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

Chapter 382 Abduction
Given the presence of government officials throughout the town, the kidnapper dared not leave Yanguan Town easily.

They had already set up a base in a secluded spot in Yanguan Town.

The carriage swayed and rattled through two quiet streets and stopped in an empty courtyard.

The two thugs led Man'er and the others to the courtyard, then retreated into the house.

Jiang's mother hung the lantern on the roof beam, and the room was lit.

Then, Fat Cripple carried Chunwang into the house.

When Man'er and the others saw Chunwang being gagged, his hands tied, and thrown to the ground, they trembled with fear.

"You all better behave yourselves," the skinny man said menacingly to Man'er and the other three children.

Duo'er's eyes were brimming with tears, and she was about to cry.

Man'er patted Duo'er's little hand and said, "Little sister, don't be afraid, little sister, don't be afraid, we're going to the prefectural city."

Then he turned to his head and said, "We'll behave. Didn't you say you'd take us to the prefectural city? Why are we here?"

Jiang's mother chuckled and said, "That's right, I'll take you to the prefectural city. You'll stay here for one night and leave tomorrow."

This silly girl looks like a spoiled, naive girl from a wealthy family.

They have no wariness of strangers whatsoever.

Man'er looked excited, holding Xiaolong's hand in one hand and Duo'er's hand in the other, and said, "We're going to the prefectural city! That's great! The private school starts tomorrow, so I don't have to go. I hate writing and reading the most."

Jiang's mother frowned slightly and said, "You're a girl, and you still want to go to a private school? Who are you trying to fool?"

Man'er said innocently, "My dad said that only by studying can I do big business and make big money."

The two cripples exchanged a glance.

What kind of family sends their daughter to a private school?

From this perspective, these children's family conditions are better than they imagined.

Jiang's mother glared at the two cripples and scolded, "What are you two holding back for? Don't give me any nonsense. If you ruin my plans, you'll be sorry."

The skinny cripple retorted, "Yanguan Town is the richest place in Pingchuan County. Which of those wealthy families can't afford a thousand taels of silver? Especially families like this that dote on their children, they'd be willing to pay whatever it takes."

The fat cripple said, "If something goes wrong on the way to Shengjing, we'll be ruined. We might as well use the money we have to extort a large sum of money from them."

Jiang's mother scolded, "Are you blind? Don't you see the constables all over the streets? If we get caught, we won't be able to escape. Don't just look at the money in front of you and forget the risks. We're here to do business for the long term."

The skinny cripple and the fat cripple dared not speak when they heard the word "official".

But deep down, he was resentful.

Why is it that they work so hard to raise the children, yet Jiang's mother makes all the decisions?

If these children are brought to Shengjing, how much silver will the two of them be able to share?

If they had followed their plan and sent a message to the children's families, they could have earned at least a thousand taels of silver.

As for those official duties, they won't stay in Yanguan Town forever.

Once the heat died down, they sent blackmail letters to the children's families.

If they dare to report this to the authorities, these children will be killed.

"Let's stay here for the night and go to the prefectural city tomorrow. I'm going to start a fire, it's freezing," Jiang's mother said as she went out.

Man'er and Xiaolong, along with Duo'er and Yaozu, sat huddled together against the wall.

Fortunately, their family had dressed them in thick clothes before they went to see the lanterns, so they didn't feel cold.

The fat cripple observed the children for a while, then asked Man'er with a smile, "Little girl, are you all from the same family?"

Man'er pulled Xiaolong along and said, "He is my own younger brother."

Pointing at Yaozu and Duoer: "He is my uncle's younger brother, and my sister's grandfather's village head."

The two men's eyes lit up when they heard the village head's name.

Yanguan Town is so wealthy, how could the village head's family be short of money?
The skinny man asked, "How many boys are there in your family?" Man'er replied, "Just the two of them."

The skinny cripple laughed.

By controlling these two children, he was essentially controlling the family's future lineage; he was determined to extort money from them.

The fat cripple wanted to find out more about their background, so he asked, "Where do you live? What do you do?"

Yaozu licked a piece of candy and said, "You ask me where my home is? Sometimes I live in Yanguan Town and sometimes in the prefectural city. My family sells porcelain, which we transport by large boat to sell to people at sea."

Man'er and Xiaolong were stunned by what they heard.

Yaozu is just spouting nonsense.

Isn't porcelain the business of my aunt's family?
Isn't that big ship part of the Lu family's business?

The two men, one fat and one thin, wore expressions of excitement.

They didn't expect the fish they caught today to be so fat.

A family with a large ship that goes out to sea must be extremely wealthy.

No wonder everyone says Yanguan Town is wealthy; they definitely came to the right place.

Since this family owns a boat, and the family line and favored children are all in their hands, wouldn't that mean they have half of the Nie family's wealth in their grasp?

Yaozu licked the candy again and said, "I don't want to be here, it's too cold. I heard you want money, go ask my dad for it, he's rich. By the way, my dad's name is Nie Mingyuan."

Man'er agreed with Yaozu, saying, "We can't go. If they go, they'll know we're going to the prefectural city to play."

The two men, one fat and one thin, were as happy as if they had seen a pile of gold coins.

No one wanted to wait until the next day.

Without further ado, they planned to extort money that very night.

The skinny cripple said to the fat cripple, "Mother Jiang has been waiting with us all night without eating anything. Go and make some food for her."

The fat cripple knew exactly what the thin cripple was up to and said, "Don't worry, I'll make sure Mama Jiang has a good meal and then gets a good night's sleep."

The two split up.

Soon only a few children remained in the room.

Duo'er said tremblingly, "Sister Man'er, I want to go home."

Man'er was also scared. She always remembered that she was the older sister and that Tong Huaqiong had told her to stay calm in the face of trouble. She comforted Duo'er and said, "Don't be afraid, Grandma and the others will definitely come to save us."

Man'er didn't know if the velvet flower she had dropped on the ground had been picked up.

As Man'er spoke, her small body began to tremble.

Xiao Long helped Man'er up and said, "Man'er, don't be afraid. I'm here, so don't be afraid."

Yaozu stopped pretending and said with tears in his eyes, "You don't know kung fu."

Xiaolong stopped talking and pursed his lips.

He believed his uncle would see the mark he left behind.

"Yaozu, why did you say your father is your uncle?" Man'er asked quietly.

Yaozu said, "I saw that they wanted to ask our family for money, but we are too far away in Qinghewan, so I told them it was my aunt's house."

Man'er tapped Yaozu's forehead and said, "You've become smarter."

The door creaked open, and Jiang's mother came in carrying a hot stove.

The four children huddled together, with Man'er's head resting against Xiaolong as if she were about to fall asleep.

Man'er is going to the space to get chili water.

Grandma had her take out the chili water, pour it into small bottles, and gave one bottle each to Auntie and Auntie Xiaocao, saying that they should spray it into the eyes if they encountered bad people.