Chapter 260
Chapter 260
As the few of them approached, they saw the large red swaddling cloth lying quietly by the riverbank.
"Is the child still there?" Xu Qingshi was the first to rush over, while Jiang Yu behind him asked nervously.
"Ai!" The child in the swaddling cloth opened its big eyes, occasionally kicking its little feet, seeming quite happy.
"You little heartless thing, you were almost thrown into the river," Xu Qingshi said, looking at Gu Nuonuo.
"What do we do now?" Xie Yanzhi looked at such a small child and was momentarily at a loss.
"Let's get away from here quickly!" Xu Qingshi frowned, afraid that person might return.
"Can you get up and walk by yourself?" Xu Qingshi frowned, looking down at Gu Nuonuo on the ground and asking.
"Ya!" Little Gu Nuonuo, where would she understand what Xu Qingshi meant? She just seemed happy to hear a voice.
"I'm asking you a question?" Xu Qingshi frowned and asked again.
"Qingshi, could it be that she... actually can't speak?" Xie Yanzhi stared for a long while before cautiously asking.
"Can't speak? Don't tell me she's a little mute?" Xu Qingshi looked at the child on the ground again, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Then does that mean she probably can't walk either?" Xu Qingshi then looked at Xie Yanzhi beside him and asked.
"I don't know either!" Xie Yanzhi shook his head and looked at Jiang Yu nearby.
"Don't look at me, I don't know either. But judging by her appearance, she probably can't," Jiang Yu stated the cruel fact.
"Then pick her up," Xu Qingshi said, looking at Xie Yanzhi.
"Me?" Xie Yanzhi looked at Xu Qingshi with a face full of doubt. How would he know how to do such a thing?
"If not you, then who? Me? Do I look like I know how?" Xu Qingshi said, puffing up with anger.
Gritting his teeth, Xie Yanzhi could only reach out to pick her up, but he had no idea where to start.
"I can't do it. How about you try?" Xie Yanzhi looked at Jiang Yu, who was watching the show, and asked.
"You can't do it, and you think I can?" Jiang Yu said angrily.
"Whether you can or not, you won't know until you try, right?" Xu Qingshi chimed in again.
"Then why don't you do it yourself?" Jiang Yu asked discontentedly.
"The strongest always make their entrance last," Xu Qingshi said with a haughty, proud expression.
Unable to out-argue Xu Qingshi, Jiang Yu had no choice but to reach out and try to pick up the child.
However, he was just a child himself. After several attempts, he failed.
"Strong one, your turn," Jiang Yu spread his hands, looking somewhat innocent as he spoke to Xu Qingshi.
Xu Qingshi tried to pick up the child, but unfortunately, his strength was simply too little.
"I can't do it either," Xu Qingshi said somewhat dejectedly.
"Then how about we go back and find an adult?" Jiang Yu thought about it. They were all children; surely none of them could carry her back.
Then they could only ask an adult to solve it.
"Can you even find the way back?" Xu Qingshi asked with a face full of suspicion.
Helpless, the few of them finally discussed and decided to carry the child back together.
Coincidentally, the swaddling cloth had four corners, one person for each side.
The remaining person would hold two corners, and they would take turns holding the two corners.
The children had just lifted her when they saw Xiaolian, who had left and now returned.
"Run!" Xu Qingshi quickly shouted.
Xiaolian had just been thinking left and right; leaving the child by this small river was still too close. What if someone picked the child up? There was still a chance she could be found and returned.
Although such a small child couldn't possibly identify her, then the masters' plan wouldn't be achieved.
The children, holding the corners of the cloth, ran frantically.
Xiaolian's attention was only on the riverbank. Besides, there were houses and children nearby, so she didn't suspect anything.
But seeing the empty riverbank, her heart grew somewhat panicked.
The child was gone?
Could she have been picked up by someone?
Thinking this, Xiaolian began searching everywhere.
Grand Princess's Mansion
A servant hurriedly approached the Grand Princess, who was chatting and laughing with others, and whispered a few words in her ear.
"What?" The Grand Princess could hardly believe what her ears had just heard.
Her Little Nuonuo was actually missing?
"Search! Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find her for me!" the Grand Princess roared angrily.
The originally joyous and lively Grand Princess's Mansion instantly fell so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Everyone looked at each other, not understanding what had happened or why the Grand Princess was so angry.
"I must trouble you all to rest in the mansion for a while. I have a matter to attend to," the Grand Princess said before hurriedly leaving.
Lady Yao didn't know why, but she felt somewhat panicked.
Only then did she realize her own rascal of a son had long since disappeared from sight.
She hadn't really wanted to bring her child today, but yesterday, Xie Jincheng had told her that the Prince of An's heir would be attending the Grand Princess's Mansion's full-month banquet on behalf of the Prince of An's household today, and asked her to bring her son along for company.
Now she didn't even know where the child had gone.
Lady Yao anxiously searched everywhere for him.
The Grand Princess arrived at the courtyard where Gu Nuonuo had been taken from, frowning deeply.
"What are all these servants doing? Can't even keep an eye on one child?" the Grand Princess said angrily.
Everyone only dared to keep their heads lowered.
Nearby, Madam Ruan was crying, her face streaked with tears like a rain-drenched pear blossom.
"What are you crying for? Where were you just now?" the Grand Princess asked somewhat impatiently.
"Mother-in-law, I beg you, save Nuonuo," Ruan Jinge pleaded. She never imagined that in the time it took her to change clothes, her daughter would vanish.
"Send someone to ask at all the side gates if any suspicious persons left today," the Grand Princess instructed the matron beside her.
He Yushan stood to the side, also stunned.
She hadn't expected that child, the one vying for favor with her own son, to actually go missing.
For some reason, she actually felt somewhat relieved in her heart.
With that child gone, no one would compete with her son for favor anymore.
The children, carrying the cloth corners, ran for a long time. Unknowingly, they actually ended up at a small side gate of the Prince of An's Mansion.
"Open the door!" Xu Qingshi was already exhausted.
He was also worried that the bad woman might still chase them, so he hurriedly urged them to open the door.
"Young Master?" The door creaked open from the inside. Seeing Xu Qingshi return, the servant was puzzled. Why was the Young Master using this small side gate today?
You should know, this gate was usually unused.
Who knew what the Young Master had encountered today to return through this gate.
The thing the few of them were carrying together, if you didn't look closely, you wouldn't think it was a child.
By the time they returned to Liangxi Courtyard, they were all completely worn out.
They initially put the child down on the floor.
But as soon as they set her down, the child started wailing.
"Why is she crying?" Xu Qingshi said, somewhat flustered.
"Is she hungry?" Jiang Yu asked cautiously.
"Can little babies eat rice?" Xie Yanzhi asked with a worried frown.
"Could it be because she's uncomfortable sleeping on the floor?" Xu Qingshi asked somewhat doubtfully.
But in Liangxi Courtyard, there was only his, the master's, bed.
The children worked together to place the child on the bed.
On the bed, the child just whimpered a few times, then turned her head and went back to sleep.
The Grand Princess was now anxiously searching for the child. They had no idea the child had already changed locations.