The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 380 Danger is Coming
"This year is strange too. The yamen runners are watching closely all over the streets, and several of the little lambs I had my eye on have slipped away."

"Don't rush, be patient and find a target. Yanguan Town is rich, catching one fat sheep is enough for us to live on for a year."

Two men, one fat and one thin, were whispering among themselves in the crowd.

These two are kidnappers; the "little fat sheep" they're talking about are children from Yanguan Town.

Their goals were clear: either they abducted people from seemingly well-off families whose parents could afford to ransom them, or they abducted attractive girls, selling the boys to brothels as male prostitutes and the girls to brothels as "skinny horses" (a euphemism for prostitutes).

Yanguan Town is a prosperous commercial town, wealthier than other towns, and holds a grand lantern festival every year during the Lantern Festival. Therefore, the two set their sights on Yanguan Town.

The two of them wandered around all night but failed to succeed.

"Where did that Prefect Yao come from? He not only wiped out the bandits, but he also greatly affected our business."

The skinny man gritted his teeth in hatred as he watched the yamen runners passing by, and then he gave Prefect Yao a good scolding.

When Prefect Yao reviewed the case files from previous years, he discovered that abduction cases had occurred in various counties and towns on the Lantern Festival, with some children disappearing forever and never to be found again.

Therefore, a few days ago, Prefect Yao issued an order to the entire Ningcheng, in addition to preventing fires and thefts on the Lantern Festival, the most important thing was to prevent kidnapping.

Lord Liu had to strictly follow Prefect Yao's orders and send out all the officials.

Especially in important towns like Yanguan, where there are many people attending the lantern festival, most of the officials were dispatched to patrol overnight.

"Hey gentlemen, what are you looking at?"

Granny Luo and Chunwang were pushed to the side of the two kidnappers. They heard the curses coming from the two kidnappers and immediately realized that the two were professional human traffickers.

Granny Luo's eyes lit up, and she went up to strike up a conversation.

"What does this have to do with you, old woman? Be careful or I'll kill you." The two kidnappers, harboring ulterior motives, were interrupted in their search for their target by Granny Luo, who threatened them with a vicious look.

“I heard everything you just said. You just want to kidnap children, don’t you? Let me tell you a secret. Look at those children over there. Their family is the richest in the area. They own shops, land, and money.”

Suppressing her fear, Granny Luo pointed to Man'er, Xiaolong, and the others gathered around the ropes protecting the acrobatic troupe and said...

The two cripples glanced at Man'er and the others, their eyes gleaming.

These children are indeed dressed quite well.

Especially the little girl at the very front and the little boy behind her, both dressed in brand-new red jackets, looked as lovely as the lucky babies in New Year paintings.

Children of such quality don't need to be sold to brothels; they can be taken directly to Shengjing and sold to princes and nobles with special tastes, making a fortune in the process.

The fat man and the thin man exchanged a glance, both knowing exactly what was going on.

Seeing the expressions on the faces of the fat and thin men, Granny Luo knew that she had persuaded the two fat men. On this cold day, she felt as warm as if she had drunk a bowl of hot soup, and her whole body felt relaxed.

Widow Tong made her daughter-in-law and granddaughter work in the pigsty, but wouldn't let her son do it. She didn't even ask her son to slaughter the pig before the New Year.

Ever since Chunni started working in the pigsty, she has become increasingly unruly.

A few days ago, it snowed and the wind was strong at night. She had a problem getting up at night, so she asked Cao to stay by her bedside at night to empty the chamber pot whenever needed. Chunni felt sorry for Cao and even said some outrageous things like, "Even if Duo'er's mother is mistreated, she can still get a divorce."

Now that Cao and Tong Pandi are working together every day, Granny Luo is worried that Cao will be led astray by Tong Pandi.

And then there's Man'er, so young yet so full of mischief, secretly teaching Chunni to read. She thinks she's a girl and doesn't deserve it! Enraged, she snatched the paper and pen Man'er had given Chunni and gave them to Chunwang. In Granny Luo's eyes, a girl learning to read was a grave offense. Widow Tong and Gu Taohua had become unruly and disobedient precisely because they could read. Granny Luo feared that if Chunni learned to read, she would become wild and she wouldn't be able to use her for a dowry.

Granny Luo believed that the reason her son Chunwang hadn't yet grasped the essentials of studying was because Man'er was attending the private school. Since the Tong widow's family had brought so much influence to her son's family—and her grandson had even publicly mocked her when he went to collect the lanterns—she decided to use the kidnapper to bring ruin upon the Tong widow's family.

The child is lost; let's see how long she can remain smug.

Granny Luo had already vividly described the scene of Tong Huaqiong weeping bitterly and the entire Gu family descending into chaos.

“The families of those children are watching the lanterns elsewhere. While the adults are away, you should hurry up and trap them.”

After urging Chunwang to return, Granny Luo wanted to make sure she was on her way back when the Gu family's children were abducted.

Unexpectedly, the fat man stopped Granny Luo and Chunwang.

The skinny man glanced around, then together with the fat man, they squeezed Granny Luo and Chunwang into a secluded, dark, and hidden spot.

“This little lamb is quite fat.” The skinny man raised his arm and pinched Chunwang’s cheek, then pressed the knife from his sleeve against Chunwang’s chubby face.

This little lamb is of good quality, although in terms of appearance and clothing he can't compare to the other children this old woman pointed out. He's not qualified to be a male prostitute; it would be better to castrate him and send him to the palace.

You can earn at least a few dozen taels of silver.

Chunwang was so frightened that he couldn't move, and the candied hawthorn and lantern in his hand rolled to the ground.

"Since you've come to our door on your own initiative, why should we let you leave?" The fat man chuckled, stuffed a rag into Chunwang's mouth, and then tied him up.

Grandma Luo was completely bewildered. She hadn't expected that by offering clues about Man'er and the others, she had inadvertently implicated her own grandson.

If it were confirmed that Tong Huaqiong had no connection with them, Granny Luo would suspect that these two were Tong Huaqiong's shills, trying to lure her into a trap.

"No, gentlemen, my family is poor!" Granny Luo struggled to break free from Chunwang's embrace and tried to shout for help, but when she saw the skinny man waving a knife in front of her grandson, she was so frightened that she swallowed her shout.

This old woman is worthless; even if you sold her to a wealthy family as a maid, they wouldn't want her, and she'd just waste food.

The skinny man struck Granny Luo on the neck with a palm strike, and Granny Luo fell to the ground.

The fat man stuffed a rag into Granny Luo's mouth, tied her up, and threw her onto a pile of unmelted snow by the roadside.

Chunwang couldn't make a sound; his body trembled like a leaf in fear, and tears streamed down his face.

The skinny cripple tossed Chunwang to the fat cripple and turned to walk toward the acrobatic performance area.

He was afraid that the children would be taken away by their families.

Fat cripple dragged Chunwang to the corner and shoved him into the carriage.

"Aunt Jiang, someone's here," the fat cripple said to a middle-aged woman in the carriage.

"Wow, this little lamb is quite plump." Jiang's mother pinched Chunwang's chubby cheeks, expressing her satisfaction.

She waited in the carriage all night, her hands and feet numb from the cold. She thought she had come for nothing, but at least she had managed to snag someone.

"Aunt Jiang, there are several plump sheep over there, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

After the fat man finished speaking, he closed the carriage curtain and happily walked towards the variety show stall.

At the juggling stall, Man'er, Xiaolong, Yaozu, and Duo'er, the four children, were all huddled together, completely absorbed in watching the juggling performance.

They were completely unaware that danger was approaching.