Young Master Li was taken out of the carriage and seeing the inn he gleefully said, "Papa, I’ve stayed here!"
Su Jin raised her brows.
Here, two hundred miles away from Yu State, had he stayed here?
Could he be mistaken?
Su Jin thought thus.
Young Master Li wriggled out of Xingxing’s arms and ran to the inn.
Inside the inn, a boy about five or six years old was riding a wooden horse.
Young Master Li stood in front of him, the little boy looked at him and joyfully said, "It’s you."
The boy looked around and said, "Didn’t your mom come with you?"
Eldest Young Madam Li was kind, seeing him playing well with Young Master Li, she gave him a silver lock and a lot of pastries.
Young Master Li shook his head, "I came with my dad."
Su Jin walked over.
Young Master Li tugged at Su Jin to show him, "This is my dad."
Young Master Li was overjoyed, and so was Su Jin.
Who would have thought that in Yu State no one recognized Young Master Li but here someone did?
A woman overhearing from outside quickly came out, going towards Su Jin while opening a cloth to reveal a silver lock inside, "Madam afforded such a precious gift to my son, I really feel undeserving. Since Madam isn’t here, please have Eldest Young Master Li return the silver lock to her."
Eldest Young Master Li?
So this means the child’s last name is Li?
Poor Su Jin had asked for so long yet couldn’t find out the child’s surname.
Su Jin invited the woman aside and said, "Do you know where this child’s home is?"
The woman paused, "Aren’t you Young Master Li’s dad?"
"The child mistook me for someone else, I’m looking for his family," Su Jin said.
The woman said, "I don’t precisely know where their home is, only that they came from Linzhou, the family breeds horses."
"Breeds horses?" Steward Zhou’s voice suddenly rose two pitches.
Su Jin looked at Steward Zhou, "What happened?"
Steward Zhou said, "Linzhou Li Family, is the top horse-breeding family in the Daqi Dynasty. Eldest Young Master Li married the legitimate daughter from Yuzhou’s Zhang Family, I even attended the wedding banquet with the old master back then."
After a pause, Steward Zhou said, "Marquis Dongxiang bought eighty thousand taels worth of warhorses from the Li Family, not long ago, the Li Family had some issues with horses, unable to deliver on time and feared the Marquis’ blame, Eldest Young Master Li even sought our master’s assistance to hope the Marquis might concede a little."