356 Mother and the Others Are Gone (3)

Even Widow Wang’s family was valued by the villagers because they were on good terms with the Song family.

But now…

“The person who went over just now seemed to be from the Song family, right?” Madam Cui patted someone beside her and asked.

“Who?” The man didn’t react.

“That evil woman. That powerful wife of the Song family and that kid from the Song family.” Madam Cui swallowed the words “female fiend”.

She caught a glimpse through the curtain, but the carriage went straight past. She wasn’t sure.

“Are you sure?” It was another woman who spoke.

Everyone knew that the Song family had opened a fragrance powder shop in town. At first, Madam Li told others that Shen Yijia was guarding the shop in town and that Song Jingchen had been at home.

If not for Emperor Chong’an’s imperial edict, they would have thought that Song Jingchen had been at home. After all, it was normal for a cripple to not go out. Occasionally, they would see a person in a wheelchair through the open door.

In the end, the imperial edict said that Emperor Chong’an had sent Song Jingchen to Xunyang. Although Madam Li didn’t know why things had turned out like this, she believed in her son.

When anyone asked her again, she simply told everyone that the couple had gone together.

Madam Cui was originally uncertain, but when the woman asked in a suspicious tone, she was immediately indignant. “How could I be wrong? It’s that couple. Didn’t you see that the carriage was heading towards the end of the village?”

“I- I saw it too,” Madam Zeng said timidly.

“Why are the two of them only back now? There’s no one at home.”

As soon as the carriage stopped beside the crooked tree, Shen Yijia could not wait to jump out of the carriage. Furball was as excited as her.

Furball went around to the back of the house and prepared to crawl in.

The door was tightly shut. Shen Yijia went forward and knocked on the door. “Mother, we’re back.”

“Brother Hao, Sister Huan, I’m back.”

“Miaomiao, Lin Shao…”

Shen Yijia called everyone over. Song Jingchen smiled helplessly and got out of the car. He frowned at a glance. “There’s no need to knock. There’s no one at home.”

Shen Yijia was about to ask how he knew when the neighbor’s door opened.

An Dong came out with a bow in his hand. When he saw them, he was stunned. “You’re back.”

His gaze lingered on Song Jingchen’s legs for a moment. The others in the village only knew that Song Jingchen wasn’t at home because of the imperial edict, but he had long known.

On the night Song Jingchen left, his wife was hungry. He woke up in the middle of the night to cook supper for her and happened to see her. He waited in the courtyard for a long time because he found it strange, but he saw Shen Yijia leading the horse out.

However, he didn’t tell anyone.

Song Jingchen nodded.

Shen Yijia asked, “Where did my mother and the others go? Are they not at home?”

Her knocks on the door should be loud enough for them to hear.

Guilt flashed across An Dong’s face. “Wait a minute.”

With that, he returned to the house and walked out a moment later. He was no longer holding a bow and arrow, but a key.

He glanced at the two of them and walked to the Song family’s door.

Shen Yijia was too excited to notice it just now. Only then did she see that there was a lock on her door.

Shen Yijia blinked. But why did An Dong have the key? Was her mother afraid that they wouldn’t be able to enter the house when they returned?

“I locked this door,” An Dong explained as he removed the lock.

When the courtyard door was pushed open and she saw the scene inside, Shen Yijia realized that something was wrong.

The courtyard was overgrown. A few chairs lay on their sides.

“This…” Shen Yijia turned around and looked at Song Jingchen in confusion.

Song Jingchen clenched his fists.

“About ten days ago, the workshop didn’t open for a long time. My mother and the others went to look for Auntie Li.”

The key to the workshop had always been in Madam Li’s hands. She would open the door in advance every morning.

“I didn’t expect your door to be unlocked. I didn’t see anyone after I entered. Instead, there were traces of a fight everywhere.” An Dong’s face was filled with grief.

“Moreover, the few long-term workers your family hired have disappeared. Everyone guessed that they got greedy and even kidnapped Auntie Li and the others.”

The Song family only had one woman and four children. Although Madam Li was in her thirties, she took good care of herself and was still a beautiful woman.

She looked better than many older girls in the countryside. The four half-grown children were so good-looking that they could be sold for a lot of money.

“Auntie Wang and Bruiser also stayed at your house for the past few days. They disappeared together.”

As An Dong’s voice sounded, Shen Yijia felt her head buzz. How could this be?

As soon as they heard An Dong mention those workers, South Wind and Thirty Thousand looked at each other. Their first reaction was that it was impossible.

Thinking of something, An Dong said, “I went to the county office with Shen Dali to report to the officials, but there’s still no news.

“We were afraid that the villagers would enter your house and rummage around, but we thought that the two of you would definitely come back, so we discussed locking the door for you. We haven’t touched anything inside.”

“Thank you,” Song Jingchen said.

An Dong shook his head. He didn’t help much.

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