Chapter 70

Though it was already noon, all the restaurants and hotels in Luanzhou city were cheerless with only a few guests, and carriages were seldom seen at the door. Some of them were even temporarily closed. Waiters from neighboring hotels were gambling under a cracked old locust tree while an old dog nearby lying listlessly at the foot of the wall with its eyes closed as if it had fallen asleep. The depression was all because the empress dowager had decreed that everyone in the capital city had to go vegetarian for three days!

Even though Yuelai Hotel was one of the most popular hotels in the city, its business was also slack these days and there were only a few guests in the lobby at the moment. As they didn’t have much work to do, the old accountant and all the waiters except for Ah Cai had left of absence to visit their family in their hometown, which made the fat shopkeeper, Mr. Lu, have to greet the guests in person. Now, Ah Cai, the only waiter left in the hotel for having no family to visit, was napping by the door.

“Eh-hem!” Mr. Lu coughed slightly. Hearing that, Ah Cai immediately opened his eyes and started calculating on an abacus while flipping through the account book.

Yawning, Ah Cai wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth before he managed to widen his eyes.

However, after staring at the deserted street in a daze for a few seconds, he was overwhelmed by drowsiness again. Thankfully, after a while, he suddenly heard the tramps of horses coming from outside.

Ah Cai rushed out of the hotel instantly, his eyes shining with excitement.

Sure enough, next, two middle-aged men appeared at the corner of the street with horses. One of the two was gorgeously dressed, while the other was wearing plain clothes, but there was nothing weird about them standing side by side. Though they were not young, they still looked charming and pleasing to the eye.

“Are you going to stay here for a short rest or accommodation?” With a flattering smile, Ah Cai strode to them.

As soon as he finished his words, a young man came out of the hotel and walked past him quickly before bowing to the middle-aged men. “Master Yan, Uncle Liu, greetings!”

It was none other than Luo Huali, who had come from the Prince Mu’s Mansion to wait for Yan Ke and Liu Wuyi in the early morning.

“Are you… Huali?” Liu Wuyi asked after hesitating for a moment, his voice full of uncertainty. After all, when he had left the Valley of Fallen Blossoms with his wife and son, Luo Huali was only a 5-year-old child.

“Uncle Liu, nice to meet you!” Luo Huali bowed to him respectfully again. Though it had been thirteen years since they parted, as there wasn’t much change in Liu Wuyi’s appearance, Huali recognized him at once.

“You’ve grown up!” Liu Wuyi nodded with a smile, but from the complicated look in his eyes, everyone could tell he had intention behind his words.

Huali didn’t know his Uncle Liu suspected him and Lingxiao of kidnapping his son, but Yan Ke knew well what his junior brother was hinting, so he immediately said, “Come on, let’s chat inside!”

With that, he blinked at the waiter.

Ah Cai instantly figured out what he meant. Putting on a professional smile, he led the way into the hotel. “This way, please!”

Mr. Lu walked out to greet the guests while asking Ah Cai to take care of their horses.

Next, the three of them were put up in the guest rooms upstairs. Though he looked travel-worn, before taking a bath and changing his clothes, Liu Wuyi couldn’t wait to inquire about his son’s whereabouts.

Hearing him ask Huali to his room, Yan Ke walked in as well. “Huali, tell your uncle where Zixiu is right now! Does his disappearance have anything to do with you and Yan Lingxiao?” he said with a serious look before Liu Wuyi could ask any question.

“Zixiu is at Prince Mu’s Mansion!” As he was clear that there was no way to hide this, Huali told his two elders the truth without hesitation.

“Prince Mu’s Mansion?” Liu Wuyi and Yan Ke were all confused. At any rate, Liu Wuyi could hardly relate his lazy son to Prince Mu. “It’s said that Prince Mu was poisoned. Does Zixiu have anything to do with this?”

At the thought of this, Liu Wuyi grew even more worried. “What the hell is going on? How is Zixiu doing?”

“As Prince Mu’s consort, Zixiu is safe for the moment…”

“What?!” Before he could finish his words, the two elders cried out in surprise. “Zixiu is my future daughter-in-law. How come she became Prince Mu’s consort?” Liu Wuyi was more shocked than Yan Ke was. “How come my son became the princess? Could Luo Huali have mistaken someone else for Zixiu?”