Li Hua and her two brothers grew anxious. "Sir, let’s talk this out! Why are you arresting people?"

"Who broke the law? No one in our family did!"

"Sir, you can’t be using your position to settle a private grudge!"

Just as they were speaking, Qi Lan’s triumphant shout suddenly came from behind the house. "You sons of bitches, you really thought you could escape? We’ve been waiting for you here!"

"Deputy Magistrate, we’ve got them! These sons of bitches tried to run, but we caught them red-handed."

"Wrongfully accused? My ass! If you’re innocent, then why the hell were you running, you bastards?"

"If you want to cry injustice, do it in the courtroom. Go on, shout it loud and clear. We’ve got the torture instruments all ready for you."

The Li siblings were all dumbfounded. They simply couldn’t believe that the rich merchants they had rescued and brought home were really up to no good.

’How could there be anything wrong with them?’

’Aren’t they just ordinary merchants, rushing back to the Prefecture to reunite with their families?’

"Ordinary? What part of them looks ordinary? We found ropes and bloody handkerchiefs hidden in their carriage. They’re either human traffickers or violent thugs! If you’d fallen into their hands, they would have devoured you, bones and all."

It was getting late, so Chen Song said no more. He signaled to his men and prepared to leave, dragging the two merchants away.

But the two merchants, who had previously been so sick and feeble they couldn’t even move from their beds, were now suddenly incredibly agile. Catching everyone off guard, they pulled daggers from their boots and, with a deft twist, severed the ropes binding their hands.

Their expressions were now vicious, with no trace of their previous honest and gentle demeanor. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Their sinister eyes glinted with murderous intent. Seeing the constables rush toward them, they lunged with their daggers without a moment’s hesitation.

If the county government constables hadn’t been prepared and reasonably agile themselves, the men would have escaped, even if no one had been injured in the process.

Fortunately, Chen Song had already stationed a few men at the front and back doors. Everyone swarmed in at once and finally managed to subdue the criminals.

But by brandishing their daggers, the two men had revealed their true, ferocious nature. For the three Li siblings, who had still been clinging to a sliver of hope, it was the final blow. Their hearts plunged into an abyss.

’Damn it all!’

’We thought it was a heaven-sent opportunity, but it turned out to be a deadly trap.’

’We were so close, so very close!’

’If we had actually taken them to the Prefecture, we would have walked right into a wolf’s den. Whether they killed us or flayed us alive would have been entirely up to them.’

Remembering the stories they’d heard around town about how human traffickers treated their "goods," the three siblings’ legs gave out at once. THUD, THUD, THUD. They all collapsed to the ground.

Human traffickers were notoriously vicious. Men were sold to illegal mine bosses and forced to dig day and night; women were thrown into brothels; children were sold to buyers with... special perversions.

The thought that their entire family had nearly fallen into a den of monsters filled Li Shan and Li Shi with terror. Scrambling to their feet, they rained bowl-sized fists down on Mrs. Li.

"I’ll kill you, you curse on this family!"

"We were so close, so close to our family being destroyed and all of us killed!"

"Our own flesh and blood... you almost got us all killed! How could you? Tell me, were you working with those two?"

"You family-destroying jinx! Get out! If you ever dare come back, I’ll beat you to death."

And just like that, the bruised and swollen Mrs. Li was driven out of the Li family home.

A cold wind howled past, whipping up sand and fallen leaves that blew right into Li Hua’s face.

Her mouth, nose, and eyes filled with dust, but Li Hua barely noticed.

She just muttered in a daze, "How did it come to this? This isn’t what Wanyue said would happen at all. Did I save the wrong people, or did Chen Song arrest the wrong people? Oh, heavens, how can you toy with me like this!"

...

On the road to the county seat, Xu Su Ying said to her daughter, "They almost got rich overnight, but the dream didn’t even last two days before your father shattered it. We don’t care what the main family thinks, but I’m afraid Li Hua is done for. She won’t have a single good day from now on."

"But she deserves it! I’ve never seen anyone so stupid. Both her brothers are completely henpecked; their wives make all the decisions. Even if that fortune had landed in the Li family’s lap, how much of it would she have seen? In the Chen family, on the other hand, no matter how worthless Chen Lin is, Li’an is still her own son. If she’d brought some benefit to her own home, wouldn’t Li’an have been grateful to his mother? A pity. The fake fortune revealed her true colors. Mrs. Li made the worst move she possibly could have."

Yao’an, nestled sleepily in Xu Su Ying’s arms, mumbled, "Sis, did you get that? Mom means that from now on, if any good fortune comes your way, you shouldn’t just think about your side of the family. Just think about my brother-in-law."

The people in the cart fell silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Xu Su Ying patted her son while saying to her daughter, "Yao’an put it bluntly, but he’s right. Jing is the man you’ll spend the rest of your life with, so you should always think of him first. And Jing, you married Qing’er, so I hope you will truly be good to her. I sincerely hope the two of you will have a wonderful, happy life together."

Zhao Jing was driving the cart, wearing a thick rabbit-fur hat that Xu Su Ying had put on him.

The hat hid his handsome features, but it couldn’t conceal the joy in his voice, which carried a warm laugh. "We will, Mother. Don’t you worry about us."