Li Zhi, don't be a coward

Chapter 268 The Completely Dusty Past

Anxiously stepping out of the yard, Li Qinzai tried to calm himself down.

All the servants of the Li family's other courtyard mobilized, Li Sujie and the dudes called their own personal guards to help find them.

Di Renjie was asking the stewards and servants of the other hospital one by one, asking them if Qiao'er had been acting abnormal recently, whether the disappearance was his own or someone abducted.

Outside the courtyard, there are torches lit by farmers everywhere in the mountains and fields around Ganjingzhuang, illuminating the night as brightly as day.

The farmers cast their nets to search, and they formed a row and slowly moved forward, calling Qiao'er's name loudly as they walked.

Li Qinzai was burning with anxiety, Liu Asi looked guilty, and stood behind him without saying a word, holding the handle of the knife with his right hand, as if he would draw the knife at any time to apologize.

After a long time, Di Renjie came over and said in a deep voice: "Uncle Li, I have asked the officials, and the son was not abnormal before he disappeared. The servants all said that they saw him smiling happily in the afternoon..."

Li Qinzai's expression became more and more cold, and he said, "If there is nothing unusual, then someone has kidnapped you?"

Liu Asi behind him said: "Wu Shaolang, the Buqus have already inquired. There have been no strangers coming in and out around Ganjing Village in the past few days, and the farmers are all in peace, and no one left home suddenly."

Li Qinzai scratched his hair irritably, and said angrily, "It wasn't a kidnapping, and it wasn't that he left. Could it be that Qiao'er somehow flew into the sky?"

Liu Asi bowed his head and said: "Young Lord, the area around the afternoon hide-and-seek game has been surrounded by members, searching inch by inch, every haystack has been unloaded, and there is still no trace of Little Lang...Little man Damn it!"

Li Qinzai said coldly: "Now is not the time to discuss who deserves to die. If you can't find Zhuangzi nearby, then expand the search range to within ten miles of Zhuangzi, and cast a net to search."

"Yes!"

Di Renjie said slowly: "Uncle Li, according to my many years of experience in arresting crimes, my son can be sure that no one is abducted, and the nobles have done their duty. The nobles are also taking care of your son when he is playing. Unsurprisingly, it should be The son left by himself, or deliberately hid himself so that no one could find him."

Li Qinzai said with a gloomy face, "I get along with Qiao'er day and night, and I know best whether he is abnormal or not. I have never beat or scolded such a sensible child, nor have I ever hurt his heart. Why did he leave home for no reason?"

Di Renjie smiled wryly and said: "I don't know much about this, after all, it's the family affairs of County Uncle Li and your son. Children's thoughts are often difficult for adults to fathom. Sometimes adults don't think it's okay to say a word casually, but It has another meaning for the child to hear it..."

Li Qinzai was startled, and then the relief that flashed in Qiao'er's eyes when he took off his auspicious clothes this morning appeared in his mind.

Did I overlook something?

There were still a few servants left behind in the other courtyard, and Lu Ye Zanliang's expression moved slightly, and he unconsciously took a step forward.

Li Qinzai noticed her, and glanced at her coldly: "Do you have something to say?"

Luye Zanliang panicked for a while, and said in a low voice: "Slave...I have something to report."

"Say."

"Slave... I had a chat with Mr. Xiao Lang in the backyard in the afternoon."

Hope rose in Li Qinzai's eyes: "What did you say?"

"Xiao Lang-jun doesn't seem very happy..."

"and then?"

"He said...he is very sensible, because he is a concubine."

Li Qinzai was taken aback, with a flash of distress in his eyes, and calmly said: "What else?"

"Xiao Langjun also said that he actually doesn't like reading and doing problems, but he wants to listen to his father, so he must be sensible, so he can only study and do problems obediently."

Li Qinzai said coldly, "Has he ever revealed the idea of ​​running away from home?"

Lu Ye Zanliang hurriedly shook his head: "No, he said he would always be sensible."

Li Qinzai stared at her face and said, "If you recall carefully, you'd better repeat every word he said."

Lu Ye Zanliang saw that his eyes looked as if they were going to kill someone, he trembled all over, bit his lower lip and tried to remember, and finally said: "Your servant also heard from him that when Grandma brought him to Chang'an, she told him that he was A concubine, so be obedient and don't make your father and Li's relatives hate you..."

A flash of inspiration flashed in Li Qinzai's mind, and he murmured: "Grandma, grandma..."

Liu Asi who was behind him also seemed to have realized something, and said anxiously: "Wu Shaolang, Mr. Xiaolang's grandmother, several women and children were rescued by the old man, and they seemed to be placed in the Zhuangzi in Puzhou, not far from our Weinan County. , Mr. Xiao Lang also grew up there..."

Li Qinzai immediately said: "Prepare the horse and go to Puzhou!"

…………

At four o'clock, Liu Ah prepared more than [-] parts, and Li Qinzai took the lead and flew to Puzhou.

In the middle of the night, Li Qinzai and his followers had arrived at a village called "Fanglong Village" outside Puzhou City.

After entering the village, Buqu asked someone to inquire about where the grandmother lived, and a group of people came to the gate of the grandmother's house

Grandma's house is very simple, almost dilapidated, with a small yard surrounded by incomplete bamboo fences. The two wooden bungalows are leaking everywhere, and the steps are covered with moss. It looks more like a deserted house. Millennium ancient tomb.

Li Qinzai stepped forward and knocked on the door of the grandmother, and the lights in the room were quickly lit, and the haggard grandmother came out in draped clothes, and the grandmother couldn't help being surprised when she saw Li Qinzai.

Li Qinzai hurriedly told her about Qiao'er's disappearance.

An anxious look flashed across Grandma's face, she tried to calm down and thought for a long time, then suddenly murmured: "Yomo...is there."

Li Qinzai hurriedly asked, "Where is it?"

Grandma glanced at him and said, "Mr. Shaolang, come with me..."

A group of people lit torches, and Li Qinzai supported the grandmother. They walked out of the village entrance and climbed an unnamed short mountain outside the village.

Arriving at the mountainside, Grandma narrowed her eyes to identify the direction, and said in a deep voice, "Go there and have a look."

The trilogy walked over with torches, and under the light of several torches, Li Qinzai couldn't help being startled when he saw what he saw, and his eyes suddenly turned red.

There is a solitary grave on the mountainside, and there is a tombstone in front of the grave.

The tombstone is engraved with the words "Limen Han's family", and the inscriptions are the names of Li Qinzai and Qiao'er.

Qiao'er's small body curled up under the tombstone, already sound asleep.

His little face was dirty and his cheeks were stained with tears. When he fell asleep, he still leaned his head on the tombstone, as if nestled in his mother's arms, sleeping peacefully.

On the small altar in front of the tombstone was a piece of preserved fruit that Qiao'er had brought out from the Li family courtyard.

Everyone couldn't help being moved when they saw this scene. Li Qinzai held back his tears, stepped forward gently, and picked Qiao'er up from the cold ground.

Qiao'er woke up suddenly at this moment, and when she opened her eyes and saw Li Qinzai, she felt a little guilty, and said softly, "Father, I..."

Li Qinzai smiled with tears in his eyes: "It's cold on the ground, sleeping in Dad's arms."

Qiao'er seemed to be very tired. No one knew how he came to his mother's grave from Ganjingzhuang. Seeing that he looked very tired, he closed his eyes immediately and fell asleep again.

Grandma stood behind her and kept wiping away her tears, choked up and said, "This child misses his mother."

Sitting cross-legged in front of the tombstone, Li Qinzai held the sleeping Qiao'er in his arms, and looked at the tombstone seriously for the first time.

"Limen Han's family", a few simple words, have explained Lin Nu's short life.

Li Qinzai stared fixedly at the tombstone, it was the cause planted by his predecessor, he didn't know what the love between himself and her was like, he didn't even know whether his predecessor had love for her or not.

But now, cause and effect are clearly before his eyes.

Regardless of whether Qiao'er was the crystallization of love, or the result of his predecessor's greed for a long time, in short, Li Qinzai was very grateful to God for bringing him Qiao'er.

No matter what caused this father-son relationship, there must be a satisfactory explanation.

Staring at the cold tombstone, Li Qinzai suddenly said, "Grandma, did Lin Nu hate me before he died?"

Grandma shook her head: "From the beginning to the end, she never said a word of hating you. Before she closed her eyes, she was only worried about Qiao'er."

Li Qinzai was silent again.

That past has become an irrecoverable blank, buried forever underground along with that cold tombstone.

He traveled through thousands of years to come here, and he can't witness anything, and he can't make up for anything. The little man in his arms may be the end of that completely dusty past.

Li Qinzai carefully hugged Qiao'er who was sleeping, and said softly without turning his head, "Si, bring the incense candle."

Liu Asi sent a trooper into the village, and it didn't take long for them to bring incense candles.

Li Qinzai carefully handed the sleeping Qiao'er to Grandma, then knelt down on one knee in front of the tombstone, lit the incense candle without saying a word, fixedly stared at the words on the tombstone, and bowed down.

(End of this chapter)