Wang Ma didn't like Chen Guixiang much to begin with, but when something happened, not only did she not help find a solution, but she also started thinking about her own survival. Just like Jiang Yuwei said, how could the dignified Prince Jing's mansion lack the food of an old woman like her? Such a short-sighted person, if she were really brought to the mansion in the future, who knows how much trouble she would cause.
Seeing Wang Ma's unfriendly expression, Chen Guixiang glared at Jiang Yuwei, then waved her hand and walked to Wang Ma's side with a smile, saying:
"Hey, don't be angry, I was just joking. I was just worried that Chunlin wouldn't have anything to eat."
Hearing this, Wang Ma became even angrier, glaring fiercely at Chen Guixiang and angrily saying:
"Even if we old folks can't get enough to eat, we can't let the young master and the eldest son go hungry!"
Seeing that Wang Ma was truly angry, Chen Guixiang dared not say anything more and could only nod in agreement:
"Yes, yes, you're right, I'll listen to you. It's okay if we go hungry, we're just half-buried anyway, hehehe, don't you think?"
Wang Ma, too lazy to look at her fawning face any longer, glared at her, turned her head to the side, and asked Liu Shi:
"Liu, you just said you saw someone kidnap Xu Qianqian, but did you see clearly who stole our grain?"
After thinking for a while, Liu shook her head and said:
"At that time, I was adding firewood to the fire and didn't see who came. I only saw that there were three of them when they ran. One person was carrying Xu Qianqian, and it seemed that there was an old woman pushing a cart. Perhaps all the things were put on the cart. It must have been done by the same group of people."
Upon hearing Liu's account that the thief had carried Xu Qianqian away, Ning Chunlin frowned and muttered:
"This is terrible! That thief must have been lusting after my Qianqian's beauty. He even dared to carry her away! Tiezhu and his gang of useless fools, why haven't they rescued her yet? What if my Qianqian's reputation is tarnished by those villains?!"
Jiang Yuwei walked towards the carriage and happened to overhear Ning Chunlin's words. She immediately glared at Ning Chunlin and scolded him:
"If you're not useless, why don't you go and save your Qianqian yourself? Besides, your Qianqian has been with two or three men already, what reputation does she have left? Instead of worrying about her innocence, you should worry about the food you lost. If you can't find it, you'll have to live frugally all the way to the capital."
Ning Chunlin, who had been restless and worried about Xu Qianqian, suddenly felt at ease after hearing Jiang Yuwei's words.
Ning Chunlin thought to himself that Jiang Yuwei was right. Anyway, Xu Qianqian wasn't innocent either. Even if her reputation was tarnished by these thieves, she wouldn't be so desperate as to commit suicide.
If this person really can't be saved, once I get to the capital, I'll ask my parents, the prince, to let me take a few more concubines. That way, I can at least soothe my wounded heart.
Thinking this, Ning Chunlin actually smiled. When Jiang Yuwei saw that he was still smiling even after being scolded, she immediately thought that he had been stimulated and had gone crazy, so she ignored him and walked straight to Liu Shi.
"Liu, which direction did you see those three run off in?"
When Liu saw Jiang Yuwei asking a question, she quickly pointed to the lower reaches of the river and said:
"I can see it very clearly, it's running downstream!"
Aunt Zhou looked in the direction Liu was pointing and immediately thought of Granny He, who had spoken to her earlier that day, and said:
"Today I heard from that old woman He that there is a small village called Xiaogouzi downstream of the river. She told me that she is from that village and that she has a very good reputation there. She asked me to go and inquire about it."
Jiang Yuwei frowned, thinking of Granny He who had secretly run away with the steamed buns during the chaos earlier that day. It didn't seem like something a person of impeccable reputation would do, so she spoke up:
"I don't think that old woman He is a good person. Our car has been parked by the river all afternoon and no one else has passed by. Only that old woman He came with a shifty look to ask Aunt Zhou and Xu Qianqian for information. Before she left, she even secretly took away all your white steamed buns."
As she spoke, Jiang Yuwei took the torch from Liu's hand and went to examine the traces around the carriage. Because the riverbank was all pebbly, the footprints were not discernible. Jiang Yuwei then carefully examined the carriage and noticed that there seemed to be a piece of cloth hanging on the side of the carriage. Jiang Yuwei carefully took the cloth off and examined it carefully under the torch.
It was a piece of coarse, grayish-brown cloth. Jiang Yuwei handed the scrap of cloth to Aunt Zhou and said:
"Aunt Zhou, do you think I've seen this fabric somewhere before?"
Aunt Zhou took the strip of cloth from Jiang Yuwei, examined it carefully, thought for a moment, then slapped her thigh and exclaimed:
"Yes, it is Granny He's clothes. She was wearing these clothes when she spoke to me today. Because there were so many patches on her clothes, I took a closer look. I'm sure it's the same fabric she wore today!"
Jiang Yuwei nodded, took the scraps of cloth from Aunt Zhou, carefully put them away, and then looked up at Wang Ma and said:
"That makes sense. During the day today, that old woman He was here to gather information. Then, while we were asleep, she came with her accomplices to steal things. Since she told Aunt Zhou that she was from Xiaogouzi Village, we'll go to her village tomorrow to find her. With these scraps of cloth, she can't deny it!"
Upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words, Wang Ma immediately felt reassured. Sure enough, the young master's agreement to travel to the capital with Jiang Yuwei had its advantages. So many things had happened along the way, and Jiang Yuwei had always stepped in to resolve them. Despite being just a woman, she was more impressive in Wang Ma's eyes than many men!
At this point, Tie Zhu hadn't caught up with anyone along the way, so he had no choice but to bring Ning Wu and the others back first. As soon as Ning Chunlin saw Tie Zhu return, he hurriedly went up to him and asked:
"Why did it take you so long to come back? Did you find our food?"
Upon hearing this, Tie Zhu was immediately surprised and said:
"Didn't we go to rescue Xu Qianqian? What? We've lost our food too?!"
Seeing Tie Zhu's attitude, Ning Chunlin immediately spat on the ground in annoyance and cursed:
"You worthless piece of trash! You didn't even manage to get the people back, and you didn't even manage to get the food back!"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei immediately pointed at Ning Chunlin's nose and cursed:
"You're the worst! What right do you have to spout nonsense here, you lazy bum who just sits around waiting to die! What do you mean it's okay that we didn't get her back? You were the one who cried and begged to take Xu Qianqian with you on your journey, how come you're not going to look for her now that she's gone? Is food more important to you than human life?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com