Chapter 230: Found

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1. This is an unofficial translation and no permission has been obtained from the author/ official publisher. It may be taken down if the author/official publisher requests. 

2. This is a fan work and the interpretation represents only the translator’s personal views without any input from the author. 

3. No permission has been granted to use, publish, upload and/or copy this translation to any other site except for Second Life Translations.

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When they managed to verify the news, Liu Xu’er immediately sent people to chase after them! Then she called for others to inform Shi Cheng – no matter whether he knew or not, she still had to quickly inform him and get him to arrange for more people to be sent. 

At around four pm, Shi Cheng returned and said to her, “I’ve already sent people to follow the routes they would have taken and chase them down. But they already left about three days ago. Liu Lin is following the land route, while I will go along the water route. I’m calling for others to help me prepare the boats right now. I just hurried home to let you know.”

Liu Xu’er didn’t dare delay him. She quickly packed a few outfits for him, along with a bag of silver, “Be careful on the road. I know you have to move quickly… but be very careful at night on the boats.”

Since they were trying to catch up to the slave traders, they would definitely be travelling both day and night. No matter whether it was the land or water route, travelling at night was dangerous.

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After waiting for three days, Tian Yu came back first. With him was a 10-year-old girl. The girl was dressed in coarse cloth – who knew which slave trader had dressed her in it and taken away her fine clothes. What she was wearing was both old and torn with too long sleeves. It barely counted as clothes.

The little girl had clearly been traumatised. She didn’t dare to look at anyone. She hung her head low, and her body was trembling all over. 

“First Young Master heard that girls were usually sold closer by, because most girls usually aren’t able to run far. So it’s not an issue to sell them closer by. As such, he checked in at each town along the route, and sure enough, heard that there was a young girl that was recently sold at one. The age was about right… The First Young Master didn’t have time to verify anything – he just decided to send her back first.”

Liu Xu’er quickly pulled the girl over. Even after looking her over, she didn’t recognise her. The main reason for that was that she hadn’t seen the girl that many times, and the last time she had, she was still very small. But this girl was not that young – she should be able to remember what her parent’s names were.

So in a gentle voice, she asked, “Don’t be afraid, we are your relatives. We were looking for you… What are you called? What is your dad’s name?”

The girl’s head was very low and she was still shaking. Even after a long time, she still didn’t manage to say a word. 

Liu Xu’er thought for a moment. Then she called for two of her servant girls to help her to bathe and change her clothes. When the first servant girl had brought her in, Liu Xu’er had softly instructed the second to check her body closely for any injuries…. If she saw something, she wasn’t to make a fuss over them and scare the little girl. 

The servant nodded her head and went in to help her to bathe.  Liu Xu’er’s mood was heavy as she instructed the kitchen to prepare some food. 

In a short while, the girl was done with her bath. The food had already been served, so Liu Xu’er told the little girl to eat first. She went out and softly questioned the servant. Thankfully the servant shook her head, “There aren’t any injuries… Only some bruises on her arm, the rest… She seemed otherwise unhurt.”

Liu Xu’er could finally relax! Thank goodness!

She turned and went back in, mood more composed. When she saw the girl wolf down her food, she gently said, “Eat slowly.” Then she personally ladled some soup for her. 

As the girl ate, her wary heart started to ease. Slowly, she started to share what had happened. She was called Liu Yue’er, her father was Liu Changgui and her mother was Fang Yun. She had a younger brother called Liu Li. 

Liu Xu’er let out a sigh of relief!

She could now confirm that this little girl was her sanshu’s daughter. That evening, she got the little girl to sleep on the couch in her room. When Liu Yue’er was more familiar with her, she started to ask her about what happened when she was sold.

Liu Yue’er wasn’t that young – she understood what was happening, and remembered everything. She very clearly explained what had happened. It turned out that after her parents were taken away, the servants didn’t dare to do anything for two or three days after. After all, they didn’t know what was happening, and the owners might be back very quickly. And she too had done her best to try and control the situation. 

But after three to five days, news started to leak. It was said that her parents had been brought to Hanzhong city, and that the situation was quite bad. They wouldn’t be able to recover from it, etc. Although she desperately tried to protect her brother and herself, she was still too young. 

Liu Yue’er knew that her father had relatives in town, but because Liu Changgui was very secretive and never brought her to visit, Liu Yue’er didn’t know where they stayed. 

Liu Changgui was indeed very careful, and had indeed heartlessly broken off ties. He had never imagined that his actions would one day end up hurting his children. 

At the start, the servants only dared to steal a few items to sell. That happened for seven, eight days. Then the officials suddenly sent people and searched the entire mansion! That started the panic! All the servants knew that something major had happened, and that there was no way they would recover! So they started to rifle through the house and started to openly steal! All the worthwhile items had already been confiscated by officials, so these people only managed to steal less valuable items, as well as the larger, heavier items, like beds, cupboards. No matter what it was, they sold whatever they could get their hands on! They had even sold the family’s spittoon!

Even with all this, some of them weren’t satisfied. Two of the bolder ones started to eye the two siblings….

When she got to this point, Liu Yue’er started to cry. 

Liu Xu’er could only sigh and explain to her who she was. Then she explained who had been looking for her, that they were all relatives. Right now, her gege were all searching for her brother. She didn’t need to worry. 

They spent the next few days waiting for news. During this time, Liu Yue’er was very dependent on Liu Xu’er. After going through the traumatic ordeal of nearly being sold, and being found by relatives, she definitely would feel that Liu Xu’er was a trustworthy person. 

Liu Xu’er had subtly asked her about what had happened when she was sold. There, thankfully, weren’t any major issues. The slave traders had bought them in Feng town, and then re-sold them to someone in Hanzhong city. The traders in Hanzhong city were still waiting for another two children, so they had stayed here for a few days waiting for them. When everyone was gathered, they headed towards Jiangnan. 

Thank goodness they were delayed by a few days!

Liu Yue’er heard the slave traders say that they wanted to sell her in Jiangnan, but when they got to Yu town, a prominent family there was looking to buy some servant girls. They wanted girls of around 10 or so, so they sold Liu Yue’er to them. 

She had only been in the residence for a day or so, and had been sent to the laundry room to wash clothes for a day, when she had been found. 

After another five or six days, they received good news. They had managed to chase the slave traders down! And were on the way back! This time, Xiaobei was sent ahead to bring the news, so that the family could relax!

Liu Xu’er could finally breathe easy again!

After waiting another three days, Liu Shu, Shi Cheng and everyone came back. 

With them were three little boys, one six or seven, the other about eight, and the last at about 10. The instant Liu Yue’er saw the littlest boy, she immediately rushed forward, “Didi!” Then she hugged him and wept. 

Liu Li was also calling out, “Jiejie!” Then he cried along with her!

Shi Cheng and the rest walked to Liu Xu’er’s side. Shi Cheng asked, “Have you checked?”

Liu Xu’er nodded her head, “It’s them. They’re sanshu’s children. She’s called Liu Yue’er and her brother is called Liu Li.”

Liu Shu said, “I’ve already asked Liu Li. He knows his parents’ names.” Then he took out a piece of paper, “This was sewn into Liu Li’s pants.”

Liu Xu’er had a look at it – it turned out to be the deed to a house. It should be the title deed to Liu Changgui’s mansion. 

“Sewn into his pant leg? Then he must’ve known that something might happen…. Since he had the time to do this, why didn’t he send his children to us? They wouldn’t have had to suffer such an ordeal then!” Liu Xu’er shook her head and said. 

Liu Lin also shook his head, “Perhaps he didn’t think it would be that dangerous, and was just doing this in case… Oh, but they’ve really been very traumatised…”

As they spoke, Liu Xu’er twisted around to look at Liu Tao sitting in the corner. He hadn’t said a word. She quickly nudged Liu Shu, gesturing at him to go over and comfort him. Liu Shu and Liu Lin both went over. 

Shi Cheng had gone over to explain what had happened to his parents, while Liu Xu’er was quickly arranging for people to help Liu Li bathe and eat. Then she instructed Tian Yu to hurry back to Feng town to send word that they had found the children, that they weren’t hurt and that they could stop worrying. 

When Shi Cheng’s parents saw that they had found the children, and that the situation had well and truly passed, they too finally relaxed. Both of them went to the front courtyard; they didn’t want to disturb the children. 

Shi Cheng quickly said that they would head back to Feng town either the next day or the day after. 

Shi Cheng’s father nodded his head. 

Liu Yue’er and Liu Li cried together for a while. Liu Xu’er went to comfort the two of them. Then she got the servant girls to bring Liu Li for a bath, assuring him that when he was clean, the food would be ready. 

Liu Shu and Liu Lin were softly comforting Liu Tao for a long while. Liu Tao was an adult and had known about the news for quite a few days now, so he naturally was able to control his feelings. Furthermore, Liu Yun’er…. He had always known that she might have a bad ending, so after Liu Lin and Liu Shu had spoken to him, he was able to nod and assure them he was fine. 

Then the family finally sat down to rest, eat and prepare to head back to Feng town.