Chapter 144 Kidnapped
The maid beside her comforted her, saying, "Madam, don't worry, we'll borrow a carriage from the villagers when we get to Changliu Village ahead!"
Sun's eldest sister-in-law glanced ahead and said with a look of disgust, "I'm not going to ride their horses, they're dirty and smelly."
Before she got married, this eldest sister-in-law of the Sun family was the daughter of a rice seller in a neighboring county, and her family was quite wealthy.
Later, she married the eldest brother of the Sun family. She and the eldest brother of the Sun family were birds of a feather, both ruthless and vicious. It was she who first suggested the method of using women's blood to make rouge.
For the sake of gold and silver, she didn't care at all even though she knew her man had an improper relationship with Consort Wu; all she wanted was money.
It was she who initially proposed buying the Zhou family's incense shop.
She did buy the Zhou family's incense shop initially for the money, but one day when she passed by the shop, she saw Du Wanchun and Zhang Qiuhe, and she felt uneasy.
In the past, she expressed her desire to start a business at her parents' home, but her family dismissed her, saying that women should not show their faces in public.
Seeing how well two peasant women, Zhang Qiuhe and Du Wanchun, run an incense shop, can do, I feel resentful.
She didn't think she was inferior to them, so she insisted on buying the Zhou family's shop and even brought up the fact that the incense shop was profitable to make the eldest brother of the Sun family want to buy it as well.
While she was away visiting her parents, the eldest brother of the Sun family rushed off overnight to buy a shop from the Zhou family.
As they approached, one of the bandits whispered, "See her? Holding flowers, a rather pretty peasant woman! That's her!"
The short man frowned and said, "Brother, this is a main road. Could it be someone just passing by?"
The tall man said sternly, "Didn't you see the Zhou family's sachet hanging on her? Who else could she be but a member of the Zhou family?!"
The short man looked closely and saw that the woman was indeed wearing a sachet from the Zhou family.
This sachet did indeed belong to Aunt Zhou; it was embroidered with the character "Zhou," but it had been lost some time ago and picked up by a peasant woman.
When Sister-in-law Sun got soaked in the rain and was changing her clothes, she found the farmer's clothes smelly, so she took the farmer's sachet and hung it on her body.
Once the bandits confirmed the identity of the person, they didn't hesitate any longer and charged forward.
"Who are you?" Madam Sun was startled.
However, before she could be surprised for long, the bandit covered her mouth with a cloth soaked in sleeping pills.
She struggled twice and then fainted.
The maidservant standing nearby was also drugged.
The bandits carried the two of them on their backs.
Before leaving, the tall man instructed the short man, "You can read, go and write a note to the Zhou family, telling them to bring money to ransom you!"
"Okay, brother!" the short man replied and quickly turned and went to the village.
Inside the Zhou family residence, the Third Prince and Zhou Zhao happened to be returning from the fields.
Zhou Zhao divided the fish he caught from the pond into four portions, and planned to deliver them to Aunt Wang and the others when Aunt Zhou and the others returned.
The Third Prince went inside, washed his hands, and prepared to cook.
Du Wanchun and Zhou Ruiyuan finished rubbing the incense from the incense shop. As they returned to their room, they glanced at the door and asked, "Why haven't Mother and Aunt Wang come back yet today?"
By this time, Aunt Zhou and Aunt Wang would usually be back.
The Third Prince steamed the rice and came to her side, saying, "How about I go up the mountain to find them?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than an arrow flew from afar and struck the Zhou family's door frame.
Everyone was startled.
"What is this?" Du Wanchun strode to the arrow.
Zhou Ruiyuan followed behind her and took the arrow down.
A note was tied to the end of the arrow. Zhou Ruiyuan quickly took the note off and unfolded it to read it.
Du Wanchun stood on tiptoe to look, "Husband, what does the note say?"
Zhou Ruiyuan looked at the words on the note and his face showed surprise.
The Third Prince strode over as well. "Ruiyuan, what does it say on it?"
Zhou Ruiyuan handed the note to the Third Prince, "Someone kidnapped my mother and wants us to pay two thousand taels of silver within three days to ransom her, otherwise..."
The Third Prince frowned, his eyes filled with panic, and hurriedly looked down, "Otherwise what?"
Zhou Ruiyuan's expression darkened slightly, and he slowly said, "Otherwise, they will send my mother's head back."
The Third Prince's hand trembled as he held the note. "What?! They're incredibly audacious; they even dared to kidnap Zhou'er!"
Zhou Ruiyuan looked up into the distance. "The person who delivered the note shouldn't have gone far. I'll go check."
"Fine, go ahead. I want to see who dares to act so arrogantly in my presence." The Third Prince said, gripping the note tightly in his hand, his voice icy.
His appearance was completely different from his usual approachable demeanor; his eyes, filled with rage, seemed ready to tear the bandits apart at any moment.
Du Wanchun came up to comfort them, saying, "Third Uncle, don't worry, Mother should be alright."
What she said was true; Aunt Zhou was indeed alright.
However, she and Aunt Wang were indeed delayed on their way back via the back path, but it wasn't a bad thing; it was a good thing.
"Sister Wang, come and see, there are still some here." Aunt Zhou squatted down to pick leaves.
She used a hoe to dig up the stems of the small, pinkish-purple leaves.
Aunt Wang looked at them with suspicion and asked, "Sister Zhou, what are all these things? You're treating them like treasures."
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