Inside the second branch’s room, Yun Zhu used a palm-leaf fan to cool her sleeping daughter while looking up at the thatched roof.
Autumn had already arrived, yet the weather was abnormally hot.
If her past life’s dream about the heavy snow crushing the village came true, this dilapidated thatched hut would never withstand the harsh cold.
Naturally, she had no intention of building a new house here.
First of all, the Lu family hadn’t split their household yet, and she had no desire to benefit anyone else!
Secondly, if those dreams were indeed premonitions, the entire village would have to flee from famine next summer, so spending money here would be a complete waste!
However, if she didn’t build a new house, how would they survive the upcoming severe cold?
As Yun Zhu pondered this, she eventually drifted off to sleep without realizing it.
In her dream, she saw the thatched roof collapsed under heavy snow once again, and her daughter inside was instantly swallowed up.
“No—”
Yun Zhu sat up with a start, cold sweat dripping from her forehead.
Looking beside her, her daughter was no longer there.
Panic gripped her heart.
Suddenly, an anxious shouting echoed from outside: “Oh no! This is terrible—”
Without a second thought, Yun Zhu rushed out.
“Second Sister-in-law, you… you’re awake?” Seeing Yun Zhu walk out, Lady Yang in the courtyard was delighted at first, but then frantically added, “Second Sister-in-law, where is Mother? Something terrible has happened!”
Lady Yang was the wife of the eldest son of the Lu family.
“Who got into trouble? Is it Yiyi?” Yun Zhu asked urgently.
“No… it’s not Yiyi,” Lady Yang panted, waving her hand. “It’s… it’s Jinglan! Father sent me back to fetch food, and halfway here I ran into Chun’er from next door. He said Chunlan was taken away by human traffickers…”
So it was Lu Jinglan~~
The corner of Yun Zhu’s lips curled up almost imperceptibly.
Lu Jinglan was Lady Zhao’s daughter and the original host’s sister-in-law, fourteen years old this year.
Lu Jinglan’s personality was an exact copy of Lady Zhao’s—lazy, gluttonous, and constantly bullying the mother and daughter because the second branch lacked a male heir.
Last winter, she had even pushed Yiyi into the river. Had it not been for the first branch’s eldest son, Lu Zimo, jumping into the freezing water to pull her out, her daughter would have been gone long ago!
Right now was the autumn harvest season. Instead of helping out in the fields, Lu Jinglan loafed around the village entrance all day, which gave others the perfect opportunity to seize her.
Just then, Lu Yiyi poked her tiny head out from the kitchen. “Mother, were you looking for me?”
Yun Zhu walked over, squatted down, and wiped the dirt off her small face with a finger. “Look at you, transformed into a little stray cat.”
“Mother, I’m cooking lunch,” Lu Yiyi replied in a soft, sweet voice.
It was autumn harvest now, so the family ate an extra meal every day.
Yun Zhu’s eyes turned cold, but her tone when speaking to her daughter remained remarkably gentle: “No one will be in the mood to eat today. There’s no need to cook.”
Lady Zhao had claimed she stayed home to cook for everyone, but in reality, all the cooking was done by her daughter!
Her Yiyi was only five years old!
Seeing how Yun Zhu remained completely calm upon hearing that Lu Jinglan was in trouble, Lady Yang was stunned for a moment.
Didn’t Second Sister-in-law always put the affairs of the third branch and their sister-in-law above all else?
What was going on today?
“Second Sister-in-law, I said Chunlan was seized by human traffickers!” Thinking Yun Zhu might not have heard her clearly, Lady Yang repeated herself.
Yun Zhu looked at Lady Yang and reminded her, “Eldest Sister-in-law, without Lu Jinglan in this house, both your life and mine will be much easier.”
Lady Yang froze.
What did Second Sister-in-law mean by that?
It was true that their sister-in-law targeted the first and second branches quite often, but… but this concerned the rest of her life.
No matter how much she disliked her sister-in-law, she couldn’t bring herself to just stand by and watch her be taken away.
Of course, she wouldn’t try to persuade Second Sister-in-law either, given how Yiyi had nearly died by her hands multiple times.
If she were in Yun Zhu’s shoes, she wouldn’t be so forgiving either.
“Second Sister-in-law, I… I’ll still go to the fields to find Father and the others.” With that, Lady Yang turned and left again.
Yun Zhu didn’t stop her. She led her daughter into the room, took out two boiled eggs and a bowl of water from her space, and said, “Eat something first. Tomorrow, after we move out, Mother will cook you even better meals.”
There was a tough battle to fight in a moment, making lunch impossible, so she couldn’t let her daughter starve.
“Are these eggs?!” Lu Yiyi was surprised and delighted.
Yun Zhu smiled. “Hurry up and eat.”
Lu Yiyi blinked her large eyes and asked in confusion, “Mother, why are we moving out?”
Yun Zhu lovingly stroked her daughter’s head. “For a better life.”
Fifteen minutes later—
“Lady Yun! I’m going to tear you apart!” Lady Zhao’s furious voice rang out.
Yun Zhu instructed her daughter to stay in the room, opened the door, and walked out.
In the courtyard, Lady Zhao, Old Man Lu, and the couple from the first branch had all returned.
Outside the yard, quite a few villagers gathered to watch the commotion.
“Lady Yun really recovered!” someone whispered in discussion. “Even Doctor Li said there was no saving her, yet she pulled through. She sure is tough-lived.”
“Tough-lived?” Someone sneered. “That’s called a curse! It was bad enough she cursed her own husband to death, but now she’s even caused her sister-in-law to be snatched away! If you ask me, she’s a total jinx!”
Yun Zhu’s gaze, cold as frost, swept toward the speaker.
Yun Zhu recognized the woman as Lady He, who was thick as thieves with Lady Zhao. She and Lady Zhao often spoke ill of the original host behind her back.
Lady He was startled by Yun Zhu’s stare, her heart racing. She couldn’t help but murmur inwardly: Is this still the same meek Lady Yun who always bowed and scraped before her and Lady Zhao?
“Stop talking nonsense!” Before Yun Zhu could flare up, Lady Yang took the initiative to refute, “People from the village are drafted into the army every year. Are you saying everyone who died on the battlefield was cursed by their own families?”
Everyone choked on their words, unable to find any excuse to blame Yun Zhu further.
“Lady Yun, was it you?!” Her eyes swollen from crying, Lady Zhao pounced toward Yun Zhu. “Did you order someone to take Jinglan away?!”
Yun Zhu moved with swift agility, stepping behind Old Man Lu, causing Lady Zhao’s hands to scratch directly across Old Man Lu’s face.
A scratch mark instantly appeared on Old Man Lu’s face.
Seeing this, everyone was dumbfounded.
“Lady Zhao!” Old Man Lu gritted his teeth. “Do you insist on making a scene until the entire village knows?!”
Right now, the villagers only knew that Jinglan had been taken away, but they didn’t know the perpetrators were from Yingchun Brothel.
If word got out, how could Jinglan ever show her face in public again?
How was this foolish woman acting as a mother?
She didn’t care about her daughter’s reputation at all!
“Go inside!” Old Man Lu glared fiercely at Yun Zhu, his face dark as he prepared to go into the house.
Old Man Lu, Lu Ping, was in his fifties and possessed a sturdy build. He was the absolute authority at home, but he had always yielded to Lady Zhao, his second wife who was nearly ten years younger than him, especially in recent years.
After all, Lady Zhao’s biological son, Lu Jingshan, was currently the only scholar in the family. It was said he had a good chance of passing the exam to become a candidate scholar next year, so Lu Ping wished he could pamper him endlessly.
“Wait a moment!” Yun Zhu spoke up.
Lu Ping paused, turned to look at her, his face full of impatience: “Whatever it is, we talk inside!”
“Since this concerns my reputation, let’s address it in front of all the villagers. That way, I won’t have to clarify things to everyone later,” Yun Zhu said in an indifferent tone.
A sudden sense of foreboding washed over Lu Ping and Lady Zhao.
Before Lu Ping could stop her, Yun Zhu’s calm, unhurried voice echoed out: “Back when the military draft occurred, the three brothers of my husband drew lots, and the one who drew the lot was the third son, Lu Jingshan! It was you, Father, who forced my husband to take his brother’s place in the army using filial piety! Father, you can’t deny this, can you?”