Yun Zhu’s gaze turned cold.
Yingchun Brothel?!
The brothel in Daliang County!
Her anger was instantly ignited.
This woman actually wanted to sell her daughter into such a filthy place!
Yun Zhu wished she could kill Lady Zhao with a single knife strike, but the last shred of rationality kept her from hitting Lady Zhao’s face.
She delivered another punch directly to the soft flesh on Lady Zhao’s chest.
Lady Zhao was her mother-in-law in name. In this Kingdom of Tianqi, where filial piety was valued above all, no matter how much she was in the right, once news broke that she had beaten her mother-in-law, even her daughter wouldn’t be able to hold her head up in society.
Hitting the soft flesh left no visible wounds.
And as for an injury in that location, Lady Zhao wouldn’t have the face to let a doctor examine it anyway.
If anyone claimed she was unfilial, they would need someone willing to believe it!
“Ouch~~ Lady Yun, I am your mother-in-law! Have you lost your mind—”
Just as Lady Zhao was about to start cursing, Yun Zhu punched the soft flesh on her chest again, leaving her rendered speechless from the pain.
“Speak! Where is the deed of sale?!”
The veins on Lady Zhao’s temples bulged from the pain. Only tears poured down uncontrollably out of pure instinct; she couldn’t open her mouth at all.
It wasn’t until all her strength was exhausted that Yun Zhu stopped, gasping for air, and asked in a cold voice, “It takes two days to travel to the county seat and back by ox cart. You haven’t left the village, so how did you send the deed of sale to the county seat?”
Yun Zhu forced herself to calm down. She had to retrieve her daughter’s deed of sale first. “Are you going to hand over the deed of sale yourself, or should I strip you bare and find it myself?!”
When she woke up earlier, the bloodstains on her fingertips from pressing the thumbprint hadn’t even dried yet.
The deed of sale had to still be on Lady Zhao’s person!
Lady Zhao finally caught her breath. Just as she was about to throw a tantrum, she suddenly felt a chill on her neck.
She looked down, and her face instantly turned pale.
A kitchen knife had appeared in Yun Zhu’s hand at some point and was currently resting against her throat.
“I… I asked someone to take it to the county seat.”
Lady Zhao’s eyes flickered, and she pretended to persuade her, “Lady Yun, she’s just a worthless girl. Selling her is no big deal. Your man is gone now anyway. Later on, I’ll have the third son transfer his second boy under your name. With a son to rely on, people outside won’t dare to bully you. Don’t you think that makes sense?”
Yun Zhu sneered.
In normal times, this Lady Zhao had frequently used her failure to bear a son to suppress her. Now she actually wanted her to raise a son for the third branch!
Keep dreaming!
“Hiss~~”
Lady Zhao wanted to say more, but her outer garment was rudely ripped open by Yun Zhu.
“Ah—” Lady Zhao screamed. “Lady Yun, have you gone crazy?!”
Lady Zhao wanted to resist, but constrained by the kitchen knife in Yun Zhu’s hand, she didn’t dare to move a muscle.
Could this Lady Yun be possessed by an evil spirit? Normally, you couldn’t get a squeak out of her even after beating her three times with a stick, yet today she actually dared to treat her like this!
Yun Zhu didn’t bother wasting words with her. She searched all over her body and finally pulled out a piece of paper from her bosom.
She opened it and took a look. After confirming that it was indeed her daughter’s deed of sale, her mind relaxed. She stuffed the deed of sale into her bosom, though in truth, she placed it safely into her space.
“Lady Yun, Madam Xu isn’t someone we can afford to offend! Hurry up and give the deed of sale back to me!” Lady Zhao’s eyes turned red with anxiety. Unable to care about anything else, she reached out to snatch the deed back.
“Whomever you offend is your own business!” Yun Zhu pointed the kitchen knife at Lady Zhao. “Today is just a warning. If you dare to target my daughter again in the future, I won’t be as easy to talk to as I am today!”
Lady Zhao could only panic in secret.
She had agreed with Madam Xu that the thugs from the brothel would come to the village entrance today to pick up the child.
What was she supposed to do if she couldn’t get the deed of sale?
Yun Zhu paid no further attention to Lady Zhao, turning around and entering the room.
There had been quite a commotion in the yard just now; she wondered if Yiyi had been frightened.
“Yiyi—”
Lu Yiyi, who was sitting on a small wooden stool, trembled when she heard the door open. The moment she raised her eyes, they were still filled with terror.
“Mother!” Once Lu Yiyi saw clearly that the person who came in was her mother, a timid smile finally appeared on her face.
Just now, Grandma had said that it was Mother who pressed her thumbprint on the deed of sale. Was Mother really going to sell her?
Yun Zhu strode forward, pulled her daughter into her arms, and gently patted her back. “Don’t be afraid, Yiyi. Mother has already retrieved your deed of sale. No one can ever sell you again.”
Although Lu Yiyi was young, she felt a sense of security from her mother that she had never experienced before. She lay in her mother’s arms and began to cry, venting all her anxiety and fear: “Mother~~”
“Yiyi don’t be afraid, Mother is here, Mother is here…”
Under Yun Zhu’s gentle comforting, Lu Yiyi’s crying gradually subsided.
Suddenly, Yun Zhu heard a loud growling sound coming from her daughter’s stomach.
“Is Yiyi hungry?” Yun Zhu said with heartache, “Mother will go to the kitchen to get you something to eat.”
“But… Grandma hid all the food,” Lu Yiyi said in a low voice, her tiny hands twisting the corner of her clothes.
“Mother has her ways.”
On ordinary days, Lady Zhao only cared about her biological third branch. Holding back food from the first and second branches was a minor offense; she truly wished she could suck the very blood out of both branches!
Yun Zhu walked out of the room and noticed that Lady Zhao had gone somewhere at an unknown time, but she didn’t take it to heart.
Before long, she brought a pot of thick millet porridge into the room from the kitchen.
“Have some millet porridge to line your stomach first. Later on, Mother will make you something even better to eat.” Yun Zhu scooped out a generous half-bowl of millet porridge for her daughter.
Her daughter had a weak spleen and stomach, so she couldn’t eat food that was too rich all at once.
“This millet porridge is already really good food.” Lu Yiyi stared at the porridge before her with sparkling eyes, though a trace of hesitation reappeared on her small face. “But Mother, if we drink this porridge, will Grandma hit us later?”
After saying that, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.
This millet porridge smelled so fragrant, was so thick, and looked so delicious.
“She wouldn’t dare!” Yun Zhu stroked her daughter’s hair with heartache. “Hurry up and eat.”
Lu Yiyi scooped up a spoon of golden millet porridge and put it in her mouth. Before she even had time to swallow, her tears began falling with a *patter-patter*.
“Why are you crying? Is it too hot?” Yun Zhu asked nervously, “Mother will blow on it for you.”
Lu Yiyi shook her head, sobbing, “In the past, Mother always told me… told me to save the good food for the cousin brother and sister of the third branch… I… this is the first time I’ve eaten such good food… I’m so happy…”
Hearing this, Yun Zhu felt an overwhelming wave of heartache, cursing the original host eight hundred times in her heart.
Foolish woman!
Failing to stand up for herself, she kept using filial piety to force her daughter to yield just so the two of them wouldn’t be thrown out of the house by the two elders, causing her daughter to suffer endless torment at the hands of Lady Zhao and the third branch.
She would settle this score with Lady Zhao and the third branch!
“Mother’s thinking was wrong in the past, and Mother is sorry. From now on, you don’t have to yield to the people of the third branch anymore. You don’t have to yield to anyone!” Yun Zhu earnestly instructed her daughter, “Do you understand?”
Lu Yiyi broke into a smile through her tears. “Mother, I understand.”
Today, Mother smiled so gently at her. Today, Mother protected her and gave her delicious food. She liked today’s Mother so much.
She really wished Mother would stay like this forever.
Looking at her daughter’s smiling face, Yun Zhu truly felt that the hollow, empty spot in her chest caused by her daughter’s passing was being filled up bit by bit. “Hurry and eat, before the porridge gets cold.”
“Mother, you eat too.” Lu Yiyi scooped a spoonful of millet porridge and brought it to Yun Zhu’s lips.
Meeting her daughter’s bright, sparkling eyes, Yun Zhu opened her mouth with a smile and swallowed it. “It’s so delicious.”
Lu Yiyi’s eyes crinkled with laughter.
Watching her daughter sip the millet porridge mouthful by small mouthful, Yun Zhu secretly swore to herself: In this lifetime, she would definitely protect her daughter through thick and thin!
Suddenly, a man’s furious roar echoed from outside the door: “Whoever is inside, get the hell out here!”