Rose Thorns (2)

Do normal people have feet like this?

Zheng Wuyou gasped, the bright sun shining overhead.

Cold sweat broke out on her palms, a chill spreading.

She grabbed Wansi's hand and took a step back, only to bump into the curious Wen Dian.

"What's wrong? Little sister," Uncle Cai, walking last, couldn't get past the crowd like a mountain and could only ask.

Zheng Wuyou didn't answer Uncle Cai's question and looked towards the alley entrance again, past Miao Laisheng's arm.

No one could be seen in the narrow alley.

"Huh? Where did they go?" Zheng Wuyou propped herself on Miao Laisheng's left arm with one hand, sticking her head out from behind.

If not for Miao Laisheng's reaction, she would have thought she was hallucinating.

"...They left." Miao Laisheng pulled his arm out of her grasp.

They walked out of the narrow, suffocating alley.

Back at the wooden house, Zheng Wuyou told everyone all the information, word for word.

Disbelief was written on everyone's faces. Others had either gained nothing or lost their lives.

These three people had actually stumbled upon a fortuitous encounter.

And if they wanted to get the hairpin, they had to help the eldest daughter escape Old Zhu's family.

But from what they knew, the eldest daughter had always stayed in the backyard.

They couldn't get into the backyard.

How could they rescue the eldest daughter?

"I get it, this is a prince saving a princess scenario," Guo Mu said, cupping his chin with one hand, looking enlightened.

"Last night, there was half a head crawling outside my door, and a female ghost inside. While it's not certain, perhaps we're not facing Old Zhu's family, but ghosts," Zheng Wuyou recalled the clan customs mentioned in the song. The customs of the Zhu family members would definitely prevent them from getting close to the truth.

These people were thinking about the problem too simply...

If it were easy, that silver-haired old woman wouldn't appear at any time to warn everyone.

"So, to get the hairpin, we must rescue that woman?" Hu Yu tried to sort out these connections, feeling fortunate that half a head hadn't appeared outside her door last night.

Zheng Wuyou nodded patiently.

"But how do we know if he's telling the truth or not? What if the hairpin isn't with him?" Guo Mu, unusually sharp, tried to push himself up from the ground, but his sturdy body wouldn't allow it.

What Guo Mu said made sense...

It wasn't that she hadn't considered this problem.

Zhu Li was also a member of the Zhu family, and he had said not to trust Zhu family members easily.

Zheng Wuyou felt her clothes being tugged again by those small hands, shaking twice.

"He's not lying, believe me, Big Sister," Wansi said, looking up slightly, her eyes full of sincerity.

Zheng Wuyou didn't know how Wansi had reached this conclusion...

Perhaps she still felt that Zhu Li didn't look like a bad person.

"What do you know, you're just a child, you... you'll understand later!" Guo Mu said with an expression of a child being told not to interfere, frustrated by their lack of progress.

"If Zhu Li were lying to us, he wouldn't have directly stated our objective," Zheng Wuyou said with a gentle smile at Wansi, adding, "He must have guided one of us to find him because he has troubles he can't solve himself."

"So he needs to throw a brick to attract jade!" Wen Dian exclaimed, suddenly understanding.

Rescuing the eldest daughter was his goal...

He was a Zhu family member and couldn't go out due to customs.

Therefore, he needed to do something that would make outsiders run around, actively finding him.

And outsiders would only appear at Old Zhu's family and the village chief's house.

So the hairpin was the best medium!

"If he can't come out, how did he hide the hairpin?" Guo Mu always felt there was something fishy going on and didn't want to be a pawn for Zhu Li like a fool.

"I know! It's the couplets!" Wen Dian thought of this and looked at the brushstrokes on the paper...

Suddenly realizing, there was only one such medium!

It was the couplets he wrote; he used writing couplets to contact the eldest daughter of Old Zhu's family.

And then transferred the hairpin out of Old Zhu's family!

There were still smart people around; they quickly figured out the connections.

Zheng Wuyou nodded in agreement.

She wouldn't easily trust anyone unless they had concrete evidence and clear motives.

"Then should we find an opportunity this afternoon to save the eldest daughter? But will that old woman agree to let us into the backyard?" Hu Yu got a headache just thinking about the old woman who smoked opium.

Indeed, the one in charge was such a difficult person to deal with.

"But..."

Before Guo Mu could finish speaking, Miao Laisheng's appearance interrupted his train of thought.

He didn't dare to provoke Miao Laisheng and could only watch silently as he made his next move.

"No need to go to the backyard, the side courtyard will do." Miao Laisheng, from who knows where, found a pen and drew a simple top-down view of Old Zhu's family house on the paper Zhu Li had provided.

"In the corner of this side courtyard, there's a large patch of roses," Miao Laisheng said, circling the spot where he'd found the roses with his pen. "Beneath the roses is a dog hole leading to the backyard, just big enough for one person to pass through."

The statement caused everyone present to exchange bewildered glances!

A possibility flashed through all their minds...

That the eldest daughter-in-law was also trying to escape this place!

"She truly had the worst luck marrying into this family," Hu Yu said, shaking her head after receiving the clear plan. She left the group that had gathered.

It was as if she saw herself, young and foolish, marrying into youth.

Zheng Wuyou, Miao Laisheng, and Hu Yu devised a plan to enter the backyard, while the others, to avoid suspicion, were tasked with searching outside.

She hadn't intended to bring Wansi along, but the girl clung to Zheng Wuyou like a cute puppy that wouldn't let go.

She wouldn't follow anyone but Zheng Wuyou.

The three could only reluctantly bring Wansi and found an excuse: the child Wansi had seen a shadow of an old woman holding a hairpin in the backyard the morning before, near the woodshed.

When the old woman was mentioned, the middle-aged man's expression clearly faltered.

After a moment, he returned to his usual demeanor.

Due to customary rules, only the hosts could go to the backyard during joyous occasions. The middle-aged man could only lead these helpers to the side courtyard in the same direction, letting them search quietly on their own.

He absolutely couldn't draw the attention of his old mother in the main house.

And so, led by the middle-aged man's half-believing gaze, the four of them arrived at the side courtyard filled with roses.

As soon as they entered the side courtyard, the fragrance of roses wafted straight into their nostrils.

The scent felt out of place, clashing with the desolate scenery of the mountainside.

In front of the middle-aged man, they scattered, all bending down to search the ground carefully for the bride's hairpin.

Only after the middle-aged man's back disappeared did the four regroup in front of the rose patch.

"I must say, the roses she planted are quite skillfully done," Hu Yu, ever vigilant, confirmed no one was around before lowering her voice to express her opinion.

Zheng Wuyou nodded. While these roses might not have been planted by the eldest daughter-in-law, she was the most likely person.

Standing where Miao Laisheng had indicated, Zheng Wuyou pulled aside the roses.

The scent of roses, along with the pollen, lingered on her hands.

A dog hole, dug who knows how long ago, appeared before them.

On the edge of the dog hole, a few strands of dried, blackened blood could be seen.

Zheng Wuyou's sharp eyes spotted a piece of hemp rope mixed in with the dirt near the dog hole.

She curiously bent down, only to have her hand pricked by sharp thorns.