Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

Xiao Huaijin nodded quickly, "Okay."

As obedient as can be.

Gui Yao squeezed his hand and whispered in his ear, "Don't be afraid, there's nothing here right now."

The warm breath fell on Xiao Huaijin's ear, and his eyes trembled involuntarily, his ears becoming slightly hot.

Gui Yao comforted Xiao Huaijin and stepped into the earthen house.

But they didn't see Xiao Huaijin's lips curving into a wide smile and his deep dimples behind them.

The two granddaughters inside the house had just experienced the loss of their loved ones and were still embracing each other, unable to fall asleep.

With a flick of Gui Yao's sleeve, the old woman, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying, instantly fell into a deep sleep.

As if sensing something, Sui'er hurriedly sat up and shakily stretched out her arms to shield the old man behind her.

"Don't be afraid!"

Gui Yao blew on the nearly empty oil lamp by the bedside.

The oil lamp lit up by itself.

Sui'er recognized Gui Yao's face; it was the woman who had brought her back.

But thinking about what Gui Yao had done made her a little scared. "Yes..."

She carefully chose her words: "Benefactor."

Gui Yao smiled and said, "Saving your life certainly deserves that title."

It cost her two gold bricks.

"Then you must answer your benefactor's questions truthfully."

She smiled and seemed very good-natured, but thinking of the prince who had been frightened tonight and was still waiting alone outside the door, she felt that every second was like an eternity.

He then added, "If you continue to conceal this, I will revoke this favor and send you to the underworld."

People who have died once and deeply regret it are more afraid of death than ordinary people.

"Don't."

Sui'er spoke up, "I'll tell you whatever my benefactor asks."

What she regretted was not leaving this world, but letting her grandmother, who depended on her and was now in poor health, suffer the pain of her death.

She regretted it when her grandmother held her and cried.

She recalled the pain and despair she felt many years ago when her parents died, and she, a white-haired woman, had to bury her black-haired child. It was the same feeling then, and it was her mother's motivation to live.

But with her gone, the milk was truly doomed.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes haphazardly. "My grandma is sick, and we don't have the money to treat her..."

Sui'er began to recount her experiences.

After her parents died, her grandmother supported her by farming and collecting medicinal herbs in the mountains. Life was hard, but she barely managed to avoid starvation.

Last year, my grandmother went into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs, and she fell ill after getting caught in the rain on her way back.

With no money left for medical treatment, she had no choice but to sell the family's only two acres of fertile land.

But years of hard work had already taken their toll on Grandma's health; that rain was just the trigger.

To keep the milk alive, it needs to be kept alive with medication year-round.

The money from selling the land was quickly spent, and the grandmother's condition did not improve. She had nothing of value except for her decent-looking face.

She planned to marry herself to get some dowry money to treat her grandmother's illness, but her condition was that she would bring her grandmother with her when she got married.

Alternatively, the man could stay at her house temporarily and take care of the elderly woman until she passes away, after which they would return to the man's house.

No matter how beautiful she is, if she were to marry a chronically ill old grandmother, no normal family would be willing to marry her.

A wealthy man agreed to let her bring her grandmother with her, but only as a concubine.

A concubine is a slave!

When the old woman found out, she smashed the broken bowl and held a piece of tile to her throat, saying, "If you sell yourself to become someone's concubine in order to cure this old woman's illness, this old woman would rather die."

I saw her crying.

Grandma comforted her again, "Sui'er, I've lived to this age, and it's time for me to go."

Don't worry about me. Just find a good family to marry and visit me occasionally when you have time. That will make me happy.

But she wasn't content.

In her life, there was only her mother. She couldn't abandon her mother to get married, nor could she watch her mother die of illness.

She refused all the matchmakers who came to her door.

Since no one genuinely wanted to help her take care of the breast milk, she took care of it herself.

She began to venture into the deep mountains, places her grandmother had never allowed her to go.

Valuable herbs in the outer mountains have long been harvested; only in the deep mountains is there a chance to find them.

By the grace of heaven, she indeed found several excellent medicinal herbs in the deep mountains and sold them for some money.

But this money was only enough for the baby to take medicine for a period of time, and the illness would relapse after the medicine was stopped.

With no other option, she had to continue venturing deeper into the mountains.

On subsequent occasions, however, she was not so lucky. Not only did she fail to find any valuable herbs, but she also encountered wild boars, narrowly escaping death, and was almost bitten to death by venomous snakes.

Although she didn't say anything, Grandma knew everything. Not wanting to implicate her, Grandma secretly smothered herself with a pillow in the middle of the night.

Fortunately, Sui'er was alert and heard the baby's heavy breathing.

Grandma didn't die, and Sui'er still has relatives, but Grandma's cough has returned, keeping her awake all night.

Sui'er was extremely anxious and deeply despairing.

She even wished she could steal some money or medicine to alleviate her grandmother's cough.

But she was just a woman with no strength to even kill a chicken; it was all wishful thinking on her part.

Just when she was at her wit's end, someone was waiting for her on her way into the mountains.

The woman was dressed as a Taoist nun and claimed to be a follower of the mountain god.

When asked if she would be willing to be the mountain god's bride for a few days, she said, "Once you and the mountain god become husband and wife, your grandmother will also be considered the mountain god's grandmother, and he will not let the old woman suffer from illness."

Don't worry, the mountain god won't stay in the human world for long. You only need to be his bride for a few days, and then he will let you go home.

To show our sincerity, the mountain god will first cure your grandmother's cough.

She was skeptical.

That night, however, Grandma slept soundly and did not cough as violently as before.

She was moved.

Although she was afraid, she could recover from her breastfeeding and go home, but it would only mean being husband and wife with someone for a few days.

"I agree, but could the Mountain God give me some money afterwards to live on?"

She thought that since she had sold herself, she should try to get a good price and never get married again. She would stay with her grandmother for the rest of her life, and with money, her grandmother could live a better life.

"nature."

The Taoist nun readily agreed, saying, "The mountain god is a very generous god."

So they agreed that the next day, she would go to the foot of the mountain to wait for the mountain god to take a wife.

She didn't dare tell her grandmother the truth. She gave the last bit of food she had left to her aunt next door and asked her to take care of her grandmother for a few days.

"and then?"

Gui Yao looked at the girl who had fallen silent and was crying uncontrollably.

"I know I've been fooled; that wasn't some mountain god."

Sui'er shuddered inexplicably as she recalled the events of those days. "As soon as I reached the foot of the mountain, I was knocked unconscious from behind."

I woke up naked on a soft bed with blankets covering my eyes and my hands and feet bound.

But I heard the sound of chains; the so-called mountain god with whom I consummated our marriage was chained up.

She gave a self-deprecating laugh. She had only believed the Taoist nun's nonsense because she was desperate. How could a mountain god be chained and shackled?

"I don't know how many times I fainted, but I know that he seemed to have endless energy."

I don't know which bed I was in or how many days I spent there. I only remember someone putting food in my mouth a few times and giving me water a few times...

While she was naked, she was forcibly fed like livestock.

Thinking of those things, she buried her head in her knees in embarrassment.

"So how did you get back? Did they really let you go?"

Gui Yao thought it was impossible.

Sui'er shook her head. "No, I heard the man say that he would have someone deal with me."

But then another woman came into the house. It was that woman who let me go. She warned me that if I wanted to live, I couldn't tell anyone about what happened those days, and she promised not to let the mountain god cause me any trouble.

I was drugged again, and when I woke up, I was back at the foot of the mountain.

"When you were thinking of your grandmother and decided to become the mountain god's bride, you must have foreseen some things."

Gui Yao stared intently at her. "You wouldn't commit suicide just because you were humiliated, so why did you?"