Chapter 327
Chapter 327
"Did something happen to Qingshi?" Seeing Qinghua hesitating, Li Zhiwei was certain that something must have happened to Xu Qingshi.
"Miss, the heir... and the master, have gone missing," Qinghua said softly, looking at Li Zhiwei.
At first, Li Zhiwei only registered that Xu Qingshi was missing, but then she realized—the 'master' Qinghua mentioned was her father?
"Are you saying my father disappeared together with Qingshi?" Li Zhiwei asked, somewhat uncertainly.
"Yes, Miss," Qinghua nodded affirmatively.
Li Zhiwei simply couldn't imagine it. Her father and Xu Qingshi disappearing together?
"Do you mean my father took Qingshi somewhere?" Li Zhiwei wondered if Li Tianyou had taken Xu Qingshi out to play.
However, knowing her father's temperament, he wouldn't do something so irresponsible, right?
"The Prince's men are still investigating. They asked us to send a message to the manor if the master returns," Qinghua reported truthfully.
"I'll go take a look." Hearing this, Li Zhiwei stood up, still feeling a bit perplexed. Her father wasn't the unreasonable type; how could he just take Qingshi away?
Upon hearing this, Qinghua quickly followed behind Li Zhiwei, thinking that perhaps Master Li had already returned with the heir.
When Li Tianyou woke up, he only felt a splitting headache.
Looking around, he realized he seemed to be in a room he had never been in before.
Lying next to him was Xu Qingshi, whose face was covered in dark soot.
"Wake up!" Li Tianyou gently patted Xu Qingshi's cheek.
"Hmm?" Xu Qingshi was still a bit disoriented when he woke up.
Looking at Li Tianyou beside him, he asked in confusion, "Grandfather, where are we?"
"I don't know either." Li Tianyou stood up and looked outside.
He didn't see anyone guarding outside, but when he tried to open the door, he found that it was locked from the outside.
"What's wrong?" Seeing Li Tianyou frown, Xu Qingshi asked in confusion.
"The door is locked from the outside," Li Tianyou said with a frown.
"Who on earth locked us in here?" Xu Qingshi frowned, wondering if it could be his father.
"Grandfather, maybe my father doesn't want me to go back, so he locked me up here," Xu Qingshi said sadly.
"What are you thinking? It's far more likely to be your father's political enemies than your father himself," Li Tianyou said, crouching down and rubbing Xu Qingshi's head.
"It wasn't my father?" Xu Qingshi looked at Li Tianyou, somewhat in disbelief.
"Your father would never do such a thing to you," Li Tianyou said firmly.
"Oh my, my father has so many enemies. I wonder who could have captured us?" Xu Qingshi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Clearly, he was even a bit excited about being kidnapped with Li Tianyou.
"Why are you getting happy about this?" Li Tianyou shook his head, thinking that he was just a child after all.
His emotions came and went so quickly.
"My father didn't abandon me, I'm just happy about it for a moment," Xu Qingshi said, his small eyes narrowing into slits, his tone full of excitement.
"Don't celebrate too early. If we can't find a way to sneak out, who knows if you'll ever see your father again." Although Li Tianyou didn't want to pour cold water on a child, this was their current reality. He felt that Xu Qingshi was an understanding child, so he should be clear with him about their situation.
"I'm not scared. My father will definitely find us," Xu Qingshi said confidently, thinking of Xu Heming's omnipotent abilities.
"Are you sure your father even knows you're missing yet? Rather than digging through the ashes at the Zhou family estate looking for your bones?" Li Tianyou looked at Xu Qingshi somewhat helplessly.
Li Tianyou hadn't known about the incident at the Zhou family either. It was only on his way to Prince An's Manor, hearing the chatter of passersby, that he learned Xu Qingshi had suffered such grievances there. If Xu Qingshi hadn't been sitting perfectly fine beside him at the time, he would have been worried for the boy's safety too.
Hearing this, Xu Qingshi fell silent, thinking that his father probably didn't know he was missing yet.
After all, he had sneaked back to Prince An's Manor.
Noticing Xu Qingshi's suddenly gloomy mood, Li Tianyou quickly sat down beside him and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Grandfather, do you think my father truly doesn't like me?" Xu Qingshi asked, visibly confused.
"You little ingrate, how could your father not like you? He cares about you deeply. You mustn't let a few words from others erase your father's love for you. Besides, if you have any doubts, you should bravely speak up and ask your father, instead of letting the bad guys win and wronging yourself."
Li Tianyou stroked Xu Qingshi's head, gently comforting him.
"I was afraid my father really didn't want me anymore. Plus, those people kept insisting that I was of the Zhou family's bloodline and that they missed me. I figured they were my mother's maiden family, so they wouldn't harm me. Who would have thought..." Thinking of this, Xu Qingshi felt a pang of sorrow.
Their claims of missing him were all lies.
"Now you know, right? For some things, you can't just listen to what others say; you have to see with your heart. Take this matter, for instance—knowing the truth isn't a bad thing. At the very least, you've seen their true colors," Li Tianyou added.
"Hmph, I know now. Everything those people said was just to appease my father!" Xu Qingshi said angrily.
"A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. Next time, you'll have to be more careful, won't you?" Li Tianyou said with a smile, looking at Xu Qingshi.
"You're right, Grandfather. Next time they try to trick me, I won't believe their nonsense." Saying this, Xu Qingshi felt a weight lift from his heart.
The two of them chatted for a few more moments. Suddenly, Xu Qingshi looked at Li Tianyou, who was currently dressed like a peasant farmer, and an idea flashed through his mind.
"Grandfather, since we look like this, how did they recognize us?" Xu Qingshi looked at the clothes they were wearing. He thought to himself that if he ran into an old man wearing such coarse linen on the street, he definitely wouldn't recognize him as Li Tianyou.
Even if there was a resemblance, no one would dare associate the two, right?
"Hiss! You just reminded me. Is it possible that human traffickers were walking past the gates of Prince An's Manor, happened to see us, and just snatched us up?" Li Tianyou was also quite curious now. Logically, no one should have been able to recognize them dressed like this.
"I can understand human traffickers wanting a kid like me, but are old folks worth any money?" Xu Qingshi looked Li Tianyou up and down, wondering if human traffickers even wanted someone this old.
"What kind of look is that? At my age, I might not be worth much to sell, but you can't deny my ability to make money!" Li Tianyou straightened his back and said with a proud look on his face.