19 Chapter 19
◎She held a naked baby in her hands◎
The day to go to Zhaojia Village was set. It would take a whole day to walk west from Puyang City, which was nearly a hundred miles away. There were no villages, towns or markets on the way, and we had to cross a mountain range. The mountain was a branch of the Yanyun Mountain, a large mountain range in northern Yan. The mountain range was undulating and stretched more like hills. The altitude was not high, and the road was particularly muddy and difficult to walk on.
The people of Zhaojia Village went to the market in the town further west. A hundred miles further west was the border.
The people living in that area were all those who moved there to open up wasteland after the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun were recovered. Soldiers and civilians crossed the Yanyun Mountains to establish farmland and open up wasteland.
Even though Yu and the others told her in advance that the road was difficult to travel, Cheng Mi still spent one or two taels of silver to buy an ox cart for future convenience.
Gui'er loved this cow very much and brushed its fur until it was smooth. When they were farming in Zhaojia Village, they always wanted a cow. Many farming families did not have cows at home. There were only four cows in the whole Zhaojia Village. When they needed cows, they had to rent them. They were reluctant to spend money, so most of the cows were replaced by manpower.
"Madam Cheng," Yu said, helping Cheng Mu adjust the winter clothes she was trying on, her eyes never leaving her belly. "You're about to give birth, and the journey will be difficult. Can't we wait until next spring?"
"Go there early and settle in quickly. Winter wheat will be planted soon, and we can't miss the farming season."
Yu still had some concerns, "Can Madam Cheng's seeds really be grown there?"
"How can we know unless we try? I've already sent a letter. Once we settle down, someone will bring the wheat seeds over."
The truth was, Cheng Mu had Mu Yun rent a warehouse not far from the city gate. On the day of her departure, she moved some of the wheat from her space to the warehouse when she passed by. Qi Bo then took Mu Yun to sign a document with a security company in the city. Ten days later, their agents would take the key to the warehouse to retrieve the wheat and then escort it to Zhaojia Village. Before leaving, there was one important matter to attend to. She had Mu Yun inquire among the impoverished shacks west of the city to see if there were any families expecting to give birth soon and unable to raise their children who wanted to exchange their wheat for money. She would then pay for it.
You have to wear a fake belly every day. The more you stuff it in, the bigger it gets. It's time to take it off someday.
Mu Yun went to ask around and came back to say that there was a newborn baby girl. The family had already given birth to five girls, and they didn't want this one and couldn't afford to raise it. There were two more babies to be born.
Cheng Mu was not a son-seeker. If she wanted to be a stable widow, she had to have a son. She asked Mu Yun to wait and see if the other two had given birth to a son.
Mu Yun asked him, "Auntie, are you planning to find a playmate for your nephew?"
Cheng Xi smiled and said, "I'll tell you when the time comes. You have to do this quietly as well, and don't let anyone else in the family know."
Mu Yun had a guess in her mind. She wanted to give birth to a boy to start the family, but what if she was pregnant with a girl? Now that she asked him to find a baby boy, she was determined to have a son.
They were going to Zhaojia Village. Most of the people in Zhaojia Village had the surname Zhao. Yu Guier's father had a brother and three cousins. She would live in Zhaojia Village for the next few years, and this matter must not be known to Yu's mother and daughter.
On the day of departure, after Mu Yun finished his business with the warehouse, he went to report to the family in the west of the city.
When the mother heard that the nobleman did not want the baby girl, she immediately picked up a basin of water and tried to drown her on the spot.
Mu Yun never expected his parents to be so cruel as to kill their son. He kicked over the basin and asked, "What are you doing?"
The woman had lost her mind. "It was her fate to be born here!"
Mu Yun shouted, "If you don't want to raise it, you can give it to someone else!"
"Everyone here does this. Go and see, which family has three daughters? This is the sixth one in my family. If she doesn't reincarnate as the eldest daughter, she will have the same fate no matter who she is!"
As soon as the western city gate opened in the early morning, the ox cart carrying Cheng Mu was the first to pass through the gate.
I found a place to wait for Mu Yun. After waiting for three quarters of an hour, he finally showed up.
Gui'er bit a piece of grass and asked him, "What did you do? What are you carrying?"
Mu Yun was carrying a bamboo basket, covered with hay and a cloth. Gui Er came up to take a look, but he shifted his hand, covering it, and said unnaturally, "I have to tell my sister-in-law in advance."
After getting on the ox cart, he glanced at the other two people. Yu and Qi Song consciously moved away.
Cheng Xi lifted the curtain and asked, "Why did you take so long?"
Mu Yun said in a deep voice, "There is something..."
"Why are you hesitating?" Cheng Mu looked at his expression, then glanced at the three people in the distance and asked him to come in and talk. "What's in the basket?"
Mu Yun put the bamboo basket forward and said, "The one in the west of the city."
Cheng Xi lifted the cloth and gasped, "You bought the girl back?"
Fearing Cheng Mu's rebuke, Mu Yun said, "I'll save a mouthful of food for her in the future."
The baby girl in the bamboo basket was thin and small, like a cat, sleeping soundly. Cheng Xi looked at her eyes and eyebrows carefully.
Mu Yun said, "We didn't want her, but her mother wanted to drown her without hesitation. She would rather drown her than go through the trouble of finding a family to adopt her. I gave her two taels of silver..."
They had agreed to give something in exchange, and Cheng Mu had meant to give one tael, but Mu Yun, momentarily confused, gave two. He spoke in increasingly lower tones, feeling that Cheng Mu would think he was causing trouble.
"Didn't you say that her family already has five daughters? She's the sixth, right? From now on, we'll call her Xiaoliu."
She accepted it quickly and didn't blame him, and Mu Yun finally felt relieved.
"Let's go. We need to walk faster today."
Cheng Mu was the only one sitting in the carriage, while the others followed the ox cart on foot.
Today's weather was perfect for going out; it was overcast. Xiaoliu was sleeping soundly, not making any noise or noise. Cheng Mu had put a diaper on her.
After walking for a long time, Yu said outside, "Madam Cheng, there is a small river ahead. We can stop and let the cows drink water. There will be no water source if we go any further."
Cheng Xi agreed.
When the ox cart stopped, Xiaoliu woke up. Perhaps because he was hungry, he started crying.
Yu asked everyone if they heard the baby crying.
Cheng Mu got off the ox cart carrying a bamboo basket. "Aunt Yu, Xiaoliu is hungry. Make her some rice soup."
Yu and Gui'er were very surprised. Gui'er rushed over and asked, "Where did this baby come from?"
Cheng Mu said to the three of them, "A family had just given birth and didn't want the baby, so Mu Yun saved it."
Yu kept saying that it was a sin, but Qi Song didn't react and led the cow to the river.
Guier had already taken the baby out of the bamboo basket and was coaxing him.
Cheng Mu reminded Qi Song from afar not to drink river water, and reminded everyone again not to drink raw water. When the water in the water bag was gone, boil some water and pour it in.
Yu placed the small stove on the cart and poured millet into it to cook. Cheng Mu said her stomach felt a little uncomfortable, so she went to the bathroom a little further away.
Mu Yun was eating some dry food. Seeing Cheng Mu walking away alone, he followed her.
This area is all hilly, with earthen slopes connected to each other. The road is muddy because there is no vegetation. Cheng Mu saw grass and bushes in the distance and went over there.
Yu looked up and saw Cheng Mu standing on the slope, looking around.
"Mother," Guier yelled, "She peed, it's all wet!"
There were bunches of yellow berries on the bushes. Cheng Mu picked one and smelled it closely. It was a sour berry.
The sour and sweet taste was very appetizing. She took out a piece of cloth from her fake pregnant belly, unfolded it, picked a lot of sour thorns and wrapped them up.
Huh? Did she hear Xiaoliu's grunt? Suddenly, she slipped and fell down the hillside.
Mu Yun was staring at Cheng Mu from afar, but when he lowered his head to scrape the yellow mud off his shoes, he looked up again and she was gone.
In order to avoid catching her going to the toilet, he counted the time for a while before running up to her.
After calling a few times but getting no response, Mu Yun became panicked and went to the place where Cheng Mu had picked fruits. He stood on a high place and looked around. There were thickets of weeds and thorns, and he couldn't see anyone. There were a few pine trees in the distance.
He pulled at vines and vines, making his way down a little at a time, but still couldn't see anyone or hear any sound. After a dozen steps, he saw yellow berries scattered on the ground and the thatch had been crushed. He immediately became puzzled: weren't people walking down there?
His heart was pounding as he followed the path, running down the slope in an unsteady manner.
"Sister-in-law!"
"Hey! I'm here!"
Cheng Mu finally responded, but Mu Yun's heart was still in a knot, and he looked towards the place where she spoke.
Cheng Mu squatted on the ground, her hair disheveled, her clothes in disarray, stained with yellow and green, and scattered around her were scraps of cloth. She held a naked baby in her hands and exclaimed with genuine joy, "It's still alive."
The first thing Mu Yun saw between the baby's legs was that it was a boy. Then he looked at Cheng Mu's belly, and it was gone!
"This, this is... your child?"
"Huh?" Cheng Mu also lowered her head to look at her belly, because she found the child by following the baby's grunting sound. Seeing that he was quite dirty, she took out a lot of cloth from her fake belly to wipe him. She turned the fake belly to the side.
Cheng Mu took out a larger swaddle with thin fleece and wrapped the baby in it.
"Muyun, hold it first, I'll tidy it up."
Mu Yun quickly turned around holding the baby.
Cheng Mu turned her belly to the right side and tightened the straps at the back. She had taken out a few pieces of cloth to wrap Xiaoliu in the car before, and used a lot more of them here to wipe the child. Now her belly was half the size.
Mu Yun actually thought that the child was hers. Even if it was just a misunderstanding, she would just assume that it was hers.
Your belly won’t become flat immediately after giving birth, but the fake belly will gradually get smaller.
"Let's go up."
The two had just taken a few steps when a gust of wind suddenly blew by, causing the leaves of the bushes and the wormwood on the ground to sway wildly. A long snoring sound was heard, which made people subconsciously tighten their backs and feel a chill.
I have never heard this kind of sound before, but as soon as I hear it, I know what animal it belongs to and I can't help but shudder.
tiger!
Mu Yun stuffed the baby into Cheng Mu's arms, bent down to take the dagger from his calf, and said, "You go first!"
What should Cheng Mu do when she takes a step? Her legs feel weak.
She wanted to run, but it was like she was stepping into a swamp. Her heart rushed up the slope and she didn't know how far she had run, but her body was still in the same place.
Mu Yun gave her a hand.
Cheng Mu was sweating profusely.
The bushes blocked their view and they had no idea where the tiger was. Since it hadn't jumped out yet, Mu Yun simply pulled Cheng Mu and ran.
Clouds come from the dragon, wind comes from the tiger, and the cool wind always follows you like a shadow.
Swish--
That was the sound of a big beast running through the bushes, the frequency was getting faster and faster, and the tiger's roar was getting louder and louder, it was accelerating, as if it was already behind us.
The baby in Cheng Mu's arms opened its mouth and cried loudly. The two of them were already standing at the top of the hill and both turned around to look.
A white-browed tiger suddenly jumped out.
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