Xiaoyue's gaze lingered on Bai Hongmei's graceful figure. She glared at Bai Hongmei, both angry and exasperated. Bai Hongmei, still appearing delicate and frail, seemed as if a gust of wind could blow her away, and floated lightly towards Xiaoyue.

Xiaoyue was annoyed by Bai Hongmei. She was petty, spoke in a soft and gentle voice, and acted in a gentle and mild manner. An unnamed anger rose from the bottom of her heart: "Why aren't you in my room serving your man? You don't have your man here either."

Xiaoyue hadn't realized how sharp and sarcastic her words were, and seeing Bai Hongmei searching for Uncle Liang, she said coolly, "Uncle Liang has already left Liang Qi at my house."

Xiaoyue looked at Bai Hongmei's face, which had turned deathly pale, and her hands, which were tightly clasped together, and she looked so weak. Xiaoyue felt inexplicably lighthearted. "Didn't you say that Liang Qi is your man? Then you can serve him personally in my house."

Seeing Hongmei's terrified expression, she was secretly delighted. Just as she was about to think of a way to make things difficult for Bai Hongmei, she saw Liang Fanyuan standing between her and Bai Hongmei.

He came to Bai Hongmei's rescue, saying, "Don't go to Sanjiazi Village, it's very dangerous there."

Upon hearing this, Bai Hongmei took a few quick steps, grabbed Xu Fanyuan's arm, her eyes brimming with tears, and looked at Xu Fanyuan with a pitiful expression, saying, "You said Sanjiazi Village is dangerous, why?"

Xu Fanyuan was momentarily dazed by Bai Hongmei's gentle tugging and pulling, but he quickly calmed down and said, "Tofu Lady found my father this morning and said that their village was surrounded by soldiers."

"Father, Father!" Bai Hongmei cried out twice in a heart-wrenching voice, then ran desperately towards the main road. In Xiaoyue's eyes, Bai Hongmei's two steps were like a duck's, neither fast nor graceful.

Xu Fanyuan hurriedly said, "Go and catch her. In her condition, can she even return to Sanjiazi Village? Even if she does, with her looks that are like a femme fatale, aren't you afraid she'll be in danger?"

Xu Fanyuan pulled Bai Hongmei back, and Xiaoyue teased her again, saying, "You still have Liang Qi to take care of, so start brewing his medicine first."

Bai Hongmei stared wide-eyed, shaking her head desperately: "No, I don't want to! I want my father, I want my mother! I don't want Liang Qi anymore! I want to go home!"

Xiaoyue glanced at Bai Hongmei, who was being held by Xu Fanyuan, and said to Chunyue, "Bring a rope and tie up your Bai sister, then put her on the kang in the east room."

Xu Fan stared blankly at Xiaoyue's cold expression, moved his lips, but held back his words.

Seeing Xu Fanyuan's gaze, Xiaoyue said sharply, "What? You feel sorry for the beautiful woman?"

Xu Fanyuan blushed deeply and said hesitantly, "No, no."

Xiaoyue then said to Chunyue, who had tied up Bai Hongmei, "Send her to the east room. Your Lu Xiaomei and Li Qianqian are easier to take care of. You should sleep in your own room and also help me take care of Liang Qi."

Chunyue nodded and led Bai Hongmei to the east room. Before entering the room, she turned back to Xiaoyue and said, "Sister Lu and Sister Qianqian are making dumplings."

Xiaoyue waved her hand, signaling him to go do his own thing, and then instructed, "Tell the sisters to make more dumplings, preferably dumplings for the New Year, and put them outside covered with a cloth to freeze."

Chunyue responded and pulled Bai Hongmei into the house.

Xiaoyue glanced at Xu Fanyuan and Gao Lei standing in front of her and said, "You two go back too, I'm going inside as well."

Gao Lei hesitated for a moment, his face flushed red, and asked awkwardly, "Weren't you going to marry Liang Qi? How come Liang Qi has another woman?"

Xiaoyue glanced at Gao Lei lightly, and said somewhat ungratefully, "This is none of your business."

Xu Fanyuan watched as Chunyue escorted Bai Hongmei into the house, then awkwardly reminded Xiaoyue, "You mustn't go over there. After I came out, my father already spoke with Uncle Gao and Hu San, asking them to check on the situation in the three families. I'll let you know if there's any news then."

Xiaoyue nodded impatiently and waved her hand to indicate that they could leave. Xu Fanyuan had never seen Xiaoyue like this before. He swung his arm and stormed out of Xiaoyue's yard.

Following behind him, Gao Lei seemed reluctant to leave. He glanced at Xu Fanyuan, who was quickly walking out of the courtyard, and then at Xiaoyue, who was standing in the courtyard urging them to leave. Finally, he left the courtyard with no other choice.

After seeing Gao Lei and Xu Fanyuan off, he went into the inner room, put on a cotton hat, a thick cotton-padded coat, and boots that Lu Xiaoyue had made for him. He carried a basket on his back with an axe inside and headed towards Little Tiger Head Mountain.

Geographically speaking, going up from Xiaohutou Mountain and then down from the top of Dahutou Mountain will take you directly to Sanjiazi Village.

When Xiaoyue reached the top of Dahutou Mountain, she thought of sneaking into Sanjiazi Village from the top. Carrying a basket on her back, she followed the path she had taken to cut firewood on the mountain and walked all the way to the bottom of the mountain. Suddenly, she saw a soldier standing about seven or eight steps away at the bottom of the mountain.

Xiaoyue quietly climbed from the foot of the mountain to the top. Looking down at Sanjiazi Village from the summit, she saw soldiers escorting villagers and searching for grain from house to house. From the mountaintop, she could see at least two hundred soldiers, densely packed together.

If the villagers resisted even slightly, the soldier would raise his knife and slash them, splattering blood high into the air. Xiaoyue looked down from the mountaintop into the village. Although she couldn't see the situation in the village very clearly, she could vaguely see pigs being caught and sheep being slaughtered. She could also hear the chickens, ducks, and geese flying around and making noise, which could even reach the mountain.

Even worse, Xiaoyue saw a small group of men tying up a woman. The woman was wailing loudly, her husband had been slashed several times, and the woman had fainted. Then, someone tore off the woman's clothes.

The people around didn't stop her, and their laughter mingled with the noise. Xiaoyue couldn't bear to watch any longer, so she turned her head and looked to the other side. The people there were even more ruthless, throwing a baby less than a month old onto the ground.

Xiaoyue turned her head to the side again. Although the group looked imposing, they were clearly not regular soldiers. Their clothes were tattered, and some of them had even stripped the village men of their cotton-padded coats and thrown the tattered clothes there.

These are clearly soldiers who deserted from the army and were led by a general to Sanjiazi Village to seize the land and grain.

Xiaoyue watched for a while, and when nothing else happened, she hurriedly ran down the hillside and went straight to Village Chief Xu's house. She pushed open the gate and her loud, panting voice startled Xu Fanyuan, who was chopping wood in the yard.

Bent over, leaning on his knees and panting heavily, Xu Fanyuan walked towards Xiaoyue, carrying a bowl of water in his hand.

Xiaoyue took the water. Despite its icy coldness, it instantly revived her. She hurriedly went into the house and told the village chief what she had seen.