Song Yi'an threw the fruit while running toward the door, reaching out as if to touch the main gate.
Suddenly, someone from behind covered her mouth and nose tightly with a wet cloth soaked in a large amount of sleeping potion.
The potency of the drug was incredibly fierce; even Song Yi'an could not withstand such a large dose, and her eyes went black as she fainted.
Having captured their target, the two black-clothed men did not hesitate to pick up Song Yi'an, vault out of the window, and vanish into the night.
Almost the second they disappeared, the room door was kicked open by the combined force of Wang Yi and Wang Er.
Madam Gu was the first to rush in, with Uncle Sun following closely behind, his heart heavy with worry.
By the light of the lantern held by Wang Yi, the room was in a state of total disarray.
"Er Ya!" Madam Gu rushed over and tore off the quilt. Only Wei Jingjing was in the bed; the little miss was nowhere to be found.
Realizing her daughter had been abducted, Madam Gu's face turned pale, and her whole body trembled.
Her daughter had disappeared.
Uncle Sun confirmed that his own young lady was lying in bed safe and sound, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it was not his young lady who had met with misfortune.
Wang Yi and Wang Er stepped forward quickly to inspect the window and the marks on the ground. The two exchanged glances, their expressions exceptionally grave.
The perpetrators had come prepared; the little miss was likely in grave danger.
At the first light of dawn, Madam Gu went into the city to report the case to the government officials.
The yamen accepted the complaint, and upon seeing Wang Yi produce the Song Family token, they dared not be negligent. They immediately dispatched runners to investigate everywhere, but after several consecutive days, there was no trace of Song Yi'an, as if she had vanished into the vast sea.
The attendants of the Wei Family also assisted with all their might, turning over every nearby town and village.
Upon learning that her little friend had been abducted by bad people, Wei Jingjing dared not go out, and she became completely listless.
Because his sister had been abducted, Song Yili was filled with fear and worry day and night. His body, which had just begun to improve, could not hold up, and he developed a high fever, his little face burning red.
When Nanny Zhou saw that things were not right, she began to weigh her options.
Wasting time here was useless. The government officials were unreliable, the little miss could not be found, and if they waited any longer, she feared the Eldest Young Master would also be lost.
She could not stand by and watch the Eldest Young Master meet with misfortune as well.
Once Song Yili's high fever was barely brought down by the physician's acupuncture and medication, Nanny Zhou made a decisive choice.
"This place is not suitable for a long stay, and there is no benefit in dragging this out. Prepare the carriage and horses; we depart today to return to the Capital City."
Upon hearing this, Madam Gu felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She raised her head abruptly: "No! Er Ya hasn't been found yet; we cannot leave."
"Will staying here help you find her?" Nanny Zhou's tone was cold and firm. "The government officials have searched for days, and there is no news of the young lady. The Eldest Young Master is now this ill, and there is a lack of medicine here. If the Eldest Young Master also collapses, what will you do?"
Nanny Zhou paused and continued, "The Capital City has famous doctors and the Prime Minister. Returning, at the very least, can ensure the Eldest Young Master remains safe. As for the little miss..." She did not finish her sentence, but the meaning was clear.
Madam Gu looked at her son's pale and fragile face on the sickbed, fearing he would not pull through, while also thinking of her daughter whose whereabouts were unknown and whose life or death was uncertain.
This choice was like a dull knife cutting into her flesh; no matter how she chose, she would be failing the other.
In the middle of the night, Song Yili's high fever returned, and it was even more intense. Madam Gu did not sleep all night.
The next morning, with dark circles under her eyes, Madam Gu took the initiative to speak.
"Let's return to the Capital City."
...
While Madam Gu was terrified and unable to sleep, Song Yi'an was awakened by Xiao Bai's wet tongue licking her.
Her face was covered in saliva. As soon as she regained consciousness, her first reaction was to curse out loud.
These human traffickers—how much sleeping potion were they trying to use to kill someone? They didn't even consider that the target was a seven-year-old child. If it had been an ordinary seven-year-old, they would have already died from this dosage.
Of course, she could only curse in her heart.
Song Yi'an opened her eyes to see a dilapidated roof, the thatch sparse and letting in light.
The room was empty, save for her and Xiao Bai; the two black-clothed men were nowhere to be seen.
Perhaps because she was so young and appeared to be no threat, and because the dosage of the sleeping potion was enough to knock out an adult man for two days and nights, the perpetrators had not tied her hands or feet, simply throwing her casually onto the hay pile in the room.
Song Yi'an had only needed six hours to wake up.
She climbed up and stood on tiptoe to pull at the wooden door, but it did not budge; it was clearly locked from the outside.
She was not in a hurry for now, instead sitting cross-legged and taking Xiao Bai onto her lap to carefully check its injuries.
The little fellow had blood scabs on its head and abdomen. She touched them with a pained heart and fed it some high-concentration Spirit Water to speed up the healing of the wounds.
"Silly dog, why did you follow me when it was so dangerous?" she whispered.
Xiao Bai whimpered and nudged her palm with its head.
Song Yi'an held it and leaned toward the crack in the door to peek outside. It was a desolate courtyard with no one in sight; it seemed she had been locked in some remote woodshed.
She wondered how her mother and brother were doing, hoping they were not too worried.
Song Yi'an checked her Space; there were still plenty of fruits she had picked on the road, so she would not go hungry for a while.
The problem was, how was she to escape?
And why did the other party want to abduct her? Was it an enemy of the Song Family?
At this moment, footsteps sounded outside.
Song Yi'an quickly hid Xiao Bai behind the hay pile and held a finger to her lips to signal it to be quiet.
She herself quickly lay back in her original position, adjusted her breathing, and closed her eyes to feign unconsciousness.
"Creak."
The wooden door was pushed open, and a heavily made-up woman walked in, followed by two burly men.
Huang Ying walked in and glanced at Song Yi'an, who was still unconscious in the corner. She frowned: "Why hasn't the Young Miss Wei woken up yet?"
The burly man, who was one of the black-clothed men, replied.
"Uh..." one of the black-clothed men said sheepishly, "The... the medicine was a bit too strong; she still needs to sleep for a while."
The other burly man with a scar on his face couldn't help but ask: "Sister Ying, will capturing this girl really make Wei Qingtian give us ten thousand silver notes?"
Huang Ying swept a glance at him, her gaze filled with a warning, and the two immediately silenced.
She walked over to Song Yi'an and crouched down, checking her breath and looking at her eyes to confirm she was merely unconscious and in no serious danger. Only then did she stand up, her tone cold.
"What do you two know? Wei Qingtian treasures his daughter so much, how could he not agree?"
"Sister Ying is right."
The wooden door was closed again, and after it was locked, the footsteps faded away.
Only then did Song Yi'an sit up silently, patting the hay off her body, speechless.
Young Miss Wei?
The dosage was inaccurate, and they even kidnapped the wrong person. Were the business standards of kidnappers these days really this poor?
It was truly an unprovoked disaster. Next time she saw Wei Jingjing, she would definitely make her pay for being a body double.
After the hostage was in hand, Huang Ying immediately sent someone to throw the letter at the front gate of the Wei Family.
Seven days later.
Huang Ying leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes to rest, and asked: "Have you received the banknotes?"
The scarred burly man shook his head: "No, there hasn't been a single movement from the Wei Family."
Huang Ying opened her eyes abruptly. The fact that there was no movement from the Wei Family was truly strange. Rumor had it that the Minister of Rites, Wei Qingtian, regarded his little daughter as a treasure, fearing she would melt if held in his mouth and break if held in his hands.
Now that his precious daughter had fallen into the hands of thieves, how could he be so calm? Where was the problem?
She turned her head in irritation, her gaze locked firmly on the small figure in the corner.
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