Chapter 78 Who are you thinking about?

When Liu Lanhua was born, because she was a baby girl, her father wanted to throw her into the urinal and drown her. It was her second aunt who saved her and fed her the first mouthful of milk.

She was raised by her second aunt, but unfortunately, when she grew up, her father sold her to a pockmarked man in the village in exchange for a donkey.

Because they had lost their donkey, Ma Zi had to treat her like a donkey and would beat and scold her at any time.

She endured it again and again, but finally couldn't stand it anymore, so she killed Ma Zi and then went to Mangshan to become a bandit.

Being a bandit wasn't great either. You lived in constant fear, dodging capture from the army, and had no idea what was happening. But at least it was better than being a donkey. You didn't have to be scolded or beaten, or have to work around the stove.

After such a comparison, Liu Lanhua felt that it was better to be a bandit.

But she was worried about her second aunt, who was the only person in the world who treated her well.

Liu Lanhua turned her head to look at her second aunt who was leaning on her shoulder. Even though she had fallen asleep, her brows were still furrowed, and her dry, gray hair hung down her cheeks, covering the corners of her eyes that were full of fine lines.

She was heartbroken, and she lifted her hands that were tied together with ropes, carefully lifted her hair, and gently combed it behind her head.

She secretly made up her mind that even if she died, she must let her second aunt survive.

However, Lü Qibai should have informed the sisters in the village of her capture, but why hadn't anyone come to rescue them? Was it because the guards were too strict?

There is no point in thinking too much. She can't just wait for others to rescue her. She has to find a way herself.

Liu Lanhua looked at the rope in her hand, lowered her head, and began to gnaw on it with her teeth. The rope was almost broken by her teeth. When she set out on the road tomorrow, she would find a chance to take her second aunt away.

At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Liu Lanhua was startled and immediately stopped what she was doing. She quietly raised her eyes and looked towards the door. She saw moonlight shining into the room from outside and a man with a fat face holding a candlestick, striding in.

This man is the leader of the soldiers who arrested people in Liujia Village. His name seems to be Wang Ba. What does he want to do?

Wang Ba walked up to the group of women huddled in the corner of the room, stretched out his hand to shine the candle over their faces one by one, and looked at them with a lustful look.

"I didn't expect these country women to be so well-dressed. They look quite unique."

Some women woke up from their dreams and were so scared when they heard this that they trembled all over, covering their mouths with their hands and crying silently.

Liu Lanhua felt disgusted and slowly clenched her hands in front of her. Would these officers and soldiers really have such a disgusting idea?

Fortunately, before she could make a move, a soldier walked in from outside. "Captain, the governor has ordered us to send these women directly to Laoya Mountain outside Yuzhou City!"

Liu Lanhua frowned. No matter how ignorant she was, she knew that according to normal procedures, this group of women who were accused of being traitors should be taken to the government office for trial.

Sending them directly to Laoya Mountain is so strange! What on earth do these officers and soldiers want to do?

Just as he was wondering, Wang Ba turned around and looked at the soldier, saying in a lewd tone, "With so many women, just send them over. The people in Lao Ya Mountain will be so happy."

The soldier grinned and said, "Captain, you can't hold back any longer. Otherwise, why don't you drink with your brothers and come here to look at women?"

"Hahahaha," Wang Ba laughed triumphantly, and put his arm around the soldier's shoulder. "Let's go to sleep. We have to travel tomorrow. Let's enjoy ourselves when we get to Laoya Mountain. There's no need to rush now."

The two walked out of the house and closed the door.

The women who had just been holding back their tears suddenly collapsed to the ground, sobbing and crying, tears streaming down their faces.

"Wuwuwu... Where on earth are these soldiers taking us?... I don't want to die..."

"Maybe they'll sell us to brothels to serve customers. Why are our lives so miserable?"

"Maybe it's even worse than this... Why didn't anyone come to save us... Please, Lord, please come and save me..."

When Liu Lanhua heard these words, she felt disdainful. She thought that even the Lord was still a master, so why would he care about a woman's life or death?

But seeing how frightened they were, he couldn't bear it any longer and suggested, "It's better to rely on ourselves than on others. Let's find a way to escape together!"

As soon as the words fell, someone immediately retorted loudly, "What are you thinking? They are all soldiers with knives. How can a group of us women escape?"

"That's right. If we fail to escape, we'll be dead. Right now, we still have a chance to survive. We haven't done anything wrong. Those soldiers can't harm us. If we listen to you and run away, we'll really become traitors!"

Everyone agreed and regained hope. As long as they were obedient, these officers and soldiers would release them sooner or later.

At this time, someone recognized Liu Lanhua, wiped away his tears, and loudly criticized her.

"Liu Lanhua, if it weren't for you bandits, how could we have suffered such a hardship!"

"Yes, it was you, Liu Lanhua, who harmed us. If I had known earlier, I should have asked the men in the village to kill all of you bandits!"

"Everyone knows that the women in our village are all well-known for their virtues. It's because of you, a wicked woman who murdered her husband, that you have tarnished the reputation of our village and attracted the soldiers to our village!"

The crowd became more and more excited as they cursed, their tears no longer flowing. Some even pushed the people next to them aside and rushed towards Liu Lanhua, ready to slap her in the face, "I'm going to beat you to death right now, you shameless woman!"

Liu Lanhua was the third in command in the bandit's den, so she was naturally no pushover. She immediately bent her elbow and hit the man hard, knocking him to the ground.

Then, he bent his knees and pressed forward, grabbing her neck with one hand, and said viciously: "If you had saved the energy to hit me to escape, you might have escaped long ago."

The woman looked at her fiercely and trembled with fear, "I...I was wrong...Don't kill me."

Seeing how cruel she was, everyone finally realized that she was a bandit who had killed people. They didn't dare to scold her anymore, but just secretly complained in their hearts.

Liu Lanhua let go of her hand and sat back down in her original position.

Her second aunt woke up early and was also very angry when she saw the farce. She glared at the group of women and walked to Liu Lanhua, asking her not to be too angry.

Liu Lanhua grabbed her hand, smiled and shook her head.

She was not angry. She had seen many of these "weak" women who were only capable of bullying others at home. As long as she acted more cruelly than them, they would be afraid.

She was just worried that when she found a chance to escape tomorrow, these people would hold her back and not let her run.

It's such a headache.

————

"Mingyue, who are you thinking about?"

Zhao Yuzhang was patrolling the camp with his guards when he saw Zhao Mingyue coming out of the tent and looking at the moon in the sky for a long time. He walked over and asked.

"What? I'm not thinking about anyone." Zhao Mingyue denied subconsciously.

Because they were delayed for a long time by the bandits during the day, they were unable to find a place to stay at the inn and had to camp on the spot.

Although it was early summer, the night wind was still chilly. Zhao Mingyue gathered her cloak and said softly, "I just saw that the moon was so round tonight, so I came out to look at it."

Zhao Yuzhang followed her gaze and looked at the full moon in the sky, and said with emotion: "But the way you look at this moon is very lonely."

She and Zhao Mingyue had been together for about a year and could be considered to have some understanding of her character.

Everyone knows that Princess Fuguang is very kind, has no princess airs, and has no temper. She is very active and hardworking in everything she does.

But in fact, she is not the kind of person who trusts others easily. Gentleness and obedience are just her disguise to protect herself.

Perhaps because she lost her mother at a young age, she has never felt safe and has always suppressed her emotions.

Therefore, Zhao Yuzhang rarely saw her with such a lonely look.

After Zhao Yuzhang finished speaking, Zhao Mingyue was stunned. After a moment of silence, she spoke softly, "Aunt, do you think that when my mother sees the moon in the sky, she will think of me?"

Or, have you already forgotten her?

Is he really thinking about Queen Mother Chi? Zhao Yuzhang shifted his gaze from the moon in the sky to Zhao Mingyue, and her expression looked like it was broken.

What did Queen Mother Chi say to her that made her so sad?

Zhao Yuzhang recalled what Queen Mother Chi had said to her when she was appointed the general escorting the bride, and couldn't help but sigh softly, "Mingyue, before we left the capital, Queen Mother Chi actually instructed me to have the Golden Crow Guards obey your orders."

Zhao Mingyue's eyes widened in surprise, her lips trembling slightly, "A-Niang, did she really say that?"

Zhao Yuzhang nodded and then said, "Mingyue, tell me honestly, did you deliberately let those bandits go during the day?"

Zhao Mingyue lowered her eyes and clenched her hands at her sides secretly.

She can still recall the nervousness she felt when she was acting in that scene with Xie Qinjian. Her legs were weak when she turned around and walked back to the carriage.

It was not until Xue Qi held her hand and gently told her, "Princess, you did a good job this time," that she came to her senses and calmed down.

But now, facing Zhao Yuzhang's questioning, she became nervous again and couldn't help herself. Should she admit it to her aunt?

She really needed Zhao Yuzhang's help. With the support of the Jinwu Guards, her subsequent plans would go much more smoothly.

But would Zhao Yuzhang really agree with her and Xue Qi's plan?

Zhao Mingyue was hesitating when her hand was suddenly grabbed. She looked up and saw Zhao Yuzhang looking at her seriously. "What do you want to do? Tell your aunt. No matter what happens, your aunt will always stand by you."

Zhao Mingyue was deeply moved, and a warm feeling surged in her heart. She subconsciously wanted to tell everything, but reason stopped her.

She asked softly, "Why? What if I let my aunt betray the court?"

Will my aunt still stand on my side then?

"Have you forgotten, Mingyue? It was you who rescued me from the princess's mansion. Do you think I'm ungrateful? As for betraying the court, ah, I never wanted to be loyal to the court."

Zhao Yuzhang said the last sentence with a scornful smile.

Zhao Mingyue asked hurriedly, "Who is Auntie loyal to?"

Zhao Yuzhang looked at Zhao Mingyue and smiled, "There is no monarch in this world who is worthy of my loyalty."

So, am I worthy of my aunt's loyalty?

Zhao Mingyue almost blurted out these words, but fortunately, at this moment, a guard came over to deliver a message and interrupted her.

"Princess Fuguang, two people want to see you."

"Who is it?"

"They say their names are Zhu Dafeng and Lü Qibai."