Xiao Yunying brought too many xiaolongbao this time, and she still had four left over.
She glanced at the female prisoners around her, all staring intently at her and swallowing hard, then picked one who didn't look like a bad person and walked over with the steamed bun.
"Um... I can't finish this. This is untouched. If you don't mind..."
Before Xiao Yunying could finish speaking, the woman opposite her began nodding repeatedly: "I don't mind, I don't mind."
"Then bring your bowl over here, and I'll put some food in it for you."
The woman took out her bowl from her bosom, grabbed a handful of straw, and rummaged around in it a couple of times.
Xiao Yunying's lips twitched as she watched, but thankfully the bowl wasn't as dirty as she had thought. She picked up the buns and put them into the bowl through the fence.
When she picked up the last one, Old Lady Liu suddenly reached out and tried to snatch the bun from her chopsticks.
She quickly pulled back, and although the bun wasn't snatched away, it fell to the ground and was picked up and stuffed into the mouth of another female prisoner.
Upon seeing this, the female prisoner, who was holding a bowl and waiting for her steamed buns, hugged the bowl to her chest, turned around, and kicked Granny Liu hard.
"You old hag, how dare you steal my steamed bun!"
Xiao Yunying took two steps back in surprise. Sure enough, appearances can be deceiving. Just by looking at her face, she couldn't tell that this woman was such a fierce person.
Old Mrs. Liu clutched her stomach and scrambled to her feet, hiding in a corner. It was clear she was terrified of the female prisoner. She only dared to yell at Xiao Yunying, "You little slut, you did this on purpose! You just wanted to tempt me!"
Xiao Yunying raised an eyebrow: "That's right, I did it on purpose, what can you do about it?"
The female prisoner holding the steamed bun didn't care about any past grievances between the two; all she knew was that Xiao Yunying had given her the bun.
She ate her steamed bun and mumbled, "Thank you, young lady. If you don't like this old woman, I'll help you deal with her."
Xiao Yunying tidied up the empty plates: "No need for that. She's an old woman. If something happens to her, don't blame her. Let her stay in jail for a few years."
After tidying up the food box, she sat on the bed and read a storybook to pass the time. Just as she was engrossed in reading, she suddenly heard a familiar voice calling her.
"Sister Yunying!"
"mother!"
"Mother, how are you!"
Xiao Yunying looked up and saw who it was, put down her book and went over: "Yunwan, why did you bring the children here?"
Zheng Yunwan gripped the wooden fence and looked her up and down: "I went to Shijinfang in town yesterday to check the accounts. I only found out about Sister Yunying when I got home last night. I was thinking of coming to see you early this morning, but the children insisted on coming with me, so I had no choice but to bring them along."
Luo Li was young, and when she learned that her mother had been arrested and imprisoned, she was filled with panic and fear: "Mother, are you alright? When can we come home?"
Xiao Yunying bent down and rubbed his head: "Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Didn't Madam Luo tell you the truth about this?"
Luo Li suppressed her tears and said, "I told you, but I'm still worried. Can I come in and keep Mother company?"
Xiao Yunying felt quite emotional. She realized that she hadn't raised them in vain; the children had truly developed feelings for her.
She gently coaxed Luo Li, saying, "What nonsense are you talking about? This isn't a good place. Besides, it's not as bad as you think. We have three meals a day prepared by Huiweilou. You can read storybooks when you're bored. Apart from the poor environment, there's nothing wrong with it. Look at me, I'm perfectly fine."
Luo Yang's gaze was deep; these words could only fool his foolish younger brother.
Just because things are fine now doesn't mean they will stay fine. If the Empress Dowager changes her mind during this period and orders someone to torture Mother, Mother definitely won't be able to withstand it.
Luo Chen said in a low voice, "Grandmother has already sent a letter to Father. If Father knew Mother's current situation, he would definitely come to save her first. Mother, you must trust Father."
Suddenly, the image of Luo Sheng risking his life to save her flashed through Xiao Yunying's mind, and she smiled as she said, "Yes, I believe him."
Old Mrs. Liu, who was watching them talk, suddenly interrupted, "Still thinking about leaving? This little slut dared to poison the Empress Dowager. We might all be implicated and beheaded because of her. Let me tell you, she's not even human. She must be a vengeful spirit from the Western Hills coming down to claim our lives."
Luo Chen and Luo Yang were shocked to hear this. Zheng Yunwan, unaware of the reason, asked in confusion, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Xiao Yunying glanced at her coldly: "Ignore her. Didn't you recognize her? That's Liu Ge's mother. She's probably not in a good mental state while she's in prison. I scared her so badly yesterday afternoon that she fainted. She's probably a bit crazy now."
Old Mrs. Liu spat at her: "Pah, you're the one who's crazy! You're a reincarnation of a broom spirit, whoever meets you is doomed."
Hearing that she had changed her mind, the two brothers secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiao Yunying smiled knowingly, and was about to say a few words to tease the two brothers when the prison guard chief walked over and urged loudly, "Alright, you've seen the people and said your piece, hurry up and leave."
Luo Li turned around and glared at him, saying, "We haven't even had the time it takes to drink a cup of tea since we arrived, and you've taken so many silver notes from us. Can't you let us talk a little longer?"
Silver notes?
Xiao Yunying accurately caught the word, glanced at the head jailer, and asked, "How many silver notes did he ask for?"
Luo Li, unable to contain her anger, said indignantly, "They said they would take better care of Mother, and they asked for a full thousand taels of silver. If you want to come in to see Mother, you have to pay an extra hundred taels per person. Aunt Yunwan didn't have enough silver with her, so she went back to get some. That's why we're late. Otherwise, we would have come in with Aunt Chengyue."
Xiao Yunying remembered that Cheng Yue had said this morning that she wouldn't come in to deliver the food, and asked, "Did Cheng Yue give him money too?"
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