In the early morning of the next day, a ray of warm sunshine shone in the room, and Luo Lan opened his eyes lazily.
It was already slightly chilly around him, and it seemed that Leng Yu had been gone for a long time. Today was the day for morning court, and he would go out early during these days of court every month.
As soon as Luo Lan got up, A Cai knocked on the door.
"Princess, are you up? The washing water is ready. The slave has come in."
Ah Cai could always tell when she woke up, or in other words, she was listening to her movements at the door. She probably could hear her even if she turned over.
"come in."
After she called to the door, she stretched and got up from the bed.
Ah Cai started talking after she came in.
"Princess, Xiao Lingzi and Zhang Yuan have been waiting for you outside with a few guards for a long time. They said that the prince has an order and they must obey your command these days."
"Well, did An An cry and cry last night?"
"My servant has just visited. The two young masters and the young lady are sleeping well. The nannies have rubbed their bellies before going to bed as you asked."
Luo Lan took the wet hand towel handed over by A Cai, wiped his face and nodded,
"That's good. It'll be fine when An An and Lele grow to Huaiyu's age."
"By the way, Princess, General Liu came here early in the morning. He came specially to see Lele. He said that when Lele grows up, he will take Lele to the Duke's Mansion and teach Lele kung fu."
Hearing this, Luo Lan shook his head helplessly.
"Dad is just too straightforward. If you like Lele, you don't have to show it so obviously. I'll have to talk about him later."
A Cai chuckled while combing her hair:
"It's okay, they are still young and won't be angry."
"But they will grow up sooner or later, and in their hearts, they don't understand why their grandfather treats them differently."
A Cai nodded as if she understood, "What you said makes sense. By the way, breakfast is ready. My slave will bring it to you. The prince specially asked your slave to cook braised eggs for you, saying that you like to eat them."
Speaking of braised eggs, Luo Lan suddenly thought of what happened last night. Did this guy need to hint to her so blatantly?
Thinking of this, she blushed and nodded, "Well, the prince is right, go and prepare."
She didn't want to explain too much about her liking for braised eggs, which was really "unspeakable".
After the meal, Luo Lan called Xiao Lingzi, Zhang Yuan and several guards to him, and said with a serious face:
"After a while, we will split up according to the four directions of southeast, northwest and northwest. Xiao Lingzi will take two people to the east, Zhang Yuan will take two people to the west, I will take A Cai and A Hong to the south, and you will take two people to the north. Let's go together We will visit the villages near Minghua County, look for the families of several women who were divorced by Mr. Li’s family, and meet at Lijiazhuang at noon.”
Hearing this, Xiao Lingzi, Zhang Yuan and the guards clasped their fists and said:
"I understand, I will go now."
After saying that, these people divided into four groups. Luo Lan and A Cai traveled in a carriage, while Xiao Lingzi, Zhang Yuan and others rode horses and headed straight for Minghua County.
They took Minghua County as the center point and searched for people in four directions.
The carriage that Luo Lan and the others were riding in came to a village three miles away from Minghua County. She asked the horseman to wait at the entrance of the village, and she walked towards the village with A Cai and A Hong.
They saw several old women sitting there chatting under a big tree. Luo Lan came over and asked:
"Ladies, are you okay with chatting here?"
The ladies nodded enthusiastically and replied:
"Yes, where is the girl from? Are you here to visit relatives or friends?"
"Auntie, I don't visit relatives or friends. I just want to find out if there is any girl in our village who has married into Mr. Li's family in Lijiazhuang?"
As soon as she asked this question, the old women looked at each other and shook their heads. One of them said:
"It's almost noon, I have to go home and cook."
Several other old women also echoed, "Let's go, let's go home and cook."
"A few ladies..."
Luo Lan wanted to ask a few more questions, but they had already walked away.
Looking at the backs of these people, A Cai put her hands on her hips and said angrily:
"Who is he? He has no manners at all."
Ah Hong said calmly:
"Princess, why do I feel a little strange? They were quite enthusiastic when I greeted them, but when I mentioned Rich Master Li to them, they left with excuses."
Luo Lan nodded with doubt in her eyes. She raised her eyes and looked at the smoke coming out of the chimney of a house not far away, and whispered:
"Let's go there and ask."
After saying that, she walked in front, followed closely by Ah Cai and Ah Hong.
They came to a farmyard with a broken gate. In the yard, an old woman was chopping firewood. Judging from her gray hair, she must be fifty or sixty years old.
"aunt……"
Luo Lan called out, and the old woman turned around, put her palms on her forehead and looked towards the door. When she saw Luo Lan, she put down the ax in her hand, came to the door and asked:
"Girl, who are you looking for?"
Luo Lan looked at the old lady's deep-set eyes and said softly:
"We are passing by, can we go in and ask for a drink of water?"
Seeing that it was three women, the old lady nodded directly, "Please come in. There is nothing else at home, but there is still water."
As the aunt spoke, she welcomed the three of them into the courtyard.
Sitting at the shabby low table, watching the aunt lying on the stove making a fire and boiling water, A Cai wanted to stop her, but Luo Lan waved his hand and shook his head at her.
A Cai pursed her lips, swallowed secretly, and whispered:
"Princess, look at the rim of her pot, how dirty it is, and the bucket, it looks like it hasn't been used for many years."
But Luo Lan chuckled unconcernedly, "Since we are here to ask for water, how can we dislike other people's dirty water? We should be grateful to them for letting us in."
Ah Hong also blamed:
"The princess didn't say anything, but you think she's dirty. Are you ashamed?"
Ah Cai blushed and lowered her head in shame.
After a while, the aunt came over carrying a steaming kettle. She picked up several enamel jars on the table, poured water and said to herself:
"There is no tea at home, so the girls can just drink it."
Luo Lan quickly took the water glass over and said repeatedly:
"Thank you, ma'am. Please sit down quickly!"
The aunt pushed two glasses of water in front of A Cai and A Hong, then sat down and muttered resentfully,
"Since my eldest daughter left, my house has become a lot deserted. I am very happy that you can come here to ask for a drink."
Looking at the aunt's empty eyes, Luo Lan pursed his lips and persuaded softly:
"Auntie, who is Dani to you? Where has she gone? Are you the only one in your family?"
The aunt rubbed her hands and nodded.
"Um……"
After nodding, she quickly shook her head, "I'm not alone in our family, there's also Dani. She's my granddaughter. I don't know where she is, but I can't find her even if I look for her!"
"Why can't I find her? Is she married or has she gone out to work?"
