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

When Liu Yue'e heard that the kidnapper had gone to extort money from the Nie family, she felt a surge of pride.

This was all a scheme devised by her eldest son to mislead the kidnappers.

"Yaozu, how come you were so clever this time? If you hadn't said you were a child of the Nie family and fooled the kidnappers, we wouldn't have been able to find you so quickly."

Liu Yue'e openly boasted about her ancestors, but in reality, she was trying to gain credit for her own son in front of Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Huaqiong understood Liu Yue'e's meaning, and she smiled and praised Yaozu: "Yaozu really showed his intelligence this time."

Tong Huaqiong's impression of this grandson was that he only cared about eating and drinking and didn't seem very clever.

To be honest, Tong Huaqiong only treated him as a grandson in name only, and couldn't feel close to him.

Gu Yaozu's performance this time truly lived up to the name Yaozu.

Gu Yaozu, having received his grandmother's approval, puffed out his chest while nestled in Liu Yue'e's arms.

The carriage swayed and rattled as it headed toward Qinghe Bay. After a night of turmoil, the children returned to a safe environment and began to feel sleepy. Halfway there, Man'er and the other children fell asleep.

Except for Duo'er, who was woken up midway, all the other children were fast asleep.

Tong Huaqiong has no idea what kind of psychological trauma this abduction will have on the children, or whether they need psychological counseling.

She didn't know about the others, but Duo'er definitely needed them.

"mother."

"aunt."

"Where are the children?"

The carriage stopped under the sycamore tree in front of the Gu family's house, and Chen Sufeng and Tong Pandi caught up with it.

"The children are all fine." Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua took the children off the carriage one by one.

Chen Sufen and Tong Pandi didn't care about anything else; one hugged Man'er and the other hugged Duo'er, and they burst into tears.

Gu Dahan's eyes reddened as he stood to the side.

"Stop it quickly, the children have finally fallen asleep, don't wake them up again," Tong Huaqiong said.

Chen Sufen and Tong Pandi gradually stopped crying.

The child was carried into the house.

Tong Huaqiong took a pair of scissors and trimmed the wick, and the light suddenly came on.

Under the bright lights, the children, their hands and feet covered in dust, slept soundly.

Suddenly, Duo'er opened her eyes and cried out in terror. Tong Pandi felt as if his heart was being torn apart and held Duo'er tightly in his arms.

Soon, news came from the county.

The two thugs, one fat and one thin, confessed to Jiang's mother that they were a criminal gang and that their contact was in Fucheng.

Magistrate Liu captured his contact hiding in a dilapidated temple outside Ningcheng City, and following the clues, discovered that the mastermind behind it was the steward of a prominent family in the capital.

This steward developed a human trafficking network that spanned almost the entire court, specializing in abducting beautiful boys and girls under the age of ten and sending them to brothels in various places, or selling them to high-ranking officials and nobles.

This result greatly shocked Prefect Yao, who wrote a letter and flew to the capital.

The butler was arrested, and all his associates were also taken down.

Tong Huaqiong did not believe that the mastermind behind this was simply the housekeeper.

However, Magistrate Liu stated that the investigation could only go as far as the steward's place. Although the bigger fish escaped, this incident served as a strong deterrent, making it much more difficult for the dismantled dark web to reconnect.

Moreover, it is said that the family was severely weakened by the relentless pursuit of its rivals, so it is unlikely that they would easily consider human trafficking again.

In addition, Tong Huaqiong learned that the reason why the two kidnappers, one fat and one thin, had targeted the four children, Man'er, Xiaolong, Yaozu, and Duo'er, was because of Granny Luo's instigation.

"Of course, we can't draw a conclusion that it was really that old woman's instigation. Maybe the kidnapper was just making things up to get himself out of trouble," Jiao, the constable, told Tong Huaqiong.

After all, Luo Pozi's grandson had also been kidnapped, so she was considered a victim. Moreover, she had provided clues about the kidnappers that night, which was a meritorious act. Magistrate Liu did not accept the claim that Luo Pozi had instigated the kidnappers, thinking that the two were just desperate and making wild accusations.

Magistrate Liu had never lived in Qinghewan, so he naturally didn't know about the feud between Tong Huaqiong and Granny Luo.

After Jiao, the yamen runner, left Tong Huaqiong's house after having tea, Tong Huaqiong went to find Granny Luo.

At this moment, Granny Luo was squatting under the big locust tree at the village entrance, telling others about how her grandson had been kidnapped during the Lantern Festival.

He spoke with great enthusiasm, his narration was incredibly captivating.

"You don't know, if I hadn't remembered the kidnapper's appearance and provided it to the government, the Gu family's four children would probably have been sold to such a filthy place. They say that all the kidnapped children in various towns and villages have been rescued this time, and it's all thanks to my efforts. The government is really something, they didn't even give me a plaque or anything."

Granny Luo took all the credit for the anti-trafficking efforts.

She thought that since she had performed such a great service, Magistrate Liu would award her a plaque to hang on her door.

This way, she could be assertive and have the leverage to confront Tong Huaqiong.

She waited for several days, and the yamen runners did arrive, but they turned towards Tong Huaqiong's house.

He didn't speak to her until he left Qinghe Bay.

"Why did you only kidnap your Chunwang and my grandson out of so many children?" Zhao retorted indifferently.

Granny Luo squinted and said, "It's all because the Gu family's children are dressed too richly. Man'er's hair ornaments and Xiaolong's clothes clearly indicate they're from wealthy families. Those kidnappers aren't stupid; they only kidnap rich children for ransom. Ordinary families don't have the spare money to pay ransoms. To put it bluntly, blame your mother-in-law. Everyone says you shouldn't flaunt your wealth, but she dressed her children up to be richer than princes and nobles. That's how the kidnappers spotted them."

Those who worked for Tong Huaqiong or rented land in the village scoffed at Granny Luo's gloating.

Someone asked Granny Luo, "If that's the case, why was your Chunwang also abducted?"

Granny Luo stammered and couldn't answer.

“There are plenty of rich people in town, and many who are dressed more luxuriously than the Gu family’s children. Why don’t they see the kidnapper? I heard from Yaozu that your Chunwang was still causing trouble for the kidnapper, encouraging him to beat up Xiaolong. Who knows if you were the one who pointed out Yaozu’s four children to the kidnapper, and ended up sending your grandson to the wolf’s den as well,” Zhao, Liu Yue’e’s mother, speculated.

Granny Luo had a guilty conscience, and when Zhao inadvertently exposed the truth, she loudly refuted Zhao's slander.

While Granny Luo was flailing her arms to defend herself, Tong Huaqiong grabbed Granny Luo's hair.

Grandma Luo was in pain and stumbled and fell to the ground.

Tong Huaqiong stepped on Granny Luo's chest and said to Zhao, "My dear in-law, you're right. I knew my four children were watching the acrobatics at the very front of the stage, so how did they end up in the kidnapper's sights? It turns out this old hag pointed them out to him."

Although the New Year is over, the ground is still frozen, and the villagers gather at the village entrance to bask in the sun when they have nothing to do.

Hearing Tong Huaqiong reveal the hidden details of her child's abduction, and given Luo Pozi's apparent deep understanding of child traffickers, everyone was convinced that Luo Pozi was encouraging the traffickers to abduct the Gu family's four children.

Granny Luo screamed and struggled as Tong Huaqiong stepped on her, her hands flapping wildly in the air.

"Widow Tong, what nonsense are you spouting? If I had encouraged kidnappers to abduct your four children, why didn't the officials arrest me?" Granny Luo thought she was right.

"You're so noisy."

Tong Huaqiong casually rolled up a clump of grass from the ground and stuffed it into Granny Luo's mouth, silencing her. (End of Chapter)