She really couldn't guess who this person was; it was the middle of the night, and they certainly weren't up to anything good.
With that thought in mind, she decided she could no longer hide and came out from behind the rock.
In case it was a thief, he also carried a stone for self-defense.
The moonlight is so bright tonight that even without lights, one can see clearly in the darkness.
The old woman gripped the stone tightly in her hand and nervously walked towards the forge.
Unexpectedly, the person came out before she could go in. He was dressed in black, and her face was obscured, so it was impossible to tell whether he was male or female.
He bumped right into his mother-in-law, who was startled, and so was he.
Both of them were stunned for a moment. The mother-in-law saw what he was holding and her heart skipped a beat.
That was a half-finished bamboo whip; she would never forget what it looked like.
It's been more than ten years since I last saw him, and seeing him again now fills me with mixed feelings.
Chang Lili is a gifted child. Even in the Great Shun Dynasty, there are not many people who can make this, but she is self-taught. There is something in her blood that cannot be changed.
"Who...who are you? What are you going to do with this?" The old woman raised a stone in her hand and said, pretending to be fierce.
The man completely disregarded her and turned to leave, but his mother grabbed his arm.
"This man is a thief!" the mother-in-law exclaimed angrily. Chang Lili had worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk, finally managing to make the bamboo whip look decent, and now this man was trying to steal all her hard work.
"Leave the bamboo whip behind!" the mother-in-law snapped angrily.
The man impatiently tried to shake off her hand, but little did he know that she was an old woman with no strength at all, and he couldn't shake her off no matter what he did.
In a panic, the mother-in-law started yelling, "Help! Someone's stealing!"
Seeing that things were not going well, the man turned around and kicked his mother-in-law away hard.
The old woman was kicked to the ground and couldn't get up. She felt tightness in her chest, shortness of breath, and her blood was churning. The stone in her hand fell to the ground.
The thief turned around and muttered a strange curse in his voice, "You old hag!" before turning and walking away.
"Leave your things behind..." The old woman watched the man walk away, stretched out her hand, and tried to stand up again.
But before the person could disappear from sight, everything went black and she fainted.
When Chang Lili returned to the courtyard, she felt extremely regretful because it was so late.
There were no lights in the rooms in the courtyard, and my mother-in-law's room was also pitch black.
She figured her mother-in-law was probably still angry. She hadn't been paying much attention to her these past few days, and she was just sulking because she was home so late.
She lingered outside her mother-in-law's room for a while, then reached out her hand and withdrew it.
She figured her mother-in-law was probably asleep, so she decided not to disturb her and went back to her room to rest.
But the next morning, Chang Lili found her mother-in-law lying on the ground at the entrance of the forging workshop.
Her clothes were damp with dew, and her eyebrows and hair were covered with tiny dewdrops, making her look as if she had slept there all night.
"Grandma...Grandma!" Chang Lili rushed over and hugged her tightly. "Grandma, wake up! What are you doing here? What happened to you?"
My mother-in-law's body was cold, her face was pale, her lips were bluish-purple, and even her breathing was weak.
Upon realizing this, Chang Lili shuddered, and an indescribable fear spread through her heart.
People are born, grow old, get sick, and die. She knew that her mother-in-law would leave her one day, but when the moment drew near, she still couldn't accept it.
"Help! Someone help me!" Her heart-wrenching cries finally summoned the maids and servants of the mansion.
The mother-in-law was sent back home, and a doctor was called.
Fortunately, she only suffered some external injuries and caught a cold. As long as she takes her medicine on time and takes good care of herself, she will get better.
Chang Lili sat on the edge of the bed, holding her mother-in-law's hand, finally feeling at ease, but a look of resentment welled up between her brows.
"The doctor said my mother-in-law has external injuries. Who did this to her? Why did they do this to her?" she asked, her expression filled with grief and indignation.
Meng Yuxiu sat in the room with his brows furrowed. He couldn't help feeling guilty because this had happened in the General's Mansion.
The thief was allowed to sneak into the general's mansion, which was due to the silence of the mansion's guards.
“I will send someone to take good care of her. The doctor said there won’t be any major problems, so you don’t need to worry,” Meng Yuxiu said after thinking for a moment. “There’s one more thing: the bamboo whip in the forge is missing.”
Chang Lili turned to look at him, surprised, and said, "The bamboo whip is gone?"
Meng Yuxiu thought she would be heartbroken, so he comforted her, "Things can be made again if they're lost. I'll find all the materials you need."
Chang Lili gritted her teeth and said, "I know what happened. Someone must have injured Grandma and stolen the bamboo whip. As long as we find the person who stole the bamboo whip, we will know who injured Grandma."
Meng Yuxiu thought the same way she did, and even had someone to suspect.
"It must be Xiao Shu'er! She must have tried to trap me last time and is holding a grudge, so she doesn't want me to learn mechanical arts." Chang Lili felt that what she said made a lot of sense.
A moment later, she realized there was a loophole in what she had said. Learning mechanical arts through testing was something she and Meng Yuxiu had discussed, and no one else knew about it.
Did Meng Yuxiu tell Xiao Shu'er?
After thinking for a moment, she shook her head, stopping herself from letting her mind wander. Xiao Shu'er and Meng Yuxiu were chatting casually, and the sun was rising in the west.
She insisted, "It must be Xiao Shu'er. In short, she just wants revenge."
However, Meng Yuxiu's choice was not Xiao Shu'er, but Hu Pin.
After all, he had already taught Xiao Shu'er a lesson last time, so it was unlikely that she would come to his mansion to cause trouble anytime soon.
On the contrary, Hu Pin's investigation of the residences of officials, in order to investigate the affairs of the previous dynasty, was so extensive that he must have made plans in advance and would not let it go easily.
Now they've probably tracked down to his residence. This nine-section whip was likely stolen by one of his men because they suspected something was amiss.
That couldn't be a coincidence. Meng Yuxiu's gaze deepened, and he had a bad feeling.
Chang Lili continued to rant angrily, "I underestimated Xiao Shu'er. I didn't expect her to be so ruthless, unscrupulous, and petty!"
Meng Yuxiu raised an eyebrow and looked at Chang Lili with surprise. He didn't expect that this girl, who seemed to like swords and spears and was quite peculiar, would be so eloquent when she cursed.
"I could forgive her for how she treated me before, but now she's actually being ruthless towards my mother-in-law. She's truly hopeless. Does she even deserve to be a princess?" Chang Lili was probably blinded by anger, daring to utter such rebellious words.
But this was the general's residence, and there were no servants present at the moment. Meng Yuxiu simply took a sip of tea and said nothing.
In his view, Xiao Shu'er's character was indeed unworthy of the noble position of the eldest princess.
"Since she dares to do this, then I'll have to be ruthless!" A fierce determination surged within Chang Lili's slender body.
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