Chapter 191 It's been found.
As she wished, the foolish mother and daughter chose to attack her illegitimate daughter on the last day of the caravan's journey. However, to her dismay, they couldn't even handle such a small matter properly, ultimately forcing her to secretly help them.
What's more troublesome is that her daughter, who desperately wanted her illegitimate daughter to disappear, secretly intervened without her knowledge, and was even caught in the act by her sister-in-law's daughter.
The mother and daughter, who could have remained completely hidden, were thus dragged into the public eye.
Her sister-in-law, whom she had invited to witness the incident and share the blame, was as cold-hearted, insidious, and vicious as ever. She disregarded the family's honor and reputation, not only exposing everything in the open but also threatening to report it to the authorities, forcing her and her mother to put their fingerprints on the confession.
The attempt to steal a chicken backfired, leaving not only the mother and daughter, but also her annoying sister-in-law and the other woman's always-crying daughter feeling utterly miserable.
Knowing that the matter of the substitute marriage could no longer be handled in a straightforward manner, she had a headache, but she had no choice but to pull herself together and force herself to clean up the mess in front of her.
Her shameless half-sister-in-law, after the affair was exposed, not only did not slink home with her daughter, but instead sat there calmly and threatened her second sister-in-law.
In truth, her ability to change her strategy so quickly was largely thanks to her sister-in-law's cold-blooded ruthlessness.
It was the other party's threat to her second sister-in-law and her actions that inspired her to copy their methods and threaten her second sister-in-law after the other party left.
Her demands were simple: her second sister-in-law had to arrange for her daughter to take her place in the marriage, or she would spread rumors, exaggerating the story of her second sister-in-law and niece plotting against the bride.
As for the fact that she was also involved, she said to her second sister-in-law indifferently:
"Even if my second brother finds out I was involved, so what? At most, he'll just cut off all contact with me."
"But you are different, Second Sister-in-law. You and your precious daughter actually plotted to kill the only child left by his beloved woman. Do you think he will divorce you in a fit of anger and send your precious daughter to a nunnery?"
"And then there's your newly married son, your married eldest daughter, and their mother who was divorced for plotting against their half-sister. Do you think they can have a good life in the future?"
This woman, who perfectly embodied the saying "a shameless person is invincible," successfully threatened her second sister-in-law.
Even though her daughter kept crying, she ultimately chose to compromise with her annoying sister-in-law in order to prevent the situation from getting worse.
After listening to the guard's well-organized and vivid performance, Xie Wanniang couldn't help but click her tongue twice.
"This family is truly... amazing."
With that remark, Xie Wanniang sent the guards back to rest. She didn't have a long talk with Haitang, who seemed to have a lot to say, but instead waved her hand decisively, telling the girl to go to the outer room to rest.
After a good night's sleep, Xie Wanniang and the others were about to go out for a stroll when they saw the sister-in-law holding a confession. She was leaving the inn in a carriage with her daughter and a group of servants, without looking back, preparing to leave the prefectural city and return home.
The second sister-in-law, who remained behind, held her nose and, together with her annoying sister-in-law, began preparing for her crybaby cousin's wedding.
Because she harbored the idea of replacing her daughter at the last minute before the wedding, the second sister-in-law not only didn't skimp on the dowry when preparing it for her illegitimate daughter, but even secretly brought more good things to add to the dowry list so that her daughter could take them to her husband's family.
Now she has achieved her goal of making a last-minute substitution, but unfortunately the person she replaced was not her daughter, but her sister-in-law's crybaby daughter.
She certainly wouldn't add any more good things that she brought in privately, but she couldn't get back the dowry that had been prepared for her illegitimate daughter and was already on the list. It would just benefit her sister-in-law's crybaby daughter.
The two women, one beaming with joy and the other with a gloomy expression, were busy with their tasks, completely unaware that the girl they thought was surely going to die was being escorted by a kind elderly couple towards the prefectural city.
They found the girl downstream. An old woman who was squatting by the river washing clothes saw a person floating downstream whose fate was unknown. She quickly called some villagers, including her own husband, to help pull the person out of the water.
Fortunately, the girl was knocked unconscious and then thrown directly into the water, so she didn't swallow a lot of water in the chaos, nor did she injure any vital parts due to her frantic struggles.
Apart from a large bump on the back of her head and a few abrasions on her body, she had no other discomfort.
After being examined by a traveling doctor and resting for a night in the village, she forced herself to get up and begged the elderly couple who had saved her to take her to the prefectural city.
She was a wealthy young lady. Because she hadn't been adrift in the river for long, she still had most of her jewelry. She used a silver hairpin to cover the costs of her medicine, food, lodging, and carriage. She also promised to reward her handsomely once she found her family. After a brief discussion, the elderly couple agreed to hire a carriage to take her to the prefectural city to find her relatives.
The girl had come to her senses and realized who had harmed her. But she thought that this marriage was her only chance to change her fate, and that her aunt was still in the group. Even if she went back, with her aunt there, she would no longer be in danger. So she mustered her courage and went to the prefectural city.
After paying the city entrance fee, she inquired about the large, imposing group she had originally been part of.
Believe it or not, there are actually people who remember a team that matches her description.
After asking around, the girl finally found the inn where her family was staying around noon.
Upon hearing from the innkeeper that such a group of people had indeed checked in, the girl was overjoyed and immediately begged the innkeeper to take her there.
The guy was one of the bystanders who witnessed yesterday's farce. Although he was just passing by, delivering water to guests in other courtyards and couldn't stay for long, he pieced together the whole story almost immediately based on his years of experience as a gossip.
At this moment, the girl said she wanted to find her relatives, and even specifically asked to find the person who had caused such a family scandal yesterday. How could the waiter not guess that she was the missing bride?
After a brief struggle, the man glanced at the stunningly beautiful girl with sympathetic eyes, but his desire to watch the spectacle was quickly suppressed by his concern for her safety.
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