Tan Yuhua was Little Mrs. Hu's daughter born late in her life, so she was quite doted on at home. It was said that her maternal family was in the county seat and ran a tofu shop there, and it seemed they had some family property.
After arriving at the Tan house, out of face, Old Lady Hu gave her a silver hairpin as a dowry gift, though it was hollow, it was still two or three taels.
Given Jiang Family's current family circumstances and prestige, if they were to provide a dowry to a well-regarded family, it certainly wouldn't be so shabby.
For example, what she had prepared for her Eldest Daughter-in-law and the introductory gift she gave to the new niece-in-law of the Lin Family, was a pair of solid gold bangles.
But for Little Mrs. Hu's daughter, even if it was just a hollow silver hairpin, she still begrudged it.
Tan Yuhua was somewhat dissatisfied with this aunt's stinginess. She thought that even for the Hu family's status, they should at least have given a gold hairpin.
Fortunately, she was sensible enough not to show it on the spot.
In fact, the dowry her mother had prepared for her was nothing more than a six-piece silver comb set.
At the very least, among all the dowry items, this silver hairpin was the most valuable.
At the auspicious time, the groom rode a donkey, and brought a four-man bridal sedan chair, with fanfare and noise, to pick up the bride.
After that, it was time for the bride’s family to sit for the wedding feast. Because she was Old Lady Hu's older sister, and the mother of a successful imperial examination candidate, Old Lady Hu was naturally treated with courtesy by everyone.
In this era where everything else was inferior, only education was supreme. Even an ordinary degree holder would make people look at them with more respect, let alone the family member of an examination candidate.
Having gotten up early and watched the excitement, Jiang Yuqing's baby had already fallen asleep in Old Lady Hu's arms.
Little Mrs. Hu then ingratiated herself and said, “Big sister, the baby is already asleep, and you’ve been holding her all morning, it must be tiring. Why not let her sleep in my room for a while. Usually no one else goes into my room.”
Old Lady Hu was holding her granddaughter, so it was inconvenient for her to eat.
Moreover, the granddaughter was chubby, and after holding her all morning, her arms were sore beyond compare.
After thinking about it, she agreed to Little Mrs. Hu's suggestion, carried the child and followed Little Mrs. Hu into the room.
After putting down the child, she covered her with a thin rabbit fur cloak, gently patted her for a while, made sure she wouldn't wake up for a while, before reluctantly leaving.
Not long after Old Lady Hu left, a sneaky figure entered Old Lady Hu's room.
After rummaging around and not finding anything valuable, the lecherous man's greedy gaze locked onto the sleeping baby on the bed.
Third Aunt said this child looks good. If sold to a brothel, she would definitely fetch a good price.
She heard that some brothels specifically buy pretty young girls, raise them, train them to become playthings, and then sell them to wealthy businessmen, tycoons, and senior officials for a lot of money.
Moreover, this child was dressed in gold and silver, clearly from a wealthy family. Just stripping off her jewelry alone would be worth a lot of silver.
Recently, those bastards from the gambling dens had been fiercely chasing debts. If he couldn’t get more silver soon, his arms would be forfeit. Selling her, the silver from it could pay off the debts, and perhaps he could gamble some more.
Thinking of this, he hesitated no longer. He took out a kerchief soaked in anesthetic from his bosom, and pressed it over the child's nose and mouth.
The baby struggled slightly, then stopped moving completely.
After all, it was his first time doing such a thing, and the lecherous man's heart thumped wildly.
He quickly flipped open the quilt, picked up the child, carefully stuck his head out the door, saw his Third Aunt nod at him.
He looked around again, saw no one was paying attention here, before slipping out the door and running away swiftly,
Halfway through the meal, Old Lady Hu suddenly felt a sudden heartache. Remembering her granddaughter who was still sleeping in Little Mrs. Hu's room, she apologized and got up to see the child. Little Mrs. Hu also had no choice but to put down her chopsticks and follow along.
The two pushed open the door and saw the bed was empty, no trace of the child whatsoever.
Old Lady Hu's mind instantly went blank, as if she had fallen into an ice cellar, her legs went soft and she almost collapsed.
"Where's my darling granddaughter?" Old Lady Hu shook as she grabbed Little Mrs. Hu.
Little Mrs. Hu's face was also pale now. She stammered, "She was sleeping well just now, where could she have gone in this short time?"
"I'm asking you, where is my darling granddaughter?" Old Lady Hu was both anxious and angry, raising her voice and yelling, "Didn't you say no one comes into your room? Where has my granddaughter gone?"
"Uh, big sister, don't panic first. Let me ask the family, maybe the child woke up and they carried her to coax her, who knows."
Old Lady Hu really had no other way at this moment. Feeling light-headed, she stumbled out to ask who had taken the child from the room, but after asking around, everyone said they hadn't seen her.
Only then did the Tan family realize something bad had happened, and hurriedly spread out everywhere looking for the child.
In the chaos, a young boy yelled at Little Mrs. Hu, "Auntie Tan, just now I saw Third Uncle Tan going towards the county seat, carrying something in his arms, wrapped in a large red cloth. That cloth had a white furry trim, looked really nice."
Everyone instantly realized what happened when they heard this.
That little girl from Jiang family, wasn't she wrapped in a large red cloak with white rabbit fur trim today? Everyone had admired it at the time, saying that Jiang family doted on this girl lavishly.
Another rough male voice said, "It must be him. Tan Laosan lost a lot of money gambling in the city these past few days. I bet he saw that Jiang family's pretty little girl and got some wicked ideas."
Everyone immediately broke out in an uproar. They said in succession, "Oh my, hurry and chase after him!"
"That's right, such a pretty little girl, if she really gets sold, she'll be lost for good."
"Wicked!"
"That beast, even daring to steal his aunt's child!"
"When driven desperate by gambling losses, what evil won't a person commit..."
Old Lady Hu only felt a buzzing in her head, the world spinning around her. Fortunately people supported her in time, otherwise she might have collapsed.
If not for worrying about her kidnapped granddaughter, she probably would have fainted dead away already.
She forced herself to stay calm, and said to the people around her with trembling lips, "Please, can some people go report this to my family at Xijing Crossing, and some go report it to the county yamen.
My family's child's uncle is Master Lu at the county yamen. She must be found and brought back no matter what.
Once the child is found, our Jiang family will definitely richly reward you."
Most of those who came to drink were Tan family's relatives and friends or fellow villagers. The village chief was also here, and knew this was a major incident.
Moreover, this was an imperial exam candidate's child, the niece of Master Lu. If anything went wrong, all the villagers would suffer implicatons.
The village chief immediately made arrangements, swiftly sending out several groups of people.
One group chased in the direction of Tan Laosan, one group went to report to the county yamen, one group went to Xijing Crossing to inform Jiang family.
Old Lady Hu was already half-mad with rage. Tears rolling down her face, she grabbed Little Mrs. Hu's collar, the hatred churning in her eyes almost drowned Little Mrs. Hu.
She gnashed her teeth and said, "When we were young, you and your mother brought calamity upon me and my elder brother. Now your good-for-nothing son has come to harm my granddaughter.
Hu Yuzhen, what grave of your Wang family did I dig up in my past life? Let me tell you, Wang Cuihua (Little Mrs. Hu's original name), if my family's child is returned safely, I'll let it go. But if a single hair on her head is missing, I will make sure your whole family will never know peace.
What I, Hu Yuzhen, say, I will do!" As she spoke, she shoved Little Mrs. Hu away forcefully.
Little Mrs. Hu sat paralyzed on the ground, her face as pale as if she had just been dragged out of a coffin.
She had originally wanted to use her daughter's wedding as a chance to repair her relationship with her elder sister, so her family could also bask in the glory later.
She didn't expect not only was there no glory to bask in, but this happened instead.
It was over, completely over!
Little Mrs. Hu's Eldest Daughter-in-law and Second Daughter-in-law were both angry and hateful.
Usually the mother-in-law favored Third Uncle, keeping all the good food and drink for Third Uncle first, even the children had to come after.
No matter how much of a wastrel Third Uncle was, she wouldn't let others say a bad thing about him. If there was the slightest dissatisfaction, they would be scolded til their head bled by the mother-in-law.
And now, it had developed to the point of kidnapping children. Well now, the whole family was going to be ruined by him.
Little Mrs. Hu's Eldest Daughter-in-law cried and scolded, "It's because you spoiled your precious son so much he grew up to be an idle wastrel stealing chickens and ducks.
If not for us watching closely, even his sister's dowry would have been stolen to pay off gambling debts. And now he has grown so bold as to steal children, simply inhuman."
Her little daughter-in-law also cried, "Today uncle could steal Auntie's child. Tomorrow he might take our children to sell when we're not home!
I absolutely dare not stay in this family. Today I'm taking my children and returning to my maiden home!" As she spoke, she pulled several children and prepared to leave.
The Eldest Daughter-in-law also pulled along her child. Disregarding the father's attempts to stop her, she returned to the room, packed up the clothes, and left. For a time, there were crying and shouting in the courtyard. A joyous occasion had in an instant become gloomy with sorrow.
Let us speak of Jiang Yuqing, who had been carried out by Tan Laosan. Halfway down the road she awoke. Because she had been smothered with medicine, her mind was dizzy and muddled.
She did not know what had happened to her, only feeling that the grip on her was extremely uncomfortable. She struggled instinctively. This frightened Tan Laosan who was holding her.
Tan Laosan thought the child was about to cry, so with one hand he held her while with the other he reached into his bosom to feel for the handkerchief soaked in medicine, intending to drug her again.
This time he would smother her longer, he was determined she would not wake again. However when he touched inside, he discovered nothing at all, and cursed under his breath.
He threatened the child in his arms viciously, "Don't cry, or I'll kill you." These words sounded like thunder in her ears, and Jiang Yuqing's muddled mind instantly cleared.
Oh no, she seemed to have fallen into the hands of bad people.
She remembered she had fallen asleep in Old Lady Hu's embrace, and now she had landed in the hands of villains. What about Old Lady Hu? Had she also met with misfortune?
If she had been snatched away from Old Lady Hu, with Old Lady Hu's doting love for her, she would rather stake her life than let him succeed.
In a struggle, she would definitely have awakened long ago, how could she be completely unaware?
Unless she had been drugged in her sleep.
She gently sniffed, and as expected, she could smell the odour of inferior narcotics.
And someone who wanted to drug her in her sleep would definitely choose a time when Old Lady Hu was not present.
She also thought of today's occasion, it was very likely that after she fell asleep, Old Lady Hu had placed her somewhere to sleep, and this fiend had found a gap to drug and steal her away.
If that was the case, then Old Lady Hu was safe.
Thinking of this, she felt relieved by half. The most important thing now was how to escape. Her mind raced swiftly, looking for a way to get free.
After threatening for a spell, seeing the child make no further movements, Tan Laosan's heart suddenly relaxed somewhat.
With the doting love that old woman of the Jiang Family had for her granddaughter, discovering the missing child was only a matter of time. By then, people would definitely be sent to pursue them.
Just now his heart had been anxious, thinking only of fleeing quickly, he was also unsure if anyone had seen them on the road.
But he could not take this main road to the county town again, he would have to pick a lesser used path.
Thinking thus, he turned onto a mountain path by the roadside. This mountain path led straight to Zuo Family Village outside the county town.
Going to the county town from here was actually even shorter than taking the main road.
However, because this small path was narrow and winding, with lush forests on both sides, there were often snakes and bugs.
And halfway was also an eerie abandoned grave site, thus very few people took this path.
Tan Laosan was anxious to flee, he had turned onto the path without noticing, and the child's shoes had been caught on the brambles.
He could not be bothered, and forcefully tore it free before hurrying on.
Not long after, the child's other shoe also fell off.
By the time he had run a long way out, and was about to climb over a hill to reach the abandoned graves, Tan Laosan finally stopped to rest for a spell.
