Yang Ruxin was so charmed by Xiaofeng’s adorable behavior that she couldn’t help but turn his little face into all sorts of shapes as she cuddled him, but the little guy didn’t seem to mind at all; instead, he chuckled gleefully.
However, this scared the other few people enough to move quite a few steps away; they all knew that when Big Sister got happy, she loved to pinch people’s faces and knead their heads. Now that Xiaofeng was there to bear the brunt, they certainly did not want to suffer the same fate.
After some frolicking, Yang Ruxin told everyone to go to their rooms and rest for a bit, planning to go out for a stroll later in the evening.
Of course, Zhou Xiao was a boy, and not young anymore, so it wasn’t appropriate for him to stay at Xinyuan; he went to Xiyue Residence instead.
However, just as everyone had dispersed, they saw Queque walk in, "Miss, Liuyun is here."
Queque was one of the two maids Fang Tianze had previously arranged to serve at Xinyuan, with the other being Yiyi. Both were only eleven or twelve years old.
As a man, Liuyun used to come and go freely when there were no others, but now with so many ladies around, he had to be announced before entering.
Yang Ruxin immediately stepped outside where Liuyun had brought in Qian Er. However, Qian Er brought with him some rather unwelcome news; it was from Xiaoliu Village, reporting that Xiaohong had run away again.
Yang Ruxin furrowed her brow, "Run away?"
"The message from over there says that she was supposed to marry Wu Da before, but for some reason, he suddenly fell ill, suffering from diarrhea for several days and couldn’t get up. He had just recovered a few days ago, and was supposed to come over today to finalize the marriage and move in, but last night, Xiaohong suddenly disappeared, and she took all of the silver from Wu Da’s family with her..."
Yang Ruxin couldn’t help but frown. Dong Hongmei was quite alert, it seemed. She probably recognized Ruxin the moment she arrived before, or else she wouldn’t have fled so quickly. That meant Wu Da’s diarrhea was likely no accident...
Though she had this information, finding someone in ancient times was truly difficult, and even more so considering she didn’t have the manpower at her disposal.
With this thought, her urge to establish her own intelligence network became all the more urgent.
"Ruxin?" Qian Er saw that Yang Ruxin had been silent for a while and couldn’t help calling out.
"Alright, I got it," Yang Ruxin snapped back to reality, "If she’s gone, she’s gone. However, you should still visit Xiaoliu Village when you can."
"Don’t worry, I know," nodded Qian Er. He was about to leave when he stopped and looked around, "Ruxin, Chengzi sent a message... saying that the Tian Family might be involved with the Divine Church..."
"The Divine Church?"
"That’s the Flame Sect," Qian Er continued in a lowered voice, "The Imperial Court has labeled it as a heretical sect... but many wealthy people are supporters of the Flame Sect. They say there are tens of thousands of followers who revere it as the Divine Church..."
The Flame Sect? Yang Ruxin frowned, feeling that things were becoming increasingly complicated.
"The Sect Hierarch of the Flame Sect is called Flame, and it’s said that he is the reincarnation of the Supreme Venerable Sovereign from the heavens, capable of curing hopeless diseases and granting immortality," continued Qian Er.
"That impressive?" Yang Ruxin raised her eyebrow slightly, "More powerful than my master, the Divine Doctor..."
"Supposedly it’s true. For example, if someone suffers from tuberculosis, which means their lungs are affected, then Flame can replace them with healthy lungs and cure the illness... He also practices alchemy, but Chengzi says they use young boys and girls for it..."