Ling Chengyan didn't leave.
She was so perplexed over what was happening in front of her that she didn't dare to walk around.
Xiao Xing had been holding on to the corner of her clothes. She didn't know when, but at some point, the girl had curled up and fallen asleep. The little baby at the corner of the bed cried a few times, but he seemed to have fallen asleep as well.
Ling Chengyan sat by the head of the bed, contemplating the matter before her.
After thinking about it a few times, she was sure that she had died in battle and somehow turned into another person. She didn't know if this should be called 'reincarnating in another body' or something else.
However, it was confirmed that she was alive as a farmer's wife with a pair of children.
The three of them entered the main room. Not long after, the woman whom Xiao Xing addressed as 'Eldest Aunt' came out through one of the doorways and hurriedly entered the West Wing.
Ling Chengyan's heart was still in a mess, so she didn't pay her any attention.
It was not until sunlight shone through the windows and there was gradual movement outside that Ling Chengyan came back to her senses and let out a sigh of relief.
The morning light shone on the two children's faces and she could see their faces clearly now.
Even when they were asleep, the two children were frowning slightly. They were both very thin. Not to mention Xiao Xing's dry hair, even Xiao Tian, who was curled up in a gray cloth, did not have the healthy look of a normal baby. He was as thin as a cat, and his breathing was so weak that it was almost inaudible.
It was no wonder that she didn't notice his presence when she woke up last night.
As for the few women she had seen last night, their clothes were patched up. This meant they were obviously not rich, but they were still strong and didn't look like they had been starving all year round. They didn't look like they'd be relatives to "her" and the two little children.
Thinking about those people's attitudes, it was clear that they simply didn't treat the three of them as family.
Ling Chengyan didn't know if she had actually reincarnated or something else, but she knew that, at the moment, she had no choice but to adapt to all the changes and temporarily act as 'Ling Chengyan' to live.
Taking a deep breath, Ling Chengyan moved her stiff body off the bed and scanned the things around the room.
There was a wrecked table with bricks on it, an old suitcase filled with old clothes, a straw mat, a thin mattress, and a quilt on the bed...
In less than a minute, Ling Chengyan had searched through the room. To her surprise, she didn't see any money in the two rooms within the room, not to mention there wasn't even a grain of rice. They were really poor.
Due to this, she had to think of a way to get some money and food before she could leave with the two children.
When she decided to live here, she never thought of leaving the two behind. Taking over this body, of course, would mean she had to bear 'her' duties.
Suddenly, the door of the main room where the mother-in-law lived opened, disrupting Ling Chengyan's train of thoughts. Ling Chengyan hid by the window and pushed it open a little to peek outside. She saw a woman with pigtails sticking her head out to look in the direction of their room. Then, she tiptoed out of the gate.
Ling Chengyan's gaze shifted. After taking a few breaths, she passed through the bird's nest on the back wall and silently jumped into an alley behind the house. Taking a few steps forward, she quietly landed behind the woman.
The woman was quite skilled at sneaking around as she dodged the old men that got up early to pick up feces. She went all the way to the forest west of the reservoir beside the village and called out in a low voice, "Big Sister, Big Sister…"
A yellow-skinned woman, who looked to be in her thirties, came out of the forest and muttered a few words to her.
Ling Chengyan quietly followed the woman back and stood under the bird's nest on the mountain wall of the main house. With her hearing, she could clearly hear the conversation going on inside the house.
"Mother, Sister said that we must send the younger one over by today. If we're late, the buyer might want another family's child. If we miss this one, it'll be hard to find another generous family that's willing to pay 200 yuan... Here, this is what Sister asked me to bring back. It's the deposit from that family..."
"How much is it?"
"Fifty..."
Bang! The door was kicked open. Zhou Xiuying instinctively tried to hide the money, but to no avail. Someone had grabbed her wrist.
Ling Chengyan grabbed the few notes from Zhou Xiuying's hand and glared at them. She stared at the mother and daughter and sneered, "You people are worse than pigs and dogs. Are you even worthy of being human?!"
"Ling Chengyan, you..." Zhou Xiuying was about to scream at her, but Ling Chengyan grabbed her collar and strangled her neck, rendering her unable to speak.
"This is human trafficking. I'll send you to the authorities!" Ling Chengyan exerted force and directly lifted her up. Immediately, the elderly woman's wrinkly face turned pale in fright.
Seeing that things were not looking good, Wang Lianxiang tried to run away, but Ling Chengyan kicked her to the ground and stepped on her chest.
Wang Guitang, who was resting on the bed, shouted when he saw his wife getting strangled, "Ling Chengyan, are you going to rebel? How dare you strangle your mother-in-law?"
To Ling Chengyan, the word 'rebellion' was like a knife that pierced her heart and bone. She was a proud member of the Ling family, and the Lings had protected the Great Chu for almost a hundred years and had sacrificed dozens of lives. Unfortunately, they were suspected of colluding with foreign enemies. Ling Chengyan's father and brothers died one after another. As the eldest daughter, she had no choice but to pick up the Ling family's flag and defend the country... In the end, she risked her life to defeat the enemy, but in return, she received an arrow from the back!
'Rebelling?'
The former general of the Great Chu didn't understand. She was nothing but loyal till her death.
Ling Chengyan had already died once. That was enough for her to understand that when facing a muddleheaded and irredeemably stupid superior, rebelling was the only way to survive!
"Mother-in-law?" Ling Chengyan smirked, unconsciously increasing the force of her grip. Zhou Xiuying rolled her eyes and almost fainted.
"A ruler should act like a ruler, and a subject should play the part of a subject. The same principle goes for someone who's a father and someone who's a child. Each should play their part." After Ling Chengyan finished her words, her sharp and cold gaze gradually calmed down. Her eyes darted to the woman that she'd kicked to the ground.
"What are you planning to do with the child? Whose idea was it? Who are you planning to sell him off to?" Ling Chengyan asked a dozen questions in a row. Wang Lianxiang panted from fear. At that moment, she really thought she was going to die.
She was so terrified that whatever Ling Chengyan asked, she immediately answered. She even took the initiative in telling her everything. She was afraid that if she answered something that did not satisfy this crazy woman, she would die.
Soon after, Ling Chengyan received a written confession. Looking at the crooked handwriting, Ling Chengyan's eyes flashed with disgust. She threw it at Wang Lianxiang and asked her to read it out for her.
Ling Chengyan observed from the side. After comparing every word and sentence, she realized that the handwriting here was different from that of the Great Chu. Many of the words had been simplified, and after going through them, she could roughly recognize most of them. After confirming that Wang Lianxiang had not tampered with the confession, Ling Chengyan forced Wang Lianxiang to sign her and her parents' names on the confession and asked the three of them to stamp their thumbprints.
After receiving the confession, Ling Chengyan shook it out of habit to dry it, then folded it and kept it.
Finally, Ling Chengyan loosened her grip on Zhou Xiuying and the latter fell limply to the ground.
Ling Chengyan kicked Wang Lianxiang and ordered indifferently, "Go and cook, but wash your hands first."
Wang Lianxiang glanced at Ling Chengyan in disbelief and then turned to her mother for help. The old woman was still panting and didn't have the time to care about the fact that her daughter was being forced to cook.
Wang Lianxiang was terrified of Ling Chengyan and didn't dare to disobey. She hurriedly went to the kitchen to cook.