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“Is that all?”

Chen Guanglu was suspicious, “Then why did the Jiang Family file a lawsuit with the County Government? You didn’t kill anyone, did you?”

“Absolutely not.”

The look of the younger Han wife was evasive, “We just took the child to Zhouhe County, and it was not even Jiang’s child. Why did she have the audacity to sue?”

“Fool!”

Chen Guanglu threw up his hand and slapped the younger Han wife, rebuking angrily, “Even if it’s not from the Jiang Family, how do you know she isn’t from your elder sister’s side?”

The younger Han wife covered half of her face and didn’t dare to make a sound.

Chen Guanglu pointed at her and rebuked, “Since you claim she was your elder sister’s child, you should have handed her over. It would be up to your elder sister to deal with the Jiang Family. Isn’t that what you should have done? So why did you send the child to my elder brother’s house?”

The younger Han wife broke out into sobs, “I… I had no choice, the child had no birthmark on her wrist, and my elder sister feared trouble from the other family and didn’t dare to keep the child. She asked me to bring her back to

Qinchuan County for a while, but I couldn’t possibly bring her home to us…”

Chen Guanglu gritted his teeth in frustration, kicked her, knocking her to the ground, and cursed, “Wicked woman! So you just dumped that troublemaker on my elder brother?”

Although he was not very close to his elder brother, after all, he was his only blood-related elder brother. How dared the Han wife…How dared she hand that child over to his elder brother?

What if the Jiang Family becomes relentless? Wouldn’t his elder brother get punished for the Han sisters then?

Chen Guanglu paced around the room with his hands on his hips, glancing diagonally at the sobbing younger Han wife, he threatened, “You had better go to Zhouhe County right now and take care of that child. Make it a clean job without leaving a trace! She is just three or four years old, easy to clean up. If you leave any evidence behind, I’ll divorce you!”

With that said, Chen Guanglu stormed out of the room.

The younger Han wife managed to get up, absent-mindedly wiped her face, and immediately left to get her servants to harness the carriage and hurry back to Zhouhe County.

Sitting in the mule-driven cart, she wound a thin hemp rope around her hand, thinking about the easiest way to kill the child.

The best method would be strangulation, no blood would be spilled. Then she could discard the body anywhere and be done with it. No need even to dig a pit for burial.

Such a small child, if left in the wild, would be quickly eaten by the wolves or wild dogs. It wouldn’t draw any attention.

With these thoughts, the younger Han wife calmed down and blamed her elder sister once more in her heart.

If it wasn’t for her, she wouldn’t have been cursed and beaten by her husband.

What a useless woman! Ironically, she couldn’t conceive a son, and merely wanted undue complications, which made her journey hundreds of miles in snow. She was not only tired but also had to spend money on bribery.

She would never bother to deal with her again in the future!

The mule-driven cart rushed and arrived at Zhouhe County finally.

But when the younger Han wife arrived at her elder brother-in-law’s house, the sister-in-law notified that the child had run out on her own and had not returned home for the entire night, and they had searched for her for a long time but in vain.

The younger Han wife’s head was throbbing with frustration, yet she dared not stay longer and immediately commanded the servants to drive the carriage back to Qinchuan County.

It snowed only for one night, and then the sky was clear, but the temperature was surprisingly cold.

Yingbao had been staying at this house for several days, staying indoors every day without setting foot outside the yard except for using the latrine.

The female owner of the house sent her some old cotton clothes to change into and had a maidservant help her with washing and combing her hair every day.

On this day, Wu Daozi finally came to pick her up, bringing two servants and two mule-driven carts along.

Each servant drove a cart. There was luggage, bedding, and book boxes tied to the back of the second cart.

After bidding farewell to the household, Yingbao left with Wu Daozi.

She and Wu Daozi rode in the front cart together. The cart had soft cushions, and there were two thin blankets, each draped over a person’s knees, blocking the cold wind coming through the cart curtains.

Today Wu Daozi was not wearing his Taoist robe but a green straight robe made of cotton, which gave him the appearance of a scholar.

Yingbao’s gaze passed over his neck, and she took out two boiled water chestnuts from her pocket: “Uncle Wu, these are for you to eat.”

She didn’t explain where the water chestnuts came from, letting Wu Daozi fill in the blanks himself.

Wu Daozi accepted the two water chestnuts, turning them over in his hand for a closer look: “Do they need to be peeled?”

Yingbao shook her head: “They’re clean and cooked, so you can eat them without peeling.”

“Oh.” Wu Daozi started eating at a leisurely pace, then glanced at the little kid and asked, “Do you have any relatives in Qinchuan County?”

“No.” Although Aunty Jiang Yunniang lived in the county, Yingbao had no idea where she lived. She decided to simply say no.

The mule cart was shaking and moving slowly. It was estimated to be good enough if they could reach their destination by evening.

“I’ll take you back to the county first, and when we have time, we can visit

Simen Town to check out the large gourd you mentioned.”

Yingbao: “…Okay.”

The carriage had not traveled far on the street when they encountered a long procession performing the sacrificial dance, leaving them with no choice but to pull over and wait for the procession to pass.

Yingbao quietly lifted the curtain of the carriage to watch. She saw hundreds of dancers draped in colorful silk, performing the sacrificial dance to the rhythm of drums.

Most of them were bare-chested, showing off their robust arms and chest muscles. In the chilling wind, these people seemed not to be afraid of the cold. They danced and sang prayers in dialect, heading in the direction of the Taoist temple.

Many people followed to watch the dance, making the crowd stretch out for two to three miles. The drums echoed, and flags fluttered, some flagpoles even having strings of white lanterns hanging from them.

It was a shame that it was daytime, so the lanterns were not lit. If it was night, and the lanterns were each set alight to shine like stars in the sky, it would be truly beautiful.

Wu Daozi also watched with interest, even tapping his legs to the rhythm of the drums.

Yingbao calculated with her fingers, and realized that today was the 15th of October, also known as the Lower Yuan Festival in Taoism, when all Taoist temples would conduct rituals.

No wonder she encountered Wu Daozi at the Taoist temple. He was a true believer in Taoism.

It was only after the dance procession passed that the mule cart slowly began to move again.

Yingbao continued peeking out the carriage window, observing the houses along the street. Many of them had flags erected, embroidered with words like

“Heaven, Earth, and Water Shrine”, “Harmonize the Wind and Rain”, and “Ward Off Disasters and Blessings”.

Some households even set up a shrine at their doorways, with an assortment of cakes and fruits set on it, such as glutinous rice vegetable balls, red bean steamed buns, and fried tofu, for their own children to eat. Sometimes, they would also share some with the neighboring children who came to beg for food.

Even after leaving the county, the mule cart could still see some farmers’ houses with flag poles erected. However, most of these poles were adorned with animals shapes made of rice straws and wheat stalks, like carps and sheep, to pray for bounty.

Little children under the guidance of their family members were inserting burning incense sticks into the ground in the shape of Chinese characters. This was to worship the passing spirits, to appease those lost souls and ghosts, and to prevent them from clinging to the children.

Yingbao had also been taught by her parents to insert incense sticks like this. While she was doing it, her parents would pray to the passing spirits to leave after enjoying the offerings and not to bother the children.

The mule cart picked up speed upon entering the official road.

On both sides of the official road were either farmland or wilderness, which weren’t very interesting.

Yingbao let down the carriage curtain, looking bored at the interior of the wagon. Suddenly, she became curious about the lump on Wu Daozi’s neck.

But she couldn’t just say it directly. After thinking for a moment, she said to Wu Daozi, who was reading a book: “Uncle Wu, I have learned medical skills from the master at home. Do you want me to take your pulse?”

Wu Daozi glanced at her but didn’t respond.

Picking at her fingernails, Yingbao thought for a while, then continued, “Uncle Wu, the master always praises my medical skills. Are you sure you don’t want me to take your pulse?”

Wu Daozi didn’t even lift his eyelids, still ignoring her.

Yingbao felt discouraged. But was she the kind of person who gave up easily? Of course not.

After all, she was still a child. There was nothing wrong with being a bit thick-skinned. As long as Uncle Wu didn’t kick her out of the carriage, it was all fine..