Zhang Xiue felt a little guilty. After all, they had supported each other along the way for so long, and now they suddenly had to part ways, which was a bit hard to get used to.
Qin Xiaoniang smiled and said, "Leave the child's matter to us. You people should be careful. It's not that we don't want to take you with us, but when we were looking for someone to exchange the travel documents, we didn't expect to run into your group. We're really sorry."
Wang San wasn't one to meddle; he was a grown man and didn't want to constantly trouble women, so he didn't say anything more and turned to leave with his men.
Song He'er sighed as she watched the group leave, then turned around and picked up the child Wang San had left behind.
To everyone's surprise, when the child saw his father leave, he burst into tears and threw a tantrum in Song He'er's arms.
"Father! I want my father!"
"Good child, Father is waiting for us at the next place!"
"I don't want to! I want to go with my father!"
Qin Xiaoniang picked him up and placed him next to Huan Ge'er. "You're a big brother now, so don't be silly. Look, your little brother isn't crying, so why are you crying?"
"Waaaaah~ Does my daddy not want me anymore?!"
Nian'er ran over with a small toy and stuffed it into the little boy's hand. "Don't cry, you can play with my toy!"
The little boy cried twice more, then stopped throwing a tantrum and sat obediently next to Nian'er to play.
Zhang Xiu'e pulled Song He'er aside and asked, "I heard your stepmother mention something about travel documents. Why didn't you tell us? Can we get into the city with these?"
Song He'er smiled and nodded, "Third Aunt, take this to the guard at the city gate, and he will definitely let us in when he sees it."
As she spoke, Song He'er took out a piece of paper with a string of words written on it from her bosom and handed it to Zhang Xiu'e.
Zhang Xiue looked at it with a skeptical expression, "This one, will it really work?"
"Yes, just say we're merchants going to Xizhou to do business, and that we have donkeys and camels. He'll definitely let us through after he checks us!"
Zhang Xiue nodded confidently upon hearing this, and then walked toward the city gate with the travel document.
The two guards standing at the city gate were one slightly older and one younger. Zhang Xiu'e thought the older one would be easier to talk to, so she walked over to the middle-aged man and said with a smile.
"Sir, we are merchants from the Central Plains and wish to enter the city to do business. We hope you will allow us to pass."
The middle-aged man took the document and examined it carefully. Then he looked at the group of people behind Zhang Xiue and asked sternly, "Why are there so many children? Where are your husbands? Isn't running a business a man's job?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiue immediately feigned pitifulness, "Oh, let alone my dead husband, who idles away his days and makes a living by gambling. These are all my sisters from my maternal family. Because of his gambling addiction, he angered my parents to death and went to another place, leaving me with a house full of illegitimate children to support. I have no way to express my suffering..."
The guards at the city gate seemed to feel that her background was rather tragic, and they sighed repeatedly.
"You're certainly unlucky, but don't any of your sisters have husbands either?"
“Their husbands all work in other places, so they came here specifically to help me.”
"Oh, is that so? Then you can go in, but I need to check your goods."
"Okay, you can proceed with the inspection!"
As she spoke, Zhang Xiue led the donkey over, and Li Qiang's wife, seeing this, also pulled the camel over.
The officers and soldiers looked it over again and found that it contained only essential living supplies and nothing that violated regulations.
The officers and soldiers glanced at it briefly and then waved for them to pass.
The city was bustling with activity. Although it was in the western part of the country, there was no war as the bandits had described. Instead, the people here lived in peace and prosperity, and their businesses were thriving.
"He'er, stay by your mother's side, or I'm afraid I'll lose you!"
Song He'er was speechless for a moment. "Mother, I'm not a child anymore. Where are you going to throw me? You should keep an eye on Huan-ge'er and Wang San's children!"
"How can Mother carry two by herself? Wang San's Songzi and Nian'er are on the vegetable cart!"
Song He'er glanced around and saw that they were indeed playing on the vegetable cart, so she shook her head helplessly and didn't say anything.
But the next moment, a shrew appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Qin Xiaoniang, giving her a good scolding.
"You filthy bitch! I've finally seen you! You've ruined us all! Today! Today I'm going to avenge my Yue'er!"
The person in front of him, who had been acting crazy for a while, was wearing dirty clothes and had disheveled hair, making him unrecognizable at first glance.
"What are you doing? Where did this beggar come from? Let go of my mother! Let go!" Song He'er yanked the crazy woman away and threw her to the ground.
Unexpectedly, although the woman had a loud voice, she was not very strong. She fell to the ground with a gentle push from Song He'er.
"You little bitch, I really underestimated you. I never thought you and your bastard brother would survive until now! Let me tell you! I won't let you get away with this!"
Hearing her cursing and hearing that familiar voice, Song He'er suddenly recognized her.
It was actually Madam Li!
Since their parting on the mountain, Song He'er thought that the three women had been swept away by the mudslide long ago. Who knew that she would see them in the city today, and that they had become beggars, so they must have fled here.
“Mother, she is Song Chanyue’s mother.”
Qin Xiaoniang was somewhat incredulous, "Her? How could she be here?"
"I don't know, maybe they escaped."
While the mother and daughter were still talking, the madwoman grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed at Huan Ge'er.
"You little bastard! You shouldn't be alive! Blame your mother for giving birth to that little bitch of your sister! And then she wanted a son to protect her! You've ruined me! You jinxes! I'm going to kill you all!"
Li Qiang's wife was closest to the madwoman. Seeing the situation, she picked up a large stick and knocked her to the ground, even sending the kitchen knife flying.
When the vegetable vendors nearby saw the cleavers being used, they were so frightened that they quickly packed up their stalls and fled.
"Help! This is murder! Murder!"
As more and more people gathered around, Li got up from the ground but still refused to stop, muttering curses incessantly, as if she had suffered a mental breakdown.
"Song He'er, you tricked us into eating poisonous mushrooms, causing us to be trapped on the mountain. Those soldiers also bullied us because we were helpless, and they even... they even insulted my Yue'er! It's all your fault! You're the one who caused all of this!"
"You dug up the poisonous mushrooms yourselves; no one forced you to eat them! Why blame me?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
