Upon hearing Liu's shout, Granny He didn't bother to grab anything else and hurriedly pulled Zhang Er along, pushing the cart, and ran home.
At this moment, the men sleeping under the tree heard the noise and hurriedly got up. Seeing this, Liu grabbed Tiezhu's arm and shouted:
"They kidnapped Xu Qianqian! I think there were three of them. You need to go after them!"
Upon hearing this, Tie Zhu quickly picked up the weapon beside him and called Ning Wu, Gou Dan, and Ning Zhao to head in the direction Liu Shi had pointed out.
At this moment, Ning Chunlin also hurriedly got out of the carriage.
"You said Qianqian was kidnapped?"
Mrs. Liu nodded hurriedly.
"Yes, she was just carried away by a man. You should go after her!"
Hearing this, Ning Chunlin looked at the retreating figures of Tie Zhu and the others in the distance, and breathed a sigh of relief, saying:
"It's alright. I saw Tiezhu and the others go after them, so I don't need to go. I'm unarmed, so it would be pointless for me to go. Besides, have you ever seen a young master from a wealthy family who would need to take matters into his own hands in a situation like this?"
Seeing this, Liu muttered helplessly:
"Isn't Xu Qianqian your woman?"
Upon hearing this, Ning Chunlin glared at Liu Shi, then flicked his sleeves and got into the carriage.
Hearing Liu's shouts, Sun slowly emerged from the carriage behind. She had overheard Liu's conversation with Ning Chunlin. Although he was happy that Xu Qianqian had been kidnapped, Ning Chunlin's actions made Sun feel disheartened. If she had been the one kidnapped today, perhaps he would have said the same thing.
Thinking this, Madam Sun completely lost faith in Ning Chunlin. She shook her head helplessly and prepared to return to her carriage, but then she looked up and exclaimed in surprise:
"Oh no! Our stuff has been stolen!"
Wang Ma, who had been eagerly anticipating Xu Qianqian's abduction, hadn't even gotten off the carriage. However, upon hearing Sun Shi's shout, she couldn't sit still any longer and hurriedly jumped off the carriage to check.
"Oh dear, it's true! All the food we prepared for the road is gone! That damned thief!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Guixiang forgot her fear and hurriedly got out of the car. Seeing what was happening, she too began to scream.
"Oh dear, oh dear, what are we going to do? We can't possibly go all the way to Kyoto on an empty stomach!"
Aunt Zhou and Ning Qiu also got off their oxcart to check their belongings. Relieved to find nothing missing, Aunt Zhou then approached Jiang Yuwei with concern and asked:
"Yuwei, have any of your things been stolen?"
Jiang Yuwei shook her head and said:
"Nothing was stolen. Perhaps the thief didn't think much of us oxcart drivers and just stole things from the horse-drawn carriage. Or perhaps Liu noticed early and scared them away before they could even make a move."
Upon hearing that nothing was missing from Jiang Yuwei's or Aunt Zhou's house, Chen Guixiang's eyes lit up, and she went to Jiang Yuwei's side, saying with a sly smile:
"Luckily, none of our things were stolen, so we don't have to worry about not having food on the road."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei raised an eyebrow and looked at Chen Guixiang, saying:
"Our things?"
Seeing this, Chen Guixiang quickly nodded with a smile:
"That's right, these are our family's things. I have no blood relation with anyone else. Don't forget, Ning Huaizhi is my own son!"
Jiang Yuwei sneered upon hearing this and said:
"Then don't forget that we separated a long time ago, and I always carry the documents of the separation with me."
Upon hearing this, Chen Guixiang blushed and said,
“That’s because we didn’t know Chunlin’s identity before, which is why we separated from you. Now that Chunlin is going to reunite with his biological parents, I only have Huaizhi left as my son. What am I going to do if Huaizhi doesn’t take care of us old folks? Don’t you think so, Huaizhi?”
As Chen Guixiang spoke, she shouted to Ning Huaizhi, who was still on the oxcart.
Upon hearing this, Ning Huaizhi merely frowned deeply in thought, without uttering a word.
When Chen Guixiang saw that Ning Huaizhi didn't respond to her, she immediately became anxious.
"You unfilial son! Have I raised you for nothing? Let me tell you, you're my only son now, so you have to support me in my old age. I don't care. That family division agreement is useless once we leave Ningjia Village. You have to support me and your father in our old age!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei frowned and looked at the unreasonable Chen Guixiang, slowly saying:
“Huai Zhi is asleep, don’t call him, he can’t hear you. Who told you that this family division agreement is useless once it leaves Ningjia Village? You personally agreed to the family division back then, and there were so many villagers there as witnesses.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Guixiang's eyes lit up and she immediately said:
"You're talking nonsense! I never agreed to that. Now that we've left Ningjia Village, the villagers have nothing to do with us anymore. They can't go to the capital to testify that we've separated!"
Jiang Yuwei sometimes really felt that Chen Guixiang's brain was full of mush, and she said speechlessly:
"Have you forgotten that Ning Qiu, Ning Wu, Aunt Zhou, Uncle Cai, Ning Daya, and Liu Shi are all from Ningjia Village? Do you think they can go to the capital to testify for me?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Guixiang immediately remembered that Jiang Yuwei had brought these burdens with her on her trip to the capital. Thinking of this, she glared resentfully at Aunt Zhou standing behind Jiang Yuwei and said:
"Hmph, even if they testify for you, that family division agreement was written by the village head. I don't care, it's useless once you leave Ningjia Village! Your family's things belong to the Ning family!"
Jiang Yuwei knew that Chen Guixiang was unreasonable, so after she had the village head help her sign the family division agreement, she also had the village head run an errand to the yamen to register it. Now, even if Chen Guixiang wanted to renege on the agreement, she couldn't.
Thinking this, Jiang Yuwei didn't want to waste any more words with her, and simply stared at her and said:
"Don't just focus on these immediate benefits. If you insist that you haven't separated from our main branch of the family, then you've absolved yourself of the debt of gratitude you owe Ning Chunlin for raising you. Don't you want to live in the Prince's Mansion with Ning Chunlin and enjoy a life of luxury? Are you sure you want to live with me and suffer? Then I'll go and tell Wang Ma."
Upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Chen Guixiang quickly grabbed her arm and whispered:
"No, please don't tell anyone yet. What I mean is, we've run out of food in the carriage. I can't go to Kyoto on an empty stomach, can I? I won't tell you that we're no longer separated, just give me something to eat on the way!"
Jiang Yuwei glared at her and shouted:
"You really are short-sighted. Would the young master of the royal family lack food? At most, when we pass through town tomorrow, Wang Ma can go and buy some food to eat on the way. How can you be so old and still not use your brain at all?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Guixiang's face immediately turned red.
Wang Ma, who was anxiously standing nearby, also heard Jiang Yuwei's words and looked coldly at Chen Guixiang, saying:
"Old woman Chen, if you don't want to come with our carriage, you can take your old man back to Ningjia Village right now!"
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