Chapter 65: Tensions Rise Because of the Countless Sufferings of Women in the World...

Meanwhile, Cui Pingchun hurried back to Luxi and informed the villagers of the situation.

"We don't know how things are going on her end, we need to bring more people over to help!"

Chen Miaozhi was already worried after seeing the two off. When she saw Cui Pingchun return, she immediately decided to go with her. Before leaving, she asked Jiang Mingpei to take care of the child for her.

Upon learning that his elder sister was still deep in the mountains, Wen Qingshi hurriedly led out the family's horse, saying, "I'll go with you!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Cui Ling walk out of the house.

Cui Ling looked at her with a somewhat complicated expression. Wen Qingshi felt a pang of anxiety, thinking that her mother would object.

She was trying to figure out how to persuade him when Cui Ling said, "I'll go too."

Two horses and four people galloped away, following the hoofprints in the snow and the colorful cloth markings left by Wen Yu.

Worried about encountering danger in the mountains, they brought some self-defense equipment, and Cui Pingchun even brought a first-aid kit just in case.

Not long after entering the mountains, a rustling sound suddenly came from afar, as if someone was crushing tree branches and trudging through the snow.

Cui Pingchun immediately tensed up, listened carefully, and heard faint voices coming from the other side, as if a group of people were coming in their direction.

Could it be that the villagers are on patrol and are trying to arrest these "intruders"?

She immediately waved her hand, signaling everyone to hide behind a boulder: "Let's hide for a while and wait until they've passed."

Everyone hid behind the rocks, holding their breath and not daring to make a sound.

Before long, the person who was speaking approached them.

Although there weren't many people, only about ten, they were all a group of strong, middle-aged men.

The leader, surrounded by the crowd at the front, looked smug and listened to the flattery of the people around him with his head held high.

One of them, holding a spear, exclaimed excitedly, "The mountain god has opened his eyes! This must be an opportunity for Lord A-Lian!"

“That’s right, even Heaven can’t stand it anymore that Li Shan, a woman, has occupied the position of clan leader for so long!” Another person nodded in agreement.

These words were met with a chorus of agreement.

“My older sister is ambitious, always thinking that doing what men do makes her better than men.” The leader, named A-Lian, chuckled. “Even Father was fooled by her, thinking she was more suitable to be the clan leader than me.”

"But women have to give birth and nurse their children, so where do they find the time to manage the tribe?"

He laughed crudely, "Unless the entire tribe consists of babies, then they really can't live without her!"

As soon as he finished speaking, another burst of laughter erupted, making the only quiet person in the crowd stand out all the more.

It was a woman, her face haggard, her expression blank, remaining motionless like a stone statue no matter how noisy the surroundings were.

Her clothes were as simple as those of the mountain people, making one almost overlook her outstanding appearance, like a pearl covered in dust.

A-Lian noticed her silence, pulled her close, and playfully flicked her nose: "Danzhu, are you saddened by the child?"

The name "Danzhu" made the women's expressions turn serious.

These two characters are the pronunciation in Mandarin.

Is this woman a "city dweller"?

Seeing that the woman named Danzhu neither admitted nor denied it, Alian seemed to have confirmed some suspicion and patted her on the shoulder: "I know, you're still thinking about that child you couldn't save."

"When I become the clan chief, I'll have other women have children and raise them all for you. They'll call you 'Mother.' You can have as many as you want, and you won't have to suffer the pain of childbirth."

He laughed wildly: "How about that? Haven't I been good enough to you?"

Those around him immediately began to fawn over him: "The clan leader is truly devoted to Sister Danzhu! If it were anyone else, they would have been abandoned long ago for not being able to have children!"

"Exactly! To even let her raise someone else's child, that's an incredible favor!"

"Hahahaha..."

No matter what they said, Danzhu remained numb like a puppet, her eyes lifeless, not even moving her pupils.

Ah Lian finally got bored and patted her on the shoulder: "Just wait and see, you'll soon become the chieftain's wife, and I can give you the best life."

"When that time comes, I will make you laugh out loud."

Amidst another wave of laughter, the group gradually disappeared into the distance.

After confirming that they had gone far away, the group finally emerged from behind the boulder.

After Cui Pingchun roughly understood what they were talking about, he couldn't help but frown: "These mountain people are really barbaric and uncivilized! They forcibly brought a person here and expect her to be grateful."

Although the mountain dialect and the official language are very different, they can still guess the meaning to some extent.

It is because the suffering of women in the world is all similar.

"I wonder how my sister is doing over there..." Wen Qingshi said with concern.

They had come all this way without seeing Wen Yu, and they didn't know if she was safe or in danger.

Cui Ling, however, seemed to be deep in thought.

After a long pause, she spoke up: "I seem to have some recollection of the Danzhu they were talking about earlier."

The group's attention was immediately drawn.

Looking in the direction they had gone, Cui Ling recalled, "Back then, the Cheng family in the capital was incredibly prestigious. They had a daughter named Danzhu, who was both beautiful and talented. It was said that suitors almost wore down the threshold, and everyone considered it an honor to marry a daughter of the Cheng family."

"Unfortunately, she suddenly fell ill and 'passed away' when she returned to her hometown to pray for blessings."

Upon hearing this, the others immediately guessed the truth of the matter.

Unexpectedly, Miss Cheng, who was supposed to have "died" long ago, is still alive, but living a life worse than death.

"When the news reached the capital, everyone lamented the tragic end of such a beautiful woman. Several gentlemen who had pursued her wrote poems in mourning, grieving the passing of this peerless beauty. Some said she was taken away by the moon goddess while admiring the moon at midnight and went to heaven to become a goddess; others said she fell into the lake while gazing at her reflection and became a lake maiden..."

Cui Ling sighed: "Who knew that things would suddenly change? The maid who went with her to pray for blessings suddenly appeared and claimed in public that the young lady was not dead at all, but had been kidnapped by bandits, and begged the Cheng family to send someone to rescue her."

"The Cheng family was furious when they found out, but not because of the bandits. They insisted that the young lady had died, scolded the maid for ruining the young lady's posthumous reputation, had her beaten and then sold her."

"After that, no one mentioned Miss Cheng again."

Everyone fell silent.

In truth, the Cheng family knew perfectly well that what the maid was saying was the truth. They just dared not face the fact that their daughter might have been "defiled."

They would rather say she was dead and leave her alone in a dangerous place than try to save her, because that would mean she would definitely lose her reputation.

In this world, reputation is more important than life.

"Did she ever think about running away?" Wen Qingshi sighed softly.

“She can’t escape.” Cui Ling shook her head slightly. “This is their territory. If she dares to run away, she will definitely be caught by these mountain people.”

There was one more thing she didn't say.

Danzhu may have tried to escape countless times, but judging from her current situation, she has failed every time.

They had experienced similar situations in both the Cui and Shen families. In such extremely feudal and large families, women's fates were always similar.

Therefore, they only felt endless regret for Danzhu.

Cui Pingchun, somewhat presumptuously, thought that if given the chance, she would like to rescue Danzhu.

They snatched her back from those people.

----

Seeing that the road ahead was difficult, in order to avoid revealing their whereabouts, they simply tied their horses to a secluded spot and continued on foot along the marked path, following the group at a distance.

They walked a long way, and the mountain people were always ahead of them. Cui Pingchun thought that it seemed they were going to the same place as the group of mountain people.

But she had just overheard their conversation, and although she only vaguely understood what they were saying, she had a feeling that there was more than one faction involved.

The name “Li Shan” particularly caught her attention; it seemed to be the name of a female clan leader.

The implication in "Ah Lian's" words was that he wanted to take the position from the other party.

"Could it be that we've stumbled into a power struggle among the mountain people?" Cui Pingchun muttered to himself, feeling a jumble of thoughts and the situation becoming increasingly complicated.

Chen Miaozhi patted her gently, saying reassuringly, "Let's take it one step at a time."

Even if what lies ahead is a den of tigers and dragons, we'll probably still have to venture in.

Suddenly, A-Lian led the group to a stop, asking in confusion, "Why are there so many colored markers along the way?"

He pointed to the colorful strips of cloth that Wen Yu had left in the bushes along the way, his face displeased, as if he had finally realized that he had fallen into some kind of trap.

Those around him became alert upon hearing this and began looking around: "Could this be a trap?"

After a moment of contemplation, Ah Lian's next words made their hearts tighten.

He waved his hand, sending out a few men: "You lot, search the area! See if any of Li Shan's men are lying in ambush nearby!"

The men immediately obeyed: "Yes!"

Cui Pingchun had a bad feeling.

She looked around and saw only sparse trees and bushes nearby.

They were only lucky to be hiding behind the bushes at this moment; if the other side really came to search carefully, they would have almost nowhere to hide.

Am I going to be exposed here?

"Ah Lian!" A clear shout broke the silence of the forest.

Everyone looked up and saw a bright red figure standing on the high slope in front of them.

She looked down at A-Lian and his group, her face full of anger. Her red clothes were extremely eye-catching to everyone, making her almost a burning focal point.

Cui Pingchun immediately recognized him; he was the boy who had kidnapped Liang Shuyan!

"Oh, it's you." A-Lian was also a little surprised to see the person who came, then chuckled, "My little niece, A-Yan, has grown up so much?"

"What, you've been waiting for us on this road all this time? Are you trying to find your Mr. Right among the people around me?"

The people around immediately burst into laughter.

They were a group of young and strong men, and they immediately became excited when the topic of relationships between the opposite sexes came up.

"Hey, are you guys still single? You'd better seize the opportunity, look how proactive they are!" someone fanned the flames, nudging the person next to them with their elbow.

Someone shook their head and sighed, "She's a spitting image of her mother. I wouldn't dare have such a fierce wife!"

Someone else chuckled knowingly, their gaze lingering on her, and whistled, "I think this kind of fiery personality has a certain charm..."

No one really took her seriously.

Faced with this group's blatant provocation, the boy simply lowered his gaze and waved his hand.

The next second, a row of archers appeared behind her, their bows drawn and arrows pointed directly at Ah Lian.

I won't repeat myself.

Her expression was cold and stern, and her voice echoed through the valley: "If you dare to take another step forward, I'll make sure you never return!"

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Author's note: "少年" (shàonáng) doesn't just refer to males; it's a gender-neutral term, so here it refers to Ayan. [Sprinkling flowers]