The carriage did not reach Zhoujia Village until dark.
Zhou Yun got off the carriage, his eyes full of joy at being home. He was completely unaware of the malice in the coachman's eyes and said softly, "Sister Xiao Cui, it's getting dark, why don't you go to my house for dinner?"
Xiao Cui laughed when she heard this: "Miss Zhou Yun is from the village chief's family, right? I'm sorry to bother you so much. I'll stay in the village tonight."
"Okay, Sister Xiao Cui, come with me."
"Fangfang, do you want to come home too? I'm the only one in your family. Why don't you all come home for a meal and our two families can sit together and chat."
A sharp gleam flashed in Xiao Cui's eyes, her look became more meaningful, and there was a smile at the corner of her mouth.
Zhou Fang opened her mouth to agree, but when she saw the smile on Xiao Cui's lips, she shuddered inexplicably, her heart alarmed, and she subconsciously replied, "Thank you, Xiaoyun, I'd better go home."
"Mom is alone at home. I haven't been back for several months. I'm really worried."
"Well, go back early. I'll come find you tomorrow morning."
After Zhou Fang walked away, Xiao Cui casually asked, "Zhou Yun, is Zhou Fang's family the last one left?"
Zhou Yun didn't think much about it, nodded subconsciously and said softly: "Yes, my grandfather is the village chief. Our family is the first family, and Zhou Fang's family is the last one."
In fact, the last house was a cowshed with a homeless person living in it, but let’s not tell them about this. Maybe the homeless mother and daughter are gone, and it must be difficult for them to endure the cold weather.
"Sister Xiao Cui, please come in. Grandpa should be home."
Zhou Fang trotted back home. As soon as she opened the door, she saw her mother sitting in the yard. She rushed over and hugged her, "Mom, I'm back."
When Li Guilan heard this familiar voice, her body froze and her eyes were filled with disbelief: "Fangfang, it really is you who is back. I am not dreaming, am I?"
"Well, my daughter is back. I will definitely serve you well in the future. Our family is rich now, and we can live a good life in the future."
Zhou Fang pulled Li Guilan into the house, closed the door, and briefly explained what had happened. Her eyes were filled with joy. "Mom, you know, I've been wanting to run away these days, but the backyard is too big for me to escape."
"Fortunately, I was lucky enough to meet Her Highness. If it weren't for Her Highness, my daughter might still be trapped in the backyard and might die at any time. Many of those girls died before."
"Oh, I also saw them being thrown into the well. It was horrible."
Li Guilan's expression changed drastically after hearing this. She grabbed her daughter's hand tightly and asked, "Tell me again, who sent you back?"
"Oh, it was the censor who asked the groom to take us back. And there's Sister Xiao Cui, she's such a kind person. She was the one who kindly buried all the girls who died before."
“……!!”
Seeing that she looked unwell, Zhou Fang asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Mom? Are you feeling unwell?"
Li Guilan started packing without saying a word, urging: "Hurry, go pack your things, we have to go up to the cabin on the mountain tonight, we can't stay here at the foot of the mountain."
"Why, mother?"
"Don't ask anymore. Wait until stepmother tells you on the mountain that no one knows about the cabin. Only then will we be safe. As for Zhou Yun's family... we can only hope for the best."
Zhou Fang's heart started pounding when she heard this. She packed her things and put them in a backpack, taking with her the clay pots, oil pots, salt, etc. from home. The two of them headed up the mountain under the cover of night.
After walking for half an hour and sweating profusely, I finally reached the cabin. After entering, I made the bed, lit the kerosene lamp, and called out, "Fangfang, come and sit. Mother has something to tell you."
"Okay, mother."
The two sat facing each other, and Li Guilan said sternly, "Do you know how much trouble you've gotten yourself into this time? Letting a wolf into your home can be fatal. Think about whether the people in the Censor's Mansion are truly kind and good."
"Have you ever seen anyone escape alive?"
Zhou Fang's face turned pale and she shook her head: "No, Sister Xiao Cui said she dared not let us go, otherwise she would die. As long as we are obedient and serve the young master well, we will... not die."
Li Guilan sighed, "How foolish! Don't you think about it? A censor is such a high-ranking official. Why would he send you two peasant girls? Is it to find out your family's location and silence you?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the village chief's family is going to... suffer."
He stood up with a look of anxiety on his face, "No, mother, I'm going to tell Sister Zhou Yun, how can I watch someone die without helping? Then I'll go to the government office to find someone."
Li Guilan reached out and grabbed her wrist, scolding her, "No, no one will care if you go to the government office. Don't you understand the principle of officials protecting each other? We can hardly protect ourselves now."
"If you want me dead, get off the mountain."
"...Mother, they probably won't do that. They've already promised Her Royal Highness, so why would they want to silence us? We won't say anything."
Zhou Fang looked confused and helpless. She didn't understand why this happened. She thought her mother must have guessed wrong, but after so many years, her mother had never made a mistake.
Li Guilan knew what her daughter was thinking. She patted her hands and whispered, "We'll take a detour tomorrow morning. Don't come back to the village. You have two hundred taels, don't you?"
"Let's move to another city, rent a house and live a good life. I can embroider and support you. Don't run around anymore, okay?"
"Forget everything here, and also forget what happened in the Censorate. Otherwise, we mother and I will not survive. You don't know how terrifying those officials are."
"They would rather kill someone by mistake than let him go."
Li Guilan seemed to recall something, a flash of hatred in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure: "Fangfang, listen to your mother. Those officials are trying to conceal the murder. If you come out, you'll be worried about people finding out."
"Killing you to silence you is inevitable. Don't take any chances. You only have one life and you can't afford to gamble with it."
"...Okay, I'll listen to you."
In the middle of the night, Zhou Fang went out to the toilet and saw a raging fire burning at the foot of the mountain. When he saw clearly that the fire was not the village chief's house, his pupils shrank immediately.
He ran back to the cabin and shouted, "Mom, Mom, wake up quickly. There's an accident in the village. There's a flood."
Li Guilan sat up and ran out. Looking at the fire in the village at the foot of the mountain, her heart sank. It was just as she had guessed. Those people were always cruel and ruthless.
Zhou Fang covered her mouth and cried softly.
"Mom, mom, this is all my fault. If we hadn't come back, the village chief's family wouldn't have..."
"Ah, this is the disaster that was destined to happen. Unless you never come home, I'm glad you came back. It's not you who's wrong, it's those who wanted to kill and silence you."
Zhou Fang sniffed and gritted her teeth, saying, "Mother, I can go find Her Royal Highness. She's a good person."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
