When Liu Yueer heard that the kidnappers went to extort silver from the Nie Family, she was filled with pride.

This was all a plan devised by her good son to confuse the kidnappers.

"Yaozu, how did you get so clever this time? If you hadn’t said you were a child of the Nie Family to confuse the kidnappers, we wouldn’t have found you all so quickly."

Liu Yueer praised Yaozu openly, but she was actually taking credit for her son in front of Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Huaqiong understood Liu Yueer’s implication, and she smiled as she praised Yaozu: "Yaozu did indeed perform very smartly this time."

To be honest, the impression Tong Huaqiong had of her grandson was that he only cared about eating and drinking and didn’t seem very bright.

Honestly, Tong Huaqiong only considered him her grandson in name and couldn’t grow close to him.

This time, Gu Yaozu’s performance truly lived up to the name Yaozu.

Gu Yaozu, upon receiving his grandmother’s affirmation, puffed out his chest while lying in Liu Yueer’s arms.

The carriage swayed as it headed towards Qinghe Bay, and the children, having experienced a night of turmoil, began to feel sleepy returning to a safe environment, falling asleep halfway through.

Except for Duoer who was startled awake midway, the other children slept deeply.

Tong Huaqiong wondered what kind of psychological shadow this kidnapping might cast on the children, and whether they would need psychological counseling.

She wasn’t sure about the others, but Duoer definitely needed it.

"Mother."

"Aunt."

"Where are the children?"

The carriage stopped under the sycamore tree at the Gu Family’s entrance, and Chen Sufen and Tong Pandi rushed over.

"The children are fine." Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua took turns carrying the children out of the carriage.

Chen Sufen and Tong Pandi couldn’t help themselves, one hugging Man Er, the other hugging Duoer, and they began to cry loudly.

Gu Dahuan’s eyes reddened nearby.

"Hush, the children just fell asleep, don’t wake them up crying again." Tong Huaqiong said.

Chen Sufen and Tong Pandi gradually stopped crying.

The children were carried inside. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Tong Huaqiong took a pair of scissors and trimmed the lamp’s wick, making the light suddenly bright.

In the bright light, the children’s hands and feet were dirty, but they slept sweetly.

Suddenly, Duoer opened her eyes and cried out in terror, making Tong Pandi’s heart feel like it was being cut with a knife, and she held Duoer tightly in her arms.

...

Soon, news came from the county.

The two kidnappers, one chubby and one skinny, and Mrs. Jiang confessed they were part of a crime group, and their contact higher-up was in Fu City.

County Magistrate Liu caught the higher-up hiding in the ruined temple outside Ning City and followed the trail to find out the mastermind was a butler from a certain noble family in the capital.

This butler had developed a trafficking network across almost the entire dynasty, specializing in kidnapping beautiful boys and girls under ten years old to be sent to brothels across various places or sold to high-ranking officials.

This result greatly shocked Magistrate Yao, who wrote a letter that flew to the capital.

The butler was captured, and all the lower links were dismantled.

Tong Huaqiong couldn’t believe the mastermind behind this was just the butler.

But County Magistrate Liu stated he could only trace it to the butler.

Although bigger fish escaped, this incident was a harsh deterrent, making it difficult for the dismantled dark net to collude again.

Moreover, it was said the noble family was severely hurt by their competitors pursuing them relentlessly and probably wouldn’t easily return to thoughts of trafficking.

Additionally, Tong Huaqiong learned that the reason the chubby and skinny kidnappers targeted Man Er, Xiao Long, Yaozu, and Duoer was because of encouragement from Granny Luo.

"Of course, we can’t conclusively say it was Granny Luo’s urging; it could be the kidnappers falsely implicating her to escape punishment." Jiao Yamen informed Tong Huaqiong.

After all, Granny Luo’s grandson was also captured by the kidnappers; she was on the victim’s side, and considering she provided clues about the kidnappers that night, County Magistrate Liu did not adopt the kidnappers’ claim that Granny Luo encouraged them, thinking it was just the pair panicking and making false accusations.

County Magistrate Liu had never lived in Qinghe Bay, so naturally, he was unaware of Tong Huaqiong’s feud with Granny Luo.

After Jiao Yamen drank tea and left Tong Huaqiong’s home, Tong Huaqiong went to see Granny Luo.

At the time, Granny Luo was squatting under the Big Locust Tree at the village entrance, telling others about how her grandson encountered the kidnappers during the Lantern Festival.

She was speaking quite eloquently, telling a very exciting story.

"You don’t know, if I hadn’t remembered the kidnappers’ appearances and provided them to the government, the four kids from the Gu Family wouldn’t know where they’ve been sold to such filthy places. It’s said all kidnapped kids from various towns were rescued this time, all thanks to me, the old woman’s contribution, yet the government doesn’t even give me any plaque or anything."

Granny Luo was taking all the credit for the anti-trafficking efforts.

She thought she had made such a great contribution that County Magistrate Liu would give her a plaque to hang on her door.

This way, she could act high and mighty, gaining leverage against Tong Huaqiong.

She waited for days, and although the yamen officer came, he went straight to Tong Huaqiong’s house.

They left Qinghe Bay without even engaging with her.

"Why did the kidnappers take only your family’s Chun Wang and my grandchildren?" Mrs. Zhao cynically questioned.

Granny Luo replied with raised eyes: "Isn’t it because the Gu Family’s kids were dressed too luxuriously? Man Er’s hairpin, Xiao Long’s clothes, they looked like children from wealthy families. The kidnappers aren’t stupid, they specifically kidnap wealthy kids to extort silver. Who among ordinary families has spare money for ransom? Let me put it bluntly, blame it on your in-law for insisting on dressing the children as rich as kings and princes instead of keeping wealth hidden, making them fall into the kidnappers’ eye."

Families who worked at Tong Huaqiong’s home or rented land from her sneered at Granny Luo’s schadenfreude.

Someone asked Granny Luo: "According to you, why did your family’s Chun Wang also get kidnapped?"

Granny Luo was stammering and couldn’t answer.

"There are plenty of wealthy people in town, far richer than the children of the Gu Family; why weren’t they kidnapped? I heard from Yaozu that your family’s Chun Wang was mischievous in front of the kidnappers, urging them to hit Xiao Long. Who knows if you pointed out Yaozu and the others to the kidnappers, leading your grandson to the wolf’s lair too." Liu Yueer’s mother, Mrs. Zhao, speculated.

Granny Luo, having a guilty conscience, was unintentionally cracked by Mrs. Zhao, and she loudly refuted that Mrs. Zhao was slandering her.

Tong Huaqiong took advantage of Granny Luo raising her hands to defend herself and grabbed Granny Luo’s hair.

Granny Luo cried out in pain and fell to the ground.

Tong Huaqiong stepped on Granny Luo’s chest and said to Mrs. Zhao: "Mother-in-law, you’re right. I just wonder how my four kids ended up in the kidnappers’ eye while they were innocently watching the entertainment at the front of the stage. It turns out this old hag pointed them out to the kidnappers."

Even though the year had passed, the ground was still frozen, and with nothing else to do, the villagers gathered at the entrance to bask in the sun.

Hearing Tong Huaqiong reveal the hidden truth about her children being kidnapped, along with Granny Luo’s earlier speech indicating her deep knowledge of the kidnappers, everyone was convinced of Granny Luo inciting the kidnappers to target the four children from the Gu Family.

Granny Luo was struggling under Tong Huaqiong’s foot, her arms flailing wildly in the air.

"Widow Tong, what nonsense are you spouting? If I had incited the kidnappers to snatch your four children, why didn’t the government officer arrest me?" Granny Luo thought she had a point.

"Shut your mouth."

Tong Huaqiong grabbed a tuft of grass from the ground and stuffed it into Granny Luo’s mouth, gagging her from speaking further.