Seeing that the donkey was quite steady, Hong Xiaoduo finally got into the cart with peace of mind: "Tian Shu, get on, it won't make a difference if you lose a few dozen pounds. If you feel sorry for it, we'll feed it better hay and take good care of it in the future."
Upon hearing this, Tian Shu obediently sat on the carriage shaft.
Although Tianxuan was the same age as him, both eight years old, none of the seven children knew where they came from, what their surnames were, or even the month and time of their birth.
So, based on their height, Tian Shu, who was a fist's height taller than Tian Xuan, became the older brother.
But being an older brother isn't easy; you have to protect your younger siblings as much as possible to prevent them from being beaten by the villains.
Even if you beg for food outside, you should try to secretly hide some of it and save it for the one who is being punished and can't eat.
It had become a habit for Tian Shu to volunteer for everything, and driving the carriage was no exception.
Hong Xiaoduo said she was an adult and that she was coming to shoo him away, but Tian Shu absolutely refused, saying that he could do it and that he should try first.
Actually, if Hong Xiaoduo really wanted to catch this train, there was no way around it. As long as she put on a stern face and gave orders, Tian Shu wouldn't dare to disobey.
But she didn't do that because she wasn't sure how long she could take care of them, whether she would suddenly disappear, or whether she could find a suitable place and reliable people to entrust them to before she disappeared. So she simply hardened her heart and let the children do what they could to train their ability to take care of themselves and survive.
As soon as Hong Xiaoduo sat down in the carriage, Yao Guang moved closer to her.
"Are you tired?" Hong Xiaoduo asked softly.
Yao Guang shook her little head like a rattle drum: "Mom, I'm not tired. It's my first time riding in a carriage, and it's so comfortable."
"Silly boy, it's a donkey cart, a donkey cart," Tianquan corrected.
Yao Guang didn't feel embarrassed about saying something wrong: "Horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts are all four-legged vehicles, and they all look pretty much the same. Anyway, we don't have to walk by ourselves, and my brothers won't have to carry me anymore."
Her words made everyone in the carriage laugh.
"Yaoguang, sheep and pigs also have four legs, so can they pull carts too?" Tianxuan teased her little sister.
Hong Xiaoduo also tilted her head to look at Yao Guang beside her, wanting to hear how she would respond.
But Yao Guang glared at her second brother with wide eyes: "I'm just younger than you, not stupid. We've been to so many places, when have we ever seen a cart pulled by sheep and pigs?"
Seeing Yao Guang's adorable puffed-up face, everyone laughed even harder.
"Mother, look, my second brother is bullying me, and you're not even doing anything about it." Yao Guang thought of complaining.
Hong Xiaoduo nodded very seriously: "Okay, then next time when we buy candy, we'll give him one less piece. It's his fault for teasing our little Yaoguang, okay?"
Upon hearing this, Yao Guang immediately nodded and said, "Yes, that's good." She then proudly patted her waist at Tian Xuan.
Tianxuan immediately cooperated, putting her hands together and making a gesture and expression as if her brother had made a mistake and was asking for forgiveness.
Looking at how happy the children are now, and thinking back to the scene when I first met them, if it weren't for her meddling, wouldn't they have been suffering all along?
Even now, when the children are with her, they are still very careful and watch her expression before doing anything.
Yao Guang is the smallest, so she's not too bad off.
"Mother?" Tian Shu, who was driving the carriage, suddenly called out.
She only called out "Mother" but didn't say what she wanted to say. Hong Xiaoduo thought for a moment, then switched places with Yuheng, who was sitting in the front row, and opened the small lattice window in front of them.
Hearing the voice, Tian Shu leaned closer and whispered, "Those people were behind us not long after we left town. They're on horseback, and they're still behind us."
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo lifted the side curtain and peered behind her. Sure enough, about two miles away, there were six people—one, two… she counted. To be precise, there were six people on horseback.
She couldn't see anything else from this distance, so she lowered the curtain and said to Tian Shu, who was driving the carriage, "Stop by the roadside and feed the donkey."
Tian Shu responded and stopped. Hong Xiaoduo then asked the six people in the car if anyone needed to use the restroom. If not, they should stay in the car and not get off.
The younger ones wanted to say no, but Tianquan quietly reminded them that they should all go, whether they wanted to or not, so that they wouldn't waste time thinking about going later after setting off.
In this way, all six children got off the bus.
According to the rules set by Hong Xiaoduo, boys went to the left and girls to the right. The boys went behind the bushes on the left, while she personally accompanied the two girls to the bushes on the right.
When she returned to the car after finishing her business, Hong Xiaoduo asked Tianxuan and the others to help her pick up some pebbles.
There were still some in the cloth bag at my waist, just in case, so I picked up some more for backup.
She wasn't in a hurry to get back on the bus and continue her journey. The children searched for suitable pebbles around her, while she sat on a piece of dead wood, took the sword from her waist and laid it across her lap, looking at the ancient patterns on the scabbard, occasionally glancing seemingly unintentionally in the direction she had come from.
Logically speaking, it's perfectly normal for people to walk on this official road.
But even if those people on horseback didn't have any urgent business and didn't need to speed up, they shouldn't be slower than this donkey cart, right?
The reason Tian Shu told her this must be because he felt uneasy and thought it was unusual.
Hong Xiaoduo didn't think Tian Shu was too young to make wild guesses and suspicions. That's why she had the child stop the car, ostensibly to feed the donkey, but actually just to see how the group would react.
She glanced at the children and the donkey cart. The donkey cart was unremarkable; it cost only a few taels of silver, donkey and cart together. Was it worth such a big fuss to rob?
Could it be a sexual assault? She's not bad looking, but surely not to that extent?
Hong Xiaoduo felt that if they were really after people, it was more likely that they would kidnap these seven children than her.
After all, they are clean and tidy now, and their appearance is so pleasing to the eye.
That's not right either. If we tied them up and sold them all, one adult and seven children, we might actually get a good price for them.
The group of people on horseback behind looked at their master with great confusion, unable to understand what he was thinking.
Why send Sanjin to keep an eye on the movements of a strange young woman with seven children, and then just dawdle along behind her like this?
The subordinates were full of doubts, but dared not speak or ask, and even their mounts seemed to be getting impatient.
At this speed, it's only slightly faster than standing still.
“Sir, they’ve stopped.” Sanjin, having received a hint from his companion, mustered his courage and asked.
“Your grandpa isn’t blind, I saw it.” Mu Zitao’s tone was very unpleasant.
After thinking about it, I realized that the owner of the donkey cart must have stopped on purpose...
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