The husband I snatched halfway through his life is strange.

Chapter 268 Taking in
Someone asked, "Bought it?"

Zhou's daughter-in-law: "What should we buy?"

She revealed.

"When Xiang Si brought people back, it was during a famine, and every household was starving. Where would they get the money?"

It was another year of famine.

Yu Tingwan frowned subconsciously.

Standing at the gate, Wei Zhao, who had a calm expression, narrowed his eyes.

Zhou's wife glanced around and whispered, "Found it."

"I picked it up from Zexian County."

“When Xiang Si brought her back, you didn’t see it, but she was disheveled, yet her clothes were bright and clean.”

Yu Tingwan's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.

Judging from what the Zhou family's daughter-in-law said, the woman was definitely not from an ordinary farming family.

Yu Tingwan pursed her lips: "Have her family members come looking for her all these years?"

"What kind of family do you have on your mother's side?"

Zhou's daughter-in-law said, "During the famine, there were many who abandoned their daughters to save food, and many who fled the famine got separated from their families. Later, when life got better, I never saw this madwoman visit her family again, and no relatives came to visit her."

"Either they abandoned her, or she probably didn't survive the famine."

"Xiang is old enough to be her father. Bringing her back and giving her a meal is a blessing for her."

Those who had experienced famine nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, back then, people were so hungry they would resort to cannibalism to survive."

"Without Xiang Si, she would have died long ago."

"Besides, finding someone isn't that easy."

"Even if he did find her, Xiang Si wouldn't be willing to give her back, would he? Bringing her back is just because he needs a wife to warm his bed. If it were me, even if they came to my door, I would hide her away."

Yu Tingwan felt increasingly uncomfortable as she listened.

But sometimes, that's just human nature.

“I remember when the nobles who went to the capital had lost their children, they almost turned Ze County upside down. Even people from our area came here.”

Some people are trying to think about it.

"Yes, yes, yes, some people even came to my house to ask about it."

"I know! He's a high-ranking official, currently the Grand Tutor. It was his daughter who was lost. I heard she was only a few days old."

"Only those powerful and influential people were able to find the child later; ordinary people don't have that ability."

Yu Tingwan listened calmly from the side, observing the real child.

Seeing that the woman was thin and trembling, unable to speak clearly, and indeed seemed delirious, Yu Tingwan felt a pang of pity. Enduring the discomfort between her legs, she slowly moved forward, intending to pass her her outer garment to keep her warm.

"Don't go forward."

Someone stopped him.

"It wouldn't be good if I went crazy and hurt you."

Yu Tingwan replied calmly, "No."

Last time, when the woman knocked over the stall, the stall owner held her down and scolded her sternly. She was so frightened that she tried to run away, but she didn't show any intention of hitting him.

Even if it really is true.

Do they really think Wei Zhao behind them is just for show?

She approached.

The woman trembled even more violently.

Yu Tingwan bent down, took off her outer robe, and covered her with it.

The girl's approach was not malicious, and the woman showed no agitation; only her lips moved slightly as she softly murmured.

"child."

"child."

Someone said, "Listen to this, even though he's crazy, he still knows he has a child."

"That's not right."

Zhou's daughter-in-law pursed her lips: "She sees her son and daughter, but she ignores them completely. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was calling out to someone else."

She was trying to think of something.

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh: "Now that you mention it, I remember. Xiang Si was the one who brought the noblewoman back when she lost her child."

The famine lasted for many years.

But this madwoman stayed at Xiang Si's house...

"It's been seventeen years, hasn't it?"

"Back then, whenever I saw someone carrying a child, I would chase after them and snatch it."

"I thought she liked it a lot. But after the madwoman gave birth, she wouldn't even look at her son or daughter, and kept crying and making a scene, saying that they didn't look like that."

No one paid any attention.

This includes Zhou's daughter-in-law, who casually told everyone this as a joke.

He's a madman, after all.

It's nothing to do with acting strangely. But Yu Tingwan's eyelids twitched violently.

Not to mention her, even Wei Zhao's gaze on the woman held a newfound scrutiny.

Just then, Xiang Si finally arrived.

They ran here.

"Why are you running around again!"

Xiang Si's forehead was covered in sweat as he began to scold.

He was furious and raised his hand to hit the woman, but he pulled his hand back halfway down.

He gritted his teeth and pulled her up.

The woman stood there dumbfounded.

Xiang Si said helplessly, "Big Brother, quickly help your mother back. Your little sister won't see anyone at home, she'll probably start crying again."

He was calling for his son.

He came with Xiang Si. Looking at the woman's expression, he felt no pity, only disgust.

They didn't care that there were outsiders present.

"I told you, don't worry about her! Why won't Father listen?"

"Everyone knows my mother is crazy, and I feel ashamed to go out in public. I'm sixteen, and no one wants to marry me."

"I shouldn't have come looking for you!"

"She should have died out there."

The woman still did not react at all.

Upon hearing this, Zhou's daughter-in-law felt a chill in her heart.

"You kid."

"If anything happens to her, you'll be motherless."

"Even if your mother has a thousand faults, she is still the one who gave birth to you."

Xiangjia Dalang, however, had a cold face.

"She didn't want to have me."

"My aunt doesn't know, she doesn't recognize me when she's sober."

"Dalang!"

Xiang Si's face darkened.

Xiangjia Dalang's expression revealed his resentment.

"I'm not wrong."

Xiang Si looked at the outer garment the woman was wearing and was about to take it off.

"Who was the kind person who gave this to me?"

Yu Tingwan didn't answer, but suddenly asked, "What's her name?"

Xiang Si was stunned.

Yu Tingwan: "How old are you?"

Xiang Si's face always showed his usual kindness and honesty.

"this……?"

He quickly apologized to the crowd gathered around him.

"I'm so sorry."

"I've woken everyone up at this hour, haven't I?"

“I went to set up my stall today, and I originally left my eldest son at home to look after his sister. I was worried that my wife would be uneasy, so I brought her along. But I was busy with business and didn't pay attention for a moment, and she…”

"We thought she had run back, but when we went back, she was nowhere to be found. Luckily, we found her."

Even Zhou's daughter-in-law was moved by what she heard.

Yu Tingwan said expressionlessly, "As her husband, you don't even know her name or her age?"

Her tone was indifferent: "Is this appropriate?"

Yu Tingwan: "There's no need to talk about how difficult things are for you. Your difficulties are of your own making and have nothing to do with us. Nobody owes you anything."

She stepped forward, blocking their path.

"Since she has no household registration, and there was no matchmaker or betrothal, she is not your wife. Without an identity, she probably couldn't be registered with the government either."

"Human trafficking is a crime punishable by imprisonment, don't you know that?"

Xiang Si's face suddenly darkened.

"Mind your own business!"

"I entered your home seventeen years ago, but my child was already sixteen, and I was nine months pregnant."

Yu Tingwan: "You probably forced yourself on her that night."

"Don't tell me it's because you feel sorry for her and she's lost and has nowhere to go. It's not buying or selling, it's not kidnapping, we're just giving her food and water."

Yu Tingwan sneered and said, word by word.

"Being kind-hearted led me to take her in for seventeen years."