Chapter 212 - 212 Investigating

212 Investigating

The woman and the man shook their heads in unison.

They were all ordinary farmers and could not even recognize a single word. How could there be a portrait?

Yu Niaoniao immediately said, “I’ll help you draw a portrait!”

Neither the woman nor the man understood how she meant to draw.

Yu Niaoniao immediately ordered someone to prepare ink, paper, and inkstone.

There was no table then.

She was about to ask someone to bring down the small table in the carriage when she saw Lo Pingsha kneel with his back to her.

Lo Pingsha said, “You can paint on my back.”

Yu Niaoniao did not want to waste time, so she spread the rice paper on his back.

Dang Gui stood by with the inkstone.

Yu Niaoniao picked up her pen and dipped it in ink.

“Tell me carefully what your daughter looks like. The clearer the better. It will help us find your daughter faster.”

As soon as they heard that they could find their daughter, the couple immediately began to rack their brains to recall the details.

As they described, Yu Niaoniao painted.

When the portrait was completed, Yu Niaoniao put down her brush, picked up the portrait, and waved it at the couple.

“Look at it. Does this look like her?”

When the couple saw the little girl in the portrait, they were immediately stunned.

This, this painting resembled their daughter! It was simply like a real person!

The woman said eagerly, “It looks like her, very like her!”

The man nodded. “That’s what my girl looks like!”

With this portrait, their hope of finding their daughter increased a little. They looked at Xiao Juan with even more enthusiasm.

Yu Niaoniao handed the portrait to Xiao Juan. Xiao Juan looked at the little girl in the portrait and said to the woman and the man.

“We still have important things to do and can’t help you find her. When we enter the city, I’ll get the authorities to help you find someone based on this portrait. No matter what, I will give you an explanation.”

The woman and the man knelt down again and cried, “Thank you, sir!”

Meng Xizhou went forward to ask for the name and address of the couple. After registering the information, he let them leave.

However, the man refused to leave.

Meng Xizhou took the initiative to ask, “What else?”

The man hesitated for a moment before mustering his courage to speak.

“The daughters of two other families in our village have also been abducted. They’re looking everywhere for them. But they didn’t have a portrait of their daughter. It would be difficult to find. So I want to ask if… if you can help their daughter draw a portrait?”

Yu Niaoniao agreed readily.

“Sure. You can look for me at the relay station in Wangsong City later. I’ll be staying there for the next two days.”

The man was overjoyed and tried to kowtow to her again.

Yu Niaoniao hurriedly stopped him. “There’s no need to do this. You guys go back first.”

The man was in a hurry to go back and inform the two families. Without any delay, he pulled his wife to the side of the road.

Yu Niaoniao returned to the cart.

The convoy set off again. After the convoy left, the young couple rushed home.

The rest of the journey was peaceful and the convoy successfully entered Wangsong City before nightfall.

When the county magistrate in the city learned that Prince Min and Duke Lang were here, he hurriedly brought a group of officials to welcome them. In order to make it easier for the convoy to pass, the county magistrate even got someone to seal all the main streets in the city to prevent the commoners from going out.

The magistrate wanted to invite Prince Min and Duke Lang to his house. It would be best if they stayed at his house tonight.

But Xiao Juan refused, indicating that he wanted to stay at the relay station.

The county magistrate did not dare to force him and could only lead him to the courier station.

Then, the county magistrate called the chef from the largest restaurant in the city to the relay station and asked him to prepare a huge banquet.

The county magistrate invited Prince Min and his son and Duke Lang to enjoy the banquet.

Prince Min did not dare to take off his mask in front of outsiders and directly refused the invitation.

Hence, only Yu Niaoniao, Xiao Juan, and Shen Xu attended the banquet.

The magistrate held a wine jug and refilled the cups of the three nobles. He kept saying compliments.

Yu Niaoniao took a sip of wine. This wine tasted very good. She finished a glass and wanted to drink again, but Xiao Juan stopped her.

He said in a low voice, “Drink less.”

Yu Niaoniao giggled at him. “With you around, it’s fine even if I get drunk.”

Xiao Juan reminded him, “Don’t forget that we’re here on business.”

Yu Niaoniao thought of the lost girls. This was indeed a good opportunity to investigate the situation.

She immediately forgot about the wine and revealed a businesslike smile.

“County Magistrate Liu, your place looks quite peaceful. It’s all thanks to your governance.”

County Magistrate Liu laughed so hard that his wrinkles appeared. “No, no. You’re too kind.”

Yu Niaoniao felt that it was a good idea to swap identities in advance. Now that Xiao Juan had the status of Prince Min, it was much more convenient for them to speak and do things.

Yu Niaoniao said, “There’s no need to be humble. Being overly humble is pride. We’ve all seen your political achievements. A good official like you will definitely rise up the ranks in the future.”

Hearing her words, Magistrate Liu was so happy that he was about to fly. He immediately stood up and bowed to Yu Niaoniao.

“Thank you for your kind words!”

Yu Niaoniao invited him to sit down.

She took the opportunity to pour him more wine. Yu Niaoniao only cut to the chase when he was dizzy from drinking. She pretended to be curious and gossiped.

“I heard that young ladies have been getting lost here recently. Some people even say that ghosts are causing trouble. Is that true?”

Magistrate Liu supported his groggy head with one hand and held the edge of the table with the other.

“Prince, you’re really funny. There are no ghosts in this world. Those girls were kidnapped.”

Yu Niaoniao asked, “Then do you know who kidnapped them?”

County Magistrate Liu said, “How would I know?”

Yu Niaoniao asked, “Then what do you know?”

Magistrate Liu seemed to be thinking. After a while, he spoke.

“I’m not sure about anything else, but I know that the same people took those girls. They’re so good thatI can’t catch them.”

Yu Niaoniao said, “Then you can send someone to report this to the Imperial Court.”

Magistrate Liu hurriedly waved his hand.

“No, no! If this matter spread to the Imperial Capital, my political achievements this year would be over. Not only would I not get a chance to be promoted, but I might also be demoted because of my incompetence. This matter must not be reported to the Imperial Court.”

Yu Niaoniao gritted her teeth. “But if you don’t report it to the Imperial Court, those human traffickers will continue to operate and more people will be harmed in the future.”

County Magistrate Liu said indifferently, “What does that have to do with me? Anyway, it’s not my daughter who was abducted. As for those families whose daughters were abducted, they can only blame their luck.”

Yu Niaoniao’s fists stiffened.

She really wanted to punch this idiot!