The emperor exposed him, saying, "I think you're just missing the people at home!"
Xiao Tian lowered his eyes and replied, "I'm going back to check on Baozi's calligraphy practice. Yi Qing can't read."
The emperor was amused by him and showed his gossipy side. "What did you say? Yi Qing can't read? You asked an illiterate village girl to detoxify me?"
"This illiterate village girl hasn't said anything wrong so far."
"Get out, get out." The emperor waved his hand to shoo him away. "We promised to be brothers for life, but now you've left me all alone, feeling so sad."
Xiao Tian gave him a glare and ignored his crazy act before turning around and leaving.
The Yunying noodles at home must have been waiting for him for a long time.
Yi Qing must have soaked the paper - thin Yunying noodles in water, waiting for him to go back and eat. And Baozi must be tracing characters by the lamp. Every now and then, he would ask, "When will Uncle Xiao be back?"
Perhaps this was what people expected from home.
After this matter was settled, he could plead with the emperor on Yi Qing's behalf...
Thinking like this, Xiao Tian patted the horse under him. "Old friend, let's go home for dinner!"
However, when he finally got home and pushed open the door to find it pitch - black inside, his heart tightened suddenly. Uneasiness rushed from his feet to his head.
It was too quiet. The home was eerily silent!
"Baozi? Yi Qing?" He let go of the reins and shouted in the yard.
There was no answer. The whole yard fell into a deathly silence.
Xiao Tian kicked open the door by the moonlight, skillfully found the tinder and lit the candle, then walked into the room.
The quilt on the kang was neatly folded. There was still a piece of tracing paper spread out on the desk. There were no signs of struggle or fighting, but there were no Yunying noodles he wanted to eat, and there were no people he wanted to see.
For a moment, Xiao Tian felt as if all the blood in his body had frozen.
"Yi Qing, Yi Qing!" He held the candle and searched every room, but found nothing.
Xiao Tian gritted his teeth, turned around, and rode straight to the Marquis Huaien's Mansion.
"Where's your eldest young lady? Where does she live?" Xiao Tian knocked on the back door and directly grabbed the collar of the person who opened the door.
"Who are you?" The gatekeeper had been woken up from sleep. Seeing the aggressive visitor, he said angrily, "This is under the emperor's nose. Do you want to rob? Let me tell you, this is the Marquis Huaien's Mansion. You're blind!"
Xiao Tian directly threw the man to the ground and strode inside.
"Help! There's an assassin!" The gatekeeper shouted while lying on the ground.
For a moment, it alarmed many servants, and they all rushed out.
Seeing this, Xiao Tian didn't waste any words with them. "I'm a guard from General Xiao's Mansion. I have something urgent to see the madam."
Hearing that he was from the general's mansion, the others didn't dare to stop him. The butler came out, recognized that he had been here before, and led him to Madam Di's courtyard.
Madam Di had already heard the news and sat up, wrapped in her clothes.
"I'm here to ask Yi Weiwei something." Looking at Madam Di's pale face, Xiao Tian didn't have the heart to say more. "You should rest well. Where's the Marquis Huaien?"
"Probably sleeping in the study. I'm in such a mess myself. How can I care about him?" Madam Di said self - deprecatingly. "Xiao Tian, did Weiwei cause trouble again?"
"No," Xiao Tian shook his head. "I just want to ask her a few questions."
"Then wait a moment. I'll send someone to call her."
Xiao Tian thought it made sense and sat down on the small stool beside the bed.
Madam Di gave the order and dismissed the servants. Gasping for breath, she said, "Tell me the truth. What on earth happened? You're always a prudent man. You wouldn't barge in in the middle of the night for no reason."
It was a pity that with all this commotion, the Marquis Huaien was still like a dead man and didn't show up. God knew which maid he was lying on.
Thinking of this, Madam Di's face turned even paler.
Xiao Tian felt ashamed because of her words "always a prudent man".
In fact, he had broken in without any evidence and disturbed Madam Di's rest.
"Yi Qing and Baozi are missing. I want to ask Yi Weiwei if she did this." He told the truth.
Madam Di frowned. "Missing? Where could they have gone? This can't be Weiwei's doing. She's been under house arrest by me these days. She couldn't have gone out. You'd better go and look elsewhere. Don't waste your time here."
Xiao Tian said, "I've been with her and her son for so long. Besides Yi Weiwei, they have no other enemies."
No, Yi Qing had a sharp tongue. She had offended Sun Xiaohua and saved Xu Si's wife, but she had also scolded quite harshly...
Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a little uneasy.
Could it be the villagers who were after her?
Obviously, they could easily find out where Yi Qing was.
Madam Di could tell from his expression that he was wavering. "It mustn't be Weiwei. Xiao Tian, you still haven't told me if Baozi is really your flesh and blood!"
Xiao Tian turned his face away. "We'll talk about this later. The most urgent thing is to find them. I'm afraid they're in danger."
"If he's not your flesh and blood, what does it matter to you?" Madam Di's voice became a bit harsher.
"Sister, I have to go and look for them first..." Xiao Tian stood up.
"Madam, Madam..." The maid beside Madam Di stumbled in. "The young lady, the young lady is missing!"
Madam Di slumped on the bed. "What did you say!"
Xiao Tian, who had just shifted his attention, frowned instantly and shouted sternly, "Why don't you bring all the servants in her courtyard here?"
The maid stared blankly, obviously frightened by him.
Madam Di also came to her senses and slapped the bed angrily. "What are you standing there for? Go quickly!"
"Yes, yes, yes." The maid rushed out in a hurry.
"Xiao Tian, don't worry. If this is really that unfilial girl's doing, I'll definitely give you an explanation." Madam Di said.
Xiao Tian said coldly, "Sister, you've spoiled this daughter."
Madam Di burst into tears.
"It's my fault. I'm useless. I shouldn't have been a mother. I probably clash with all the Yis. This is the punishment for my stubbornness back then!"
As she spoke, she coughed violently, as if she was about to cough out her lungs.
Xiao Tian felt sorry for her. He went over to pat her on the back to help her catch her breath. "Sister, you really can't go on like this. Leave the Yi family!"
Let those useless father and daughter fend for themselves.
All the maids and women in Yi Weiwei's courtyard were brought here. They knelt in the courtyard in a large group, nearly twenty of them, with their heads down, shivering in the cold wind and not daring to make a sound.
"Speak!" Madam Di was carried out. She slapped the armrest of the chair and forced herself to say, "Tell me, where's the young lady!"
No matter how harsh her words were, she couldn't change the fact that Yi Weiwei was her own daughter.
Now that her daughter was missing, wasn't she just as anxious as Xiao Tian?