Chapter 146 A Story Woven from Vivid Imagination

This secluded corner was remote indeed. After a long while, seeing that the child's wet nurse still hadn't appeared, Qin Wanru was practically certain that the woman had deliberately slipped away.

Seeing that the time was about right, she patted the boy's back and said in a low voice, "It's time to get up!"

The boy looked as though he was sleeping very comfortably. He twisted his body, turned his head to the side, and continued to cling to Qin Wanru as he slept, looking adorably cute.

Qin Wanru smiled as she reached out to pinch his tiny nose, waking him up again. This time, the boy could no longer sleep. He opened his moisture-filled eyes and gazed at Qin Wanru with a dazed expression, momentarily unsure of where he was. He blinked his large eyes and broke into an obedient smile, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the little tyrant he had been earlier.

"Let's go, time to eat!" Qin Wanru withdrew her hand from his nose and gently pinched his plump, fair, and tender little cheek.

"Older sister!" muttered the boy. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, looking terribly well-behaved.

"Young master, would you like me to carry you?" Yujie asked proactively, thoroughly charmed by the sight.

The boy looked at Qin Wanru, then at Yujie, and hesitantly shook his head. "No... I want to walk with older sister!"

With that, he jumped down, took hold of Qin Wanru's hand, and started walking outward.

The group then set off together. Twisting and turning through the unfamiliar paths, Qin Wanru had no idea where she was after going in circles for a while. She didn't know where the banquet was being held and could only keep walking forward.

Suddenly, Yujie caught sight of a maid walking past the moon gate on the left and hurriedly ran over to stop her and ask for directions.

After pointing out a direction, the maid hurried away. She seemed to be in a great rush and turned to leave, but stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing the boy holding Qin Wanru's hand.

"Young Master Hao?" The maid looked at the boy whose little hand was being held, then raised her head to look at Qin Wanru, and called out tentatively, "Miss Qin?"

"You know us?" Qin Wanru stopped in her tracks, startled.

"This servant knows Young Master Hao!" The maid cast a cautious glance at Qin Wanru and answered in a low voice.

"Then how did you know that the person with your Young Master Hao is me?" Qin Wanru tilted her head to look at the boy, and seeing him also staring up at her with a blank expression, she knew the child didn't recognize this maid at all.

"This... this is known throughout the entire estate..." the maid stammered. She squatted down in front of the boy, extended her hand, and said, "Young Master Hao, everyone is looking for you. You should come back with this servant to see Her Royal Highness the Grand Princess!"

"Get out of my way. I'm going with older sister!" The boy slapped the maid's hand away, glaring at her with a vigilant gaze that instantly brought back his little tyrant demeanor.

"Why does the entire estate know?" Qin Wanru had a gut feeling that something was amiss here. Her encounter with this child was pure coincidence; how could the whole estate possibly know about it already?

The maid stood up, looked at Qin Wanru, and then at the boy, wearing a hesitant expression of someone with more to say.

"Older sister told you to speak, so speak! Otherwise, I'll tell maternal grandmother later that you deliberately bullied me and even hit me!" The boy straightened his back, acting arrogant as he glared angrily at the maid with a full-on threat.

He looked quite fierce like this!

Yet, coupled with his tiny stature, fair and tender skin, pretty little face, and chubby hands and feet, it hardly carried any real deterrent force.

However, the maid opposite him evidently bought into this act entirely. Frightened ashen by his words, she hurriedly waved her hands in panic and stammered, "Young Master Hao, this servant will speak right now, you mustn't tell them that this servant bullied you!"

"Speak, what is going on here?" Qin Wanru smiled faintly and squeezed the boy's hand. The "fierce expression" on the boy's face vanished instantly, replaced once again by the look of an obedient little child.

"Everyone is saying that you, Miss Qin, carried Young Master Hao away, and that someone saw you take him away on purpose," the maid lowered her head and said timidly.

"I carried him away? Why?" Qin Wanru was completely baffled.

"Word has it that Young Master Hao offended Miss Qin, and you were furious. Not knowing Young Master Hao's identity, you wanted to trick Young Master Hao away and sell him!"

The maid looked at Qin Wanru, suddenly feeling that this rumor made no sense whatsoever. The young lady before her looked barely older than Young Master Hao; how could she possibly be so malicious as to trick Young Master Hao away simply because the ill-tempered boy had threatened her a few words?

"Tell me the details!" Sensing some underlying plot, Qin Wanru's heart stirred as she slowly asked.

Seeing that Qin Wanru was not angered and was still asking her in a gentle and calm tone, the maid's heart settled, and she poured out everything she knew from beginning to end.

The child before them was none other than Young Master Hao. He had accompanied the adults of his family to attend the banquet of Grand Princess Rui'an. Originally, he was with the others, but later the child somehow vanished without a trace. Everyone was extremely worried, and the matter even reached the ears of Grand Princess Rui'an.

Grand Princess Rui'an ordered everyone to search for Young Master Hao.

Unexpectedly, before he was found, someone came across a scrap of paper that had blown in from somewhere. Ordinarily, such a scrap of paper wouldn't draw much attention, but the maid serving Young Master Hao claimed that the paper was one Young Master Hao used to fold for play in the past.

Thus, the piece of paper was handed up.

The paper was torn, and vaguely written upon it were the words "Qin Wanru... child..."

For a moment, no one knew anyone named Qin Wanru. They specifically asked several young ladies with the surname Qin, but none of them bore that name. Later, people from the Yongkang Earl's Mansion mentioned that the eldest Miss Qin of the Ningyuan General's family from Jiangzhou, who had just arrived in the capital, was named Qin Yuru, so this person named Qin Wanru must be her younger sister.

The subsequent accounts grew increasingly bizarre. Some claimed many people had seen this Miss Qin walking past, while others said she seemed to have a child with her...

All in all, the final conclusion reached was that this Second Miss Qin had encountered the little tyrant Young Master Hao on the road. Since Young Master Hao had an overbearing temperament, he might have offended this Second Miss Qin during their exchange, whereupon this Second Miss Qin harbored malicious intentions and devised a way to trick Young Master Hao into leaving so she could sell him.

This incident had been witnessed by a literate maid who, worrying she lacked strength on her own, specifically picked up a piece of paper dropped by Young Master Hao, hastily wrote a couple of words on it, and gave chase.

Only, after a brief delay, the figure she had been tracking ahead vanished!

Having listened to the whole story, Yujie was left completely dumbfounded. She looked at Qin Wanru and then at Young Master Hao, temporarily at a loss for words!

Such a scenario could actually be fabricated; the imagination behind it was truly extraordinary!

"Miss... this... this is too absurd!" Yujie stared in astonishment.

Qin Wanru's expression, however, grew heavy. Such an absurd matter, with such an absurd reason—yet people believed it, and that was the result!

"Are you a maid of this estate?" A flash of lightning crossed Qin Wanru's mind, pinpointing the most crucial aspect of this preposterous affair. Her expression changed drastically, and a trace of ruthlessness flashed in her eyes.

Because the premise of this matter was absurd, few people might believe it at first, but what if the result truly turned out this way? With the groundwork laid beforehand, how many would still believe her?

If Hao'er were to genuinely meet with harm, these preposterous rumors would become reality. As long as Hao'er went missing, all fingers would point directly at her, turning falsehood into truth!

The key still lay in Hao'er's safety. With a rapid mental calculation, Qin Wanru instantly understood her own predicament and what she needed to do right now!

"Yes, this servant is!"

"Can you immediately find a few more people? Make it quick!" Qin Wanru instructed.

"Just now, this servant came over with several sisters. They are right nearby!"

"Call them all over!" said Qin Wanru.

Sensing the unusual atmosphere, the maid nodded and, daring not to delay, ran off and returned shortly with five or six other maids.

"Make no sound, follow me!" said Qin Wanru.

The group of maids nodded and followed closely behind Qin Wanru.

The return journey did not take long. Before walking far, Qin Wanru arrived at the spot where Hao'er had crawled through the dog hole earlier.

Before even reaching it, faint sounds of voices drifted over—it sounded like two people talking anxiously.

"Why isn't he here? He should be right here!" came a young woman's voice.

"Then hurry up and look!" answered another voice that sounded somewhat hoarse and raspy, presumably belonging to an elderly matron. "If not, you search here while I look around the perimeter. The moment you find him, head straight for the dog hole in the back courtyard—no one is over there right now!"

"Okay, okay, okay!" replied the young woman's voice.

Qin Wanru came to a halt outside the moon gate and signaled the maids. Understanding the cue, the maids followed behind Yujie and lunged forward.

In front of the tree where Hao'er had previously gotten stuck, two people were rummaging around anxiously in search. Hearing the commotion behind them, the pair turned around, but before they could even clearly see who was coming, they were grabbed by the rushing maids—arms pinned, waists seized. When several people overpowered one, immediate success was guaranteed.

One of them was a young married woman in her twenties, and the other was a burly matron in her fifties or sixties. The matron had been holding a sizable broom in her hand, which had now dropped to the ground. With her face full of fleshy heft, she hardly looked like anyone decent.

After being grabbed by the maids, the matron struggled desperately while loudly cursing, "Where did all these cheap hussies crawl from? Have you got a death wish?!"

The other young woman didn't struggle much, but her complexion turned ashen, and her entire body trembled so violently that she couldn't utter a single word.

Qin Wanru slowly stepped out from behind the moon gate, her icy gaze falling upon the two individuals, while a trace of a smile lingered on her face—though even that smile radiated an intense chill.

"Which estate do you people belong to? Causing such a loud uproar in Grand Princess Rui'an's residence, what kind of behavior is this?"

Awed by her imposing aura, the bulky matron wriggled twice before finally reigning in her fierce expression and loudly crying grievance. "This young lady, this old servant is a servant of this estate. I was just sweeping the floor when these maids rushed out without a word and frightened this old servant half to death. I beg this young lady to order them to release me. This is Grand Princess Rui'an's residence."

"You are a servant of this estate?" Qin Wanru raised an eyebrow.

"Correct, this old servant is!" the rough-mannered matron replied righteously.

"What are you looking for? You seemed in such a rush. Speak up, and I can help you!" Qin Wanru said in a leisurely tone, seating herself near a covered walkway and casually putting on the air of someone ready to listen to a good story!