Chapter 20

Fu Yanlin saw Dou Dou shake her head and his face quickly darkened as he coldly stared at the women. The woman, on the other hand, never would have imagined that the little young lady would not recognise her and she froze on the spot.

“Hmph! Where did this woman come from, even daring to lie that you are this girl’s aunt!” Zhuang Kang shouted.

The woman hurriedly said, “I am not lying, she really is my family’s girl. Dou Dou, I am Aunt Liu. Tell them quickly. Your mother is anxiously looking for you!”

When Dou Dou heard that her mum was looking for her, she hesitated.

“Don’t go. You mum will come to find you in a little while.”

Dou Dou listened and once again shrank into her daddy’s arms, shaking her head at Aunt Liu. This made Aunt Liu very anxious. She still wanted to persuade Dou Dou but Fu Yanlin opened his mouth coldly.

“If you want to pick up this child, tell the child’s mother to come in person.”

The woman raised her head and met the man’s terrifying eyes. She subconsciously began to tremble. These people no longer trusted her and had even placed their hands on the hilt of their swords. They exuded a threatening aura, seeming to warn her that if she kept talking, they would no longer be polite.

Aunt Liu had no choice, she could only hurriedly leave. She quickly disappeared into the crowd and returned to the eldest young lady to plead for mercy. She was sent by the eldest young lady to get Dou Dou back, but Dou Dou unexpectedly didn’t want to recognise her. This was far from what anyone expected.

Mu Huanqing was also extremely surprised. She deliberately sent Aunt Liu out because only Nanny Ji and Aunt Liu would take turns to bring up her daughter. Since Nanny Ji came from the Marquis house, she would be recognised so she had Aunt Liu go. She didn’t think that Dou Dou would refuse.

This was impossible!

Mu Huanqing’s face turned serious and she clenched her fists. Usually, Dou Dou was the most well-behaved. She never approached strangers casually. How could she leave Aunt Liu and stick to Fu Yanlin? There must be a problem somewhere. Is it possible… that she’s being forced?

Mu Huanqing stared at Fu Yanlin on his high horse. Since he wanted the girl’s mother to pick her up, then she would fulfil his wishes and go personally.

Fu Yanlin took Dou Dou around most of the market but didn’t encounter Dou Dou’s mother. He thought that the woman really had an issue, but since she called out Dou Dou’s nickname, she must have really recognised her.

He pondered for a while and ordered, “Meng Huai, go find the county magistrate and ask him to find out who Dou Dou’s mother and father are.”

A pretty and well-behaved child like Dou Dou must have come from a good family. Although her clothes were simple, the fabric was excellent quality.

“Yes, my lord.” Meng Huai accepted the order and quickly rode off to find the local county magistrate.

No long after Meng Huai rode away, Fu Yanlin’s horse had already reached the horse market.

“Horse, horse.” Dou Dou stood up happily, pointing at the large group of horses.

Fu Yanlin also smiled. “Dou Dou likes horses?”

“Dou Dou likes. Mummy also likes. Dou Dou’s house has lots of horses.”

“Oh?” Fu Yanlin raised his eyebrows and was about to open his mouth and ask but he suddenly spotted a family figure in the horse market.

A lady was riding on a black horse. Although her face was covered, he could recognise her figure. It was the female thief who conspired against him and snatched that horse. And the black horse she was riding on was exactly that black colt.

The female thief happened to see him too and immediately pulled the rein, turning her horse away.

“Hmph, want to run?” Fu Yanlin became angry and shouted, “Yuan Ji, take this!” He quickly handed the child to his subordinates, pulled on his reins and immediately gave chase.

There were lots of people in the horse market, and there were even more horses. When the eyes were dazzled, the female thief and the horse disappeared until the group of horses. Fu Yanlin stared at the horses closely. He knew that the cunning woman was definitely hiding with the group but there were also a lot of black horses mixed within the group. Trying to search through the group of dark colour horses really confused a person’s eyes.

Fu Yanlin searched for any suspicious figures as far as his eye could see, but could not find any. Instead, he heard Zhuang Kang shouting from behind. “My lord!”

Fu Yanlin turned back and saw Zhuang Kang riding a horse over, continuously yelling, “The child was kidnapped!”

When Fu Yanlin heard, his pupils constricted and the veins on the back of his hands jumped out. Zhuang Kang had already ridden closer and hurriedly reported, “There’s a group of people attacking us. There are many people and their target is the child. Yuan Ji already gave chase!”

Fu Yanlin understood what had happened after one thought. This was a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain. This definitely had something to do with that woman. First, they would lead him away, then have others grab the child.

His face was sullen. He didn’t expect that that woman would have had the intention to target Dou Dou.

Since the other party intended to kidnap the child, they must have another purpose. If so, they must want to use the child as leverage against him. But he just didn’t know what her purpose was. At least, he decided that the child would be fine.

“Mobilise the cavalry immediately. Set up checkpoints at various intersections. This Lord must turn over every inch of land to find someone.” He commanded coldly.

He wanted to see who this woman thought she was. First, she stole horses, now she was stealing children. He didn’t believe that he wouldn’t be able to find one person after transferring his troops here and searching every family.

He was not in a hurry because the appearance of that woman proved that he was right. She and her people were hiding nearby. A woman who was a skilled rider would not be difficult to find. It was also impossible for nobody to recognise that beautiful child.

The county magistrate rushed over to see him at this moment and after hearing what he said, he dispatched the troops.

Within a day, Fu Yanlin was able to mobilise five hundred cavalries to conduct a thorough investigation of all the households in a radius of one hundred miles. No matter if they were foreigners or servants, they all needed to be searched.

Actually, it was strange. He sent out so many people and after three days, there wasn’t a single clue. Fu Yanlin’s face was ashen and the scared county magistrate dropped to his knees.

“My lord, this- this small one really has reported all the households. Which house raises horses, which house has daughters are all registered. There are no omissions, apart from the small manor that belongs to the Marquis that this small one dares not touch. For all the others, there is nothing to hide!”

When he heard about the Marquis's manor, Fu Yanlin couldn’t help but tighten his brows. He looked at Zhuang Kang and the two others. “How far away is the manor that is owned by the Marquis house?”

Zhuang Kang replied immediately. “My lord, the manor is located by the lake. It is not more than a stick of incense if you ride there from here. Because the territory belongs to the Marquis, so the officers and soldiers bypassed it. They did not dare to search it without the permission of the Marquis.”

Fu Yanlin suddenly thought of that woman. It had already been four years since she was sent to the manor. During these four years, he had never set foot inside nor had he heard any news about that woman living in that manor.

She had only taken three servants when she left the Marquis house and seemed to have cut off any relations with the Marquis so he never sought for any news. Firstly, it was the property of the Marquis and no outsiders could enter. Secondly, when he chased her to the countryside, he did not plan on ever seeing her again.

Fu Yanlin stood up suddenly. To discover any clues about the horse thief, he felt like it was necessary to make the trip himself. Not to mention, Dou Dou was lost from his hands. He must find that child.

Without further ado, he immediately led people to the manor.

On the other side, Mu Huanqing who had snatched her daughter back was now angrily scolding her.

“Didn’t mum teach you to never walk casually with strangers? Why don’t you listen? Do you know how much danger Li Yuan and the others put themselves in to find you and bring you back? Hm?”

Little Dou Dou sat on the soft couch, her little face was raised and her innocent eyes watched her mum scold her with furrowed brows. In her memory, her mummy had never been this angry before. She couldn’t help but shrink her neck, unable to understand what she did wrong.

“Daddy… Daddy is not a stranger.” Dou Dou said timidly.

When the word ‘daddy’ was uttered, Mu Huanqing was stunned. She stared at Dou Dou’s blank little face and all the words she wanted to say were stuck in her throat. Her heart felt like it was being battered by stormy waves.

It seems that someone violated her order and told Dou Dou about her father.

“Who told you that that person was your daddy?”

“Uncle Butterfly.” Dou Dou said honestly.

Mu Huanqing felt like her head would explode. “Don’t make trouble. Tell mother. Who told you about your daddy? Speak. Mother won’t yell at you.” But she would beat the person out of the manor.

“It really was Uncle Butterfly. He’s right there!” Dou Dou pointed at the colourful butterfly on the window lattice.

This butterfly was a different colour and the pattern on its wings was also different. But when Mu Huanqing saw it, she couldn’t help but freeze in place.

She suddenly had a strange feeling. Butterflies seemed to be appearing very frequently at the moment. Although they were different, she thought that the butterfly was very weird. Like it had a mind of its own and was constantly watching her and her daughter’s every move.

“Tsk! That little guy betrayed me again. Didn’t I already tell you not to speak about this uncle?”

He Guan flapped his wings and flew away. Because he had already seen Mu Huanqing’s direct gaze, to prevent her from thinking about catching him, he had better leave first. Who told him to get sold by the little guy. He had almost been caught by her old man’s people too.

But his goal had been achieved. He could already smell the man’s breath as he approached.

The butterfly turned into black mist and finally condensed into a humanoid form, floating in the sky above the Marquis’s countryside manor. He Guan smiled evilly. His handsome peach blossom eyes flashed with excitement as he watched the dust billowing in the distance.

He laughed gently. With his help, the Zhuanyuan Marquis Fu Yanlin was finally about to step into this countryside manor. A marriage predestined by fate, separated by a thousand miles, was finally drawing together. He was very much looking forward to the meeting of these fated lovers to confirm that saying: If you were not destined, then you would not be together.

Mu Huanqing immediately climbed to the top of the observation deck when she heard the news to see a group of people riding horses approaching the manor.

Naz's note: To get this out on time, I didn't proofread it. OTL Please let me know if you spot any errors or if there's anything confusing!