Before the house was raided, the maidservant of the Prime Minister's residence absconded with t

Tao'er paused for a moment, then resumed her normal movements: "Sister Dongkui, don't panic!"

"Just invite them both in first."

Dongkui nodded, then quickly turned and left.

Tao'er wiped her hands, straightened her clothes, and soon walked to the front yard.

Two constables were already standing there, one tall and one short, both familiar faces; they were the same two sent by Magistrate Qin to deliver the message.

"You two officials have worked hard."

Tao'er greeted him with a smile, "Is there anything Lord Qin needs our cooperation in?"

Tao'er observed the two of them and saw that their expressions were normal, so there shouldn't be anything bad happening.

The tall official clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Miss Tao'er, no."

"Lord Qin sent us to inform you that all the abducted children have been safely returned home, so you can rest assured."

Tao'er was delighted and smiled, "Oh, is that so!"

That would be wonderful.

"It's good that the children are safe and sound."

The short officer glanced at her, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.

Tao'er, observing the situation, felt a pang of unease, but remained outwardly calm: "Sir, is there anything else?"

Lord Qin is upright and honest, and loves the people like his own children; he is a blessing to us ordinary people.

If there's anything we can do to help you, just let us know.

If there's anything we can do to help, we'll definitely do our best.

The two officers exchanged a glance. The taller officer sighed and lowered his voice, "Miss Tao'er, to be honest, we have some bad news to tell you."

Tao'er's heart sank: "Sir, please speak."

"During interrogation, some of the human traffickers confessed..."

The tall officer looked around and continued.

"Someone ordered the capture of Ayan."

Tao'er's pupils contracted slightly, but her voice remained steady: "Who ordered it?"

I never imagined it was premeditated.

"A man named Awang."

The short officer took over the conversation.

"According to the confession, this Awang sent his thugs to them."

They gave our boss ten taels of silver and then ordered us to arrest someone.

They said we could sell the child anywhere we wanted.

Our men followed the lead provided by the flower seller and only managed to capture a few of Awang's men; Awang himself escaped.

"Damn bastard!"

Tao'er was so angry that she cursed directly.

"Peach Girl, but don't worry."

Seeing that Tao'er's expression was not good, the tall officer quickly added.

"Lord Qin has ordered a full-scale manhunt. We will continue our investigation until we catch the person."

Lord Qin asked us to tell you not to worry too much, but you should still be careful and it's best not to go out recently.

Tao'er was silent for a moment, then showed a grateful smile: "Thank you for your concern, Lord Qin, and thank you both for making this trip."

"This small amount of silver is for you two to have some tea."

She took out a few pieces of silver from her sleeve and stuffed them into the hands of the two constables.

The two officers declined a few times, but happily accepted the gift. They gave the officers a few more words of advice, such as "be careful," and then took their leave.

Tao'er stood at the door, watching the two officials walk away, her smile gradually fading.

Dongkui peeked out from behind her and whispered, "Who is Awang?"

Do you know him?

"We'll talk about it later."

After Tao'er finished speaking, she turned around and walked back to the courtyard, passing straight through the hidden door to the neighboring courtyard.

Ayan was playing with Huanhuan in the yard. Huanhuan was holding a small wooden horse, which Xiaoyi had made for him out of wood, and he was having a great time playing with it.

Ayan squatted down beside him, a gentle smile on his face.

Seeing Tao'er approach, Ayan looked up, his smile still on his face: "Sister Tao'er, what brings you here?"

Looking into his clear eyes, Tao'er suddenly felt a surge of complex emotions.

She took a deep breath, squatted down, looked him in the eye, and said in a soft but earnest voice, "Ayan, listen to me."

Starting today, neither you nor Huanhuan should go out, not even for a moment.

do you know?

They can only play in the yard.

Ayan was stunned for a moment, and Huanhuan also stopped what she was doing, looking up at Tao'er with her little face.

"Sister Tao'er, has something happened?"

"Will bad guys still come?"

Seeing that Sister Tao'er looked so serious, Ayan felt that something bad must have happened.

Tao'er didn't intend to hide it from him, but she also didn't intend to tell him everything.

She thought for a moment and said, "According to the officials, the person who arrested you before had someone else behind him, and that person has not been caught yet."

So we need to be careful before that happens.

Ayan understood instantly and nodded, "Okay, I understand."

Huanhuan suddenly tugged at Tao'er's sleeve and whispered, "Sister Tao'er, are the bad guys here to see me?"

Tao'er's heart softened, and she reached out to pat his head: "I didn't come to see you."

They've come to see your brother, Ayan.

"It's alright, with Sister Tao'er here, no one can touch you."

She stood up, her gaze passing over the courtyard wall and landing in the distance.

Awang.

Of course she knew who Awang was.

She never imagined that the shop assistant who lost a bet at Jishetang and lost his job at the pharmacy would harbor such hatred and seek revenge on her.

She didn't take this person to heart at the time and forgot about him the next day.

But she didn't expect that Ah Wang, that bastard, would actually send people to keep watch.

But how did he know about Ayan?

Did he follow me before?

So he set his sights on Ayan.

Because Ayan is someone close to her.

"Sister Tao'er?" Ayan's voice pulled her back to reality.

Tao'er came to her senses and smiled at him: "It's nothing."

My sister just spaced out!

"Take Huanhuan inside to play; it's too sunny outside."

Ayan responded and took Huanhuan's hand, leading her into the house.

Huanhuan took two steps and then looked back at Tao'er, her little face full of worry.

Tao'er blinked at him and then shook her head.

It means she doesn't need to worry.

Huanhuan then followed Ayan into the house with peace of mind.

After they all went inside, Tao'er slowly walked to the old locust tree in the courtyard and sat down against the trunk.

Dongkui followed her over at some point and sat down next to her without saying a word.

The two sat in silence for a while.

Dongkui finally couldn't hold back any longer and gently touched Tao'er's arm: "Little Tao'er, you still haven't told me, who exactly is Awang?"

Tao looked up at the locust tree leaves overhead, sunlight filtering through the gaps and falling like scattered gold on her face.

"Someone I offended unintentionally."

It's a bad thing!

You're worse than a dog!

What an overconfident bastard!

Unable to do anything with me, he set his sights on Ayan.

They wanted the flower seller to sell Ayan to someone else.

Tao'er cursed again.

"Sister Tao'er, that Awang is incredibly audacious! He actually dared to kidnap the young master! How many lives does he have to live?!"

"I'm so angry," said Dongkui.

"I underestimated him; I didn't take this scumbag seriously at all!"

But Sister Dongkui, please keep an eye on the two children and don't let them go out.

Dongkui nodded. "Don't worry, Peach Sister, I will definitely keep a close eye on Young Master and the others."

Tao'er had already stood up and patted the dust off her skirt.

"Sister Dongkui, don't be too nervous."

That's just a scoundrel, nothing to be afraid of!

Aren't there still Xiao Yi and the other two?

However, that bastard is currently lurking in the shadows, so it's necessary for us to take some precautions.

Tao'er's tone returned to its usual lightheartedness; she could see that Dong Kui was on high alert.

She wanted to see just how much trouble Awang could cause.

He dares to come to her house again? If he does, she'll make sure he doesn't leave alive!

Tao'er turned and walked towards the hidden door, but stopped after taking two steps. She turned back and told Dong Kui, "By the way, don't tell Ayan too much about what happened today."

He's still young, don't put too much pressure on him.

Also, go and tell Brother Qingfeng to keep an eye out for anyone appearing in our vicinity, and to come and tell me immediately if he notices anything suspicious.

Dongkui nodded. "Sister Tao'er, I understand."

Okay, I'll go tell Brother Qingfeng right away.

Dongkui turned around and went to find Qingfeng.

Tao'er raised her hand and pressed on the protrusion on the wall. With a soft "click," the hidden door opened.

She walked over and disappeared behind the door.

After thinking about it, she decided it would be best to tell Xiao Yi about it.

After all, Ayan was his own nephew.