Unbeknownst to everyone, after Jiang Qinyu's carriage left, a group of people slowly emerged from a nearby alley.

Lu Wanqing looked at the carriage that had already driven away with a puzzled expression, stepped forward and asked, "Cousin, do you recognize the people in the carriage just now?"

Xiao Rui did not answer immediately, but kept his gaze fixed on the direction where Jiang Qinyu's carriage had disappeared. After a while, he said, "That is General Lu's wife, a remarkable woman."

"A remarkable woman?" Lu Wanqing blinked. Could it be that her cousin liked that kind of woman?

Xiao Rui said no more and turned to walk in another direction.

To him, Jiang Qinyu was indeed an extraordinary woman, but unfortunately, such a woman was already taken. He admired her, but he had no other thoughts about her.

...

Just as Jiang Qinyu had predicted, Jin Suo sent someone to inquire about Liu Yuqing, and when Liu Yuqing saw Jiang Qinyu, she suddenly remembered her former poor and pedantic scholar husband.

She ran to Kaner Town in a disheveled state, only to find the town much more desolate.

Arriving at the former Jiang family home, Liu Yuqing knocked on the door. A grim-faced old woman opened it impatiently, "Who are you? Who are you looking for?"

"Auntie, is this the Jiang family's house?" Although Liu Yuqing was surprised that it wasn't Jiang's eldest brother who opened the door, she knew that her current appearance couldn't convince anyone, so she quickly asked.

The old woman frowned as she looked at her. "What Scholar Jiang? This is our Zhou family!"

"Auntie, don't get upset," Liu Yuqing said with a smile. "I used to live here for a while. Back then, it was Jiang Xiucai and his sister who lived here."

The old woman suddenly realized, "You mean that dead scholar? Oh my goodness, he's been gone for ages!"

Liu Yuqing froze. Gone? What does that mean?

The old woman was very grateful to Jiang Qinyu because she hadn't spent much money buying the Jiang family's house. Hearing that she had come to ask about Jiang the Scholar, she immediately became more talkative. "Alas, good people never live long! A man like Jiang the Scholar actually died in the dragon-walking... It's said he went to find his wife who ran off with someone else. If you ask me, why chase after a woman like that? A worthless piece of trash who abandoned her husband and children, she'll get her comeuppance sooner or later! Let me tell you..."

Liu Yuqing was still in shock at Jiang Xiucai's death, but then the old woman kept cursing her, and she couldn't stand it anymore. She interrupted the old woman's incessant rant, "Thank you, Auntie. Since he's gone, I'll go find his sister!"

She left as soon as she finished speaking, not giving the old woman behind her a chance to continue cursing her.

"Who is she? I kindly explained something to her, and she just turned me on like that?" The old woman was furious and slammed the door shut. "Pah!"

Liu Yuqing was exhausted and hungry, but she still gritted her teeth and walked towards Dingshui Village.

Since Jiang Xiucai is gone, the child must be in Jiang Qinyu's hands!

She has lost everything now and needs to find a place to stay. The child is her bargaining chip to cling to Jiang Qinyu...

Meanwhile, Jiang Qinyu learned about Liu Yuqing's situation.

"I'm so angry!" Jin Suo said to herself, "How can there be such a heartless mother in the world? She abandons her child who's only seven days old? No wonder she's been kicked out by the wife!"

There was nothing to hide about these things, so Jin Suo had just learned everything about Liu Yuqing and was now standing up for Jiang's eldest brother and Shu Fanpan'er.

Jiang Qinyu curled her lips into a cold smile. She actually thought the result was quite good, after all, it was something Liu Yuqing had personally begged for.

But thinking of Shufan and Pan'er, she couldn't sit still any longer. She stood up and said, "I have already marked the problems with the blueprints in detail. I have things to do at home, so I won't be staying at the county office tonight."

While waiting for news, she had already done what she needed to do.

Seeing that she was about to leave, Jin Suo quickly stepped forward and advised, "Madam, why don't you rest for the night before going back? It's getting late!"

"No," Jiang Qinyu shook her head, "There are indeed things to do at home, and I won't feel at ease if I don't go back."

With someone like Liu Yuqing, who knows if she might go crazy and run to Dingshui Village today?

No matter what, she had to protect Shufan and Pan'er. Even if they eventually agreed to acknowledge Liu Yuqing, she would do her best to keep them safe until then.

This is the original owner's obsession, and also the affection that Jiang Qinyu is willing to give to protect the two children after spending so much time with them.

She insisted on leaving, and Jin Suo had no choice but to arrange for a carriage to send Jiang Qinyu back.

...

This is Liu Yuqing's first time visiting Dingshui Village.

She was kicked out of the Feng family in the morning and originally wanted to ask the magistrate of Yongshan County to help her, so that she could at least get a piece of flesh from the Feng family. However, she met Jiang Qinyu, went to Kan'er Town, and after learning that Jiang Xiucai had died, she rushed to Dingshui Village.

At this moment, Liu Yuqing was even more disheveled than in the morning. Her hair was disheveled and hanging over her shoulders, her face was covered in dust, and her clothes were torn when she knelt down to stop the carriage. She looked like a beggar from some dilapidated temple.

But she didn't care about anything else and walked towards the village entrance, her steps uneven.

Today was Chen Shao and Liu Yazi's shift. The two were chatting idly when they looked up and saw Liu Yuqing.

"My goodness, Ah Shao, how come even beggars are coming to our village now?" Liu Yazi spat out the grass root in his mouth and stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

Chen Shao also looked at Liu Yuqing, "How would I know what they're thinking? Our village isn't so poor that we'd have leftovers to feed beggars."

As they were talking, the two of them came down from the observation platform.

When Liu Yuqing walked to the village entrance, she saw the watchtowers on both sides and couldn't hide the shock in her eyes. When she saw Chen Shao and Liu Yazi blocking the village entrance, she immediately realized that Dingshui Village had actually sent people to guard the village.

“This… auntie?” Chen Shao tried calling out, “We don’t have any extra food to share with you in our village. You should go to the county. They’re distributing porridge there. You’ll be able to get a bite to eat there.”

As he finished speaking, he wondered to himself, "Why doesn't this woman have a bowl in her hands? Does she eat with her hands?"

Liu Yazi also said, "Yes, auntie, although our village is better off than other villages, it's not so good that we have leftovers. If you hurry to the county now, you can still catch the porridge distribution tomorrow morning."

Liu Yuqing had just recovered from the fact that Dingshui Village was so wary when she suddenly heard these words, and she was immediately horrified. "I'm not a beggar!"

“Uh…” Chen Shao and Liu Yazi exchanged a glance. “So what are you here for?”

Liu Yuqing said angrily, "I'm the sister-in-law of the eldest daughter-in-law of the Lu family in your village! I'm here to see her!"

Chen Shao and Liu Yazi thought about it silently for a moment, then their eyes widened and they shouted in unison, "You are the heartless mother of Shu Fan and Pan'er who abandoned her husband and children?"