Chapter 154: Chapter 154: He Resembles Someone
So, it wasn’t an illusion when she saw a familiar figure in one of the courtyards. Seeing her among the guards and Han Tingxun, she was utterly dumbfounded.
The woman was also looking at her in disbelief.
"Sister–"
Zhou Anran was worried the person would reveal her full name and told Xiao Yuanwei about it, so she hurriedly greeted them first.
"Greetings, Mr. Han and... My Lady." She put on a respectful expression.
However, inwardly, she was already full of headaches. She almost forgot about Han Tingxun...
He had some contact with their family.
"Why are you here?" Su Wan was surprised, looking at her with concern. She also looked around, as though the guards would provide her an explanation about what was going on.
It was Han Tingxun who replied. "Replying to Your Highness, Mrs. Zhou was injured because of a landslide and Master ordered us to bring her to the mansion."
Zhou Anran’s pupils constricted. Your Highness? She thought that Su Wan was a daughter of a high-ranking noble family from the Capital.
Unexpectedly, she was the Emperor’s sister, a princess.
"This subject greets Your Highness the Princess. I beg Your Highness’s pardon for my earlier rudeness." Zhou Anran muttered and gave her a formal salute.
Su Wan was taken aback, and she took a deep breath, glaring at Han Tingxun, this rigid man who couldn’t read the room! Her resentment was quite palpable that Han Tingxun puzzledly wondered what he had done wrong.
"You don’t need to be so formal to me," Su Wan hurriedly said, letting out a humorless laugh. "Han Tingxun is only joking. Princess? What princess?"
She quite liked Zhou Anran and her children... she even thought that Xiao Fenghao resembled her imperial brother a little bit.
If not for the fact that her imperial brother has never been in the south, she would have thought he was her imperial brother’s son!
"Your... Miss Su is right," Han Tingxun hurriedly fixed his words, almost making a mistake the second time in the process.
Su Wan rolled her eyes inwardly, and when she turned to Zhou Anran, her face was full of concern.
"Sister, did you get hurt somewhere?" She asked, walking closer to Zhou Anran and scanning her from head to toe.
Zhou Anran resisted the urge to take a step back, her mind still reeling from the realization of Su Wan’s real identity.
She shook her head. "I am fine."
Han Tingxun interrupted. "Mrs. Zhou, we are ready to set off."
There were a group of men behind him. Su Wan immediately noticed something was wrong. She was just passing by when she saw the group of guards gathering.
She had wanted to ask out of curiosity, but before she had the chance, she saw Zhou Anran’s familiar figure in the crowd.
"What’s happening?" Su Wan asked Han Tingxun in confusion.
"We will be looking for Mrs. Zhou’s children," Han Tingxun answered.
Su Wan widened her eyes, and she took Zhou Anran’s hands, her voice full of concern. "Looking for your children? Are your children missing, Sister? Who is it? Not Little Ya, right?"
She had heard about the case of human traffickers now targeting children and occasionally, good-looking young people. Upon remembering Zhou Anran’s children’s good-looking faces, her worry deepened.
Zhou Anran shook her head and pursed her lips. "It’s Hao’er and Xi’er that are missing."
Su Wan didn’t ask anymore, and seeing the urgency in the woman’s eyes, she let go of Zhou Anran’s grasp, watching as the latter bid farewell to her.
Zhou Anran headed to the forest with Han Tingxun leading the guards.
They walked along the thick trees and vegetation for a while, and by coincidence, the two groups stumbled upon each other.
Zhou Anran was so lost in her thoughts that it took her a while to snap to her senses and realize her children’s presence.
"Mother! We finally found you!" Xiao Yuxi’s excited voice rang in her ears.
She lifted her head, and she already ran toward Xiao Yuxi, hugging her daughter. "Xi’er, Xi’er!"
Her hands tremblingly stroked her daughter’s unkempt hair. It was obvious she had gone through a lot during the time she was lost in the back mountain.
Xiao Jingran walked toward them, and the guards were taken aback by his appearance. They all stared at each other in puzzlement, feeling that he resembled someone.
However, upon closer look, they realized his gentle expression resembled Zhou Anran more. A flash of understanding crossed their eyes.
Their leader, Han Tingxun seemed to know this family and also didn’t show unusual reaction, so they resisted the doubt in their hearts and kept their silence, thinking it was a coincidence they almost thought he resembled their Master a bit.
"Where is your second brother?" Zhou Anran already threw the thought of Xiao Yuanwei to the back of her mind.
Her hand gripped her daughter’s arms, her eyes filled with anxiety because she hadn’t seen her second son.
"Second Brother..." Xiao Yuxi bit her lip and turned to Xiao Jingran, letting him answer the question.
Xiao Jingran immediately answered, "Hao’er got injured, but he is alright now."
Zhou Anran detected something unusual in her son’s expression; she didn’t expose him. She turned around and thanked Han Tingxun. "Mr. Han, thank you for helping me to find my children."
"I will return with them right now. You can go back..." She told them.
"Mrs. Zhou, please wait." A guard came forward and brought a box filled with gifts—the compensation Xiao Yuanwei had promised.
Zhou Anran’s eyes flashed with a complicated light. She didn’t want to accept anything from them. As for using her as a bait... let’s just treat it as returning a favor.
She shoved the box back to the guard’s arms. The latter was dumbfounded. "But, Mrs. Zhou..."
Han Tingxun also stopped her. "Mrs. Zhou, it’s compensation from... His Excellency, please take it."
Her lips pursed together upon hearing this. How could she forget that he was the emperor now...?
Refusing an emperor’s gift might offend him, so...
She took the gift box that the guard was giving her. "Thank you, Mrs. Han, and Sir Guard. Thank you for His Excellency’s magnanimity too."
After that, they parted ways. She refused their further offer to escort them.
Zhou Anran and her children headed to the location where Xiao Fenghao was staying. Meanwhile, Han Tingxun returned to the mansion with his guards.
They actually hadn’t walked that far, so they arrived quickly at the mansion. Han Tingxun didn’t waste time and immediately went to report to his Master.
"Your Majesty, we have escorted Mrs. Zhou to her children. We met them on the way..." Han Tingxun reported.
Xiao Yuanwei’s fingers tapped the table, feeling slightly restless. Zhou Anran’s pale face appeared in his mind again, and a piercing pain once again seared through his skull, forcing him to erase her image.
He nodded, lost in his thoughts.
On the other side, Zhou Anran finally found out how they managed to find her son and daughter quickly.
"Mother, it’s Xiao Xue’s help." Xiao Yuxi held up the little white kitten.
The System meowed innocently, and wriggled out of Xiao Yuxi’s grasp, running toward Zhou Anran’s feet. She picked it up and held it in her arms.
At this time, they were travelling at a moderate pace. Xiao Jingran had taken Zhou Anran’s pulse and determined that their mother was too weak and low in energy.
Only after they assured her of Xiao Fenghao’s stabilized state did Zhou Anran calmed down a little. Xiao Yuxi was supporting her mother as they walked through the gravelly winding path.
Sometimes, the path they took was too steep, requiring the help of others to pass by the path safely.
As the time passed by noon, they finally arrived at the place Xiao Fenghao was staying.
"Ran’er..." Zhou Wenzhi was visibly relieved when he saw his daughter. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"It’s just some scratches." She shook her head, inhaling deeply. "Father, where is Hao’er?"
The villagers already prepared a temporary stretcher for Xiao Fenghao who was currently still unconscious.
"Take some rest first," Zhou Wenzhi looked worriedly at his daughter. He handed over the roasted wild chicken and a drink.
Zhou Anran went to check her unconscious second son first before she ate her meal; she was practically shoving down the tasteless food down her throat.
She really didn’t want to eat anything, but if she kept on refusing food, her body might give out on the way home. It would only trouble others further, so she forced herself to eat all the food.
After the group took some rest, they all headed home. Xiao Xue was still sticking with them all the way, worried they might get lost again.
They arrived home in the afternoon.
Xiao Xue had been holding back all this time. It had been focusing on finding the Xiao siblings and Zhou Anran so it didn’t check the information upgrade in the system.
Now, upon arriving home, it excitedly went to its host.
[Host, I have some new news for you! It’s about your father.]
Zhou Anran subconsciously stiffened.
