The jade pendant connects the past and present; the exiled crown prince's wife takes her entire

Apart from Song Qingyan, the people in the room were all women who did not know martial arts and their hearing was not very sharp. At first, they could not hear the footsteps, but as time passed, the footsteps in the corridor became more and more obvious.

A creak sounded as someone pushed open the door to the neighboring room; the sound was very soft, but they could still hear it very clearly.

Someone went into the room next door.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of rummaging through things came from the house next door.

They remembered that next door lived a small merchant named Li who had come from the north to the south, and he carried with him some trinkets that were not available in the south.

A short while later, they heard someone speaking in a low voice, as if urging another person to hurry up.

"Don't worry, I gave them a sufficient dose of the drug; they won't wake up until the day after tomorrow."

What's there to be confused about? This is the only place to stay in the surrounding villages, and it's a shady business!

They drugged the food with large amounts of sedatives in order to plunder it.

However, in the evening, although they ate some flatbread, Chen Jiechai later brought them some side dishes, which they ate in a hurry, but they were fine.

The family's eyes were fixed on the teapot on the table.

Since Jiang Jinning went to that area, they have been drinking bottled water bought there. The cleaner water provided by the escorts or the water from the small ponds and lakes they pass by are used for washing. Therefore, they did not drink the water from the teapot, which is how they escaped disaster.

Just then, they heard the creaking sound of something being dragged around, indicating that they had finished packing and were preparing to leave.

The group breathed a sigh of relief; if it were just looting, it wouldn't be so bad...

Just as the group breathed a sigh of relief, a soft "plop" sound suddenly rang out. Jiang Jinning might not know what that sound was, but she had seen chickens being killed in the kitchen before, and it was always a soft "plop" sound, a single cut to the chicken.

Her face turned deathly pale!

They not only looted, they killed!

She stared wide-eyed in terror, clutching the words that were about to escape her lips, her whole body trembling.

Zhao Shi and Song Wanzhen, who were on the same side, clearly knew what was going on better than Jiang Jinning. They also seemed to smell a faint stench of blood coming from the house next door.

They embraced each other, shielding Jiang Jinning in the middle, as if comforting themselves and Jiang Jinning.

Song Qingyan stood in front of his family, holding the small knife he had taken from the tiger's mouth in one hand, and the modified crossbow used to injure the tiger strapped to his other wrist, aimed at the door.

Hearing the sounds of murder nearby, he felt an urge to go out and save people, but he wasn't alone; he had family and loved ones.

Just like when he was wrongly accused of treason, he was indignant, helpless, and wanted to die to prove his innocence, but he couldn't, he couldn't.

He has a family; he can't act impulsively.

As if he had convinced himself, Song Qingyan's agitated heart suddenly calmed down. He glanced at his wife, sister, and mother who were nestled close to him, and his eyes became even more resolute.

Just then, there was a creak, and it seemed as if someone from the next house came out.

"The person living in this room seems to be an exile from Luojing; he's a skinny lamb."

The other person seemed to be thinking and did not reply for a long time.

"Then just kill them."

The hearts of the people in the room sank suddenly.

Song Qingyan stared solemnly at the doorway. Jiang Jinning, Zhao Shi, and Song Wanzhen, holding pillows and small stools, also faced the doorway.

"Wait a minute, I remember there's a fat sheep in that big dormitory downstairs."

I overheard during the day that the fat sheep's daughter-in-law and her husband were whispering to each other about how to take away the old lady's secret stash.

The group went downstairs again.

Their family was thus temporarily safe.

"They...they've left, haven't they?"

Song Wanzhen held a pillow in her hands, and her words were trembling.

"Yes, I think we're safe for now." Although Zhao was slightly calmer, the fear in her voice was still evident. "We can't just sit here and wait to die. They'll come back. We still need to find the escorts to deal with these thieves."

"But the escorts are probably in grave danger; they've even dared to kill people." Song Wanzhen's voice was still trembling.

"Probably not. After all, the escorts hold official positions, and if they all disappeared at once, it would attract the attention of the authorities."

Jiang Jinning had calmed down and shook her head as she spoke.

After thinking for a moment, Song Qingyan said, "Chen Jiechai's house is not far from us. I'll sneak over and take a look first. You all stay in the house for now."

The words are divided into two parts.

After the two thieves went downstairs, they headed straight for the room of the second family.

They kicked open the door to reveal a large communal sleeping area. The second branch and others all slept on one large bed, with the men sleeping on the inner side and the women sleeping on the outer side. The fat sheep the thieves were talking about was none other than Liao, whom Tian and Song Guangying had mentioned during their conversation.

The two men dragged Liao out, and to their surprise, the old woman was still eating well despite being exiled; she was quite heavy.

This only proves that the old woman is rich!

Before the two could make a move, Liao suddenly woke up.

It turned out that she had been caught in the rain for the past two days and had a headache. She hadn't eaten or drunk anything, so she had no Chinese medicine at all.

Liao instinctively tried to scream, but someone tightly covered her mouth.

"Dare to yell, and I'll kill you!"

Liao nodded repeatedly in fear, indicating that she would not shout and would obey.

"Give me all the money you have, and I'll spare your life!"

Liao shook her head and waved her hands. Seeing that she wasn't making any noise, the thief loosened her mouth and let her speak.

"I...I have no money, I really have no money, I've run out of money!"

"What?!"

"Our house was ransacked, where am I, an old woman, supposed to get any money!"

The thief naturally didn't believe it, but he really couldn't find a single copper coin on her.

Enraged, the two men drew their knives and prepared to kill Liao.

"Wait, wait! I don't have any money, but I know who does. Upstairs, in the third room on the east side, lives my eldest daughter-in-law. She used to be the Duchess of the State; she must have some hidden wealth. And then there's my granddaughter-in-law. Her father is a second-rank official, and she's the eldest daughter of the principal wife; her family is incredibly wealthy. Go find them! Let me go, let my family go! We've all been implicated by them; we have no money!"

The third room on the east side? Isn't that the one they didn't go into earlier?

I initially thought it was a skinny sheep, but it turned out to be a fat one!

The two exchanged a glance, their eyes revealing excitement.

"Alright, I despise traitors the most! I'll go rid the people of this scourge!"

They swung their broadswords, and the silver light on the blades flashed before Liao's eyes, causing her to faint instantly.

The two thieves chuckled and turned to go upstairs.

Meanwhile, Song Qingyan had already found the house where Chen Jiechai was staying, the seventh room in the southeast.

There was no smell of blood in the room; the guards inside must have just been drugged.

Song Qingyan picked up the teapot and, without hesitation, splashed the tea over Chen Jiecha and the others.

Chen Jiecha was the first to wake up. He hadn't drunk much water that night. Perhaps because he was naturally more sensitive to taste, he took a sip and found the water tasted a bit strange, so he didn't drink any more. Therefore, the effects of the Chinese medicine on him were not very strong.

Song Qingyan quickly recounted the time.

"They killed the merchants from the north, and now they've gone downstairs. We need to ambush them while they're upstairs and kill them in one fell swoop."

"Young master is right," Chen Jiecha glanced at the brothers in the room. Although they were awake, they were still a bit dazed and obviously unable to fight. "I'm afraid none of you brothers are capable of fighting. It's probably too much for two fists to fight against four hands."

"Then let them treat you in the same way they treat you."

"Does the young master mean... drugging?" Chen Jiechai's eyes lit up. "I passed by the kitchen during the day and saw a worker sneaking out from the side of the kitchen. Those lowlifes must be hiding there!"

"Officer Chen, you go first. I, Song, will go and inform my family. We'll meet up later!"