Chapter 441: 441: The Heir’s Questioning, Ye Lei’s Response

Outside, Liu Sisi couldn’t worry about being careful. She leaned crookedly in the carriage, hugging YingEr to keep warm. Only when she occasionally woke up would she lean over and flip the roast sweet potatoes at the edge of the stove and add some charcoal.

Outside, Old Cheng was chatting with the coachmen next to him, the noise bringing a touch of warmth to the quiet night.

The sky gradually brightened!

This night was a sleepless one for many people.

Especially for Di Yelei and those who came to help search for her, it was even more so.

The sky gradually brightened, and in everyone’s hearts, it felt like a huge rock weighed down on them.

Everyone felt uneasy. Zhang Peng walked over and saw Di Yelei’s blackened face and sighed.

“Why don’t you rest for a while?”

Seeing that Di Yelei still maintained his original posture without speaking, Zhang Peng patted his shoulder.

“Worrying here won’t help. Do you want to inform Lord County Magistrate…”

“No! We can’t tell him yet!”

Di Yelei suddenly stood up from the ground. If he informed the Lord County Magistrate, it would be like reporting the matter to the authorities. If they really reported it, whether Prefecture Princess Luo had any issues or safely returned, Xuan’er would probably not be spared a punishment in the end.

That wasn’t the most important thing. He and Di Xuan had already discussed it. Di Xuan was determined to pursue the path of the imperial civil examination, and there could be no stains on his record.

Moreover, Prefecture Princess Luo was a dignified princess of the dynasty, and Xuan’er should not be involved.

Zhang Peng naturally understood Di Yelei’s intentions: “Dawn is almost here. Even if we want to hide it, how long can we hide it? Last night, we could say they went out to play, but if they don’t show up today…”

“Enough! I know.”

Di Yelei lifted his head and swept his gaze around, taking in the expressions of his colleagues who had come to help: “Don’t worry! If something really happens, it will be entirely my responsibility. I won’t implicate any of the brothers who came to help. When the time comes, you just claim that I invited you to help find Xuan’er, and you didn’t know that Prefecture Princess Luo had an accident!”

The constables nearby also sighed and came over to comfort him.

“Brother Ye Lei, we don’t care about another punishment. It’s nothing in this line of work. We just worry about Xuan’er, who is already over eight years old, and Prefecture Princess Luo, who is already ten. If someone with ill intentions spreads false rumors, what will you do?”

Di Yelei’s tongue was tied!

“That… can’t be, can it? My Xuan’er is still so young… how could it be possible?”

His head felt dizzy, and it was true that if you want to condemn someone, there’s no shortage of excuses!

Seeing Di Yelei’s face change, the constable quickly smoothed things over.

“Although that’s the case, once the two are found and it turns out to be a false alarm, there won’t be any big deal.”

As everyone was talking, the sky gradually brightened!

Di Yelei had never hoped for a sudden snowstorm to darken the sky again as much as he did at the moment.

His premonition was not wrong. In just the time it took for two cups of tea, the one person who shouldn’t have appeared here showed up!

As soon as he appeared, he brought a strong sense of oppression, accompanied by a group of elite soldiers. They swiftly swept the surroundings, surrounding the constables and others on the scene, forming a tight circle.

Even the maid was brought over and thrown into the center of the crowd.

Di Yelei clenched his teeth, standing still.

The other party had a strong aura, and his gaze never left Di Yelei for an instant. In his eyes, there was nothing but mockery.

“Uncle, you’re up quite early. Judging by the bloodshot in your eyes, I suspect you didn’t rest well yesterday, did you?”

As he spoke, he glanced at the surrounding constables. Upon encountering his gaze, they all bowed their heads and knelt down.

In the face of such a critical situation, Di Yelei became calm.

He suddenly smiled and greeted with a fist, “So it’s Heir Luo who has graced us with his presence. You’re really up early, Heir Luo, how rare, how rare!”

This sentence was clearly meant to mock the other party for coming so early. Heir Luo’s smug expression disappeared instantly.

He snorted coldly: “I don’t know what happened here, but there are so many constables gathered. Is there a major case going on? So you called for such a large mobilization?”

“Thank you, Heir Luo, for your concern for all of us.”

Di Yelei saluted with another fist bump, saying loudly, “Last night was the Lantern Festival of the 15th day of the first lunar month, so my colleagues and I decided to gather here to celebrate the festival.”

Upon hearing these words, his colleagues came forward to chime in.

“How dare you deceive your superiors! Who gave you such boldness!”

Heir Luo suddenly became furious!

He sternly reprimanded everyone, “Humph! Don’t think your little actions can escape my notice. I didn’t grow up eating only vegetables.”

Just as he was about to become angry, a servant-looking man quickly ran up to him and whispered in his ear. A flash of surprise passed through his eyes, and he immediately dismissed the servant.

“I advise you all to confess honestly. Have you found the Prefecture Princess or not? If you dare to hide anything, don’t blame me for being heartless!”

Even County Magistrate Su had hurried over, it seemed that he was an old cat that had tasted meat as well!

Hopefully everything was still in time!

“Heir Luo is mistaken!”

Di Yelei reported loudly, “We’re just here to celebrate the Lantern Festival, and we really don’t know what Heir Luo is talking about. Just now, Heir Luo said he found the Prefecture Princess, could it be that Heir Luo lost his younger sister, Prefecture Princess Luo, and wanted us to help search for her?”

Although he didn’t know what the servant had said, judging from Heir Luo’s expression, something had probably changed to their advantage?

After thinking about it, the only possibility was that County Magistrate Su had received some news and had hurried over!

As expected, as soon as Di Yelei’s words settled, Su County Magistrate’s figure appeared outside the crowd.

“I thought there must be some reason for such a large gathering here. It turns out that Heir Luo has lost his sister, Prefecture Princess Luo. This is a big deal. It should be reported to the higher-ups and soldiers should be dispatched to search.”

County Magistrate Su hurried over with his clothes in tow, and bowed directly: “Subordinate officer Su County Magistrate greets Heir Luo!”

Seeing that Di Yelei had just turned the situation around with a single sentence, Heir Luo let out a cold snort, and his blade-like gaze swept over everyone: “Yesterday was the Lantern Festival, and I, Heir Luo, thought that it was time to strengthen my bond with my sister, so I went to invite her to celebrate the festival. But I couldn’t find her anywhere. Instead, I saw this maid sneaking around, secretly summoning men and horses to search for Prefecture Princess Luo. That’s when I realized something had happened!”