Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 575 - 0536: Beating the Bad Woman (3)

In ancient times, the infant birth rate was extremely low. Families like the Prince Luling’s that had six children with all six surviving were rare.

Many households would have ten children with fewer than three surviving, and quite a few pregnancies ended early for various reasons.

It’s not uncommon for both mother and child to die during childbirth. In each village, incidents would occur every few years, with some having multiple cases in a single year.

In the border areas where two countries were at war, women and children were primary targets for looting by both sides.

For this reason, women and children were prioritized for protection in every dynasty.

Kidnapping young women and children was severely punished in all dynasties and classified as a major crime.

When Li Yuzhu said she would report to the authorities, the woman with a gaunt face was shocked into silence.

She pleaded for mercy repeatedly.

Li Yuzhu completely ignored her and urged Mu Yuanxiu to quickly report to the authorities.

Mu Yuanxiu said, "I will stay here; you go to the village and tell the Liu Family to report to the authorities, and take the two children with you."

He couldn’t trust Li Yuzhu to stay here.

Li Yuzhu smiled and said, "Very well."

She reminded Mu Yuanxiu not to let Miss Chai escape, then carried Liu Da Niu’s son, took Guoguo and Li Jing, and walked out of the wooden house.

The journey back was not short.

Li Yuzhu and Mu Yuanxiu had walked there, missing no trace of evidence.

She was worried that Guoguo and Li Jing wouldn’t want to walk, so she comforted them, "Shall we listen to stories while we walk?"

Talking while walking makes it less tiring.

Li Jing promptly smiled and said, "Sure, sure."

Guoguo also smiled warmly, "Sure."

Mu Yuanxiu glanced at them and looked into the distance, then pressed his fingers to his lips and whistled.

Before long, a horse pulled a carriage, racing towards them.

"It’s ten miles from here to return, how can you manage on foot? Get on the carriage." Mu Yuanxiu held the horse’s reins and waved to Li Yuzhu.

Li Yuzhu was surprised and said, "Whose carriage is this? It looks unfamiliar."

"Someone abandoned it nearby. Just take it." Mu Yuanxiu smiled faintly.

Li Yuzhu smiled and said, "Then we won’t be polite."

She lifted the curtain and found a bamboo cradle with a sleeping baby inside the carriage.

She turned back to look at Miss Chai and found Miss Chai glaring at her with anger.

So this was Miss Chai’s carriage? Look at that, they were well-prepared, even bringing a baby cradle.

Li Yuzhu placed Liu Da Niu’s son into the bamboo cradle, then lifted Guoguo and Jingjing into the carriage, urging them to hold the handrails inside for safety.

The two children, well-acquainted with riding, understood this safety precaution completely.

Once in the carriage, they immediately sat on the floor, finding sturdy holds to steady themselves.

The carriage had a board connected to its floor and was covered with a soft mattress.

But for children with poor balance, sitting high meant a heavy fall.

A brisk ride on the carriage would surely lead to a battered face from a fall.

The Li Family never allowed the children to sit high, but on the floorboards, because even if they fell, they would only drop from a sitting position to a lying position, without getting hurt.

Seeing the children were settled, Li Yuzhu lowered the curtain, secured the door, dusted her hands, and climbed to the driver’s seat.

Miss Chai glared at the carriage, her eyes blazing with fury.

Because that was her carriage!

To avoid being seen, she had parked it in the nearby woods.

To prevent her family from knowing she had left, she had only a maid drive it, but now, the carriage had been taken by Li Yuzhu!

"You’re bandits! That’s my carriage!" Miss Chai shouted in anger.

"If you hadn’t instructed someone to kidnap the Liu Family’s child, we wouldn’t have had to walk all the way here," Li Yuzhu sneered. "You made me walk this far; what’s wrong with me using your carriage? I don’t even care for this broken cart; I have plenty of carriages and mule carts at home."

Li Yuzhu snapped the reins, driving the carriage away.

Miss Chai cursed furiously in her anger.

Mu Yuanxiu turned back and patted the leopard.

The leopard stood up and looked at Miss Chai.

Miss Chai screamed in terror.

"Dare to curse again, and I’ll have it snap your neck!" Mu Yuanxiu sneered.

Miss Chai shivered, looked at the leopard, and then at Mu Yuanxiu, "Mu Yuanxiu, let me go, I’ll give you money."

"Not interested."

"A hundred taels, how about it?" This poor lad, a hundred taels he couldn’t earn in a whole year, right?

Mu Yuanxiu scratched the fur on the leopard’s neck, "This person is not behaving; make her be quiet."

The leopard growled and walked into the wooden house, approaching Miss Chai.

There was only one door in the wooden house, and with nowhere to escape, Miss Chai hid behind the maid in fear.

But the leopard wasn’t interested in the maid and kept its focus on her.

Finally, it bit onto Miss Chai’s skirt hem and tore off a piece.

"Ah—"

Miss Chai was so frightened that she fainted.

The maid crumpled to the ground, not even daring to breathe.

"That’s right, scream again and next time it will tear flesh," Mu Yuanxiu sneered.

After terrifying Miss Chai, the leopard returned to the wooden house’s entrance to nap again, while Mu Yuanxiu sat outside, keeping guard.

.

Li Yuzhu drove the carriage, moving through narrow field paths and difficult small forests, finally reaching the main road.

"Guoguo, Jingjing, hold onto the handrail, we need to hurry!" Li Yuzhu glanced back.

At that moment, Guoguo suddenly said, "Aunt!"

Li Yuzhu turned toward the carriage cover, "What’s wrong? Guoguo?"

"Chai Erniang..." Guoguo seemed to sigh, "Wants to sell Guoguo."

Li Yuzhu was startled, what?

She stopped the carriage, lifted the curtain to look at Guoguo.

Guoguo gazed sadly at Li Yuzhu, tears spinning in her eyes, "She wants to sell Guoguo, Aunt."

Li Yuzhu’s heart suddenly twisted.

Having spent a year with this little girl, it’s the first time she’s seen Guoguo so sorrowful.

Even when the Xue Family scolded this child, after abandoning her husband and child, Guoguo wasn’t this upset.

Li Yuzhu climbed into the carriage, took Guoguo into her arms, holding her.

"Did she just say that?" Li Yuzhu asked, pressing down her anger.

"Aunt, she wants to sell Guoguo, Aunt hit her, Aunt quickly hit that bad woman!" Guoguo said as she started to cry loudly, holding Li Yuzhu.

Leaving Li Yuzhu stunned from her crying.

Anyway, there’s no escaping for Miss Chai this time for inciting others to abduct children; even if Li Yuzhu doesn’t hit Miss Chai, the government won’t let her go.

Li Yuzhu said, "Don’t worry Guoguo, she will be punished; government officials will arrest her and lock her up! They’ll beat her with a board, make her cry!"

Guoguo cried for a while, then stopped and said, "Hmm, hit her."

Li Yuzhu wiped her tears and said, "You and Jingjing are still small, next time don’t wander off, okay? Today Aunt and Uncle found you, what about next time? If we can’t find you, you’ll truly be sold away, never seeing Aunt, Uncle, your father, or anyone else again. Those bad people who buy you will gouge out your eyes and eat them, they’ll cut your flesh and eat it."

She took the opportunity to warn the two children.

Scaring them a bit, hoping they’d remember.

But Li Jing said, "Aunt, we didn’t wander off blindly, it was Guoguo who said someone wanted to take away Daniu Auntie’s son, so she dragged me to see. That bad woman also said she’d take me to see mom, so we followed her."

Li Yuzhu was surprised, looking at Guoguo, "Guoguo, how did you know someone wanted to take Daniu Auntie’s son?"

Guoguo blinked, silent, and stared at Li Yuzhu dumfoundedly.

Li Yuzhu, "..." How could this child be smart sometimes and muddled others? "Guoguo, how did you know?"

Guoguo, "..." Still stared at Li Yuzhu, not answering.

Li Yuzhu rubbed her forehead, finally understanding what had happened before.

It was Guoguo who discovered someone trying to take the child away, leading Li Jing to see, and eventually they were both taken.

"In short, next time you encounter such things, remember what the adults at home said; never sneak off to watch again, got it? Don’t you know, Aunt and Uncle were worried sick." Li Yuzhu said seriously, glaring at the two kids.

The two kids nodded together, "We remember."

Who knows if they truly remembered or pretended to.

Li Yuzhu sighed, "Alright, let’s continue, we’re on the main road now, I need to hurry, hold onto the handrail."

"We’re holding on well," Guoguo said loudly.

Jingjing also said, "Yes, I’m holding on with both hands."

Li Yuzhu relaxed, returned to her seat, and drove the carriage swiftly.

Half an hour later, the carriage returned to Taohua River Village.

Having entered the village a short distance, Li Yuzhu spotted two Liu relatives asking around house to house.

She shouted to one of them, "Liu Guizi! Quickly go to your uncle’s house to tell them the child is found, they’re in my carriage!"

The two young men were overjoyed, "Miss Li, really found them?"

"Found them! If you don’t believe it, come and see." Li Yuzhu replied with a smile.

These were Liu Laoda’s two cousins.

The two young men ran over laughing, Li Yuzhu stopped the carriage, letting them see inside.

The older one, Liu Guizi, lifted the curtain and peeked inside, and indeed, Liu Da Niu’s son was asleep inside a cradle.

The little boy had already woken, twisting his head restlessly, grunting, who knows if he was wet or hungry.

"Quickly go back and inform them, the child must be hungry," Li Yuzhu urged them.

"Yes, we’ll go back now." The two young men started running back.

Entering the village, with the child awake, Li Yuzhu slowed the carriage’s pace.