When her daughter clung to Zhou Ningyu, Zhao Nuan’s endurance had reached its limit.
“Yan’er, take your brother and move aside a bit.”
She couldn’t even control her left hand to release Teng Man’s vine, having to use her right hand to pry it loose before tumbling down the slope.
“Mother!”
Yan’er grabbed her, the small child dragged quite a distance by Zhao Nuan’s momentum before they stopped.
Zhao Nuan crawled onto level ground and collapsed in a spread-eagle position.
Only now in the stillness did she feel as if every bone in her body had been shattered and reassembled.
“Mother… mother…” Yan’er’s small face was covered in tears, her hands and legs crisscrossed with scratches.
Heart aching, Zhao Nuan held her with one arm to comfort her.
“Yan’er, go find mother a straight stick.”
While Yan’er searched for a stick, Zhao Nuan finally had time to check on Zhou Ningyu.
Using one hand, she unwrapped the swaddling clothes and carefully felt the baby’s entire body. As she checked, she watched Zhou Ningyu’s expressions, only rewrapping him after confirming no injuries.
Zhou Ningyu was truly an easy baby – aside from crying when frightened earlier, he now stared at Zhao Nuan with wide eyes.
While staring, he licked his lips and made unintelligible sounds.
“Ooh… ah-ba-ba ah-woo.”
“Oh, is my good baby hungry?” Zhao Nuan teased the child while contemplating their situation.
If she could just find the direction to Yunzhou City through this dense forest, walking there would mean rescue.
But with the forest so deep and trees so tall, she couldn’t get her bearings.
Yan’er brought a stick, and Zhao Nuan directed her to help bind and immobilize her dislocated left arm.
Though it wasn’t fractured, her ligaments were certainly strained – this would prevent adhesion and reduce pain.
Unable to climb trees for orientation, Zhao Nuan found a small stream instead.
Throughout history, cities were always built near water.
Small streams converged into creeks, creeks into rivers – being not far from Yunzhou City, following the stream would lead to settlements.
In late autumn, the mountains offered plenty of ripe wild fruits and plump small animals.
Zhao Nuan thought gratefully that at least it was late autumn, with no snakes around.
Passing a wild chestnut tree, they gathered quite a few.
While Yan’er and Zhao Nuan could eat them raw, Zhou Ningyu couldn’t.
With the baby whimpering from hunger but afraid to light a fire and create smoke, Zhao Nuan finally found an Autumn Pear Tree.
Fortunately, several fruits remained that small animals hadn’t yet eaten. Tying a stick to one end of the swaddling cloth strap, she threw it up and pulled, making the pears fall.
Yan’er had lost her initial fear, gasping in amazement as Zhao Nuan harvested the high fruits.
Scraping a spoonful of pear pulp to feed Zhou Ningyu, he swallowed it in one gulp.
Waving his little hands, he cried “wah-woo wah-woo” for more.
Less than fifteen minutes after Zhao Nuan jumped from the carriage, the constables caught up with it.
Lao Zhang, to buy her more time, hadn’t tried to control the horses.
By the time the constables discovered the empty carriage, nearly half an hour had passed.
“You old fool!”
Though the horse had startled suddenly, making it hard to blame Zhang the escort, the constables still whipped him to vent their anger.
Meanwhile, Zhao Nuan had already begun her limping escape, leading one child and carrying the other.
“Boss, that woman must have jumped using the cargo as cover.”
“Right, but a woman like her would surely be injured – she can’t have gone far.”
The lead constable whipped Zhang again: “Damn it, don’t tell me they killed the golden child! Let’s split up and search the woods!”
The officers dashed into the woods, while Xiao Bai behind them found Li Kui, his face covered in blood from a fall. The two continued their pursuit and soon came upon Lao Zhang ahead, covered in whip wounds and lying motionless.
“Damn it, how could they be so ruthless!” Xiao Bai cursed angrily.
Unaware of Zhao Nuan’s condition, he could only first settle Li Kui and Lao Zhang in the carriage to take them into the city for medical treatment.