Old Mrs. Zhu knew that her friendship with Zhu Wen's family could only last until today, so she didn't say anything more and turned to continue watching the passersby on the street.
After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Wen's patience had run out. He slowly pulled the broadsword from his waist and placed it against Zhu Chenfeng's neck without hesitation.
"Grandma Zhu, I'm sorry, I was just doing my job."
"Zhu Wen, don't do anything rash. It's not dark yet, and anything can change."
When Old Lady Zhu saw the large knife in Zhu Wen's hand, she trembled as she tried to calm him down.
"I don't have that much time to play with you guys. You've seen it yourselves, there are fewer and fewer people in the group. Sooner or later you'll all die on the road. I might as well let you die a quick death."
Zhu Wen was no longer willing to listen to Old Lady Zhu's sophistry. After giving a cold snort, he was about to take action.
At the critical moment, Liu was seen carrying Zhu Xixi and running towards Old Lady Zhu, shouting as she ran.
"Mother, sell it, sell it."
"Eldest son's wife!"
Grandma Zhu looked at her daughter-in-law running towards her and excitedly reached out to catch her. "Sold it?"
"Sold!"
After glancing at Zhu Wen, Liu's expression instantly turned serious. She quietly slipped the silver note in her hand to Old Madam Zhu and, with a furrowed brow, shouted at Zhu Wen.
"Zhu Wen, what are you doing? You just want money, right? We'll give it to you."
With her back to Zhu Wen, Old Lady Zhu quietly opened the silver note. Upon seeing the amount on the note, she was so excited that she almost burst into tears.
After calming herself down, Old Lady Zhu clutched the silver notes in her hand and turned to enter the rice shop.
"I never expected this! You actually found the medicinal herbs for you?" Zhu Wen looked at Liu Shi with a face full of surprise, and the more he looked, the more unbelievable it seemed. He smiled and put his broadsword away.
After Zhu Wen put away his broadsword, Liu jogged over to ask about her brother-in-law's condition, "Third brother, are you alright?"
"It's nothing, Mother, are you going to buy rice?" Zhu Chenfeng asked, puzzled, looking at Old Lady Zhu standing in the rice shop.
Looking in the direction of the sound, Liu saw Old Lady Zhu, who had finished shopping, come out carrying a bamboo basket and tossing the silver bag in her hand to Zhu Wen.
"Fifty taels, that should be enough to shut you up, right?"
"Fifty taels? That much?" Zhu Wen took the money bag in surprise, and with some doubt, took out the loose silver from the bag. After calculating, he looked at Old Madam Zhu with a shocked expression.
"What did you pick? How come you have so much money?"
Grandma Zhu didn't reply to Zhu Wen's words. Instead, she tossed another bag of loose silver to Zhu Wen, saying, "This bag is for you to take back as a gift to Chen Xiang. We can buy some potatoes and sweet potatoes and then go back."
After handing all the money over to Zhu Wen, Old Lady Zhu pulled Liu Shi away from the rice shop and headed towards the street.
"Mother, we just gave them a hundred taels like that?" As she walked, Liu looked back at Zhu Wen, who was counting his money with his head down. The more she thought about it, the more heartbroken she felt. That was a hundred taels!
“If we don’t pay them, how can they let us go? After all, we’ll need the travel permits to enter the county town to make purchases in the future, and we can’t skimp on these ‘facilitation’ fees.”
After what just happened, Grandma Zhu has come to understand many things. Money can be earned back, but once a person is gone, they are gone forever.
If the money can keep the children safe, then she won't feel bad about spending it.
After leaving the rice shop, the group first bought several clothes for Xixi and a swaddle cloth for Xixi's bottom.
Afterwards, they went to the market and bought coarse noodles, potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggs, pork smoked with charcoal, and some other ingredients.
Fearing that Zhu Yanyan would discover her secret, Old Lady Zhu only bought a small portion of the urgently needed supplies and some extra items.
After the shopping was completed, it gradually got dark.
When Grandma Zhu and the others returned, Zhu Wen, Zhu Yanyan, and Zhu Borong had already returned to the camp.
Aside from the escort, Zhu Yanyan, Zhu Borong, and the other clansmen all wore expressions of anger.
Ignoring the stares of others, Old Lady Zhu led Liu Shi and Zhu Chenfeng back to her camp.
"Mother, you're back."
When Tao saw that Old Lady Zhu had returned, she hurriedly pulled Zhu Dabao and Zhu Xiaobao forward to take the bamboo baskets from them.
Sun took the sleeping Zhu Xixi from Liu's hands.
Looking at the full bamboo basket of food, Zhu Haotian asked excitedly, "Third brother, how much money did we buy this time?"
However, before Zhu Chenfeng could speak, Old Madam Zhu interrupted Zhu Haotian, coughed a few times, and quietly gestured with her finger to the officials not far away.
"Let's make dinner first!"
At Old Lady Zhu's prompting, everyone finally noticed the government officials who were originally several hundred meters away from the Zhu family's house.
Suddenly, they set up camp around them, not far apart, and could hear each other if they raised their voices slightly.
Seeing this, Zhu Haotian could only shut his mouth and silently take out the ingredients from the bamboo basket.
While the Zhu family was engrossed in their work, Chen Xiang listened quietly to Zhu Wen's report, holding a skewer of lamb in his hand.
But the more he listened, the stranger it seemed. "You mean, Liu went off alone to sell medicinal herbs?"
"Yes!" Zhu Wen nodded truthfully, and after thinking for a moment, he added, "I asked her about it, and Grandma Zhu said she was worried we would rob her, which is why she did this."
Chen Xiang sneered dismissively, shaking the branch in his hand as he laughed, "It seems we underestimated Grandma Zhu and her group. Who knew they were such hidden talents?"
"Boss, what should we do next?" Zhu Wen respectfully took the branch from Chen Xiang and asked in confusion.
Chen Xiang did not immediately reply to Zhu Wen's words, but stared at the Zhu family in deep thought. After a moment, he slowly spoke.
"Since they have a way to make money, let them do it. When the time is right, we can deal with them all."
"Are you worried about the Yuan Dynasty?"
Zhu Wen immediately understood what Chen Xiang was saying and cautiously inquired further.
"That's the court's business, what does it have to do with us? We just need to do our own job. Life and death are in the hands of fate. Countless prisoners have died during exile, so what if a few more die this time?"
Zhu Wen thought his eldest brother's words made perfect sense, and smiled as he placed the roasted mutton on the plate.
However, just as Grandma Zhu's family was preparing to eat, they were repeatedly met with disdainful looks from their relatives.
Chen Xiang took advantage of the time after eating to go for a stroll and left the camp with the escorts.
Without the restraint of the guards, the clansmen became even more unrestrained, and all of them frantically surrounded the camp of Old Lady Zhu's family.
What do you want?
Seeing this, Old Lady Zhu quickly shielded her daughter-in-law and grandsons behind her and confronted the clansmen with her son.
Zhu Sheng had long been displeased with the escorts because of the punishment Zhu Laotai had received, so he led the remaining members of his clan toward the iron pot.
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