The Liu family brought just an ordinary quilt for celebrating a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons. What's wrong with that?
Seeing Jiang Zhi's puzzled expression, Liu said, "This is what Xiao Ju brought back for me to make shoe uppers."
She said she was fluffing quilts at someone's house, and they were discarding wedding blankets that others wanted to throw away!
Jiang Zhi nodded. Wang Xiaoju had said that, but was there a problem?
Liu said urgently, "Take another look. One of the children on this is your sister-in-law, Xiao Lanxiu."
"How did you know it was Xiaolan who embroidered it?"
Jiang Zhi quickly pulled the quilt over to look; the little figures on it were all similar, and she couldn't tell who embroidered them.
Liu pointed to one of the little children and said, "When Xiaolan got married, she didn't know how to embroider. I helped her make her wedding quilt, and I taught her to use dots to embroider the eyebrows when embroidering the Hundred Children pattern, which would save time. She learned it. You see, these two little children are different."
With Liu's reminder, Jiang Zhi successfully found the difference: the eyebrows of the two children playing Cuju (ancient Chinese football) were not a straight line, but a dot.
Madam Liu's brows furrowed as deeply as a child's, practically forming knots, as she muttered, "Since she's a lady in the city, why hasn't she come back to visit all these years?"
"Did something happen to her that prevents her from going back to her parents' home?"
Since Lan Xiaogu lived in the city, and so many things had happened to her family in the past ten years, why didn't she visit them even once?
With her simple and kind-hearted mind, she naturally couldn't understand what had happened and even worried about whether something had happened to Aunt Lan!
Jiang Zhi sneered, "Only sixty miles apart, and she hasn't been able to come for over ten years, unless she's broken her leg or become mute? She'd better be able to give me a straight answer, otherwise... hmph!"
Jiang Zhi didn't say what would happen otherwise.
She could only imagine how heartbroken her children would be if she died, and how painful it would be for her to support her family with her own body as the pillar of the household collapsed.
I felt so empathetic that I wanted to strangle Aunt Lan.
Everyone says that women should be self-reliant, but who understands that behind self-reliance lies "lack of support"?
Who wants their world to be filled with wind, frost, rain, and snow? Who doesn't want spring to bloom every day?
It's such a great irony that while the original person was bearing all this suffering, someone else was playing the role of a wife!
Jiang Zhi was already 60-70% certain that the "sister-in-law" was Nie Fantian's mother, and now with Liu's confirmation, she was 100% certain.
Upon hearing Jiang Zhi say "broken leg, mute voice," Liu's expression changed: If that were true, it would be better; the lady Xiaoju mentioned was perfectly healthy.
The arrest team from Xujia Village was quickly assembled, regardless of the late hour and the fact that it would be dark by the time they entered the city.
Jiang Zhi led several women to the post station.
"Cao, I need two mule carts. Could you arrange that? Here's some money for my nephews to buy some wine!"
Money is power. Jiang Zhi generously gave the postman a string of coins for his journey, and Cao, the postmaster, immediately arranged for two mule carts from the post station to head straight for Pingchuan County.
When they arrived in the county town, they were just before the city gates closed.
The streets were nearly deserted, and most shops had already closed.
Jiang Zhi could only hurriedly buy some cakes and put them in the basket she carried with her, so that everyone could have something to eat.
"Er Rui Niang! Which way do we go?" Liu Shi shrank closer.
She was a peasant woman who had spent most of her life in the countryside, and had never left the village except when she fled famine with other villagers.
Facing the deserted and unfamiliar streets, I felt both afraid and anxious, and my nerves were trembling.
Jiang Zhi squeezed Liu's hand: "Sister-in-law, don't be afraid, there are plenty of us!"
Then he looked at Wang Xiaoju and asked, "Xiaoju, can you find that courtyard?"
If Wang Xiaoju can find the courtyard, she should get down to business first.
If not, we'll have to find an inn to stay overnight and figure things out the next day.
Wang Xiaoju said, "Let me try, I can barely remember!"
So, led by Wang Xiaoju, the group walked through the main streets and alleys. The road became more and more remote, and it got darker and darker. Everyone became nervous.
Mrs. Liu kept asking her youngest daughter-in-law, "Xiaoju, have we arrived yet? Can you find it? Is it right?"
Wang Xiaoju was also covered in sweat.
Although she remembered the way, the light was poor now, and the doors and windows were closed all around, unlike during the day, so she made several mistakes.
Fortunately, Jiang Zhi didn't rush her and comforted her kindly: "Don't worry, take your time looking. If you can't find it, stay here and continue looking tomorrow."
Just as the curfew gong sounded in the distance, Wang Xiaoju finally stopped at the back gate of a courtyard.
She gasped for breath and said, "Auntie, this is it!"
Jiang Zhi went up to take a look and saw that there was a lock on the small door. She reached out and touched it and found that there was no dust on it.
"This is it! Break down the door!"
Wang Xiaoju picked up a stone and started banging it against the lock cylinder. The simple brass lock was not durable and the lock opened after only two or three hits.
Jiang Zhi unlocked the door and went inside.
The courtyard was dimly lit. Wang Xiaoju took out a flint and a packet of velvet paper from her basket, lit them in a few quick movements, and then lit a small candle as well.
She always carries these lights with her when she works outside.
The door closed again, and by the light of the small candle, Jiang Zhi could see the situation in the courtyard clearly.
Just as Wang Xiaoju described, the room was filled with various odds and ends, except that the pile of cotton wadding and quilt covers were gone.
Standing in the courtyard, Liu asked again, "Errui's mother, there's no one here. Where should we look?"
She was panicking. What if they were caught as thieves after breaking into someone else's house?
Beside them, Qin and Pi, who had been so lively in the village since they entered the city, had become silent and kept quiet.
Only Wang Xiaoju seemed to have a sudden realization, her mind always sharp. When she heard her mother-in-law ask what to do, she replied, "I saw that lady here last time, it must be her yard. Even if it isn't, we can ask the neighbors around tomorrow."
Jiang Zhi gave her an approving look: No wonder she dares to lead a group to rob and plunder.
Previously, they robbed their own homes, but now they can rob others. They are more shrewd than Pierre when it comes to this kind of thing.
Wang Xiaoju's words could not dispel the worries of Liu and the others, after all, they had broken in by smashing the door.
Jiang Zhi said, "Xiao Ju is right, you can all rest assured."
This house must be run by a heartless idiot; we just moved in like this.
If someone asks, I can find the person in question; if no one asks, I can still stay the night.
Stirring up the grass to alert the snake, and waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump—these are all good methods!
Pingchuan County is neither too big nor too small, making it easy for two people to hide.
Since Aunt Lan has the ability to hide for more than ten years, she can hide for a lifetime.
The fact that they are now willing to approach Xu Genbao and his wife shows that they are confident they can continue to hide without being discovered.
Instead of wasting time and effort searching the whole city for someone playing hide-and-seek, it's better to find a spot and knock them out with two blows.
The banging on the door is quite loud now, and the neighbors will definitely hear it. Once the homeowner comes looking for them, the clues will automatically come to them.
Seeing that Jiang Zhi and Wang Xiaoju were both so calm, the three Lius also calmed down.
There are five of us on our side, and farmers aren't afraid of anything when it comes to work.
So they put down their baskets, cleared a space in the side room, found some broken tables and chairs, lit a fire, drew water from the well, and ate some dry biscuits.
Not hungry, the group sat around the fire, chatting idly and occasionally listening to the sounds outside.
As time passed and sleepiness crept in, Pi and Wang Xiaoju, who were young, fell asleep sitting up.
Liu, Qin, and Jiang Zhi were still talking.
Liu said, "Your mother-in-law only gave birth to one son and one daughter. She injured her body when she gave birth to Xiaolan and has never been pregnant again since."
Because Xiao Lan was born prematurely, she was as small as a kitten, and everyone doted on her.
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