On the other side, Yang Mengchen arrived at the room where the women were temporarily housed, only to find that several of them had already died: "What happened here?"
"Replying to the princess, they suddenly committed suicide. We were unable to prevent it in time," Lv Luo said respectfully.
Seeing the expressions of relief on the faces of those women, Yang Mengchen silently sighed: "Take them out and bury them."
They were set on dying, and even if Lv Luo and the others could stop them, they could only prevent it once, not a second or third time.
Lv Luo immediately found some soldiers to carry the women out.
The remaining few dozen women huddled in the corners, their faces pale and withered, showing an ashen numbness, their eyes lifeless, and scarcely clothed. Yang Mengchen felt compassion: "Don’t be afraid, I am the princess consort of the current Prince Chen, and I am here to help you."
Perhaps it was the gentle and clear sound of Yang Mengchen’s voice, her kind and warm expression, or perhaps the memory that Yang Mengchen had indeed come with the soldiers, or perhaps it was hearing that Yang Mengchen was a princess, that caused the women to gradually look up at her.
"I offer you two choices. First, take fifty taels of silver and go back to your homes. Second, I’ll arrange for someone to escort you to a place where nobody knows you, provide you with new identity documents, and have someone teach you skills to make a living. Forget the past and start anew. Think it over carefully before you answer me."
The women looked bewildered, and no one responded for a long while.
Yang Mengchen did not rush them; after all, it concerned their entire lives, and they needed to contemplate carefully.
After a long time, one woman resolutely said, "I choose the second option!"
If it was possible, who wouldn’t want to live well? But after such an event, if they returned home, they only faced death. Better to accept Princess Chen’s offer and start anew in another place with a new identity. Even if Princess Chen meant to harm them, could the situation be worse than it currently was?
The others seemed to think the same way, and so they all said they would follow Princess Chen’s arrangements. Not a single one desired to take the money and go home.
Having experienced such hardships, the fact that they were still willing to gather the courage to face life anew filled Yang Mengchen with gratification. She instructed Shan Cha and the others to find some clothes from the bandits to temporarily lend to the women, and then went to find Long Xuanmo.
Long Xuanmo immediately gave a token to Mo Lei, instructing him to escort the women away with six Elite Guards. As for the identity documents, Mo Lei would handle that himself.
After resolving the situation here, Long Xuanmo and Yang Mengchen, along with Hai Tang and others, quickly rode back to Yangliu village and finally arrived at the Yang family’s home on the morning of February 17th.
Just as they reached the village entrance, the villagers saw the procession and immediately began cheering loudly: "The princess has returned! The princess has returned!" They ran to spread the news.
Except for those who were working, the other villagers hurried to the road leading to the Yang family’s house. Seeing Yang Mengchen walking slowly towards them (the party had already dismounted and was on foot), every one of them was moved, tears in their eyes, as they knelt on both sides of the road: "Long live the Prince! Long live the princess!" Their voices nearly pierced the heavens.
"Please, stand up, everyone." Looking at the villagers lining the road to welcome them, Yang Mengchen’s eyes were also moist. After nearly a year, the people and the scenery of her hometown were still as familiar.
Upon her words, the people stood up, smiles of joy on each face, as they surrounded Yang Mengchen and Long Xuanmo to escort them to the Yang family’s home.
The Wu, Liu, Shen, and four other families, along with some neighbors and villagers who had come to help with the wedding preparations, were already waiting at the gate. Seeing Yang Mengchen, they all came to greet her, the women and children gathering around her, offering warm words of comfort, while the men also showed faces full of concern and joy.
Long Xuanmo, already aware that Ah Jiu was deeply loved in the village and feeling ignored at the moment, did not mind at all. In fact, he was pleased.
"Alright, let’s first have Jiujiu and the Prince freshen up, as we’ll have to pay a visit to the Empress Dowager and the others later," Grandpa Yang reminded everyone with a loud voice.
The women, finally coming to their senses, hurriedly wiped their tears with their cloth handkerchiefs and led Yang Mengchen back to Mengchen Pavilion, while Yang Chaoyi and the other men called out to Long Xuanmo.
After a brief wash, Long Xuanmo and Yang Mengchen informed the family, then headed to Long Xuanmo’s separate residence.
With a wave of his hand indicating to the Butler that there was no need to announce their arrival, Long Xuanmo and Yang Mengchen, accompanied by Hai Tang and others, entered the garden. There, they saw Min Ruochen, Min Ruomeng, Long Muye, and Long Zhenkai, as well as two identical young boys, playing chase around Grand Prince Gong. The Empress Dowager and others were sitting nearby, and a beautiful and dignified woman stood behind them; the garden was filled with laughter and joy.
Seeing Grand Prince Gong so open and joyful for the first time, Yang Mengchen looked at the two little boys and then at the dignified woman, feeling very fortunate in her heart.
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