On the other side, Shen Lijun was being guarded by Li Wu and several other officers.
The convicts were resting, some sitting and some lying down, when they heard the wind.
They looked up and saw a sky full of yellow sand, constantly approaching them.
Li Wu's expression changed drastically, and he immediately woke everyone up.
"Hurry, a sandstorm is coming!"
Shen Lijun, who had just woken up, was completely bewildered. How could there really be a sandstorm?
Damn it, Mu Wanting guessed right again.
But there was no time to think it through. He pushed aside the several convicts blocking his way and ran with the officers.
Everyone was struggling to run, and the few exiles who had been pushed down were even swept into the air by the sandstorm.
At first, you could still hear the cries for help from the exiles, but later, all you could see was a limp mass spinning with the sandstorm.
The convicts could barely keep their eyes open; they felt like their eyes were full of sand, and so were their mouths and noses. This stretch of road seemed endless.
Finally, they saw a cave, and Ma Dazhuang was calling out to them anxiously.
They immediately entered the cave, but the outermost few convicts were still swept away by the sandstorm.
Shen Lijun was somewhat anxious, and Madam Shen immediately spoke up.
"Come here quickly, second brother."
Shen Lijun's eyes lit up, and he immediately ran over.
Shen Yujiao, who was already on the periphery, was pushed even further out.
The sandstorm grew larger and larger, and soon swept her away. Shen Yujiao was so anxious that her face turned pale.
Mu Wanting was the first to react, her expression changed, and she quickly reached out to pull Shen Yujiao back.
Shen Yujiao's face was filled with terror. A strong force pulled against Mu Wanting's strength, and Shen Yujiao's face grew paler and paler.
Seeing that Mu Wanting and Shen Yujiao were about to be swept away by the sandstorm, Mu Wanting immediately drank a bowl of yellow soup, which tripled her strength.
Before the third branch of the family could even touch her, she had already pulled Shen Yujiao back.
Shen Yujiao's body was still trembling as she repeatedly thanked Mu Wanting.
Mu Wanting patted her head: "We're family, there's no need to say things like that."
Then, she pulled Shen Yujiao into the cave. The cave was too small, so the two of them could only stand. The other members of the third branch of the family also went in and stood there.
Shen Lijun, who had squeezed the three wives to the entrance of the cave, became the person on the outermost edge again, and his face turned pale.
The sandstorm continued, and he was struggling to stay afloat. Not wanting to die, he clung to his concubine's daughter and her child.
The illegitimate child was already reluctant to pay attention to him, but if he ignored him, the two people being pulled wouldn't survive either, so the illegitimate child tried harder to drag him along.
Shen Lijun turned pale with fear, and Old Madam Shen was extremely anxious.
"Someone please save him!"
The members of the third branch of the family remained silent, but the members of the first branch did lend a hand.
But that wasn't enough. The sandstorm was getting bigger and bigger, and it was clear that the people Shen Lijun was pulling were about to be dragged to the cave entrance by the wind. The officials had no choice but to take action.
It was all in vain.
Madam Shen was furious.
"Fine, if you guys aren't going, this old woman will go!"
She said that, but she didn't stand up.
The third branch of the family knew perfectly well that Old Madam Shen was manipulating them.
Mu Wanting automatically moved aside, and the others followed suit. Finally, when Madam Shen reached the cave entrance, a path was formed.
Madam Shen remained motionless.
She was furious: "You! What a bunch of unfilial descendants!"
Mu Wanting said, "Grandma, what are you saying? Didn't you say you were going? Then go ahead."
“Look, you’re taking up the space of at least three people. It’s already packed outside, but you have plenty of room here. If you go out to help, three or five more people can come in.”
Old Madam Shen took a deep breath and, seeing that Shen Lijun couldn't hold on any longer, gave Mu Wanting a rare kind of smile.
“Wan Ting, Grandma is too old to go up there.”
"Go and rescue your second uncle, and you'll naturally reap the rewards."
Mu Wanting wanted to laugh. What good things did Old Madam Shen have? Her good things all came from the third branch of the family.
Mu Wanting shook her head: "Grandma, I pulled my hand when I saved Yu Jiao just now, and now my hands and feet are weak. The third branch of the family is also tired from traveling all day."
"As you know, Shen Xinghe and Shen Xingyi took turns carrying you on their backs while we were traveling. We didn't have any strength left."
Madam Shen was furious, but she had nothing to say.
Shen Lijun started cursing loudly on the other end.
"You, Mu Wanting, you really think I care about you? You son of a bitch, just you wait, you won't get away with this."
Mu Wanting remained calm as she pulled the third branch of the family to sit next to Old Madam Shen. Upon seeing this, the collateral branches and the Zhao family quickly crowded together to make room for them.
Now, Shen Lijun was positioned even further out, and he screamed in terror.
Just as Shen Lijun was about to be swept away by the sandstorm, the sandstorm subsided a bit.
Once Shen Lijun was able to catch his breath, his first thought was to cause trouble for Mu Wanting and take the opportunity to squeeze in.
But now it's so crowded inside, there's not a single empty seat left.
Su Yu, annoyed by being squeezed on the innermost side, yelled at Shen Lijun.
"If you push any further, I'll throw you out. There's no room left for me here."
Shen Lijun dared not squeeze any further, but the sandstorm had lessened a bit and should continue to subside. He felt more confident and continued to grumble at the third branch of the family.
“If it weren’t for the trouble caused by your third branch of the family, why would I have to suffer like this? As your brother, you treat me like this, so don’t blame me for being impolite.”
Mu Wanting rolled her eyes. Brothers, my foot! Shen Lijun's third brother died long ago. Who's his brother now?
It's only because Shen's father died that the second wife dared to bully the third wife like this.
Mother Shen said calmly, "Second brother, you don't need to repeat yourself like this. You haven't helped our third branch of the family at all, and you've even bullied us. We're not afraid of what you're saying. But justice will prevail."
Shen Lijun snorted coldly, and Old Madam Shen chimed in.
“The Zhao family is, after all, family. If you say that, you show no affection.”
Mother Shen said calmly, "Affection? Mother, do you think there's any affection left? How did they treat Xinglan back then?"
Madam Shen changed the subject, saying, "Even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected."
Mother Shen scoffed: "I think you shouldn't say that to the third branch of the family, but to the second brother. If they don't cause trouble, when has the third branch ever taken the initiative to cause trouble?"
Madam Shen was about to say something more, but Madam Shen raised her hand to stop her.
"Mother, there's no need to say more. Once people's hearts are skewed, everything they see will be skewed."
She was an orphan and a widow, managing the royal palace for so many years, personally serving her parents-in-law, yet in the end she still couldn't compare to someone else's good-for-nothing son.
She's heartbroken now. Since they've already separated, she only needs to fulfill her husband's share of the responsibility for supporting him in his old age. As for anything else, it's none of her business.
She didn't want to change Madam Shen either. After all these years, she already knew exactly what kind of person she was, so there was no point in saying more.
At the cave entrance, besides the whistling wind, one could also hear Shen Lijun's shouts.
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