Fu Yanlin saw Dou Dou shake her head and his
face quickly darkened as he coldly stared at the
women. The woman, on the other hand, never
would have imagined that the little young lady
would not recognise her and she froze on the spot.
"Hmph! Where did this woman come from, even
daring to lie that you are this girl's aunt!" Zhuang
Kang shouted.
The woman hurriedly said, "I am not lying, she
really is my family's girl. Dou Dou, I am Aunt Liu.
Tell them quickly. Your mother is anxiously looking
for you!"
When Dou Dou heard that her mum was looking
for her, she hesitated.
"Don't go. You mum will come to find you in a little
while."
Dou Dou listened and once again shrank into her
daddy's arms, shaking her head at Aunt Liu. This
made Aunt Liu very anxious. She still wanted to
persuade Dou Dou but Fu Yanlin opened his mouth
coldly.
"If you want to pick up this child, tell the child's
mother to come in person."
The woman raised her head and met the man's
terrifying eyes. She subconsciously began to
tremble. These people no longer trusted her and
had even placed their hands on the hilt of their
swords. They exuded a threatening aura, seeming
to warn her that if she kept talking, they would no
longer be polite.
Aunt Liu had no choice, she could only hurriedly
leave. She quickly disappeared into the crowd and
returned to the eldest young lady to plead for
mercy. She was sent by the eldest young lady to get
Dou Dou back, but Dou Dou unexpectedly didn't
want to recognise her. This was far from what
anyone expected.
Mu Huanqing was also extremely surprised. She
deliberately sent Aunt Liu out because only Nanny
Ji and Aunt Liu would take turns to bring up her
daughter. Since Nanny Ji came from the Marquis
house, she would be recognised so she had Aunt
Liu go. She didn't think that Dou Dou would refuse.
This was impossible!
Mu Huanqing's face turned serious and she
clenched her fists. Usually, Dou Dou was the most
well-behaved. She never approached strangers
casually. How could she leave Aunt Liu and stick to
Fu Yanlin? There must be a problem somewhere. Is
it possible.... that she's being forced?
Mu Huanging stared at Fu Yanlin on his high
horse. Since he wanted the girl's mother to pick her
up, then she would fulfil his wishes and go
personally.
Fu Yanlin took Dou Dou around most of the market
but didn't encounter Dou Dou's mother. He
thought that the woman really had an issue, but
since she called out Dou Dou's nickname, she must
have really recognised her.
He pondered for a while and ordered,
"Meng Huai
go find the county magistrate and ask him to find
out who Dou Dou's mother and father are."
A pretty and well-behaved child like Dou Dou must
have come from a good family. Although her
clothes were simple, the fabric was excellent
quality.
"Yes, my lord." Meng Huai accepted the order and
quickly rode off to find the local county magistrate.
No long after Meng Huai rode away, Fu Yanlin's
horse had already reached the horse market.
"Horse, horse." Dou Dou stood up happily,
pointing at the large group of horses.
Fu Yanlin also smiled. "Dou Dou likes horses?"
"Dou Dou likes. Mummy also likes. Dou Dou's
house has lots of horses.
"Oh?" Fu Yanlin raised his eyebrows and was about
to open his mouth and ask but he suddenly spotted
a family figure in the horse market.
A lady was riding on a black horse. Although her
face was covered, he could recognise her figure. It
was the female thief who conspired against him
and snatched that horse. And the black horse she
was riding on was exactly that black colt.
The female thief happened to see him too and
immediately pulled the rein, turning her horse
away.
"Hmph, want to run?" Fu Yanlin became angry and
shouted, "Yuan Ji, take this!" He quickly handed
the child to his subordinates, pulled on his reins
and immediately gave chase.
There were lots of people in the horse market, and
there were even more horses. When the eyes were
dazzled, the female thief and the horse disappeared
until the group of horses. Fu Yanlin stared at the
horses closely. He knew that the cunning woman
was definitely hiding with the group but there were
also a lot of black horses mixed within the group.
Trying to search through the group of dark colour
horses really confused a person's eyes.
Fu Yanlin searched for any suspicious figures as far
as his eye could see, but could not find any.
Instead, he heard Zhuang Kang shouting from
behind. "My lord!'
Fu Yanlin turned back and saw Zhuang Kang riding
a horse over, continuously yelling,
"The child was
kidnapped!"
When Fu Yanlin heard, his pupils constricted and
the veins on the back of his hands jumped out.
Zhuang Kang had already ridden closer and
hurriedly reported, "There's a group of people
attacking us. There are many people and their
target is the child. Yuan Ji already gave chase!"
Fu Yanlin understood what had happened after one
thought. This was a trick to lure the tiger away
from the mountain. This definitely had something
to do with that woman. First, they would lead him
away, then have others grab the child.
His face was sullen. He didn't expect that that
woman would have had the intention to target Dou
Dou.
Since the other party intended to kidnap the child,
they must have another purpose. If so, they must
want to use the child as leverage against him. But
he just didn't know what her purpose was. At least,
he decided that the child would be fine.
"Mobilise the cavalry immediately. Set up
checkpoints at various intersections. This Lord
must turn over every inch of land to find someone."
He commanded coldly.
He wanted to see who this woman thought she was.
First, she stole horses, now she was stealing
children. He didn't believe that he wouldn't be able
to find one person after transferring his troops here
and searching every family.
He was not in a hurry because the appearance of
that woman proved that he was right. She and her
people were hiding nearby. A woman who was a
skilled rider would not be difficult to find. It was
also impossible for nobody to recognise that
beautiful child.
The county magistrate rushed over to see him at
this moment and after hearing what he said, he
dispatched the troops.
Within a day, Fu Yanlin was able to mobilise five
hundred cavalries to conduct a thorough
investigation of all the households in a radius of
one hundred miles. No matter if they were
foreigners or servants, they all needed to be
searched.
Actually, it was strange. He sent out so many
people and after three days, there wasn't a single
clue. Fu Yanlin's face was ashen and the scared
county magistrate dropped to his knees.
"My lord, this- this small one really has reported all
the households. Which house raises horses, which
house has daughters are all registered. There are no
omissions, apart from the small manor that
belongs to the Marquis that this small one dares
not touch. For all the others, there is nothing to
hide!"
When he heard about the Marquis's manor, Fu
Yanlin couldn't help but tighten his brows. He
looked at Zhuang Kang and the two others.
"HOW
far away is the manor that is owned by the Marquis
house?"
Zhuang Kang replied immediately. "My lord, the
manor is located by the lake. It is not more than a
stick of incense if you ride there from here. Because
the territory belongs to the Marquis, so the officers
and soldiers bypassed it. They did not dare to
search it without the permission of the Marquis.
Fu Yanlin suddenly thought of that woman. It had
already been four years since she was sent to the
manor. During these four years, he had never set
foot inside nor had he heard any news about that
woman living in that manor.
She had only taken three servants when she left the
Marquis house and seemed to have cut off any
relations with the Marquis so he never sought for
any news. Firstly, it was the property of the
Marquis and no outsiders could enter. Secondly,
when he chased her to the countryside, he did not
plan on ever seeing her again.
Fu Yanlin stood up suddenly. To discover any clues
about the horse thief, he felt like it was necessary to
make the trip himself. Not to mention, Dou Dou
was lost from his hands. He must find that child
Without further ado, he immediately led people to
the manor.
On the other side, Mu Huanqing who had snatched
her daughter back was now angrily scolding her.
"Didn't mum teach you to never walk casually with
strangers? Why don't you listen? Do you know how
much danger Li Yuan and the others put
themselves in to find you and bring you back?
Hm?'
Little Dou Dou sat on the soft couch, her little face
was raised and her innocent eyes watched her mum
scold her with furrowed brows. In her memory, her
mummy had never been this angry before. She
couldn't help but shrink her neck, unable to
understand what she did wrong.
"Daddy.... Daddy is not a stranger." Dou Dou said
timidly.
When the word 'daddy' was uttered, Mu Huanqing
was stunned. She stared at Dou Dou's blank little
face and all the words she wanted to say were stuck
in her throat. Her heart felt like it was being
battered by stormy waves.
It seems that someone violated her order and told
Dou Dou about her father.
"Who told you that that person was your daddy?"
"Uncle Butterfly." Dou Dou said honestly.
Mu Huanqing felt like her head would explode.
"Don't make trouble. Tell mother. Who told you
about your daddy? Speak. Mother won't yell at
you." But she would beat the person out of the
manor.
"It really was Uncle Butterfly. He's right there!"
Dou Dou pointed at the colourful butterfly on the
window lattice.
This butterfly was a different colour and the
pattern on its wings was also different. But when
Mu Huanqing saw it, she couldn't help but freeze in
place.
She suddenly had a strange feeling. Butterflies
seemed to be appearing very frequently at the
moment. Although they were different, she thought
that the butterfly was very weird. Like it had a
mind of its own and was constantly watching her
and her daughter's every move.
"Tsk! That little guy betrayed me again. Didn't I
already tell you not to speak about this uncle?"
He Guan flapped his wings and flew away. Because
he had already seen Mu Huanqing's direct gaze, to
prevent her from thinking about catching him, he
had better leave first. Who told him to get sold by
the little guy. He had almost been caught by her old
man's people too.
But his goal had been achieved. He could already
smell the man's breath as he approached.
The butterfly turned into black mist and finally
condensed into a humanoid form, floating in the
sky above the Marquis's countryside manor. He
Guan smiled evilly. His handsome peach blossom
eyes flashed with excitement as he watched the
dust billowing in the distance.
He laughed gently. With his help, the Zhuanyuan
Marquis Fu Yanlin was finally about to step into
this countryside manor. A marriage predestined by
fate, separated by a thousand miles, was finally
drawing together. He was very much looking
forward to the meeting of these fated lovers to
confirm that saying: If you were not destined, then
you would not be together.
Mu Huanqing immediately climbed to the top of
the observation deck when she heard the news to
see a group of people riding horses approaching the
manor.