Upon hearing this, Jiang Qinyu's face turned cold. "They can't have gone far."

Although the livestock shed appeared unguarded, A-Ping had secretly arranged for three shifts of guards to watch over it. Even if Liu Ruyi and Jiang Chengyou managed to escape temporarily, the guards would catch them as soon as they realized what was happening.

Since the guards haven't reported back yet, it means the two haven't gone far and haven't been caught.

Upon hearing this, Chen and the others immediately became anxious.

"How could he have disappeared? That Western Qiang prince is our enemy. If he escapes, wouldn't we all be in danger?"

"And that Liu Ruyi, she's no good either!"

"Everything was fine before, so why are they gone today?"

"Yeah, no one from our village is going back to release them..."

Hearing the murmurs of the crowd, Lu Yancai suddenly remembered that Liu Ruyi had come to his house to ask Ma Shi to make insoles and had given him fifty copper coins.

Could it be... the Ma family?

Thinking of this, Lu Yan immediately took his leave.

Chen was in no mood for pleasantries with him at this moment, and the rest of the villagers also left one after another.

Back home, Lu Yancai shouted, "Ma Zhenzhen! Where are you?"

Lu Tianbao ran straight to Madam Ma's room and pushed open the door just as Lu Yancai finished speaking. "Mother, what are you doing?"

Madam Ma was hiding the silver notes when Lu Tianbao suddenly burst in, leaving her no choice but to hurriedly stuff them under her pillow.

"You brat, are you trying to summon my soul? You've scared your old lady half to death! Get out of here right now!" Madam Ma shouted guiltily.

Lu Tianbao looked at her suspiciously, "Mother, what were you hiding just now?"

He then looked towards Ma's bed.

Ma quickly blocked his view, "Hide what? What could I possibly be hiding?"

Her obvious guilty conscience, coupled with her shifty eyes, made Lu Tianbao doubt that she wasn't up to something.

Just then, Lu Yan rushed into the room and began to rummage through Ma's bed.

"What are you doing? Lu Yancai, are you crazy?" Madam Ma quickly pulled him away, stamping her feet in frustration.

Lu Yan had just overheard Lu Tianbao questioning Ma Shi outside the door, so he came in and searched Ma Shi's bed.

No matter how much Madam Ma tried to stop him, he remained silent and turned Madam Ma's bed upside down. Finally, he found a few silver notes under the pillow.

Lu Yancai's eyes widened in fury when he saw the amount on the banknote, and he angrily questioned Madam Ma, "Where did this banknote come from?"

“Silver, silver notes…” Madam Ma’s eyes darted around, avoiding Lu Yancai’s gaze. She was extremely anxious, but she still gave the excuse she had prepared beforehand, “My sister-in-law gave them to me… but she told me not to tell you, in case you don’t accept them…”

She herself wasn't confident in what she said, let alone Lu Yancai and Lu Tianbao would believe it.

Lu Yancai groaned for a while, and Lu Tianbao kept patting his back to help him catch his breath. "Dad, don't be angry. Let's find out what's going on first."

Although he said that, he already had a guess in his heart.

“Tell me,” Lu Yancai said, his face grim, suppressing his anger as he stared intently at Madam Ma, “did you release the two people locked up in my elder brother’s house?”

Madam Ma's face visibly turned panicked, and she waved her hands repeatedly, "No, no! I had no idea that my sister-in-law's family had anything to do with Liu Ruyi..."

After saying that, Ma immediately covered her mouth, wishing she could slap herself twice.

"You still say it wasn't you?" Lu Yancai grabbed Ma's wrist. "Where did you take them? Come with me to my sister-in-law's house and explain yourself!"

As he spoke, Lu Yancai was about to pull Ma Shi toward Jiang Qinyu's house.

Ma struggled violently, repeatedly denying, "It wasn't me, it really wasn't me! Tianbao's father, we're family, can't we talk things out at home?"

Lu Yancai sneered twice, then roared, "Idiot! Do you know what you've done? Those two are serious criminals! By letting them go, you've endangered our entire village, and even the entire Northwest Four Prefectures!"

"Originally, I should have divorced you after you made such a big mistake, but now this is beyond my control! You deserve to go to jail!"

Ma stumbled, stammering, "Jail? No way? I just... I just..."

She simply untied the two men's ropes, told them the most convenient way to go, and even led them along a path to avoid the villagers...

Lu Yancai looked at her with complicated emotions, then pulled her along without saying a word.

"No! Father, I know I was wrong, but only you and Tianbao know about this. Can't you just pretend you don't know? Don't take me to my brother's place..." Ma began to wail and scream, but she was afraid of attracting attention, so she didn't dare to shout loudly.

Lu Yancai remained silent, pulling her along as they walked quickly. He turned to Lu Tianbao and said, "Tianbao, go tell your aunt that I'll bring your mother over right away."

"Understood." Lu Tianbao glanced at Madam Ma with a complicated expression, then ran off without hesitation.

His mother has really gotten herself into big trouble this time! Last time, he was kidnapped by the Fifth Prince of the Western Qiang. Those people kill without blinking an eye. If he really escapes, their village will never have peace again!

Even though Ma was his own mother, he dared not protect her.

"Lu Tianbao, you're not allowed to go!" Ma shouted from behind, but Lu Tianbao ignored him and ran even faster.

Lu Yancai stopped talking and just held Ma Shi tightly, preventing her from breaking free.

Meanwhile, Lu Yanzheng and Jiang Qinyu had discussed the matter, and Lu Yanzheng left the rest to Jiang Qinyu.

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