Chapter 139: 112.1

On the way back on the oxcart, Little Jing Kong had a serious look on his little face.

Today, he met a fierce female benefactor who said a lot of things that he didn't understand, but apparently, they were not good words at all.

However, that wasn’t the point.

He seemed to have been protected by his big brother Gu Yan today...

Obviously, he was so much smarter than big brother Gu Yan. He skipped grades and also got first place every time in the exam. Big brother Gu Yan, on the other hand, was nothing but a big baby. But at that time, when big brother Gu Yan crouched down to wipe his little hand, and then pulled him to the private school in hand, he had the illusion that he was the baby.

Little Jing Kong was lost in deep contemplation. For the first time, he was confused about his own and Gu Yan's position.

Meanwhile, An Junwang and Young Miss Zhuang went back to the villa.

Young Miss Zhuang was so tired that she fell asleep as soon as she touched her bed.

An Junwang told her personal servant girl, "Don't let anyone disturb her rest. Whoever comes, dismiss them."

The servant girl hesitantly opened her mouth, "What about Young Miss Gu..."

An Junwang's eyes were cold, "Dismiss regardless who they are!"

"Yes." The servant girl hurriedly complied.

An Junwang headed back to his own room.

A little while later, the man in black flashed in and gave him a salute, "Junwang."

An Junwang poured himself a cup of tea and spoke in a low voice, "Did you find any lead?"

The man in black shook his head and replied, "This subordinate has visited all the inns in the town, as well as the medical hall and the houses of all physicians in town. I’ve investigated in secret but found no trace of the Empress Dowager."

An Junwang murmured, "Perhaps she hasn't been to the medical hall or hasn’t looked for a physician, nor did she stay at an inn."

The man in black was puzzled, "Then, where did the Empress Dowager go? Could she have hidden herself in some commoner’s home?"

An Junwang stayed silent.

The man in black shrugged that idea off and said, "Junwang, this is impossible. Did you forget that the Empress Dowager has leprosy?"

At the initial stage of leprosy, there were only some small red patches on the body and face, which looked like frostbite or allergy. But as the disease progressed, the symptoms would become more and more pronounced and eventually the sick person would appear completely different from normal people.

It was impossible for a leper to hide unless they went into the mountains, deep in the forest, and lived in seclusion alone.

But this was even more impossible.

The Empress Dowager was a pampered lady all her life. She couldn’t even cook. If she really stayed in the forest, she would starve herself to death sooner or later even before she died of illness or was devoured by wild beasts.

An Junwang said thoughtfully, "You’re right too, but if she’s not in hiding, where would she have gone? She has leprosy, and wherever she goes, it will cause a commotion."

The man in black said, “Is Junwang really not considering the possibility of the Empress Dowager's death?"

An Junwang: "I said, if alive, I want to see the person, if dead, I want to see the corpse."

The man in black was helpless.

"Maybe someone took her in and cured her."

The man in black responded, "There’s no cure for leprosy!” Even the State of Chen, which had the best medical arts, could only delay the symptoms of leprosy. The earlier the intervention, the better the curative effect, but a complete cure was unheard of.

An Junwang certainly knew how unreasonable his guess was, but he didn't want to believe that the Empress Dowager had died alone somewhere, compared with being cured.

He ordered, "Investigate all the old women who came to Qingquan Town last winter, including the villages under their control."

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"Understood."

The man in black, who was ordered to investigate, had a much higher efficiency than Huang Zhong and his party. Within just a few days, he found two consistent clues: one in Daniu Village and the other in Qingquan Village, which were located in the north and south of the Qingquan town respectively.

"The one in the Daniu Village drifted there last winter. When the villagers found her, she was curled up in an abandoned cowshed. When the villagers saw that she was pitiful, they let her stay in the cowshed. People also occasionally brought her something to eat so she doesn’t starve to death.”

An Junwang asked, "Is there another one?"

The man in black then said, "Qingquan Village, this one is a distant relative of a Xiucai in this village. Something happened at her home and she had no other place to go, so she came to find the Xiucai."

Judging from the clues, the old woman in Daniu Village seemed to be more in line with the person they were looking for.

However, for some reason, An Junwang chose the one in Qingquan Village.

There was no reason, just an intuition.

In order not to alarm the other party, An Junwang decided to go there in person while the man in black would be waiting in town.

An Junwang rode to the village.

The days were long during summer. The sky was still a bit bright even when it was already evening.

An Junwang tied his horse to the old locust tree at the entrance of the village and walked towards the house according to the map drawn by the man in black.

At the moment, Little Jing Kong was feeding the baby chicks in the backyard, and he shut the door closed for fear that the baby chicks would run out.

An Junwang raised his hand and knocked on the door.

It was Little Jing Kong who opened the door.

That day, Little Jing Kong was taken into the private school by Gu Yan before Gu Jiao hit people, so he didn't know what happened later nor did he see An Junwang.

However, after getting into the carriage, An Junwang looked back and happened to see Gu Jiao walking out of the private school holding Little Jing Kong's hand. They were accompanied by another teenager who bore great resemblance to Marquis Gu. That must have been Gu Yan, who was deemed to not survive fifteen years by the physicians.

Strange. Why was this little guy here?

"Is this your home?" An Junwang asked.

Little Jing Kong didn't completely open the door, but only opened a small crack, enough to reveal his round head. He said, "This is of course my home, who are you? What are you in my house for?"

An Junwang replied gently, "I was passing by and wanted to ask for a bowl of water."

"Then you wait there!" Little Jing Kong didn't invite him into the house, but closed the door again. After a while, he brought him a bowl of water and said, "Here."

This little guy was very on guard...

An Junwang took it, drank the water in the bowl, and then returned the empty bowl to him, saying, "Are you home alone?"

Little Jing Kong instantly became alert, slightly pushing the door close so that the crack became even smaller. "Are you a human trafficker? Why are you asking about that?"

An Junwang said in a soft voice, "Oh, that’s not it. It’s just, you give me water, so I wanted to express my thanks to your family head."

Little Jing Kong spoke sternly, "I brought you the water, so it's enough for you to thank me!"

An Junwang had never seen such an unconventional child who didn’t play according to the rules. He was momentarily stunned before he said, "Oh, thank you very much. By the way, can I ask you how to get to the Daniu Village?"

If it were Xinghua Village or Yangliu Village, Little Jing Kong still knew, but Daniu Village exceeded his stored up knowledge, hence Little Jing Kong was stumped on the spot.

An Junwang raised the corners of his lips and said with a smile, "Can you help me ask your family head?"

"The head of my family is very busy, go elsewhere to inquire! Try going east, go to the seventh house where the family surnamed Luo is living. Second Uncle Luo was an oxcart driver and knows every village!" Little Jing Kong pointed out the way, closed the door decisively, and did not forget to bolt it!

JiaoJiao said never let strangers in when there were no adults at home!

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