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

Chapter 384 Taking advantage of the situation
Seeing that no one was around, Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but scold Liu Yue'e: "Now you know how to cry? What are you crying for? How dare you cry? You are the mother of this child. Where did you go last night? Don't you know there are many people tonight? You don't even care about your son's safety, and now you're blaming others."

"All you do is cry. What good does crying do?"

After scolding Liu Yue'e, Tong Huaqiong lowered her voice and said, "Listen carefully, Liu Yue'e. We now have clues about the children, and everyone is trying to save them. The kidnappers mistakenly believe that Yaozu is the young master of the Nie family and are extorting money from the Nie family. Your eldest sister is trying to keep them calm. You've caused such a commotion. If the kidnappers find out that you are Yaozu's mother, what do you think they will do to Yaozu if they realize they've targeted the wrong person?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Yue'e, though still in tears, dared not make a scene.

Her heart clenched with regret; she was so focused on shopping that she hadn't kept an eye on her son.

Tong Huaqiong appeared calm, but in her heart she hated the kidnapper intensely.

"Grandma, look, isn't this the longevity lock that my mother gave to Xiaolong?" Nie Xiaofeng found Xiaolong's longevity lock at the gate leading out of town. After searching around but not finding anyone, he turned back to Tong Huaqiong for advice.

Tong Huaqiong held the longevity lock, her eyes dark and unfathomable.

Xiaolong was a clever child. He left the longevity lock at the gate leading out of town to tell everyone that they had been taken back to town by kidnappers.

Tong Huaqiong lifted her foot. Now that she was certain the kidnapper had mistaken her for someone else, she shouldn't stay where the child was lost; she had to go and look for him herself.

As I was walking, I suddenly stepped on something.

With a groan, Tong Huaqiong stopped in her tracks.

That humming sound was so familiar.

Gu Taohua, who arrived shortly after, grabbed the person and pulled them up.

"Oh my, it's Granny Luo!" Tong Huaqiong exclaimed in surprise.

Gu Taohua was about to throw Granny Luo to the ground.

Every year during the lantern festival, people get knocked over in the crowd; this was probably the case with Granny Luo. Tong Huaqiong had no liking for Granny Luo; she was lying there blocking the way and delaying her search for her child.

Unexpectedly, Granny Luo grabbed Tong Huaqiong's leg tightly and wouldn't let go, making a wailing sound.

Tong Huaqiong was greatly surprised.

Looking down, he noticed that Granny Luo's mouth was gagged, so he quickly pulled the cloth out.

Granny Luo breathed a sigh of relief and wailed, "Widow Tong, my grandson and your grandson and granddaughter have been kidnapped! Please save them!"

Tong Huaqiong frowned.

Granny Luo continued, "I'm not lying to you, I was knocked unconscious by those two kidnappers."

Grandma Luo didn't regret encouraging the two kidnappers to abduct the Gu family's child; she only regretted rashly taking Chunwang to find the kidnappers.

Who would have thought those kidnappers could be so cruel?

She should have been more careful.

Tong Huaqiong hurriedly asked, "What are the characteristics of those two cripples? Tell me what you know quickly."

Granny Luo said, "One is fat and the other is thin. They tied up my Chunwang and stuffed him into the carriage. Widow Tong, please save my Chunwang! My family can't go without descendants, sob sob sob!"

"Widow Tong, I kowtow to you, I kowtow to you."

Granny Luo sobbed incoherently.

"Are there any other children?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Grandma Luo cried, "No, please hurry and save my Chunwang!"

Tong Huaqiong asked, "How do you know there aren't any other children?"

She was a little puzzled as to why Granny Luo was so certain that it was only the four children from the Gu family and her own Chunwang.

However, Tong Huaqiong didn't have time to think about it in detail; finding the child was the key right now.

"Do you know where the carriage went?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Granny Luo tried hard to recall, and in her hazy state, she seemed to see the carriage heading west, so she pointed to the west.

Fearing that Granny Luo might try something, Tong Huaqiong had Gu Taohua take Granny Luo with her to search. Granny Luo, anxious to find Chunwang, sobbed as she followed Tong Huaqiong westwards towards the town.

As Tong Huaqiong set off to find someone, Granny Nie returned to the Nie family and relayed Tong Huaqiong's instructions to Gu Baishuang.

Gu Baishuang immediately understood and remotely cooperated with Tong Huaqiong to perform a play.

Gu Baishuang cried and shouted in the courtyard, demanding money to redeem her child and to sell her shop and porcelain to raise funds.

The purpose was to mislead the kidnappers hiding in the shadows, to convince Man'er, Xiaolong, and Yaozu that they were indeed children of the Nie family.

This would give Tong Huaqiong enough time to rescue the person.

Upon hearing the news, Zhang, the two stepdaughters-in-law, and her grandson hid inside the house and did not come out.

They mistakenly believed that Gu Baishuang had gone mad because of the abduction of her niece and nephew.

The two stepdaughters-in-law were quite gloating. Widow Tong had changed her ways and started treating their mother-in-law like her own daughter. With her family backing her up, the mother-in-law started to act more and more like a mother-in-law to the two of them after returning from Qinghewan on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

They hoped that Tong Huaqiong would suffer misfortune.

Hearing that Gu Baishuang wanted to raise money to redeem the child, I knew that was impossible; the money belonged to the Nie family.

Those belonging to the Nie family belong to their two branches.

Why should the Gu family be allowed to redeem their child?

The two daughters-in-law had the same idea. They went out to observe Gu Baishuang's madness, and then gathered in the main house to send someone to notify their father-in-law and husband, who were entertaining guests outside, to come home and stop Gu Baishuang from raising money.

Gu Baishuang's acting was so realistic that the skinny cripple watched from the shadows for a while, then returned to his hideout with a triumphant smile on his lips.

Fat cripple had taken advantage of the cooking opportunity to slip a sleeping drug into the food. Caught off guard, Jiang's mother ate a few bites and collapsed to the ground.

After Jiang's mother fell, the fat cripple tied her up and threw her into the yard in front of Man'er and the other children.

It's estimated that Jiang's mother will freeze to death within a night.

Yaozu and Duo'er shrank back to Man'er and Xiaolong in fright.

"Sister Man'er, what's wrong with her?" Duo'er asked quietly.

Man'er didn't quite understand either, but Xiaolong said, "They were given poison."

He had seen this kind of thing many times in the palace.

Yaozu was terrified and said, "They're not going to give us poison, are they?"

Chunwang was lying on the ground next to them. Now that Jiang's mother had been poisoned and passed out, Yaozu was afraid that they would be next.

Xiao Long said, "No."

While the two cripples were out of the house, Man'er gave the chili water in her hand to Xiaolong Yaozu Duo'er.

"Later, when they're not looking, we'll spray it in their eyes and then run away," Man'er whispered.

The door creaked open, and the fat cripple returned to the house, rubbing his hands as he cursed Jiang's mother: "You fat bastard, how dare you stop us brothers from making money. You deserve to freeze to death here."

By the light of the kerosene lamp, the fat cripple squinted at Man'er and the other children, as if he were looking at several large nuggets of gold.

After today, he and the skinny guy will be rich.

"What are you looking at? Look again and I'll gouge your eyes out," the fat cripple said viciously.

Xiao Long's gaze made Fatty Guaizi very uncomfortable; his eyes were full of mockery, contempt, and anger, but not fear.

The fat cripple looked away; it was just a child.

Once they get the money, they won't send these children back.

They could make a fortune selling them in Yangzhou or Shengjing.