Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 453: Snatching Food

Chapter 453: Chapter 453: Snatching Food

"This...this isn’t right." Mother Lin waved her hand to refuse. Though she hoped deep in her heart that their family could stay together, there was no precedent for a married daughter’s family to move in alongside her.

It could be justified if the two of them moved in, as it could be seen as their daughter wanting to take care of them. However, where would her son and daughter-in-law fit in?

"Mother..."

Nanzhi wanted to continue persuading, but then she saw Shen Zhiyu rush out, sweating profusely.

"Ah, mother." The little fellow’s face turned red, with a bead of sweat hanging from his nose.

"Zhiyu, what’s happening? You look flustered." Mother Lin noticed her grandson panting heavily and gently patted his back with a hint of concern.

"It’s, it’s chaos outside."

"What’s going on? Zhiyu, speak slowly." Nanzhi tensed up. She had just returned from outside, could something have happened?

"Mother, grandmother, Brother Xiaomi and I went to the bookstore to buy books, but on the way back, we saw people...robbing others! Brother Xiaomi told me to run back home and find help, he’s still watching the people there!"

As they were about to return, they heard a commotion and crying from the neighboring house.

Originally, he didn’t want to intervene, but before they had a chance to leave, they saw the main gate being stormily burst open.

It was chaos inside. From his brief observation, he understood that someone was trying to leave the city but didn’t have enough grain. Seeing their vulnerable neighbor--a widow and her child--tempted them into evildoing.

Zhiyu, who understood this situation best, felt indignant, but with most of the government officials gone, he could only think of going home for help.

The cloak he was wearing was long gone, lost somewhere on his way back, and the sweat on his face hadn’t stopped since he entered the house.

"That happened?" Nanzhi’s expression changed and she was about to go there with Shen Zhiyu, but Mother Lin stopped her.

"What are you doing? You’re pregnant; what if something happens? Do you want your father and me to die from worry?"

"Mother!" Nanzhi felt a bit embarrassed, just standing there awkwardly.

"Alright, you rest at home. I’ll go with Zhiyu."

"Mother, I should go..."

Before Nanzhi could finish her statement, however, Mother Lin gave her a stern glare.

The girl was too restless. Not only was her belly big, but her heart had also grown bigger. She wanted to be in the middle of everything, without considering the current condition of the city.

There were guards stationed at the City Lord’s residence. Mother Lin called over three men skilled in martial arts and left home with her grandson.

The bookstore was just a street away from the Yamen, so they reached quickly.

Those who recognized Mother Lin gestured for her to enter.

In the courtyard, a four or five-year-old girl was hiding in a corner and sobbing. Her small hands were swollen and red from the cold, and her face was covered in bruises. She looked extremely pitiful.

In the center of the yard stood two mean-looking middle-aged people. When Mother Lin arrived, she saw one of them grabbing a bag of rice while the other eyed the girl in the corner with predatory intent.

Xiaomi was presently standing in front of the little girl, preventing the woman from dragging her away.

"What are you doing!"

Mother Lin entered the yard with her escorts, and Shen Zhiyu went straight away to pull the little girl up from the ground.

"Get up, it’s cold on the ground."

Xiaomi finally breathed a sigh of relief when the reinforcements arrived.

This couple was extremely wicked, intending not only to steal food but also thinking of selling this little girl.

"Who are you?" The woman was interrupted and became vicious. However, upon recognizing who had intervened, she froze.

This was the City Lord’s mother-in-law!

"Madam, what are you doing here? I just came to talk with my sister-in-law."

The woman had a fawning expression on her face, but her eyes were shooting daggers at her husband.

Useless man, he couldn’t even defeat a woman!

"So this is how you talk? Didn’t you grow a mouth, and instead was born with just two hooves?"

Mother Lin gave her a sideways glance and gently pulled the sobbing little girl closer.

The little girl was a pretty child but a little too thin. She was only wearing a thin coat. She had been crying heartily, but now that she saw someone come over, she quieted down and only whimpered softly.

"What a pitiful child."

Mother Lin felt her heart ache. She comforted the little girl by gently rubbing her head and wrapped her own cloak around her.

"Madam, it’s all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding."

The woman was quick to explain, hoping Mother Lin would leave with her people as soon as possible.

"It doesn’t seem like it to me." As she spoke, her gaze fell on the widow in the courtyard.

The widow was clad in grey clothes, wearing a white sleeve on her arm—the sign of mourning for her husband.

"Madam, please stand up for me!" The widow, named Qiuju, was originally from Xu Village outside the city. She married into Yan City six years ago. Her life with her husband was hard, but they lived in harmony.

But last autumn, her husband went up to the mountains to fetch medicine for his brother and fell off a cliff. When they found him, he was completely devoured, leaving behind only pieces of his body.

Life had been tough for the mother and daughter ever since. Qiuju had found work washing dishes at a restaurant. A few days ago, upon hearing about the cheap grain at Lin’s Grain Shop, she’d gritted her teeth and bought three bags. But her brother and sister-in-law had burst into her home today, cursed her as a widow, and tried to steal her grain.

"What is really going on here?"

The sister-in-law tried to argue but stopped as soon as she saw the guard behind Mother Lin draw his sword.

"Today my husband’s elder brother and sister-in-law barged in without any explanation and tried to steal our grain."

Qiuju pointed at the couple and said.

"Bah! You are the one who brought death upon my brother! I take only one bag of grain and how is that wrong? That’s letting you off easy! If it’d been earlier, after you killed my brother, I would have sold you to a brothel. You should be thanking me for not drowning you!"

The man on the side wasn’t bearing it anymore and was about to slap Qiuju. Mother Lin immediately hardened her expression while another pair of hands moved even faster.

A guard flung a stone at the man, who cried out as if he was a pig ready for slaughter.

"My hand! My hand!"

The stone fell to the ground with a crisp sound, rolling a couple of times, and the man’s wrist ballooned up and began to throb. He grimaced in pain, stomping his foot.

"Madam, it’s really a misunderstanding! My brother-in-law borrowed money from us before, but last year, after his unfortunate accident, we felt pity for his helpless widow and orphaned child, so we didn’t ask for it back.

Only because we can’t get through these hard times now did we come here to ask for grain to pay off the debt."

The woman, seeing her husband was down, quickly tried to explain, fearing she would also be punished.

"You’re lying!"

Qiuju opened her eyes wide. Her hand, pointed at them, was shaking uncontrollably.

When had her husband ever borrowed money from them?

Furthermore, her husband wouldn’t have fallen off the cliff if it wasn’t for them!

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