No one knew which young nobleman he was – the people on the street didn’t recognize him, but from his clothing and the arrogant behavior of his servants, they could tell he definitely wasn’t ordinary.
Qi Yue paced anxiously in circles.
“Never seen him, really never seen him,” the shops they questioned all gave the same answer.
Seeing Qi Yue about to offer another reward, several shop owners quickly stopped her.
“Really haven’t seen him. From his accent, he’s not from our Yongqing Prefecture,” an elderly one said.
Qi Yue calmed down.
“It’s the first month now – there are many visiting relatives. So he must be someone’s visiting relative,” she said.
If they had to investigate that, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack.
“A’Ru, go home and call for people,” she waved her hand, then instructed the disciples. “We’ll ask along the way – wherever these people went, we should be able to find out.”
Huang Ziqiao rushed down from the tavern, surprising the group of young masters who were still toasting heartily. Thinking something serious had happened, they all followed him down, only to see Huang Ziqiao standing at the tavern entrance looking at the sky.
What was so interesting in the sky?
The group looked up too.
That woman was approaching. Should he take the initiative to greet her or pretend he didn’t see her?
Huang Ziqiao’s heart was about to jump out of his throat from anxiety. Taking the initiative to greet her would be too undignified…
Of course, if she took the initiative to call out and greet him, this young master would reluctantly respond with a few words.
Having made up his mind, Huang Ziqiao straightened his clothes, took a deep breath, and stepped out the door, then stopped again.
Should he walk toward her head-on or walk in the same direction?
“Young Master, what exactly are you trying to do?” someone finally couldn’t help asking.
Others quietly asked Huang Ziqiao’s attendant if their young master’s brain was okay, aside from having his belly cut open once.
“Get lost,” Huang Ziqiao glared at them irritably. “I’m going to buy something.”
Having said this, he ignored them and walked out.
He strolled leisurely. Apart from the chattering nonsense from his friends behind him, no female voice called out to stop him.
“Go away, step aside a bit, you’re blocking,” Huang Ziqiao waved back at them.
His friends looked down at themselves.
“Blocking what?” they asked in confusion, turning to look around.
“Blocking the road!” Huang Ziqiao glared, his gaze catching that woman stopping and talking anxiously to several passersby…
After asking a few questions, she hurriedly came this way.
Huang Ziqiao suddenly turned his head and continued walking.
That woman swept past him like a gust of wind…
Hey…
Huang Ziqiao stared with wide eyes, seeing the woman stop a few steps away and call to a shop clerk.
“Have you seen several people dragging someone – Hu San from Qianjin Hall – pass by?” Qi Yue asked, gesturing to describe Hu San’s height and appearance.
Qianjin Hall was quite famous now. The shop clerk shook his head, then quickly called others to ask.
“With so many people on the street, we really didn’t notice,” was the disappointing final result.
Qi Yue exhaled with some worry. After chasing to this point, perhaps because there were too many people on the street, or perhaps those people had already bound Hu San securely without struggle or noise, no one had noticed this group passing by.
Had they taken the wrong route? Or did this group live nearby?
She turned her head and suddenly her eyes lit up.
“Xiao Qiao,” she called out.
With this shout, his friends discovered that Huang Ziqiao, whom they were about to carry off to find a doctor, finally moved.
Huang Ziqiao’s whole body stiffened, looking at the woman who had walked up to him in a few steps, feeling his ears burn.
He made “um” and “ah” sounds, with an expression that said ‘who is this woman, I don’t know you.’
Qi Yue ignored the little brat’s awkward expression.
“Do you know if any family recently had relatives visit from out of town – a young nobleman?” she asked urgently, gesturing to describe the nobleman’s height and appearance as described by the onlookers.
Huang Ziqiao set aside his awkwardness and listened seriously to what she said.
“Many people came for New Year,” he frowned.
“They just arrested Hu San,” Qi Yue said. “Because he treated an emergency on the street, Hu San gave him artificial respiration and cardiac resuscitation, but it might have been misunderstood.”
Hu San? Huang Ziqiao still remembered him – that sleazy man. With his thieving appearance, this day was bound to come sooner or later.
“You all think quickly – which families have had relatives visit these past few days?” he quickly turned to ask his group of friends.
The result was a group of people talking over each other without coming up with anything coherent.
“Forget asking randomly – I’ll go back and have the magistrate send people to search house by house!” Huang Ziqiao waved his hand. “This is outrageous! The lesson about beating doctors was only a few days ago, and now they dare kidnap doctors again! Find this bastard and throw him out of Yongqing Prefecture!”