Luosai Huzi hurried back to the tavern with rapid steps, entering through the back door.

Zhuang Han was guarding the well, washing bowls.

“Big Brother, has Xiao Qi come back?”

Zhuang Han didn’t even lift his head, continuing to wash bowls as he replied: “He hasn’t come back. Didn’t you go to pick up Xiao Qi?”

“I didn’t find him. I ran into a student who said Xiao Qi had an upset stomach and left early.”

Zhuang Han set down the bowl and raised his head: “Could he have slipped off somewhere to play?”

“That’s possible. That rascal—when he gets back, I absolutely have to teach him a good lesson!”

Zhuang Han chuckled: “At Xiao Qi’s age, he’s right at the playful stage. Just scold him a bit. Think about when we were that age—weren’t we running all over the mountains?”

Luosai Huzi nodded with a furrowed brow.

For the moment, the two didn’t think much of it.

After all, they’d lived rough lives for so many years. Which child from a poor family wasn’t raised free-range? In Luosai Huzi’s view, that Xiao Qi could eat his fill, dress warmly, and attend school was already like living the life of an immortal.

And all of this was because Xiao Qi had found a good aunt!

A good aunt?

Luosai Huzi suddenly came to his senses and slapped his forehead: “How could I forget? Xiao Qi has an aunt now. If Xiao Qi hasn’t returned on time, I should go tell his aunt.”

Zhuang Han nodded repeatedly: “Right, you should tell his aunt to avoid worrying her.”

“Then Big Brother, you keep busy.” Leaving these words behind, Luosai Huzi walked quickly into the kitchen.

It was precisely when the tavern was serving customers. As the only cook, Xiu Yue was naturally bustling about busily.

Luosai Huzi stood in the spacious kitchen, eagerly watching Xiu Yue deftly squeeze out fish balls one after another into the pot.

The squeezed fish balls were uniform in size, each like a longan fruit.

For a moment, Luosai Huzi forgot all about Xiao Qi and pointed at the counter, asking: “Auntie, aren’t there already so many? Why are you still making more?”

Several deep plates sat on the counter, each filled with plump little fish balls. They looked freshly scooped out, still steaming with heat, though the fish balls in the different plates had slight color variations.

Xiu Gu focused on the movements of her hands while smiling and explaining: “Many customers like fish ball hot pot. Today I made several different kinds of fish balls—there’s eel meat, yellow croaker meat, crucian carp meat…”

Just listening to this description, Luosai Huzi couldn’t help but drool.

A fish ball hot pot had so many intricacies—having such an aunt was truly too fortunate!

“Dalang, what did you come in for? Why don’t I see Xiao Qi?” Xiu Yue used a strainer to scoop out the fish balls that had floated to the surface, poured them into a jujube-red empty plate she’d prepared earlier, and only then wiped her hands and looked toward Luosai Huzi.

“Ah, right, I came in to tell Auntie—Xiao Qi hasn’t come back.”

Xiu Yue froze, the smile at the corners of her mouth suddenly disappearing: “What do you mean he hasn’t come back?”

After listening to Luosai Huzi’s explanation, Xiu Yue’s expression grew even more grave: “I’m going to tell the young lady and have some people go out and search.”

Luosai Huzi was frightened by Xiu Yue’s seriousness: “Is that necessary, Auntie? Kids are playful—when he gets hungry, he’ll come back.”

Why make such a big fuss?

But Xiu Yue didn’t think so.

Although they’d already determined that Xiao Qi wasn’t the little prince, Xiao Qi’s background was ultimately connected to Prince Zhennan’s manor. They couldn’t be careless about his sudden failure to return on time.

“It’s already mealtime. The tavern’s food is so delicious—would Xiao Qi really be willing not to come back?” Xiu Yue asked Luosai Huzi this question.

Luosai Huzi suddenly felt somewhat panicked.

Auntie had a point—with such delicious food available, who would be willing to stay outside playing in the mud?

Oh no, could Xiao Qi have been kidnapped?

Just then, Hong Dou came in to collect dishes. Xiu Yue quickly said: “Hong Dou, please ask the young lady to come over.”

Shortly after, Luo Sheng walked into the kitchen.

“What’s the matter?”

“Dalang didn’t pick up Xiao Qi today.”

Luo Sheng immediately looked toward Luosai Huzi.

Luosai Huzi hastily recounted the situation.

“Du Da, you and Lu Wu go search along the route. As soon as there’s any news of Xiao Qi, one of you should immediately come back to report.”

Watching Luosai Huzi and Zhuang Han leave through the back door, Xiu Yue was quite uneasy: “Young lady, if Xiao Qi isn’t just playing but has encountered some trouble, Du Da and the other one might not be enough…”

“Focus on your cooking. I’ll quietly call a few more people to search.”

Youjian Tavern gathered high officials and nobles, and the less presence Xiao Qi had before these people, the better. Making a big fuss while searching for him wouldn’t be appropriate.

Luo Sheng left the tavern through the back door and walked on the street.

By this time, the setting sun had already fallen, and a crescent moon hung at the treetops.

The entire Qingxing Street was lively. The red lanterns under each shop’s eaves were lit, their orange glow interweaving to illuminate the clean bluestone road.

There were also places the lamplight couldn’t reach, forming dark corners on the street that were hard to notice.

Luo Sheng stopped at a dim corner not far from Youjian Tavern.

A young man’s face showed astonishment at her appearance.

“Come here.” Luo Sheng said indifferently.

The young man hesitated for a moment, then walked before Luo Sheng, furrowing his brow: “Young lady, we don’t know each other, do we? You called me—is there something you need?”

“You’re one of my father’s people, aren’t you?”

The young man nearly jumped up. He struggled to put on a puzzled expression: “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

Luo Sheng turned around: “Then I’ll go ask my father.”

“Young lady, wait!” The young man could no longer keep up the pretense. In a few steps, he moved before Luo Sheng, cupped his fists in salute, and admitted his identity.

Luo Sheng didn’t waste words and instructed: “The tavern cook’s nephew Xiao Qi has gone missing. Call your people together to search for him. Report back to me when there’s news.”

“Yes!” The young man responded. Even after gathering together the companions who usually secretly protected the tavern, he still couldn’t figure out how Miss Luo had discovered them.

Luo Sheng returned to the tavern’s main hall and waited silently.

The process of waiting for people was always difficult to endure. The tea placed before her had unknowingly been refilled cup after cup.

Wei Han observed all of this, secretly furrowing his brow.

Miss Luo seemed to have something weighing on her mind.

No, it should be said that Miss Luo had always had things on her mind, but today’s abnormality indicated she had encountered a new situation beyond her expectations.

Wei Han was a very straightforward person. If he couldn’t figure it out, he would simply ask.

Luo Sheng lowered her eyes to drink tea when the light from above suddenly dimmed.

She couldn’t help but raise her head, and there she saw that familiar handsome face.

“Does Your Highness need something?”

Wei Han discovered that standing, he was blocking the light. His peripheral vision swept the area, and he moved over a stool from not far away to sit down.

The female proprietor, who had just finished greeting customers and was walking back, saw this and was stunned.

That was her stool!

A dignified prince—how could he snatch the proprietor’s stool to sit on?

The female proprietor shook her head and hid at the other end of the counter, opening the account book.

She remembered that the silver Prince Kaiyang had prepaid was almost spent—it was time for him to pay up…

Wei Han sat down, very satisfied with this height. He lowered his voice and asked: “Miss Luo, have you encountered some trouble?”

Luo Sheng held her teacup, looking at him calmly.

If she hadn’t refrained from sending Shi Yan to search for someone, she would suspect Shi Yan had informed on her.

Wei Han clearly wasn’t defeated by Luo Sheng’s silence. He said softly: “I can help.”