Depression

  "Master, you've arrived?" Outside the wine house, Sun Gan saw Xuan Yuan Lie walking over and quickly went to greet him.

  Xuanyuan Lie's face was calm and peaceful, without a hint of panic from the news just now.

  It seems that even if the sky were to fall, he would still be able to cope with everything with this calm and composed face.

  The young face was calm and solemn, like a cold and hard sculpture.

  His eyes stole a glance at him, but unexpectedly, the master who was originally closing his eyes to cultivate his spirit suddenly said indifferently, "War is a deceitful way. When false, then true; when true, then false. Since they have already made their move, let's just wait and see how things develop."

  Sun Qian nodded and mounted his horse, instructing the carriage driver to head in the direction of the government post station...

  Little did they know, the Tianxiang Building was already in an uproar. Several waiters were rushing about, searching every nook and cranny of the wine shop, including the stables, kitchen, and even the woodshed, which had been searched several times over.

  "Haven't found anyone yet?" In a flurry of anxiety, Xihe grabbed onto a small servant's clothes and asked urgently.

  Xiao Er shook his head and said: "Third Miss, don't worry for now, everyone is searching, there will be news soon."

  Just as Xihe was about to speak, a surprised voice suddenly came from upstairs, "Found it! Found it! Fourth Miss has been found!"

  Taking a deep breath and pretending to be calm, I asked the person who found Xi Mei: "Where did you find her? Where is she now?"

  Xiao Er's face was filled with a smile as he replied loudly, "In response to Third Miss, it was in the guest room that we found Fourth Miss. When we found her, she was sleeping soundly."

  As soon as the words fell, the several people who were anxious just now couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Wang Zihan comforted her, saying, "It's okay, I reckon she was too tired, so she found a place to curl up and sleep."

  Xi He nodded, seeing that her expression had returned to normal. Wang Zihan said, "Alright, everyone's tired, let's take a break."

  Everyone said, "Where? Where?"

  Xi He Mai stepped towards the guest room where Xi Mei was, her heart still racing out of control, she took a deep breath and suppressed the fear in her heart.

  "Master, Third Miss, it's this house." The second servant said respectfully as he led them to the door of the house where Xi Mei was.

  He waved his hand, signaling him to withdraw. Prince Wang Han and Xi He exchanged a glance before simultaneously opening the door.

  On a winter afternoon, the sun was playfully jumping in the quiet house, and when Xihe and Wang Zihan entered, this was the scene before their eyes.

  The little girl lay quietly in her bed, her face calm and peaceful. From the gentle sound of her breathing, one could imagine how sweetly she was sleeping.

  This guy always knows how to treat himself well, and seeing this scene made Xi He shake her head in resignation.

  However, only Xi Mei herself knew how painful she was now. In her dream, she wanted to shout "Run quickly" but her throat seemed to be choked by someone and she couldn't make a sound.

  "She's slept for so long, it's about time to wake her up. Later, your uncle and them will come pick you up for dinner."

  Upon learning that the hot pot was a scheme concocted by Xi Mei, Zheng Shi nearly kicked up a storm throughout the city. Now, she instructed him to bring her sisters to the Zhang residence, no matter what, and have a lively gathering.

  To put it bluntly, this person is really getting more and more immature as they get older.

  But then again, who can blame her when she has a 'faithful dog' of a husband?

  Just as Xihe was about to go forward and wake up her little sister, the person sleeping on the bed suddenly sat up abruptly, shouting: "Third sister, run quickly!"

  A loud shout startled both people in the house.

  All that could be seen was that at this time, Xi Mei's eyes were dull and lifeless, panting loudly, as if she had just experienced something extremely terrifying.

  "Xǐ Jiě, what's wrong?" Xǐ Hé rushed forward at this time, without considering her previous 'lazy' behavior.

  Patting her back, she asked with concern: "Xi Mei, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare? Don't be afraid, San Jie is here."

  Softly comforting her, letting her rest her head on his shoulder, gently patting her back.

  After a long while, Xi Mei finally lifted her head and anxiously asked, "Third sister, where did that person go?" Then, she grabbed her arm with both hands and stuttered, "Third sister, he didn't do anything to you, did he?"

  Xihe's worried expression suddenly relaxed, and she laughed, "I think you're still sleepy, right? Who else is here? It's just me and Young Master Wang."

  "No, no." Xi Mei shook her head vigorously, "Third sister, just now someone, someone wanted to catch me, yes, catch me, so scared..."

  Never seen Xi Mei like this, Xi He's heart aches in a way that doesn't look right. Although her own sister is sometimes a bit mischievous and lively, and sometimes makes people hate her to the point of grinding their teeth.

  But never had been so scared, gently wiped her sweat, and said with pity: "It's okay, it's okay, San Jie is here, don't be afraid."

  The prince didn't disturb the two of them, in fact, both he and Xihe thought that Ximei was just having a nightmare, and for a while, she couldn't calm down, quietly walking to the door and closing it for them.

  Patting her back, I felt Xi Mei's emotions calm down a bit, and only then did Xi He hesitantly ask, "Xi Mei, didn't you just have a nightmare?"

  Looking into San Jie's caring eyes, Xi Mei swallowed her words, unable to speak. Even if she spoke, it would be pointless and only worry others. Besides, this matter was too bizarre. If it were really a kidnapping, how could she still be lying here safely?

  It's probably been transported over 180,000 miles away by now.

  After calming down her emotions, Xi Mei forced a smile and said, "It's nothing, I must have had a nightmare."

  Xihe revealed an expression of "I knew it", rubbed her messy hair and said, "Alright, you little girl, were you afraid I'd find fault with you so you deliberately sang this tune for me? This time I won't hold it against you."

  She looked at her and was still a little afraid, so Xihe deliberately scared her fiercely, "Hurry up and clean up, Zheng Bona is still waiting for you."

  After finishing speaking, he carefully bent down and helped her put on her shoes and tie her hair in a ponytail.

  Looking at her pale face, Xihe teased, "You overslept this afternoon and missed a lot of interesting things. Our business was so good that it made others jealous."

  He continued talking enthusiastically, then looked at Xi Mei and found that although she was smiling at him, the fear in her eyes had not dissipated.

  "Guess we made a pretty penny this time, huh? You're the one who loves money the most, right? Why don't Third Sister go with you to count it?"

  Looking at San Jie's rare gentle words, Xi Mei shook her head and forced herself to say, "No, San Jie, let's count again sometime when I'm in the mood. I don't have that idea now."

  Only then did Xihe feel that things were a bit serious, according to Ximei's personality, unless the sun rises from the west, otherwise, she would never let go of any opportunity to count money.

  But looking at her frightened appearance, Xihe asked, "Then, where is your mother?"

  Xi Mei knew what she was saying, weakly shaking her head and said, "You go with Wang Gege for a while, I want to go home."

  Xihe thought for a moment and said: "Alright, I'll go to the Zhang's house first and tell them. We can go another day. Then I'll ask Qin Zhuang to harness the carriage and send you back."

  Having finished speaking, he stood up and went to hand over the goods to the person in charge of receiving them.

  Third sister's voice and shadow disappeared from her line of sight, Xi Mei suddenly buried her head between her legs, recalling everything that had just happened in that room.

  It seems like there's still the sound of that person's gentle breathing by my ear, and when I touch my neck, it feels like there's still a lingering warmth from where they just touched me. And also, the cold voice is still echoing in my mind.

  This time, Xi Mei was really scared out of her wits.

  Xuan Yuan Lie didn't think about it, he was used to being overbearing, how could he have thought that she was just a little girl who wasn't even ten years old yet? With his aura, he could intimidate a giant of a man on the battlefield, let alone a naive and inexperienced Xi Mei.

  As wished, Qin Zhuangui sent a car to send her back home. Before leaving, Xi He asked with concern: "How is it? Can you get back by yourself?"

  Xi Mei's pale little face floated out a smile, "Third sister, don't worry, I can handle it myself."

  The smile on her little face didn't disappear until she had walked far away.

  He climbed onto the vehicle with difficulty and said, "Let's go."

  The horse carriage slowly came and went, and found that it was different from usual. The street was more lively, with children gathered at the corner of the street, their tender voices singing happy nursery rhymes.

  Pull open the curtains and look out at the bustling crowds on the street, a family comes out to buy New Year's goods, the woman holds the child, it's cold, the child's rosy face is almost the same color as the candied hawthorn in their hand.

  But the smiles on their faces were so genuine.

  Xī jiě xué zhe tāmen de yàngzi, nǔlì de xiǎng yào xuéxí tāmen liǎn shàng yángyì zhe de xiàoróng, kěshì, nǔlì le bàn tiān, què fāxiàn, zěnme xiào dōu shì kǔ xiào.

  At last, after a fruitless effort, the carriage stopped in front of the Chen family's shop. The driver's voice came: "Fourth Miss, we've arrived."

  Xi Mei pulled her cloak tighter and lifted the thick curtain of the carriage, then jumped out.

  "I'm home, thank you for your hard work, and I'll have to trouble you to go back and inform them." A weak and listless voice came out of Xi Mei's mouth.

  The coachman was greatly surprised, and immediately replied, "Fourth Miss is serious, this is my duty" It's not surprising that the coachman was surprised, after all, which young lady from a big family would say to a coachman, "You've worked hard", except for Xi Mei who had changed her temper.

  She weakly waved her hand and Xi Mei trudged back to the yard with heavy footsteps.

  "Mother, I'm back." Stepping into the courtyard, he saw his mother fiddling with something in the yard.

  Zhao looked up and saw that it was only Xi Mei's voice, so he curiously asked, "Why are you alone? Where is your third sister?"

  "Go ask your mother," Xi Mei replied with a pout.

  Zhao took out the dried bean curd that had been sun-dried in summer, and while the weather was good, she sun-dried it some more. This thing may not look very appetizing at first glance, but in winter, it's not bad as a dish with unique flavor on the dinner table.

  "Mom, I'm a bit tired, I'll take a nap first." After saying this in a weak tone, Xi Mei turned around and walked towards her own room.

  Zhao's family saw Xi Mei's unusual behavior and didn't think much of it, thinking that she was just tired from being busy all day.

  Time flies so fast, finally, when the sky is slightly dark, the Chen family returns home. Zhao serves hot dumplings on the table and says, "You all weren't around at noon, I made so many dumplings with no one to eat them, let's finish them off together tonight since there are more people."

  Xi Mei looked at the unusually quiet dinner table, put down her chopsticks and said: "Hey, where's Xi Mei? Why haven't we seen her all afternoon?"

  "Zhao smiled and said, 'She came back this afternoon and said she was sleepy, wanting to take a nap.' Then he added, 'Look at us, we've all forgotten about her. Xi Mei, hurry up and call her over, or else she'll make another fuss.'"

  Xi Mei nodded, put down the chopsticks in her hand and walked quickly towards her room.

  But just as the family was about to pick up their chopsticks again, they heard Xi Mei's panicked and terrified voice coming from the house.

  "Dad, Mom, it's no good..."