Zhang sighed and nodded, "Sister-in-law Chunhua, what you said is absolutely true! It was during the Lantern Festival, and my mother-in-law and father-in-law thought that things would soon be settled at home. The children had come all this way, and getting to this point was truly a blessing from heaven. Seeing how much the children longed for the bustling streets, they asked us, their sisters-in-law, to take them for a stroll..."
As Zhang spoke, she became lost in her memories.
That day, the three sisters-in-law took their six children to the market, and the market was really lively!
There were jugglers, vendors selling snacks and fruits, even stilt walkers, and countless people guessing lantern riddles...
Perhaps it was the dazzling lights, or perhaps it was the large and chaotic crowd of pedestrians, but by the time Zhang realized her son was missing, it was only a moment!
Lu Song was already an eleven-year-old boy at the time, and being tall and thin, Zhang Shi felt that he wouldn't be targeted by thieves, so she naturally took her younger sister Shao'er's hand and had Lu Song and Zhao Di follow closely behind her.
Later, although the two of them disappeared, Zhang and her two sisters-in-law were not too worried at first. They decided to wait where they were, thinking that after they had seen the scene, the two of them would definitely come back to find them.
Qin San Niang nodded knowingly and guessed, "So, you waited and then never saw her again? That must have been Zhao Di's doing, right? But how did you know?"
Zhang's eyes sharpened. "That's right, Zhao Di drugged Lu Song and sold him. We didn't know about this at first; we only found out later when Shao'er went missing."
"Could it be that Shao'er is also because of Zhao Di?" Liu was also a little confused. Could Zhao Di be so powerful?
"You might think that Zhao Di, a mere teenager, could have such abilities? Alas, that's what we thought too, which is why we fell for her trick! After selling Asong, Zhao Di never returned. At first, we thought both children had been kidnapped. But then we discovered that the five taels of silver you gave us were also missing! I suspected then that something was amiss." Old Mrs. Chen's voice was burning with anger. Even now, thinking about it, she still wished she could beat that little bitch Zhao Di to a pulp.
Seeing her mother-in-law's agitation, Zhang quickly said, "At first, I took care of Zhaodi. Firstly, our eldest daughter-in-law, Shao'er, was about the same age as her, so she could keep her company. Secondly, my own children were all grown up, so I had more time. My mother-in-law gave me the five taels of silver, saying that once things were settled, she would return the silver to Zhaodi to save for her dowry. This was no small amount of silver, so I sewed it into my clothes. Later, the seams came undone, and the silver disappeared!"
Later, in our search for Song'er, we traveled to many places and spent almost all our money. When we were almost at He County, we unexpectedly met Zhao Di. With just one glance, I knew that Song'er's disappearance was inextricably linked to her!
She was with a group of men at the time, and those men didn't look like good people. Although I wanted to go and find out more, my in-laws wouldn't allow it, so I had to give up!
I never expected that Spoon, sigh... after hearing our conversation, wanted to go to Zhao Di to plead for his brother's release, but I never expected..."
The rest is clear to everyone present. Shao'er is a simple-minded child, so how could she possibly gain an advantage over Zhao Di? She was simply thinking that there was still some affection between them. But if that affection were useful, Lu Song wouldn't have been sold out by her!
Now, Shao'er knows she has done something wrong. She lowers her head and remains silent, her eyes filled with fear.
Upon seeing this, Old Mrs. Chen quickly pulled her granddaughter close, stroking her soft hair. The child had been frightened a lot these past few days, and as long as she was found, they couldn't bear to scold her.
Besides, Shao'er's heart is good. This experience will teach her a lesson and make her realize the wickedness of people.
Old Man Lu, who had been silent until now, looked at Qin San Niang with a serious expression and said, “Mrs. Qin, that Zhao Di is very strange now. The people around her must be bandits. I don’t know how she managed to connect with the bandits.”
The Lu family found this very strange and couldn't figure it out no matter how hard they tried.
The eldest son of the Lu family thought things through more deeply, knowing that someone must have acted as a go-between. As for who that person was, it was undoubtedly someone from Lu Family Village, most likely his mother, Zhao Juhua. However, he lacked evidence and couldn't speculate.
However, Zhao Juhua and Qin Sanniang had some grudges at the time. Given her vengeful nature, if she knew where Qin Sanniang lived, she might come looking for revenge.
The eldest son of the Lu family was a man who always repaid kindness, and if Zhao Juhua brought bandits to seek revenge, he would definitely take it! At the same time, he also had to protect the Qin family from harm! He was willing to risk his life for it.
Qin San Niang naturally thought of this as well. Her face darkened. She couldn't believe that Zhao Di was such an ungrateful person. She shouldn't have bothered with her in the first place! Presumably, the Lu family wouldn't explain to the villagers that the five taels of silver was their way of thanking Zhao Di and protecting her.
They've all been misled!
What's this called?
Wu Chunhuan cursed, "Bad bamboo can never produce good bamboo shoots!"
That's right, it's exactly the same!
"Brother Lu, I heard you mention that you encountered Zhao Di outside the county town. Where exactly?"
This was the issue that concerned her the most. She wasn't afraid of Zhao Di, but she also didn't want to cause any more trouble. If it could be resolved sooner rather than later, it would be better to do so sooner rather than later.
Lu Laoda replied, "Madam Qin, the place where Song'er went missing is a full three hundred li away from here. We are also very puzzled as to why we saw her here. After Shao'er was taken away by her, I secretly followed them. The place where Zhao Di and the others were hiding should be a cave in the mountains. The leaders looked like mountain bandits. Judging from their clothes, there were also quite a few refugees inside."
Half a month ago, the Tatar army invaded outside Dingzhou City. Many refugees from the north were not allowed to enter the city. Those people were pitiful. Many were killed outside Dingzhou City. Those who were lucky enough to survive went into the mountains. Their numbers were not small.
So I didn't dare to act rashly, planning to wait until Shao'er was sold to someone before trying to rescue her. But I never expected that Zhao Di would be so heartless, actually selling her to such a place!
"Did they say what they planned to do?" Qin San Niang asked.
He County is still a relatively peaceful place, and the autumn harvest has just begun. It's hard to say that those bandits won't try to steal the grain!
According to the eldest son of the Lu family, they have now added quite a few people. As for clothing, food, shelter and transportation, they can make do with what they have. The most important thing is food.
Attacking Jiangzhou City? They probably don't have that capability yet, but they could still pretend to be bandits and raid the surrounding villages.
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