How could I possibly be confined in a cage?

Guo Zixing was overjoyed upon receiving this news, as if he had become a marshal with wealth, power, and troops, and had the world at his fingertips.

Zhang Xun also arrived after receiving the news. He hadn't even changed his clothes and was still in casual clothes, with an overwhelming smell of medicine emanating from him.

Guo Zixing was in a good mood at the moment and did not argue with him. Besides, he had more things to do and could not push away his only "little brother" at the moment.

Zhang Xun's heart pounded. He had been preoccupied with his grandmother's affairs lately and hadn't paid much attention to Guo Zixing, so he asked with a forced smile, "What's making you so happy?"

Guo Zixing smiled at him but didn't answer. Zhang Xun felt even more strange; he had never seen Guo Zixing so smug since he met him.

Guo Zixing came out and was hit by a cold wind, which helped him regain some of his composure.

"Nothing much. How's the matter I asked you to handle?"

Zhang Xun quickly said seriously, "We've searched along the way, but haven't found anyone. We've sent people to search further downstream."

I originally thought Qingru only had some wealth and beauty, but now that I know her family's secret, her value is naturally different from before.

Regardless of whether she is alive or dead, the first priority is to find her whereabouts. Before assigning him the task, Commander Guo had already allocated funds to him, so he was able to easily send people to do the work.

Zhang Xun didn't know what had happened, but seeing Guo Zixing so excited, he kept quiet and didn't dare to ask any more questions. He just wanted to see if there was any news from Chief Zhang.

After giving a few instructions, Guo Zixing drove towards the Marshal's Mansion. He couldn't handle such important news alone; he needed to involve Marshal Guo as well to form a united front against the unknown enemy.

The front part of the Marshal's Mansion was where Marshal Guo worked. When Guo Zixing arrived, he was in the middle of a meeting. Guo Zixing didn't mind the wait; a place he usually didn't like to visit often now felt especially welcoming.

After finishing the meeting, Commander Guo was exhausted, so he was quite surprised when his adjutant told him that Guo Zixing had been waiting for him all afternoon. Guo Zixing rarely sought him out in the past; today seemed unusual.

"Tell him to come here, I won't go over."

The adjutant saluted and went out to invite Guo Zixing.

Commander Guo took the cup, which contained a strong cup of tea. Only with this could he ward off the overwhelming drowsiness.

"father."

Guo Zixing entered, and the adjutant wisely withdrew and stood guard at the door.

"Let's find a place to sit down."

This was also Guo Zixing's first time in the conference room. The huge room was filled with a long conference table and chairs. Commander Guo sat in the main seat, exuding an aura of dominance, as if he were a king ruling the world.

But at this moment, he appeared utterly exhausted; though only in his forties, he already seemed somewhat hunched over. Guo Zixing's excitement was dampened somewhat, and a barely perceptible worry flashed through his mind: what if Commander Guo were to fall…

I can't think about it, I can't think about it; it was as if a curse was instantly banished from my mind.

"What is it?" Commander Guo asked succinctly, and Guo Zixing didn't say much either, recounting all the information he had gleaned from Lü Peijun.

"...If we can obtain this wealth, our Guo family might truly have a whole new world."

General Guo, however, was not as optimistic as he was. "As you said, the news has already leaked out, and it's unknown how many parties will try to seize it. Furthermore, how much can we believe Lü Peijun's words? Even if our country does win the prize, it's questionable whether the treasure trove actually contains that much wealth."

Feeling as if doused with cold water, Guo Zixing said unwillingly, "I have his daughter in my hands, would he lie to me?"

Commander Guo laughed, "Lu Peijun is a tough nut to crack. Do you think he wasn't tortured? I tortured him as soon as he was arrested, and he didn't utter a single word. Now, a photo of his daughter is enough to pry him open? I'm not trying to discourage you, but is it really that easy?"

Guo Zixing said listlessly, "Then why did you arrest him in the first place? Didn't you already know about this from the beginning?"

"Hmph," Commander Guo chuckled, taking another sip of strong tea. "My initial information was that the Lü family's ancestral property wasn't incredibly wealthy, but rather the wealth left by the Lü family members who held high-ranking positions in the Qing government. I verified that this was true before giving it to you to practice on. Who knew you'd dig up such information? I don't even know if it's accurate."

Guo Zixing was still unwilling to give up. "If it's fake, why did the Japanese get involved? Is it just that they want this little bit of wealth?"

Guo Zixing believed Lu Peijun's words so readily that he even referred to the family fortune passed down for four or five generations as "this little bit of wealth." It seems that he had raised this son too naively.

"It's no surprise that the Japanese have always liked to plunder Chinese antiques. Not to mention the Lü family, which city in China doesn't secretly try to get involved when antiques are produced? These bastards have wolfish ambitions and will cause trouble sooner or later."

Guo Zixing stopped insisting, feeling extremely disappointed, and unwilling to believe that Lü Peijun's statement was false information.

Seeing this, Commander Guo could only sigh. "However, what you said may not necessarily be false. Parents' love for their children cannot be faked. Besides, Lü Peijun has been imprisoned for so long, it's not impossible that his mental defenses have crumbled. Here's what we'll do: I'll still leave this matter to you. You can investigate it yourself. If it's true, I will certainly assist you."

Guo Zixing offered some words of comfort, but he wasn't really happy inside.

Commander Guo patted his shoulder and said, “Eldest brother, what I value most about you is your soft heart. No matter which mother they are born to, they are all my children. Whoever can protect my brothers and sisters is naturally my best choice.”

Guo Zixing's heart skipped a beat, but he agreed on the surface.

"Go back and get some rest. Now that you're the deputy director, you have your own power. How to build a team that belongs to you is something you have to figure out yourself. What others can give you is ultimately not your own."

Guo Zixing seemed to understand but not quite, and obediently followed Commander Guo back to the backyard.

In the backyard of the Niu family in Woniu Village, Qingru was already able to get down to the ground with the help of a wooden stick.

Sister-in-law Niu was overjoyed to see this, "Oh, sister, you can go to the fields today?"

Qingru was a little embarrassed. Every time she made a little progress, Sister-in-law Niu would exclaim in an exaggerated way.

"My legs are a little itchy, but I can't scratch them, so I walk around to distract myself."

“That’s right,” Sister-in-law Niu clapped her hands, “You need to move around to heal faster! If you always lie down, your flesh won’t be firm.”

Although the words are crude, the principle is sound. Qingru knew that if she continued to lie down, her muscles would become atrophied, so she massaged herself with her good hand every day.

Ever since that day when Xiao Erlang held her and cried, he often sneaked into Qingru's room to play. Sometimes he would just stare blankly, and sometimes he would slip her a few wild fruits.

Seeing that she was having some difficulty massaging her legs, I tried to help her and then slowly took over the task. The two got along much better, but they still didn't talk much.

Qingru stopped after walking a few steps. Sister-in-law Niu pulled her to look at the fabric, saying she wanted to make her a dress. Qingru declined, "Sister-in-law, really, there's no need. I'm fine wearing your old clothes. It's already too much trouble."

"Hey, it's okay. Your older brother is still making money for us, so don't worry about wearing it."

Speaking of which, Qingru hadn't seen Xin Wu Hui for a long time. Sister-in-law Niu said that he was embarrassed to stay here, so he went out to do odd jobs with Niu Da. However, Niu Da had come back several times, but Xin Wu Hui was nowhere to be seen.

Qingru couldn't help but ask, "Where did Brother Xin go to do odd jobs? Why haven't we seen him come back?"

Sister-in-law Niu was still rummaging through the fabrics when she heard this. Without even looking up, she said, "He's busy, what's the big deal? Sometimes my husband is so busy that he's not home for a whole month. It's only because I have a wife and children that your brother has come back a few times. Otherwise, how could he bear to delay him?"

Qingru forced a smile. To be honest, she was still more familiar with Xin Wu Hui, so she was a little worried after not seeing him for a few days. After all, Xin Wu Hui had only worked as a driver before and had never done any heavy work.

"Next time, please pass on a message to him, telling him that he should take a break and not work so hard."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll take care of it and bring it with me," she said, unable to resist teasingly, "You must be missing your sweetheart and can't bear to see him do hard labor."

Qingru was both amused and exasperated, wondering how Sister-in-law Niu had managed to cover it up. The two had never discussed their relationship, only referring to each other as friends. Yet, Sister-in-law Niu had concocted a dramatic tale of a star-crossed couple separated and attempting suicide by jumping into a river, only to fail. Whenever Qingru showed any sign of remorse towards Xin Wuhui, Sister-in-law Niu would use this to tease her. After it happened so many times, Qingru stopped trying to explain.

At this moment, Xiao Erlang also returned with the ox. When he saw the two sitting together, his eyes widened in horror. He rushed over and tightly gripped Qingru's clothes, glaring at Niu Dasao as if she were his enemy.

Sister-in-law Niu was stunned for a moment, then slapped her across the face. "You brat, who are you glaring at?"

Qingru quickly stopped her. She already knew that Sister-in-law Niu and Xiao Erlang were not biological mother and son, but rather stepmother and stepson. Although Sister-in-law Niu was relatively close to her, she was not kind to Xiao Erlang and often beat and scolded him.

Seeing that Qingru was stopping her, fearing that she would break the item and it wouldn't fetch a good price, Sister-in-law Niu pointed fiercely at Xiao Erlang and said, "I'll deal with you later, and I'll make you hide behind people."

Xiao Erlang picked up a stone and threw it, then ran away as fast as he could.

When Sister-in-law Niu was in pain, she started cursing without restraint, spouting things like "dead child" and "sink to the bottom of the pond," and even saying things like she would sell him into some remote mountain valley and make him work like a beast of burden for the rest of his life.

Country folk often scold children without thinking, and Qingru couldn't care less. She was glad that Xiao Erlang hadn't been beaten.

So he used the stick to slowly move into the house.

After closing the door to shut out those unpleasant words, Qingru finally sat down at the table and breathed a sigh of relief. She poured herself a glass of cold water and drank it down, which helped clear her mind, which had been clouded by the pain.

Xiao Erlang quietly came over and stroked Qingru's leg, "When will you get better?"

Although Qingru was already used to Xiao Erlang's ability to appear and disappear unpredictably, she was still startled by his silent appearance.

Fortunately, she recovered quickly. Qingru looked into the courtyard and saw that Sister-in-law Niu was still standing there cursing, seemingly unaware that Xiao Erlang had already entered the house.

Xiao Erlang said softly, "She didn't see it, don't worry."

Qingru stroked his head, feeling a pang of heartache, but both sides were treating her well, so she didn't feel comfortable offering any advice. Seeing how much Xiao Erlang cared about her leg injury, she felt a warmth in her heart. "It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, and mine will probably take at least two more months to fully heal."

Xiao Erlang pouted dejectedly, and Qingru couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

The young boy diligently massaged her legs, saying, "Then I'll massage them properly for you, so you can get better faster, and be better by tomorrow."

Qingru chuckled and said, "It can't be that fast. I wish it could be done by tomorrow, but it's not possible."

Her little hands were pressing absentmindedly, clearly not paying attention. Qingru asked softly, "Are you upset about Sister-in-law Niu's attitude towards you?"

Xiao Erlang shook his head. "No, I'm worried about you."

A warm feeling welled up in her heart, and Qingru couldn't help but hug Xiao Erlang tighter. "Then I'll eat well, sleep well, and try my best to get better as soon as possible so I can play with you, okay?"

"Can you take me with you?" Xiao Erlang suddenly asked.

Qingru was stunned, but looking into Xiao Erlang's earnest and expectant eyes, she couldn't bring herself to refuse. This child must have suffered enough grievances to think this way.

Thinking that Sister-in-law Niu would eventually have her own child, and that Xiao Erlang's life would be even more difficult then, Qingru said seriously, "If my leg heals and you still think like this, then I will take you to the city, send you to school, and make sure you have enough to eat and wear."

"No, I don't want to study. I want to be with you. I want you to be safe and sound."

Children's words are always innocent and sincere, which deeply moved Qingru.

"Okay, as long as your dad agrees, I will definitely take you away. My dad is a very good person, and I also have a younger sister who is already in college. They will both like you."

Xiao Erlang leaned against Qingru's lap with affection, his eyes welling up with tears.

Qingru sensed it, but she said nothing. She could only stroke his back to offer him some comfort.

"Hey girl, are you asleep?" Sister-in-law Niu knocked on the door.

Qingru snapped out of her daze and replied, "Not yet, please wait a moment."

Xiao Erlang quickly wiped away his tears, and before Qingru could say anything, he disappeared in the blink of an eye. If it weren't for the warm tears still on Qingru's legs, she would almost have thought she was the only person in the room.

He shook his head with a chuckle. Perhaps it's the environment that shapes people; even Xiao Erlang has developed such skills.

He opened the door with a limp, and Sister-in-law Niu came in carrying a bowl of vegetable porridge. "Your older brother hasn't been back for the past few days, and we're out of vegetables. Make do with this, there'll be more if you need it."

"Okay, that's enough."

Sister-in-law Niu put the porridge on the table and went out. Qingru quickly closed the door and called Xiao Erlang to eat, but after searching several times, there was still no response.

"This child." Qingru knew that Xiao Erlang wouldn't let himself go hungry; he must have sneaked into the kitchen to find something to eat. Only then did she pick up the porridge and start eating.

Just as I promised Xiao Erlang, I will eat well, sleep well, and strive to recover as soon as possible.

Qingru couldn't wait that long; she just wanted to be able to use her cane freely so she could walk back. Xin Wuhui was strong; pushing the cart and carrying her and Xiao Erlang back to the city shouldn't be difficult for him.

With these thoughts in mind, Qingru finished tidying herself up and fell into a deep sleep.