“All our supplies have been caught in the storm. If we don’t seize their supplies, you’ll be next to die.”

Zhu Yanyan was impatient with the group's reaction and warned them loudly with a dark face.

The group, who had been hesitating, finally steeled themselves and walked toward Old Lady Zhu and Madam Tao after being reminded by Zhu Yanyan.

Old Mrs. Zhu stared calmly at the approaching group, silently took out a dagger from behind her back, and whispered instructions to Tao.

"Later, Mother will stop these people. You go and find someone to come over. We can't let them get the food from the cellar."

"Mother, no, I..."

Tao was worried about letting her mother-in-law stay, and wanted to say a few words of dissuasion, but her mother-in-law pushed her to the side.

After pushing Tao out, Old Lady Zhu gripped the dagger in her hand and swung it at the two men who came forward.

In the midst of their panic, Tao also brandished his long stick and used his brute strength to carve a bloody path through the crowd.

After seeing her daughter-in-law rush out of the mud house, Old Mrs. Zhu collapsed weakly to the ground, panting.

Zhu Yanyan was also pushed to the ground by Tao Shi, her face contorted with rage, and she roared wildly at the guards.

"A bunch of useless fools! She's run away! Go after her! She'll definitely send someone over."

The guards, stunned and bewildered, looked at each other before turning and running towards Tao's house.

As Zhu Yanyan and Tao Shi left the earthen house, a fierce glint appeared in her eyes. She got up from the ground, drew a dagger, and walked towards Old Lady Zhu.

"Oh no! Grandma's in danger!"

What should we do? Who can save Grandma?

Seeing Zhu Yanyan's behavior, Xixi cried loudly in distress.

Upon hearing her daughter's suggestion, Liu was instantly panicked, her body began to tremble, and she hesitated for a moment before...

Without hesitation, she protected her daughter and climbed up the wooden ladder.

When they arrived upstairs, they saw Zhu Yanyan brandishing a dagger at Old Lady Zhu.

In a moment of desperation, Liu threw the cloth bag in her hand at Zhu Yanyan, then shielded her daughter in her arms and rammed into Zhu Yanyan sideways.

The sudden appearance of the sack blocked Zhu Yanyan's view. She screamed like a madwoman. Before she could see who was in front of her, she was hit by someone and staggered a few steps before falling heavily to the ground.

Grandma Zhu also snapped out of her daze, hurriedly grabbed a wooden stick, and swung it at Zhu Yanyan.

"Eldest daughter-in-law, get out of the way! I'll beat this ingrate to death!"

After bumping into Zhu Yanyan, Liu also fell to the ground. Fortunately, she shielded her daughter in her arms, so Xixi was not injured.

Upon hearing her mother-in-law's voice, she endured the excruciating pain, got up from the ground, and ran away with her mother-in-law.

"Mother, hurry, let's go find my second brother and the others."

Old Mrs. Zhu originally wanted to teach Zhu Yanyan a lesson, but after hearing her daughter-in-law's reminder, she angrily kicked Zhu Yanyan a few times.

Then, following Liu, they quickened their pace and ran outside the earthen house.

When the two came outside, they saw two teams facing off in a tense standoff. Chen Xiang was with the escorts and several members of the Zhu family.

Opposite them were Wang Haocheng and the officials from Lujia Town, along with several tall guards.

Both teams were armed, and Wang Haocheng noticed the food that the Zhu family members behind Chen Xiang were carrying.

Chen Xiang also noticed that Wang Haocheng's team members were carrying food in cloth bags, just like the ones they were carrying.

"You are shameless! You actually hunted down General Zhu's descendants for food?"

Wang Haocheng mistakenly believed that the food in Chen Xiang's hand had been taken from Zhu Yanyan, and he was so angry that his face turned red.

"Mother, what should we do?"

Upon seeing the situation before her, Liu was instantly frightened and helplessly clung to Old Lady Zhu.

Remembering the jade pendant Pei Sining had given her before, Old Lady Zhu hurriedly took it out of her bosom.

Just as he was about to go forward, he saw Zhu Yanyan run out of the mud house and stumble towards Wang Haocheng.

"Brother Wang, hurry up and do it! They want to kill us!"

Seeing Zhu Yanyan's disheveled appearance, Wang Haocheng quickly reached out to help her up and anxiously asked her what was wrong.

"Yan Yan, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Brother Wang, I just led some men into the mud house to search for supplies. We found food in the cellar, and these people beat me up in their attempt to get the food."

Zhu Yanyan feigned weakness and leaned against Wang Haocheng's chest, pointing weakly at Old Lady Zhu and Tao Shi.

[Tsk tsk, so shameless, they even prepare a draft before lying, their skin is thicker than a brick.]

[You found food? Then tell me what food you found! If you can tell me, Xixi will kick you around like a ball.]

Hearing Zhu Yanyan's lies, Xixi rolled her eyes in exasperation and blew bubbles in disgust.

Seeing that Wang Haocheng had already believed Zhu Yanyan's words, Old Lady Zhu quickly came to Wang Haocheng and loudly questioned Zhu Yanyan.

"Zhu Yanyan, you say we stole your food, then tell us in front of everyone what was in it?"

Zhu Yanyan didn't want to waste time with Old Lady Zhu, so she took Wang Haocheng's hand, panting, and weakly reminded him.

"Brother Wang, she's stalling for time, trying to wear everyone down. The temperature is dropping lower and lower, it'll be below zero soon, so don't waste your breath on her."

"Brother Wang, do you recognize this jade pendant?" Old Mrs. Zhu was worried that Wang Haocheng would be persuaded by Zhu Yanyan, so she quickly held up the jade pendant in her hand.

Sure enough, Wang Haocheng's expression changed drastically upon seeing the jade pendant. He stared at it blankly and asked in confusion.

"How did you come to have this jade pendant?"

“This is my son’s jade pendant. Zhu Shenghua is my son. The woman behind him is my son’s wife. The woman in his arms is their newborn daughter.”

Grandma Zhu became very distressed when she mentioned her son, her eyes reddening as she choked up as she introduced her daughter-in-law and granddaughter behind her.

Wang Haocheng frowned in confusion, looking down at Zhu Yanyan, his heart filled with doubt.

Zhu Yanyan never expected that the old woman would have the jade pendant that Zhu Shenghua had brought with him when he went to war. She glared fiercely at the old woman.

From Wang Haocheng's hesitant expression, Old Lady Zhu could tell that he seemed to believe her words, so she hurriedly spoke up.

"If you don't believe me, you can check whether what Zhu Yanyan said just now is true or false, and whether we stole her supplies."

Wang Haocheng also felt that this was the safest method, so he let Zhu Yanyan go, stood up, and nodded.

"Okay! We'll do as you say."

Upon hearing this, Old Lady Zhu excitedly gripped the jade pendant and led Wang Haocheng into the earthen house.

The others followed closely behind and went inside with the two.

After entering the earthen house, Old Lady Zhu looked at Zhu Yanyan and questioned her sternly, "Let's each write down on a piece of paper what we think is the quantity and type of supplies in the cellar."

"Give them all to Brother Wang, and then Brother Wang will personally check them."

Chen Xiang felt that it wasn't enough to just let Wang Haocheng check, so he took the initiative to step forward and offer his opinion.

"I'll count them together too, so that we can ensure it's fair for both of us."

Wang Haocheng did not object to Chen Xiang's joining, and waved to the guards beside him with a solemn expression.

“Go down into the cellar and take the things out, then check them in front of everyone.”

Just as the guards were about to go down into the cellar, a suspicious-looking person mingled among them and went down with them.