Tong Mo's voice came from outside the carriage curtain.
Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei were startled. They exchanged a glance, realizing they had forgotten about Tong Mo outside the carriage.
Tong Mo reached out and lifted the carriage curtain. "Auntie, my uncle is a very stubborn person. Once he's made up his mind, not even ten oxen could pull him back."
“I’m not your aunt.” Cai Damei frowned, feeling a physical aversion to the term “aunt.”
"Whether you like it or not, you're still my aunt." Tong Mo ignored Cai Damei's cold face and continued, "Aunt, my uncle has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. I advise you to just accept it."
Silence fell inside the carriage.
"Mother, why have you forgiven Li Nan again?" Ye Yunniang changed the subject, grateful to Xie Lanhua for saving her from a beating. But she was also resentful for letting the culprit who had caused all this go unpunished.
"My saying I won't pursue the matter doesn't mean I forgive them," Cai Damei sneered. Li Nan and Li Wu were currently imprisoned. It was the county magistrate's job to try them.
Cai Damei is right.
The two were brought in by Bao Min on charges of attempted murder. Whether she pursues the matter or not, the county magistrate will conduct a trial; the laws of the imperial court are not to be trifled with.
Sure enough, when Li Nan's family went to pick him up, they were told that Li Nan had been sentenced to exile.
Xie Lanhua, being a woman of deep affection, packed her bags and went with them.
This time, Aunt Guihua did not stop them; she packed their bags and saw the two off.
Upon arriving at the town gate, they encountered the people Bao Min had arranged to wait there.
Bao Min received orders to escort the Huang family to the capital for trial, and had already left with his men ahead of time.
After listening, Cai Damei made the decision, and they also set off back to Jiangcheng.
Back at the inn, they packed their bags and left with the two children.
With two coffins and Ye Yunniang's morning sickness from earlier, they didn't travel by water on their return journey, but instead traveled entirely by land.
The land route required a detour and took more than a month to complete.
We spend the New Year on the road. Even counting those in coffins, a family can still be considered reunited.
Arrived in Jiangcheng before the 15th day of the first lunar month.
Ye Yunniang was also six months pregnant. Although she was wearing a cotton-padded coat to cover up her pregnancy in the winter, it was still obvious at a glance.
For the sake of Ye Yunniang and the children's future, they did not return to Wanxia Lane, but settled down at a farm outside the city.
This farm was introduced to me by Tong Mo, and Cai Damei bought it after taking a liking to it.
At Cai Damei's insistence, the farm's land deeds and deeds were registered under Ye Yunniang's name.
The money used was the "child-raising money" given by Jiang Mingzhe.
The graves of Li Jun and Li Min are on a small hill behind the farm, with the tombstones facing the direction of Lincheng.
After that, Ye Yunniang went into a period of rest and care for her child.
...
Time flies, and three years have passed.
A lot has happened in those three years.
Li Pan first entered school at the age of 6.
When Li An was five years old, he also insisted on going to school with Li Pan. After passing Master Du's examination, he entered Du's School.
After a day and a night of labor pains, Ye Yunniang gave birth to Li Ping, who is now 3 years old.
Li Ping is a very individualistic child.
If I can lie down, I will never sit; if I can sit, I will never stand; if I can stand, I will never walk; if I can walk, I will never run.
Do whatever makes you comfortable.
At first, Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei thought he was sick, and the doctors they consulted all said there was nothing wrong with him.
It was Ang Lee who revealed Li Ping's thoughts.
Li Ping is a complete lazy bum.
Upon closer inspection, the two realized it was true, and their worries subsided.
Li Ping was easy to take care of. Ye Yunniang laid out a mat in the yard and put a thin quilt on it.
Li Ping lay motionless on the thin blanket.
Ye Yunniang sat to the side, sewing shoes for Li Pan and Li An. The two children went through more and more shoes as they grew older.
A pair of shoes would last less than seven days. Whenever Ye Yunniang and Cai Damei had time, they would make shoes for their two children.
"Xu Erlei!" Liang Maimiao's voice rang out from the neighboring No. 5 courtyard, "You skipped school?"
Then came the sound of sticks hitting his body.
"I don't want to study," Xu Erlei cried out.
"If you don't want to study, what do you want to do?"
"I want to learn how to slaughter pigs."
"Slaughter a pig? You think you're so great? Your dad, grandparents, and I work hard every day to earn money to send you to school. And instead of studying properly, you skip school. I'll beat you to death! Stop right there, don't run away..."
Then came another round of beating sounds.
Li Ping laughed as he heard the cries from next door.
Ye Yunniang put down her needlework and reached out to touch Li Ping's forehead.
"You don't learn the good things, but you learn your second brother's perverse tastes." Ye Yunniang stood up and pulled Li Ping out.
"I'm not going," Li Ping refused.
"No," Ye Yunniang disagreed.
A few days ago, a child was playing alone in the yard of a family in Chaoxia Lane when he was taken away and has not been found yet.
Upon hearing this, Ye Yunniang became worried about the lazy Li Ping.
He took Li Ping with him wherever he went, never letting him be a child alone.
Li Ping was reluctant to be pulled away by Ye Yunniang, his little face showing how tired he was from walking.
In Courtyard No. 5, Liang Maimiao and Xu Erlei ran and chased each other, circling around the courtyard.
"Xu Erlei, stop right there."
"Only a fool would stop." Xu Erlei, who was running ahead, took a moment to retort to his mother.
Given his provocative tone, it's safe to say he was beaten, and he certainly didn't deserve it.
Ye Yunniang and Li Ping entered, interrupting the chase between the Xu family mother and son.
"Maimiao, have you heard?" Ye Yunniang pushed open the courtyard gate.
"What?" Liang Maimiao stopped and asked curiously.
"Ma Xiaokou is going to have a son." Ye Yunniang told Liang Maimiao what she had heard from Cai Damei yesterday.
"You have a son? Chunxing is pregnant?" Liang Maimiao's father was sick, so she went back to take care of him for three days and only returned this morning.
I didn't know that Ma Xiaokou had a son, so my first reaction upon hearing this was that Chunxing was pregnant.
But thinking back to when I saw Chunxing this morning, her stomach was flat.
"Adopt." Ye Yunniang approached Liang Maimiao and beckoned Xu Erlei to play with Li Ping.
Xu Erlei laughed and ran off to play with Li Ping.
Looking at the carefree Xu Erlei, Liang Maimiao sighed, thinking that her son was hopeless.
Ye Yunniang listened and offered a few words of advice. The two then continued talking about Ma Xiaokou's matter.
Ma Xiaokou and Chunxing have been married for many years but have no children.
Over the years, the two of them have seen every doctor in the capital. They've also tried countless folk remedies and unorthodox prescriptions.
Neither of them got pregnant.
Some people suggested adopting a child, saying that it might bring you a child.
Ma Kouzi immediately disagreed with the idea of paying someone else's child to be raised. This delayed the matter.
"You little brat, go back to where you were born. My Ma family doesn't raise other people's offspring." Ma Kouzi's shout reached their ears.
"I'll go take a look." Before Liang Maimiao finished speaking, she had already run out of the yard.
"Mom, let's go together." Li Ping didn't want to play with Xu Erlei, finding him too noisy, and dragged his mother to watch the fun.
Ye Yunniang pulled Li Ping and Xu Erlei together and walked towards the alley entrance.
I had just reached courtyard number three when a smelly shoe flew towards me.
Ye Yunniang grabbed the two children and quickly crouched down to avoid the smelly shoes.
"My shoes!" Niu Dajiao shouted as he ran over, slipped, and knelt down in front of Ye Yunniang and the other two.
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