Exile after Divorce? Empty the Scumbag Husband First!-Chapter 271 - 263: Yes! Let’s Hurry and Leave

"I just can’t get inside the Ruan Family’s house. With Yun Xiu and Miss Shao guarding it, they’re skilled and incredibly alert; several times I almost got caught."

Yuan the Fourth snorted and said, "It’s not easy to steal from them, but it’s decent enough that we got these; it’s enough for us brothers to live on for a while."

"I never expected Chen Bozong to be so weak. He initially had us find an excuse to move in so we could constantly provide him with the Ruan Family’s movements, promising us silver. Damn it, now he’s gone without a trace, and we’re stuck here without any silver. We’ll starve to death drinking the northwest wind sooner or later!"

"I wanted to find some work, but Old Man Xue is stingy; just a few guan of silver coin can’t cover anything?"

"Yes! Let’s get out of here quickly before they find us. And these fields—they annoy me just looking at them. We might as well..."

The group exchanged furtive glances, and the once well-kept farmland was left in ruins after they departed.

The radishes were uprooted and crushed, the neighboring cabbage field was a chaotic mess, with leaves torn and scattered everywhere.

The next morning, Ruan Mian and Mrs. Zhang planned to take Mrs. Chen to visit Guishe Fang in the garrison.

For the past few days since the checkpoint was set up, her aunt has been managing it, and not many goods have been sent out; they’re unsure about the shop’s current situation.

However, upon arriving at Mrs. Chen’s house, they found little Jing crawling on the ground. Mrs. Zhang quickly picked him up upon seeing the cold earth.

"Jing, tell Grandma if you’re cold, okay?"

Jing was bright early and could now babble, trying to speak.

Ruan Mian furrowed her brow and looked into the inner room, finding Mrs. Chen lying there motionless. Rushing to the bedside, she discovered Mrs. Chen had a persistent high fever, delirious now.

Even in her dreams, she didn’t forget to mention her brother’s name.

Seeing this, Ruan Mian instructed Mrs. Zhang to keep watch while she boiled some hot water and used spiritual spring water mixed with some western medicine to bring the fever down, clearing Mrs. Chen’s mind bit by bit.

Mrs. Zhang, full of worry, held her hand tightly and asked, "How do you feel now?"

"Daughter-in-law... Daughter-in-law has worried mother and sister."

Ruan Mian saw her struggling to rise and quickly held her shoulder down, saying, "Sister-in-law, the weather is changeable; you must take better care of yourself."

"It’s clear you’ve been worrying about your brother’s matter, which is why your health declined. I’ve already made arrangements for Brother’s issue, Mr. Xie has hidden guards in place at Xingjia; any news will be reported to us immediately."

"Now what we must do is take good care of ourselves at home, look after Jing, so that when Brother returns, he won’t be burdened by our concerns."

Her heartfelt words reassured Mrs. Chen somewhat.

Just then, Cui Zhu arrived with some hot buns and casually mentioned to Ruan Mian.

"Miss, I heard from villagers this morning that many people’s farmland was maliciously sabotaged, the newly grown cabbages and radishes all uprooted and crushed. I don’t know who could be so brazen!"

"Also, we’d better check our own belongings and valuables; Aunt Zhang and Hunter Wang’s homes lost a lot of silver and jewelry, and Aunt Zhang is crying her heart out. It’s said more than just these two families lost things, other households did too."

Ruan Mian slightly furrowed her brows, "There are thieves in our village?"

The people in the village initially endured hardship together; except for those damned ghosts from the Qi Family fostering guilt, the others don’t seem like such villains.

Could it be new grudges among neighbors?

Before they finished speaking, Aunt Zhang came running with laments, "Miss Ruan, Miss Ruan!"

"You’re the great benefactor of our village, please take a look at your Ruan Family’s house too, see if anything is missing."

"There’s a thief in our village, stealing many families’ silver taels and sabotaging our hard-planted crops; it’s simply inhumane and heartless! I don’t know what kind of beast, but dare do and not dare admit!"

She shouted angrily, and other neighbors stepped forward, some going home to check only to find missing belongings, joining Aunt Zhang in her cries of injustice.

As more and more people realized their losses, Ruan Mian sensed that this wasn’t the work of just one or two people.

At this moment, Mr. Xue hurriedly arrived, hesitated but softly told her.

"Miss Ruan, I went to inquire about the situation from various households just now, and I’ve found that Yuan the Fourth and his people whom I sheltered are now missing. Could it be..."

Mr. Xue now showed guilt on his face, looking very anxious.

Ruan Mian glanced around, a plan forming in her mind.

"No need to worry, I’ll inform General Huo of the situation. If those people truly ran off with the goods, I certainly won’t let them go unpunished."

Saying this, she rode off to the forest.

At an empty spot, Ruan Mian touched the jade bracelet, calling upon birds and beasts.

Then she went to the barracks, found Huo Zong, and informed him of the matter.

She only needed Huo Zong to dispatch a few soldiers.

Those people couldn’t run far within Longchang Mountain; it wouldn’t take long for birds and beasts to track them.

Sure enough, soon the birds and beasts found the trail of that group.

Ruan Mian, accompanied by the dozen soldiers Huo Zong had sent, galloped through the woods, locating the group in a cave in Longchang Mountain.

Ruan Mian went in first, and Yuan the Fourth, seeing her alone, pretended to be polite. "Miss Ruan, how did you find us here?"

"Hand over all the stolen goods."

Yuan the Fourth sneered, "Steal? Miss Ruan, why accuse us without proof? Do you have evidence?"

Ruan Mian’s eyes darkened, not bothering with more words, she directly ordered the soldiers to rush in.

The soldiers drew their swords, and in the flash of blades, Yuan the Fourth and his gang had their clothes torn open, with stolen goods falling out from their coats and sleeves.

Frightened, Yuan the Fourth and his cohorts turned pale, kneeling one after another to beg for mercy.

"Miss Ruan, Miss Ruan spare us!"

"We... we had no choice, we were forced!"

Ruan Mian sneered, "Forced? Initially, Mr. Xue kindly sheltered you when you had nowhere to go, and now you’re targeting villagers, planning to flee after harming others?"

"Initially! It wasn’t us who wanted to come! Miss Ruan, it was Mr. Chen, that deceased Chen Bozong! He coerced us to come, demanding we report your and the village’s movements at any moment; if we didn’t, he would kill us!"