Upon recognizing the three as Old Mrs. Zhu and her two daughters-in-law, she instantly snapped out of her daze, squinted, and took out a flashlight from her spatial storage, running towards them.
Old Mrs. Zhu led her daughter-in-law to the locust tree, but instead of lighting a torch, she could only point to the dark goat in front of her by the moonlight.
Several people blindfolded the goat with a black cloth, then laid the goat down and tied its limbs with rope.
The rustling sounds of the group woke Zhu Xixi from her deep sleep, and she opened her sleepy eyes.
Zhu Xixi's babyish yawn caught the attention of Grandma Zhu. After seeing her granddaughter wake up, she happily tucked her blanket in.
"Sweetie, you'll have milk to drink soon."
Zhu Xixi tilted her head blankly, blinked her misty eyes, and frowned in confusion.
Just then, a familiar figure came into her view. Zhu Xixi was hiding furtively behind a locust tree not far away.
Wow! Is Zhu Yanyan really that shameless? Does she enjoy peeping so much? What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a beautiful woman before?
Just a moment ago, Grandma Zhu was all smiles, but after being reminded by her granddaughter, she glanced at the big tree that was emitting light.
She turned around with a stern face and gave instructions to her daughter-in-law.
"Quickly roll the goat into the grass over there."
Tao looked at her mother-in-law, panting, and asked in confusion, "Why? We just pushed it onto the cart."
"Someone's coming," Grandma Zhu said anxiously, pointing to the approaching bright spot.
Upon seeing this, Tao and Sun hurriedly moved the goat back down and pushed it towards the bushes.
As the two left, Zhu Yanyan came over, pretending to yawn, and looked around with a smile on her face.
"Grandma, I'm a little hungry. Is there anything to eat at home?"
"It's useless." Even if I had it, I wouldn't give it to you. Old Mrs. Zhu said coldly and irritably.
Old Mrs. Zhu, as if she had suffered a silent injustice, suppressed her anger with a half-smile and took out a steamed bun wrapped in oil paper from her bosom.
"Grandma, I actually came to bring you some food. Please don't be angry about what happened tonight."
[Alas, the weasel is offering New Year's greetings to the chicken—it's up to no good.]
Why don't you give Grandma the big pig's trotter from your carriage? What good is a plain white steamed bun?
Oh dear! This silly grandma mustn't fall for other people's small favors again.
Xixi is also extremely worried about this family; there's not a single person who can give her peace of mind.
Grandma Zhu's lips twitched as she listened to her granddaughter's mature-sounding nagging. She forced a smile and pushed Zhu Yanyan's hand away.
"No need, you can have this good stuff."
The granddaughter was right to scold her. She used to be too easily moved and always thought that they were very filial, so she foolishly let them do whatever they wanted.
Zhu Yanyan looked at the expression on Old Lady Zhu's face with surprise. What's wrong with this old woman today?
Normally, if she gives him anything, he would say that she is better than his own daughter-in-law.
Why the sudden change of heart today?
Just then, a rustling sound suddenly came from the bushes.
Just as Zhu Yanyan was about to walk over, Old Lady Zhu hurriedly grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her to the ground.
The sudden movement caused Zhu Yanyan to fall heavily to the ground, further injuring her still-healing spine.
Grandma Zhu feigned surprise as she looked at Zhu Yanyan, whose face was pale with pain, and apologized with shame, "Oh dear, how could you be so careless? You're too fragile. Go back now! This old woman wants to sleep."
Zhu Yanyan wanted to point at Old Lady Zhu and yell at her, but before she could even open her mouth, Old Lady Zhu had already vanished without a trace.
Left with no other choice, she could only endure the excruciating pain and crawl toward her own camp, as her body was in too much pain.
She could only wriggle slowly, like a worm on the ground.
After Zhu Yanyan left, Old Lady Zhu emerged from behind the tree, covering her mouth and chuckling to herself.
Xixi was also happy about her grandmother's behavior and excitedly giggled.
Grandma Zhu quickly gestured for her granddaughter to shush, "Keep your voice down."
Then, she called out to her daughter-in-law, who was hiding in the bushes, "Come out."
Tao and Sun only came out dragging the goat after they heard their mother-in-law's voice.
By this time, the goat had already been tormented by the two men to the point of foaming at the mouth.
The group hid the goat in the dark on the cart, covered it with two layers of quilts, and left a small gap for the goat to breathe.
Just as the group was hurriedly covering the goat, they heard rustling footsteps behind them.
"Oh no, someone's here!" Liu Shi quickly warned everyone after hearing the voices coming from not far away.
To prevent the goat from falling into the hands of others, Old Mrs. Zhu signaled to her daughter-in-law to continue covering the goat.
He picked up the sickle from the ground and slowed his pace toward the direction from which the sound came.
Just then, a dark shadow suddenly appeared in front of Old Lady Zhu's eyes, and the shadow moved extremely fast.
Before she could even swing her knife, the other person had already covered her mouth.
"Mother, is that me?"
Just when everyone was on tenterhooks, Zhu Haotian and Zhu Chenfeng suddenly appeared behind Old Lady Zhu.
When Grandma Zhu heard her son's voice, her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, instantly settled down.
"Second brother, third brother, you're finally back."
"Mother, is the goat hidden?" Zhu Haotian hurriedly let go of Zhu Laotai's hand and walked quickly towards the cart.
Seeing this, Old Lady Zhu followed closely behind, catching up with her sons to the cart.
"You're all hidden. How are you? Are you hurt?"
After hiding the goat, Tao and Sun looked at their husbands with tears in their eyes.
"You're finally back."
Zhu Haotian and Zhu Chenfeng looked at their disheveled wives with heartache and quickly pulled them into their arms.
"It's alright, we're back."
"Second son, third son, how is it going?" Old Mrs. Zhu was still very worried about the bandits and kept asking her sons.
After comforting his wife, Zhu Haotian frowned, a worried look on his face.
"This is bad; there really are bandits."
"Yes, there are quite a few people."
Zhu Chenfeng sighed and gently pushed his wife away, his face extremely pale.
"Oh dear, Uncle! These bandits are probably after my family."
In order to establish her reputation as a lucky charm in front of the escorts, Song Yanyan needed to be used as cannon fodder.
[Then we became cannon fodder to highlight her good fortune, ultimately dying or being wounded in the bandit attack.]
Anyway, she was the only one who was unharmed, and that's why the guards treated her specially.
Xi Xi's voice reached the ears of Grandma Zhu, Zhu Chenfeng, and Zhu Haotian at the same time.
After learning the purpose of the bandits' appearance, the three men's faces immediately darkened.
After tidying up the cart, Tao and Sun came over and stared at the three of them with suspicion.
"Mother, what's wrong?" Sun asked anxiously.
"While we were wandering in the woods, we encountered bandits lurking nearby. They seemed to be coming for us."
Zhu Chenfeng didn't want his wife to worry, but after thinking it over, he decided to tell her anyway.
Zhu Haotian covered his head in despair and sighed, "If we had encountered bandits, the escorts might not have cared about us; they would probably have escaped long ago."
“Therefore, we must save ourselves.” Although Sun looked weak and frail, she was more thoughtful than anyone else.
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