Su Qing said indifferently, "What could be the matter? They were just after money, not a life."
So it was him who instigated it!
The family of three had the same thought.
"Daddy, Momo is so scared~" The little dumpling buried her head in Su Qingtian's arms, trembling and crying.
Su Qingtian quickly picked her up and patted her back. "What's wrong, my dear? What are you afraid of?"
"Those people were so fierce just now. They demanded money from us, but we don't have that much at home. If they don't get the money tomorrow, will they get angry and hurt Second Brother?"
The little dumpling shivered and burrowed into Su Qingtian's embrace. "Daddy, Momo doesn't want Second Brother to die~"
Su Qingtian took a deep breath and instinctively glanced at Su Qing, his tone filled with an endless killing intent.
"Don't worry. If anything happens to your Second Brother, no matter who the other party is, this general will ensure they have no place to be buried!"
Su Qing was startled by his imposing aura.
Zhou Wanyou also said with grief and panic, "We can gather the money eventually. I'm just afraid they'll be blinded by greed and act recklessly. If we can't resolve this now, we'll have to report it to the authorities."
Su Qing's expression changed instantly. "No! We can't report it!"
If they reported it to the authorities, the matter would escalate. If it was eventually traced back to him, his reputation for life would be ruined. Where would he be able to show his face again?
Zhou Wanyou looked at him doubtfully. "Why can't we report it?"
Su Qing's expression tightened, realizing he had spoken out of turn. "I just feel that reporting it now would be counterproductive."
Everyone looked at him, their gazes suspicious.
Su Qing felt uneasy. "Alright, alright. I don't have time to listen to your tearful complaints. I have matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first."
As that girl Su Yunmo said, if the money couldn't be raised, those people might become desperate and do something irreversible.
He had to get the person into his custody first.
Su Qing made up his mind, turned, and walked out without waiting for anyone to escort him.
After he left, Su Qingtian coldly called out, "Xi Tian, go follow him!"
A gust of wind swept through the hall.
Xi Tian, who had been in the shadows, quickly followed.
Su Qing got into a carriage outside the general's mansion and headed straight for the outskirts.
In a dilapidated temple on the western outskirts, Su Siqi was tied up and thrown onto a haystack, a cloth stuffed in his mouth.
Two people were guarding the outside of the broken temple.
Su Qing rushed over, dismounted, and darted into the temple.
The two guards stopped him. "Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? Our master said no one is allowed here."
"Who isn't allowed? Open your dog eyes and see who I am! If it weren't for me, would your master have made so much money?" Su Qing shoved him.
"Get lost. I'm taking the person away now."
The guards exchanged glances, rolled up their sleeves, and said, "You want to snatch him? Our master was already wary of you. You old fellow are truly turning your back on your own!"
Seeing that they were about to make a move, Su Qing instinctively took a step back. "What do you think you're doing? I'm telling you, I'm Su Qingtian's father. If you dare..."
One of them slapped him. "Bah! His father? We dare to tie up his son, so what do you think you are? Do you really think you can act like the king of heaven just by using the general's mansion's name?"
Su Qing was knocked to the ground, groaning. "Fine, you're crossing the river and tearing down the bridge!"
His suspicions were correct. If these ruffians couldn't get the money, they would definitely harm the child, and then the matter would blow up, and he wouldn't be able to escape responsibility!
The sound of hooves suddenly came from a distance.
Xi Tian led a team of people from the east.
The people here panicked.
"It's bad, it's bad, they've really brought the authorities!" Su Qing was sweating profusely, too preoccupied to care about anything else, and quickly gave orders.
"What are you all standing around for? Hurry up and hide that brat. If we're caught red-handed, we're all finished!"
The guards also knew this was no small matter. They immediately went into the broken temple and pulled Su Siqi from the haystack.
Another person walked to a worn-out old chest, pushed it aside to reveal a pre-dug hole beneath, and threw the person in.
Soon, Xi Tian and his men surrounded the dilapidated temple.
As soon as the chest was pushed back into place, Xi Tian rushed in.
Su Qing angrily confronted him. "You were following me? Su Qingtian sent you?!"
That brat dared to play dirty with him!
Xi Tian cast a cold glance at him, waved him aside, and coldly uttered one word: "Search!"
Everyone immediately began to rummage through the chests and cabinets.
Su Qing fell to the ground. This time he didn't cry out. Seeing someone go to search the chest, he crouched down and fled through the back door.
The other two also tried to run.
"Sir, nothing!"
After searching the area, the men found nothing.
Xi Tian frowned and turned to the two guards. "Where is he?"
The two men, who had tried to escape but failed, were pinned to the ground.
They cried out in panic, "We don't know! We're beggars from around here. We came here to sleep last night!"
They would rather die than admit to such a thing. They couldn't bear the crime of kidnapping the son of a first-rank official.
"Mmm, mmm, mmm!" Su Siqi heard the commotion outside and struggled with his hands and feet, but the cloth in his mouth was so tight that he couldn't speak at all.
He steadied himself and kicked out with all his might towards the side.
'Clink!'
A faint tremor sound came from beneath the cabinet.
Xi Tian quickly turned and slashed down with his saber.
The broken cabinet was split in two, revealing Su Siqi hidden in the pit below.
Seeing this, the two men's legs went weak, and they collapsed to the ground.
It was over, it was all over!
Xi Tian pulled the person out of the pit and untied him.
Su Siqi ripped the cloth from his mouth and stepped forward, kicking each of the men on the ground. "You bastard! You dared to play dirty with me!"
The two men knelt on the ground, crying for mercy.
Su Siqi gritted his teeth. "Where is Su Qing!"
How could he be a grandfather like this? He had used tricks to knock out the mute servant and tricked him into signing his handprint!
That was tens of thousands of taels of silver! He was cutting ties with him from today onwards!
Guard: "Sir, he ran away!"
"Leave two men to watch these two brats, the rest of you, follow me!" Su Siqi threw the rag to the ground heavily and strode out.
By this time, Su Qing had already traveled a considerable distance in his carriage.
He urged the driver to hurry, looking back to see if pursuers were catching up.
A person suddenly landed in front of the carriage.
The driver, startled, swerved sharply.
The carriage instantly overturned.
Su Qing was thrown from it, landing heavily on the ground.
"My old back!" Su Qing clutched his waist, unable to get up for a long time, cursing in anger and annoyance, "Open your damn eyes and watch where you're going!"
He had only fallen today.
Lin Lang approached from the opposite side, slowly drawing a short knife.
The driver, startled, quickly begged for mercy.
"Let him go," Su Yunmo said, sitting on a nearby dirt mound, holding a dry blade of grass.
Su Qing turned and saw her, his expression instantly changing.