"Xixi, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Mother is here, don't be afraid."
Upon hearing the scream, Liu immediately hugged her daughter tightly and patted her back gently.
Zhu Xixi looked around blankly, tears welling up in her eyes, her lips pursed, looking like she wanted to cry but dared not.
"Did you scare Xixi?" Grandma Zhu was also worried that her granddaughter was frightened, so she hurriedly took her granddaughter from her daughter-in-law's arms.
Seeing her granddaughter's aggrieved but timid expression, she felt a lump in her throat and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.
"This child is so sensible. He was clearly very scared, but he didn't dare to cry."
Is Zhu Yanyan up to something again? Is she trying to manipulate the emotions of the clan to drive Xixi's family to their doom?
These people have all been brainwashed by Zhu Yanyan; they believe everything she says. They're not scary anymore!
"Mother, why has the line stopped up ahead?" Liu Shi held back her tears, took a deep breath, and looked anxiously at the stopped queue.
Zhu Chenfeng, who had just gone to the front of the group to gather information, returned breathlessly to report.
"It seems my uncle has fainted."
"What did the escort say?"
After hearing Zhu Xixi's thoughts, Old Mrs. Zhu frowned slightly, her face instantly darkening, and she asked in a low voice.
Zhu Chenfeng took the water bottle handed to him by Madam Sun, sighed and shook his head, "The escort said to have someone carry him on his way."
"explain....."
"Hey, third brother, tell me quickly, what did the escort say?"
Tao was an impatient person, and when he saw Zhu Chenfeng stammering, he immediately stomped his foot in frustration.
Zhu Chenfeng hesitated for a moment, then pursed his lips and replied softly, "Yes, it is because we were delayed for two days and we need to make up for those two days. No one is allowed to stop and rest."
Upon hearing this, Old Mrs. Zhu immediately had an idea and looked past her son at the line ahead.
Just then, I saw Zhu Borong and Wen Xiuying standing in front of their uncle's family, talking and turning back to look at Old Mrs. Zhu.
The men looked resentful, their deep-set eyes bloodshot, as if all their anger was directed at Old Lady Zhu's family.
"Quick, protect the eldest son's wife, something bad is about to happen."
When Grandma Zhu saw her cousin's eldest son, Zhu Zheng, and daughter-in-law, Wang Qiu, walking towards them, she quickly gestured for her son and daughter-in-law to huddle together to protect her granddaughter and eldest daughter-in-law.
After a few moments of stunned silence, they hurriedly went to the cart and stood in front of the eldest son's wife.
At this moment, Zhu Zheng stormed up to the group and, without saying a word, began to berate Liu.
"It's all your fault, you jinx, for insisting on having this child. Now we don't even have time to rest."
"That's right. We should have gone to Yumen Pass to rest long ago according to the original plan. It's one thing to be a jinx, but even having a daughter is a jinx."
At the urging of Zhu Yanyan's family, Wang Qiu planned to vent all her anger on Old Lady Zhu's family.
[You're the jinx, your whole family is a jinx, you scoundrel who can't say anything nice! Humph!]
Grandma, don't be afraid of them, charge!
Encouraged by her granddaughter, Grandma Zhu snorted coldly, showing no mercy to the two of them, and started to berate Wang Qiu.
"Bullshit! My granddaughter is a jinx? Who found the water? Who told you? You're the heartless, wicked woman."
[That's right, you bunch of tools of Zhu Yanyan, we won't tolerate you. Dare to curse us, and we'll punch you.]
[XiXi is the one who protects everyone, so don't be afraid of them.]
After speaking, Old Mrs. Zhu glanced back at Tao Shi, giving her a hint.
When Tao saw that her mother-in-law had spoken up, she stopped holding back and stopped criticizing them.
The mother-in-law always felt she was in the wrong, and even if these people poked their foreheads with their fingers, no one dared to talk back.
Now, she can finally stop tolerating the bullying from these so-called relatives.
"The escorts were already planning to rest, but my sister-in-law gave birth to Xixi right on time. She didn't rest after giving birth and set off immediately. How did that delay your time?"
"I think you're all talking nonsense, spewing filth. Get out of here, or don't blame me for being impolite."
Tao became increasingly angry as she spoke, and rolled up her sleeves, ready to fight Wang Qiu. If Sun hadn't stopped her, she would have rushed over long ago.
Wang Qiu never expected that the Zhu family would suddenly become so fierce. She ran behind her husband in fear and pointed at Tao's back, shouting loudly indignantly.
"Why are you being so fierce? If your Sheng'an hadn't gotten into trouble, would we be suffering here?"
Mentioning this matter, Zhu Zheng instantly gained confidence and turned around to shout at his clansmen, waving his hands excitedly to encourage the rest of the clansmen.
"That's right. If Zhu Shengan hadn't betrayed the country and colluded with the enemy, would we be in this situation?"
“Listen to me, everyone. Since Zhu Shengan has made us suffer, we’ll cause trouble for his family and divide up all the good stuff on the cart.”
After seeing the clansmen getting restless, Zhu Haotian and Zhu Chenfeng exchanged a nervous glance and put their hands inside the quilts on the cart.
All the weapons they made for self-defense were hidden inside the quilts, in case these people came to steal their things.
Then they had no choice but to fight to the death.
[They're not good people either; they've done many shady things. Their own reputations are questionable, so what right do they have to criticize Father?]
[Family, stand strong! Fight back, confront her, keep it up! Xixi is cheering you on!]
Upon hearing Zhu Zheng's loud shouts, Old Lady Zhu sneered disdainfully, showing no sign of panic as she coldly looked at the two of them.
"Blame my Sheng'an? Zhu Zheng, don't think nobody knows about the shady things you did in the capital?"
"Privately buying and selling official positions, forcibly abducting women, embezzling and accepting bribes—which of these isn't a capital offense? Do you think you'll be safe and sound without Sheng'an's involvement? Dream on! Rats in the gutter will be caught sooner or later."
Zhu Zheng hadn't expected that Old Madam Zhu would know what he had done in the capital. Feeling guilty, he pursed his lips and glared fiercely at Madam Liu, suppressing his anger.
Just then, the escort who had been urging the Zhu family to hurry along came over, cursing and swearing.
"What are you doing? Why did you stop?"
"Officer, they're trying to steal our supplies!" Zhu Haotian reported loudly, pointing at Zhu Zheng and Wang Qiu after the officers arrived.
Upon hearing this, the escort's face darkened, and he drew his long whip and lashed it at Zhu Zheng and Wang Qiu, saying, "Instead of keeping on our way, you're causing trouble for me. You're tired of living."
Zhu Zheng and Wang Qiu never expected that the escort would get involved in their private argument; the families often bickered.
The guards usually ignore things and don't care about anything, so why would they take the initiative to help Grandma Zhu's family this time?
"Ouch, officer, please stop hitting us! We know we were wrong."
"Then get the hell out of here!" The escort, his face grim, kicked Zhu Zheng and brandished his whip as a warning.
Seeing this, Zhu Zheng and Wang Qiu dared not cause any more trouble. They covered their injured bodies and slunk away.
After reprimanding the two men, the escorts approached Old Lady Zhu with an impatient expression.
"We'll help you out this time because you caught some wild game. But we won't be able to handle you if you cause trouble again."
Old Lady Zhu knew that the escorts were only helping them because of the wild boar, so she nodded and said, "Understood!"
The escort was very satisfied with Old Lady Zhu's attitude, nodded to her, and turned to leave.
However, Zhu Borong overheard the conversation between the escort and Old Lady Zhu. He was stunned for a moment and quickly turned around to look for Zhu Yanyan in the line.
"Yan Yan, something strange has happened."
Zhu Yanyan was lying on the cart drinking a cold drink when she saw her father rushing over and asked him in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
"The escorts actually helped Old Lady Zhu's family."
Zhu Borong arrived at the cart, panting, and whispered something in Zhu Yanyan's ear.
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