Chapter 13: Wind Tapping Bamboo

According to Cui Qi's account, he owed a ton of gambling debts, which had accumulated from thirty taels to two hundred taels due to compounded interest. Not only did the Luo family not help him, but also Luo Jianchang, afraid of Luo Shao's blame, kicked him out a day before Luo Shao returned home. When he was desperate, a scholar-like servant from a wealthy household found him and gave him twenty taels to buy drinks. He asked Cui Qi to figure out a way to abduct Luo Lao's daughter, offering two hundred taels upon successful completion.

As Cui Qi grew up in the Luo family's estate, he was familiar with everyone inside and out. He quickly found out that Luo Lao would personally bring his entourage to the Meihua Manor in the capital on the 20th of November to pick up his daughter.

When the scholar came to urge him, Cui Qi told him about the matter. This led to Luo Shao getting injured, instructing Lin the manager to go to the capital first to present the letter at the Ministry of Personnel, then to Meihua Manor to retrieve Luo Jinyan. Luo Shao was injured in the early morning, and seeking medical attention delayed the departure. The earliest they could reach the capital was the next afternoon. After dealing with affairs at the Ministry of Personnel, it was already evening, making it untimely to go to Meihua Manor. Therefore, he planned to bring eight-colored gifts and pick up Luo Jinyan on the morning of the 22nd.

Under Cui Qi's plan, by the time Lin the manager arrived at Meihua Manor, Luo Jinyan had already been abducted for two days and nights.

When Luo Jinyan returned to the estate in the morning, her father should have suspected something had happened, or she wouldn't have returned early. However, she didn't see any surprise on her father's face, making her think Cui Qi was just a follower of Lin the manager and had managed to deceive him.

Her father passed the Imperial Examination at the age of 17 and was only 25 this year. In her past life, when Luo Shao learned about his implication in a case involving Huo Ying, he remained calm, playing chess with his daughter with careful and methodical maneuvers. Today, faced with such a situation, he remained composed. Based on his demeanor, he shouldn't have been stuck at the seventh rank county magistrate position.

Cui Qi only knew this much. As for the people waiting outside the city, he didn't know any of them. The scholar had told him that there would be people waiting outside the city to receive Luo Miss and that he should settle the payment with them.

When asked about the man who died, he did see him briefly regain consciousness, but soon after, he died from suffocation. His mouth was plugged at the time, so he couldn't scream and was terrified.

Luo Jianchang sneered, "You saw him die and left you to take the blame, hence your scared appearance."

Luo Jinyan smiled. Although her cousin was not good for anything important, he was clear-headed. It wouldn't be bad for him to manage the various affairs in the estate.

She had concluded that this matter was related to Wang Chaoming. How should she alert her father? She couldn't possibly tell him that Wang Chaoming would rebel six years later.

Although her father doted on her, he wouldn't believe it. Unfortunately, she was too young. Otherwise, she could have claimed that she overheard at the capital that Wang Chaoming had a close relationship with Prince Ning and secretly befriended court officials, which surely would have raised her father's suspicion.

But she was only seven years old and the women in the Luo family at Meihua Manor, a family of merchants, probably hadn't even heard of Wang Chaoming.

Meihua Manor? Right, the family next door that planted plum blossoms was surnamed Qin.

Qin was not a common surname. The only one she could recall was the Qin family, which would produce a future prime minister. Before Qin Jue entered officialdom, the Qin family had been a prominent family for a hundred years. Perhaps the Qin family at Meihua Manor was related to that Qin family.

Luo Jinyan had a plan.

She wrote a few words in the palm of Xia Zhi, then said to Luo Jianchang, "Since Cui Qi has already recruited, this servant will accompany the young lady to report to the master. My nephew will entertain the guests and pour a few more drinks for the respected guests."

In just a few words, she not only exposed everyone, but also helped Luo Jianchang save face. Luo Jianchang became spirited again, had the body removed, and accompanied Luo Ming and others back to the mountain villa.

Luo Jinyan took Xia Zhi and went to Luo Shao's courtyard.

Luo Shao's courtyard was separated from Luo Jinyan's by a path lined with green bamboo. Even in the cold winter, the bamboo remained verdant, rustling in the wind.

When Luo Jinyan entered, she saw Luo Shao laying out a chessboard.

Seeing her come in, Luo Shao waved and smiled at her, "Why aren't you resting in your own room? Xixi, come and play a game with me."

In her past life, she excelled at chess. When she was four, Luo Shao first taught her to play and found that she was a natural talent. He was both surprised and regretful. It was a pity that such an intelligent daughter had lost her biological mother at a young age, or with the grace and talent of Lady Li, she could have been trained into a prominent lady.

Since then, he became even more affectionate towards his daughter. When Luo Jinyan turned five and began her studies, he didn't follow the usual practice of teaching her only the "Admonitions for Women" and "Biographies of Exemplary Women." Instead, he specifically hired a tutor skilled in the six arts to not only teach her music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but also to instruct her in arithmetic. He knew that his daughter would eventually marry, and as the eldest daughter who had lost her mother, he didn't want her to be underestimated by her future in-laws just because of her circumstances.

The more the tutor praised Luo Jinyan, the more Luo Shao felt pity for his daughter and was determined not to let her suffer any grievances. It had been four years since Li Shi's passing, and there were frequent marriage proposals, but Luo Shao rejected them all and never remarried.

Luo Jinyan climbed onto the heated brick bed with a smile, sat at the table, and looked at Luo Shao with her head tilted, but she didn't seem interested in playing chess.

Luo Shao blinked at her and asked, "Is there something on your mind?"

Luo Jinyan nodded and said, "Xia...Zhi..."

Understanding her meaning, she eloquently recounted the events in the woodshed and also mentioned the sudden departure of Old Seven Zhang Hantang.

A hint of coldness flashed in Luo Shao's eyes, but it quickly disappeared. He looked at his daughter with heartache. Not only had his little daughter encountered such a situation, but she had also personally gone to the woodshed to investigate. What other family's women would concern themselves with such matters? And his daughter was only seven years old!

If he hadn't been bedridden, how could his daughter have suffered such grievances and been forced to face such unbearable situations at such a young age?

Seeing a glimmer of moisture in her father's eyes, Luo Jinyan climbed to his side with a smile, leaning on his shoulder. She extended her small, jade-like hand to Luo Shao and said, "Reward..."

Luo Shao was taken aback for a moment, then understood. His little girl had completed a task for him and had come to collect her reward.

He burst into laughter and said to Ming Lan, who was standing at the door, "Give ten taels of silver to Miss."

Ming Lan brought the silver over, and Luo Jinyan clutched it in her hand as if it were a treasure, smiling with curved eyebrows.

Knowing that his daughter was deliberately trying to cheer him up, Luo Shao couldn't help but laugh sincerely.

It's true what they say, a daughter is her parents' little cotton-padded jacket, and this couldn't be more accurate.

End of the update for today, brothers and sisters.

Don't forget to vote, everyone~~~~

Luo Shao in this book is different from the previous one. He is a loving father to his daughter and will continue to be so.