Chapter 254 Running Away from Home Again

On New Year's Eve, the house was lively, but it felt empty and the atmosphere was missing.

It doesn't feel like Chinese New Year anymore.

The New Year's Eve dinner was plentiful, but something felt off. Even though my family was right beside me, something just didn't feel right.

After dinner, Ji Yingying set off fireworks, but before she could set off more than a few, Yanni and Ji Jiayu went back inside.

She was heavily pregnant, so it was normal for her to go back later. As for Ji Jiaming, he sat for a while and then went back to his room.

Only Ji Yingying and Fang Yulan remained in the hall.

Fang Yulan had to keep watch that night, so naturally she wouldn't go back.

Ji Yingying set off fireworks for a while, but then got bored and stopped. She found a wall to sit on and looked outside.

Every household had red lanterns hanging, which looked beautiful but also lonely. Not long after, Mu Kaiji arrived with a bottle of red wine. He drank it, but Ji Yingying was not yet an adult, so Mu Kaiji did not let her drink it.

"You know, I'm only eleven years old, but it feels like the festive atmosphere of the New Year is fading away in this world!"

"Who knows, next year might have a New Year's atmosphere. We don't need to be sent out this year, and you also have holidays. Why don't we just go out and have some fun? Don't you have a tricycle?"

"Yes, but not as practical as an electric car!" Tricycles are good, but they consume a lot of fuel and electricity and can't be driven for long, so they're unreliable.

"Then let's ride electric bikes. Let's go out and have some fun, and come back after the court session."

“Okay, let’s travel around!” Without saying goodbye, Ji Yingying left the capital. When Fang Yulan found out, she wanted to scold her.

During the Lunar New Year, there were many taboos, so she had no choice but to send a message to the palace saying that she had gone out for a trip.

Now, only the one in the palace can keep her in check; even her own mother's words sometimes have no effect.

...

"So, where do you think we should go first?"

"We have no plans, we'll just go wherever we end up. It's just too cold, shall we switch to a horse-drawn carriage?"

"I think it's okay, I'm dressed warmly!" Ji Yingying looked at the clothes she was wearing, including a down jacket, thermal underwear, and so on. She had put on everything.

I drove for three days straight to Jiangnan. It was raining but not snowing there, but it was still bitterly cold.

Upon arriving in Jiangnan City, Ji Yingying found an inn and stayed for two days. The lights of Jiangnan were dim and beautiful on the third day of the Lunar New Year.

"It feels a bit like a city that never sleeps."

"You're overthinking it. It's only for a few days during the Lunar New Year. By the way, I heard about a temple that's very effective. Shall we go check it out?"

Ji Yingying was shocked and quickly looked at him: "No way, you're a materialist, you're actually going to worship?"

"I didn't go before, but now that I can, I naturally want to go and see it."

"Okay, let's go then."

[Host, there's a human trafficker downstairs. He's been bribed to kidnap a little girl.]

[What little girl?] Ji Yingying looked down from the private room upstairs and immediately spotted the human trafficker.

[That's the little girl he's staring at right now, about three or four years old. She's the biological daughter of a wealthy merchant in Jiangnan City. The trafficker wanted to kidnap her because he wanted to break his wife's heart and make her adopt his own daughter.]

[Hmm...this plot...it looks so familiar!]

Could the person behind this be... a relative of that girl?

No, she's a mistress. She doesn't want to be a mistress anymore. Only by doing this can she send her daughter into the household, outlive the mistress, and then marry into the household herself.

[Just tell me, does that man, the man of this mistress, know she did this?]

【Know! 】

Most importantly, that man was a kept man; after marrying into their family, he wanted to seize their inheritance and had been scheming against that woman.

Moreover, that woman is pregnant again, and the child isn't his.

What? The little girl's mother cheated on her too?!

[He didn't cheat on her; he cuckolded himself. Because he didn't like her, he didn't want to sleep with her, so he let someone else sleep with him. And that person was a guard.]

[Then...] What happened next was something Ji Yingying hadn't expected, but she really wanted to hear about it.

The guard was bought by the woman for the man she married into the family; however, it was that guard who lived with her from their marriage until now.

The guard fell in love with the woman and wanted to live a good life with her, but he didn't know how to express it, so he silently protected the mother and daughter.

[Then the man who married into the family found out, and today he sent him out to have someone kidnap that daughter.]

[Wait, you mean that woman married into the family, but the man didn't like her, only wanted her family fortune, so he agreed to the marriage. After the wedding, he had a bodyguard take his place in the bridal chamber, and she gave birth to the bodyguard's daughter. Now she's pregnant again, also with the bodyguard's child, and the bodyguard has fallen in love with the mother and daughter, secretly protecting them. But the man who married into the family found out and wants to harm them?]

[Good job, you can summarize.]

What would have been the fate of the mother and daughter if I hadn't intervened?

[The mother and daughter are separated forever. The biological mother suffered a miscarriage after her daughter was abducted, and her health deteriorated. She then adopted a mistress's daughter, but was eventually killed by the mistress. Her biological daughter was found and also murdered. Finally, the guard, heartbroken, killed the man who had married into the family and then committed suicide. That is the ending.]

[Fine, fine... neither of these endings are good. I have to save them. I can't let their family fortune fall into the hands of that scumbag!]

【Okay, I support you!】Xiangxiang chuckled twice, clearly... happy again, as she was about to receive more merit.

Ji Yingying asked Rong Er to deal with the human traffickers and then wrote a letter to the mother and daughter.

The woman had already heard the whole thought and knew all along. Moreover, Ji Yingying had been to Jiangnan City, and everyone in Jiangnan City knew that she could speak ventriloquism.

So when she heard his voice, she immediately knew that Lord Ji had arrived.

After reading the letter, she immediately said to Rong Er, "Thank you, sir. I have no way to repay you. Once this matter is settled, I will definitely send you half of my family fortune."

Ji Yingying was shocked when she received the news.

That woman said she'd give me half of her fortune. Tell me what happened next, I need to know when she'll give it to me.

Ji Yingying was overjoyed; money was coming in again. She always spent the most money on this trip.

The money we earn isn't even enough to feed the people!

The aftermath of your intervention was... that woman dealt with the mistress, crippled and locked the man up, and then lived with the guards.

What about the rumors and gossip outside?

[They told everyone that the man had run off with a vixen, taking a lot of her money, and then he was living with a guard.]

[Would that guard have ulterior motives?]

No, he genuinely fell in love with a woman, and she even had several children with him!