Chapter 438: Searching and Searching for the Child

"Not ordinary……" Lv Jing didn't know what she had thought of, her eyes widened in surprise.

She drew a sharp breath, looked left and right anxiously, making sure no one else nearby could hear, then whispered:

"You mean Yina couldn't possibly be a Beili princess who got stranded outside, right?"

Gu Xixi shook her head. "I don't know."

Lv Jing, however, was addicted to reasoning, furrowed her brows and said, "Or perhaps... the queen?"

Gu Xixi said, "Beili has just enthroned a new king; their queen wouldn't be stranded in Daye."

She paused, then said, "Don't think about it anymore; the military knows of their existence, and it's not up to us to worry."

Yina's every gesture bore the air of a superior.

But Gu Xixi had no concrete evidence; for now she could only determine that this woman was certainly no ordinary merchant.

She is a Beili person, yet her identity is a mystery.

If they truly are as they say, merely stranded helplessly, then that's fine.

If they have ulterior motives, or harbor other purposes……

Gu Xixi gazed at the distant horizon and let out a soft sigh,

"We just need to be careful; lately, try to avoid any further contact with her."

Lv Jing had just been thinking of making something tasty to send to Yina.

Upon hearing Gu Xixi say that, she immediately dropped the idea, her expression turning serious: "Okay, I got it."

Regarding this, she didn't press for details, trusting that Gu Xixi's words must have reason.

Gu Xixi added, "Let's also go look around for those two children."

"Aunt Lin probably went to look first."

Lv Jing realized, then understood that Aunt Lin hadn't been around earlier because she had gone to look for the missing girl.

The layout of Dependents Village is simple, with only dwellings and no farmland.

The places where the children usually play in the village are just a few.

Probably everyone had already searched everywhere early in the morning.

Gu Xixi then headed toward the fields outside the village.

"Xiao Xiu'er! Dou Dou!!"

Lv Jing was puzzled: "You didn't even ask whose child was lost just now; how do you know their names?"

Gu Xixi said, "I saw their mothers pointing at Yina demanding their children, almost on the verge of tears."

"Just now when we went to Yina's residence, neither of them followed; they must have continued searching for the children."

Lv Jing nodded: "Indeed, a mother feels the most anguish for her own child."

She rallied her spirits: "Let's also put in extra effort and find the children as soon as possible."

"Xiu'er! Dou Dou! Where are you guys?!!"

Having left the village and not gone far, we indeed ran into Aunt Lin.

Aunt Lin shook her head and sighed: "Still haven't found them."

Gu Xixi briefly told her what had just happened in the village.

"For now the mother and child are safe; you can relax."

Aunt Lin's brows remained furrowed, but it wasn't too surprising.

"Not everyone is of one mind; letting them stay, I've also wondered when something might go wrong."

"Fortunately you're here today, so things haven't gotten out of hand."

The sun was already high; villagers were searching for the children, and today's harvest had not yet begun.

In the oat fields we continued searching everywhere, and calls for the two children echoed all around.

Lv Jing wiped sweat: "What do we do? We've searched every place we could around here."

Gu Xixi pondered a moment, then said: "Let's go back first."

"Back?" Lv Jing trotted to keep up.

The cart we came in was left in the small courtyard, for Gu Xixi's convenience to use anytime.

Two horses were tethered in the shade beneath the courtyard wall.

Gu Xixi led one of the horses away, saying, "I'm going to check the reclaimed fields in the military."

"You stay home and rest, change the well water for the sour plum drink; I'll want some when I return."

Lv Jing let out an "ai", took a few steps, then realized she wasn't yet skilled at horseback riding and had to stop helplessly.

She turned back, looking at the remaining horse, and murmured, "You say, I pick up driving a cart quickly, so why does learning horsemanship take so long and still not be proficient?"

"Could it be because I've always been riding a mule?"

The horse chewed hay, *mumble mumble*, at a loss for words.

Gu Xixi, upon leaving the village, spurred the horse into a gallop.

The reclaimed fields in the military are vast; searching on foot, one could walk all day and still not finish.

At this time, the Northwest Army's soldiers have already harvested more than half of the oat fields.

In these fields, some grain kernels and stubble are always left behind.

Last year there were already children who ran far off, darted into the military's fields to pick up oats.

As the horse ran, the scenery along the way was all harvested fields.

There was no one else nearby, because the Northwest Army's soldiers were busy at a somewhat distant location.

Gu Xixi searched with her eyes while calling out for Xiao Xiu'er and Dou Dou.

As she ran, a black horse came up from behind and caught up to her.

Xixi! Gu Xixi!

In the whistling wind by his ear, he faintly heard a familiar, happy sound.

Gu Xixi turned her head in surprise, "Mu Nan Zhao! What are you doing here?"

Mu Nan Zhao's horse caught up a little, riding alongside Gu Xixi.

I'm in the army; I heard a report, and from afar I saw Boss Gu galloping alone on horseback for no reason,

Those gentlemen, when doing farm work, dress lightly and feel embarrassed to come stop you, so they sent someone back to report, to see if any help is needed.

Gu Xixi laughed, "Needed!"

Thus, under Mu Nan Zhao's arrangement, the soldiers harvesting outside the camp paused their work and scattered to look for the children.

Although none of the little girls' own fathers were among them,

but they were all comrades-in-arms, and these uncles naturally searched with all their might.

With many people, strength is great; after just the time it takes to finish a cup of tea, they got a response.

When Gu Xixi rode back on horseback, holding the two girls in front of her, they returned to the outskirts of Dependents Village.

The women ran, shouting loudly to inform others,

"Xiu Er and Dou Dou have been found! Both have been found!"

"The two children are fine, nothing happened!"

Soon everyone came running, happily surrounding Gu Xixi's horse.

Gu Xixi dismounted and took the children down one by one.

Both mothers were frightened enough to be angry.

After the initial joy of seeing the children safe, they were still filled with lingering fear.

Dou Dou's mother grabbed the little girl and spanked her, "Where did you go?"

"You slipped out before dawn without even greeting your mother!"

"I told you not to run around, I told you not to run around!"

Xiu Er's mother then twisted her daughter's ear, "You're two years older than Dou Dou, you're the older sister—was this your idea?"

"You're really bold—is it that Mother can't control you, so you need Father to step in?"

Dou Dou was hit by her mother and didn't dodge, sobbing with hiccups.

Xiu Er winced in pain, "Mom, mom, stop pulling, I won't dare again!"

The observing aunts, wives of uncles, and grandmothers originally thought the children's mischief deserved a lesson to make them remember.

But after a while, they all felt heartbroken and couldn't bear it, so they began to persuade them to stop.

Those protecting the children shielded the children, those pulling the adults pulled the adults.

In the blink of an eye, the two girls were rescued.

Only then did Gu Xixi find a chance to speak: "The two children are truly kind-hearted; it's just that their plan met with a hitch."

She turned around to look behind.

Mu Nan Zhao stood there, having already taken the two packs from the horse's back and placed them on the ground.