Chapter 1176: Chapter 1176: The Second Young Master Was Kidnapped by a Band of Mountain Bandits
Bai Zhi’er spoke without thinking, instinctively saying, "Why say it was him who brought it back?"
"If it was discovered while searching for Second Brother, then it should have been Second Brother who brought it back!"
She was completely unaware that her tone carried a faint sense of concern and curiosity.
Bai Xilie, standing nearby, keenly looked at his daughter.
Listening to his precious daughter’s tone, could it be that she’s feeling jealous?
Bai Xilie’s gaze deepened: "Summon Marquis Wan to the Imperial Study Room to report."
"Yes, I saw earlier, the Marquis is already coming this way."
Shortly after the guard finished speaking, the eunuch at the door indeed announced Marquis Wan’s arrival.
"Second Uncle! Boohoo, I almost didn’t get to see you." An unexpected voice came first.
Bai Xilie furrowed his brows: "Qiyan?"
The next second, a tall figure directly entered the hall, kneeling on the ground to kowtow.
Bai Zhi’er sat on the Dragon Chair, looking surprised at the slightly foul-smelling man before her; it was her Second Brother, Bai Qiyang!
From childhood to now, she had never seen him, only occasionally exchanged letters with the Second Young Master.
Bai Zhi’er had imagined her reunion with Second Brother, but never thought it would be in such a destitute state.
His hair was messy and tangled, seemingly unwashed for days, sticking together.
Filthy clothes intertwined with patches.
One could say he looked like a beggar.
"Second Uncle, it’s me!" Bai Qiyang whimpered.
A man of one meter eighty-five, choking up like a child.
Historian Wang was standing closest, barely controlling his facial expressions, trying not to reveal a disgusted look due to the smell.
To avoid offending the Princely Heir.
But he finally couldn’t tolerate it, silently retreating a step.
Even Bai Xilie had to confirm several times before frowning doubtfully: "Qiyan, how did you become like this?"
He turned to Feng Fuce by the side: "What exactly happened, to make you so tattered!"
In contrast, Feng Fuce looked like a fine jade, like a clean and noble young master.
He showed no signs of distress, his gaze was cold: "As the Emperor predicted, the Second Young Master was kidnapped by a group of bandits."
"Every day they demanded money, actually forging his handwriting to carry out the extortion."
Bai Qiyang’s lips trembled as he recounted his ordeal: "The master I apprenticed to was actually a swindler!"
"He wasn’t some hidden expert, but a strategist for bandits, realizing I came from wealth seeing the money I brought back then."
"He deceived me up the mountain, and I was never able to come down again! These years, I’ve lived through their beatings and coercion."
At this point, Bai Qiyang whined once more.
Bai Zhi’er showed a sympathetic gaze.
She looked at this Second Brother’s face; though handsome and charming, he seemed to have a fate easily fooled by others.
However, changing such fate is quite easy.
He was already very lucky; some people with such fate end up losing their lives.
In Bai Qiyang’s lament, Bai Xilie and the others roughly understood what happened.
He was confined in a cellar by a swindler from the Jianghu, surviving only because they wanted to continuously extort his family.
They allowed him to bathe only once a month; later, when Bai Qiyang fell ill, they let him stay in a separate courtyard.
Probably fearing he’d escape, they guarded it tightly.
When Feng Fuce went, Bai Qiyang thought they had brought an even scarier person to beat him.
Later learning it was Marquis Wan sent by the Emperor, Bai Qiyang clung to Feng Fuce’s leg, crying for an hour.
