At that moment, the sound of bandits striking with their knives could be clearly heard outside the door, mingling with Aunt He's laughter, creating a particularly eerie atmosphere in the quiet, cold night.

Yu Qiutao was so frightened that her heart almost jumped into her throat. She held her daughter tightly with both hands and dared not make a sound.

Granny Cui was getting old, and Zheng Ge'er was quite chubby from being pampered by the old lady. It was a bit difficult for her to hold the two-year-old child, and she was also frightened by Aunt He's madness, causing her legs to tremble.

Just as she was about to run out of the inner room, she was tackled by He Shi who rushed over, and with a muffled thud, the child in her arms fell to the ground.

After a while, the child finally cried out. Yu Qiutao couldn't see clearly in the darkness, but judging from the noise, the fall must have been quite severe.

Aunt He stepped past Granny Cui and raised her knife to strike the child, but Granny Cui grabbed Aunt He's ankle, making it impossible for her to move.

"You dog of the Yu family, if you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish!"

As she spoke, Aunt He grabbed the teapot from the table beside her and smashed it down hard on Granny Cui's head.

Granny Cui immediately suffered a head injury with blood flowing from her head, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted, her fate unknown.

Seeing Aunt He closing in step by step, Zheng Ge'er also sensed the danger and cried his heart out, crawling outside while crying.

Aunt He held a knife in her hand, her face contorted with rage. She raised the dagger high, about to strike Zheng Ge'er's small body, her eyes gleaming with bloodlust.

"Bang!" A crisp sound of shattering rang out, and Yu Qiutao watched helplessly as the shards of the vase slipped from her hands.

Caught off guard, Aunt He's dagger fell to the ground with a thud, and a stream of heat flowed down her face from the top of her head, making her look like a demon from hell.

Seeing her bend down to pick up the dagger, Yu Qiutao was so frightened that she grabbed her hair and dragged her away, her eyes fixed on the little figure standing by the table.

"Juan'er, quickly take your little brother and hide!"

Upon hearing her mother's instructions, Juan'er stepped forward to help Zheng Ge'er up, and without the slightest fear, she bypassed the people lying on the ground and entered the inner room.

Yu Qiutao used all her strength, not daring to let go, because if she did, all three of them would die.

As a mother, she couldn't bear to see the only bloodline left in the world by the young master suffer such a cruel fate.

And so, the two of them began to pull and wrestle.

Aunt He was fearless and had a strong inner strength. Her strength was astonishing. Even though Yu Qiutao was young, she was no match for her for a while and was suppressed by her.

The two rolled on the ground, and Aunt He's hand reached for the dagger again.

At this critical moment, the door was kicked open from the outside.

Yu Xunmei led her people in and rushed in. The torches instantly illuminated the entire room. She glanced at the horrific scene inside and the two people wrestling on the ground.

"Miss, Aunt He has gone mad! She killed the old lady and is trying to kill the young master and young lady as well!" Yu Qiutao said hurriedly upon seeing who it was.

Without saying a word, he raised his knife and slashed at Aunt He.

Warm blood splattered all over Yu Qiutao's face. She stood there stunned for a long time before pushing away Aunt He's corpse and getting up.

After taking stock, it was found that the old lady had suffered multiple stab wounds and had already died.

The wet nurse and Granny Cui were seriously injured and needed to rest for some time.

The two children were taken to another room by Yu Qiutao.

The bandits who entered the backyard have all been captured and killed, but many of the women and servants in the Yu family have been injured or killed.

Many members of the Yu family who had been injured or killed were dissatisfied when they saw her return from the backyard.

The old lady had died, and Yu Xunmei was already in a bad mood. She raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "What? Your people failed to guard the place, and now I have to take the blame for someone's death?"

After being rebuked by her, the clansmen, no matter how dissatisfied they were, kept quiet.

Only the fearless ones continued to mutter, "It was your poor planning that caused this."

Yu Xunmei tore off her armor and threw it in front of the man.

With a gloomy face, he said, "Come on, if you're so capable, you do it!"

The man was frightened by her expression, took a few steps back, lowered his head, and dared not utter a sound.

Yu Xunmei glanced at everyone.

"What have these bandits done? Are you all blind? If they cause any more trouble or disobey orders, none of us will see the sun rise tomorrow! We'll all die together!"

The scene was completely silent.

"Lieutenant, you are in charge of arranging tonight's watch. Anyone who disobeys will be killed on the spot, which will save some food!"

"Your humble servant obeys!"

Yu Xunmei rubbed her throbbing temples as she returned to the backyard.

It was another difficult day for the Yun family to defend themselves.

Looking at the few arrows left, Yun Zhenchuan frowned. "Our weapons are being used up too quickly. Can we hold out tonight?"

Yun Si: "The bandits are numerous. After the daytime attack, they will definitely launch a surprise attack at night."

"What should we do if the bandits use a rotation tactic?" Yun Jing asked.

He stood beside Yun Zhenchuan, the eldest son of the second wife, and stood up to fight alongside his father.

Yun Si quickly made arrangements: "While the bandits are not making any moves now, let's arrange for a group of people to rest for two hours."

Recalling what the bandit had said yesterday, Yun Si suddenly had an idea.

"Second Master, do you have tung oil in the manor?"

Yun Zhenchuan glanced at his eldest son, as all the affairs of the household were managed by his eldest son and his mother.

Yun Jing nodded, “Yes! My mother told me that she wanted to repaint the house before the New Year, so I just ordered a batch of tung oil a while ago, and I’ll have someone move it out right now.”

Before long, the servants of the Yun family brought out eight barrels of tung oil from Kaifeng.

"Is this enough?" Yun Jing asked.

"That's enough."

Thinking of a certain possibility, Yun Zhenchuan asked Yun Si, "Are you planning to use fire?"

Yun Si nodded and then asked Yun Jing to find many empty jars to repackage the tung oil.

This method was told to them by their master a few years ago; it was the one the lady used when they fled Pingcheng, and it worked very well.

With so much tung oil, Yun Zhenchuan dared not imagine how tragic the scene would be.

The Yun family filled all the jars they had found with tung oil, but there were still two barrels left to be filled.

"What should we do with these?" Yun Jing asked.

Yun Si smiled mysteriously, "Keep it; we'll need it later."

Everything was ready, and Yun Qi, who had gone out to scout, returned with some bad news.

"More and more bandits are gathering around the mansion. The backyard of the Yu family was just breached by the bandits, and many members of the Yu family died."

Yun Si glanced at the tung oil piled in the corner, his face filled with murderous intent. "Instead of waiting for the bandits to launch a sneak attack tonight, we might as well launch a surprise attack on them."

"How so?" Yun Qi's eyes lit up.

Having been trapped in the Yun residence for two days, he had long wanted to kill to his heart's content.

Yun Si led the group into the reception room to discuss their plans for the evening.

At 1-3 PM, thousands of bandits who had been hiding in nearby houses during the day carried stones and ladders and quietly crept to the outside of the Yun Mansion's walls.

"Boss, you guessed right. The people inside slept like logs tonight because of our harassment. Look how dark it is inside."

"Tell the brothers to hurry up, for wealth and glory are beckoning us."

The bandits outside the wall chatted freely, completely unaware that three people were hidden above the wall, blending seamlessly into the night.