Chapter 35: Mother, the People Behind Us Look Suspicious

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Seeing the donkey was steady and reliable, Hong Xiaoduo finally felt at ease and climbed into the carriage. "Tianshu, come sit up here. A few dozen pounds won’t make a difference. If you worry about the donkey, we can feed it better grass and take good care of it from now on."

Upon hearing this, Tianshu obediently sat on the carriage shaft.

Among the seven children, although Tianxuan was the same age as him—both eight years old—they didn’t even know where their own homes were, let alone their surnames, birth months, or times.

So, they simply ranked themselves by height. Tianshu was about a fist taller than Tianxuan, so he took on the role of the older brother.

But being the eldest was no easy task; he had to protect his younger siblings as much as possible and shield them from the cruel beatings of their abusers.

Any food they managed to scavenge had to be secretly stashed away for the one who was punished and left hungry.

Tianshu had already made it a habit to take on every task first, including driving the carriage.

Hong Xiaoduo insisted she was an adult and should drive, but Tianshu stubbornly refused, saying he could do it and wanted to try first.

In truth, if Hong Xiaoduo really wanted to take the reins, she could have simply put on a stern face and commanded Tianshu, who wouldn’t dare disobey.

But she didn’t do that. She wasn’t sure how long she could care for them, whether she might suddenly disappear, or if she could find a safe place and trustworthy people to entrust them to before that happened. So, she steeled herself and let the children do what they could, training them to be self-reliant.

As soon as Hong Xiaoduo sat down inside the carriage, Yaoguang snuggled close to her side.

“Tired?” Hong Xiaoduo whispered.

Yaoguang shook her little head vigorously like a rattle, “Mother, I’m not tired. It’s my first time riding a horse carriage. It’s so comfortable.”

“You silly girl, it’s a donkey carriage, a mule carriage,” Tianquan corrected.

Yaoguang wasn’t embarrassed at all, “Horse carriage, donkey carriage... they’re all pulled by four-legged animals, and they look pretty much the same. Anyway, we don’t have to walk ourselves anymore, and my brothers don’t have to carry me anymore.”

Her words made everyone in the carriage burst out laughing.

“Yaoguang, sheep and pigs also have four legs. Does that mean they can pull carriages too?” Tianxuan teased his little sister.

Hong Xiaoduo tilted her head, curious to hear Yaoguang’s response.

Yaoguang glared wide-eyed at her second brother. “I’m just younger than you, not stupid. We’ve traveled through so many places; when have we ever seen sheep or pigs pulling a carriage?”

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Everyone laughed even harder at Yaoguang’s cute, puffed-up expression.

“Mother, see? Second brother is bullying me, and you’re not doing anything about it,” Yaoguang complained, ready to tattle.

Hong Xiaoduo nodded seriously, “Alright, then next time we buy candy, he’ll get one less piece. Who told him to tease little Yaoguang, huh?”

Yaoguang immediately nodded in agreement, delighted, and gave Tianxuan a triumphant pinch at his waist.

Tianxuan quickly played along, clasping his hands together and making a begging-for-forgiveness gesture and expression.

Seeing the children so happy now, and recalling how they had been when she first met them—if she hadn’t meddled, they would have continued suffering abuse.

Even now, following her, the children were cautious no matter what they did, always watching her expression to gauge their actions.

Yaoguang, being the youngest, was somewhat better off.

“Mother?” Suddenly, the driver Tianshu called out.

He only said “Mother” without any further explanation.

Hong Xiaoduo thought for a moment, then switched seats with Yuheng, who sat at the front, and opened the small window at the front of the carriage.

Upon hearing the sound, Tianshu leaned closer and whispered, “Those people… they just left the town and are behind us now, riding horses. They’re still following.”

Hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo lifted the side curtain and peeked behind. Indeed, about two li away, she spotted six riders.

At that distance, she couldn’t see much else, so she closed the curtain and told Tianshu, “Stop by the roadside and feed the donkey.”

Tianshu nodded and stopped the carriage.

Hong Xiaoduo then asked the six children on board if anyone needed to relieve themselves. If not, they should stay in the carriage and not get off.

The smaller kids were about to say no, but Tianquan quietly reminded them to all go, so they wouldn't need to bother again once they resumed the journey.

Thus, all six children disembarked.

Following Hong Xiaoduo’s instructions, the boys went to the shrubs on the left, while the two girls were personally accompanied by her to the grass on the right.

When they returned to the carriage, Hong Xiaoduo asked Tianxuan and the others to pick up some stones for her.

She still had some in her cloth pouch at her waist, but she wanted to collect a few more just in case.

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They didn’t rush to get back on and continue. The children searched for suitable stones nearby while she sat on a piece of dead wood, loosening the sword at her waist and resting it across her lap.

She studied the ancient patterns on the scabbard and occasionally glanced subtly in the direction they came from.

Normally, this was a well-traveled official road; it would be perfectly ordinary to have people passing by.

But those riders, even if they had no urgent business, shouldn’t be moving slower than this donkey carriage.

Tianshu must have felt uneasy and sensed something odd, which is why he told her.

Hong Xiaoduo didn’t think the boy was just imagining things, so she instructed them to stop the carriage under the pretense of feeding the donkey, but in truth, she wanted to see how those people would react.

She glanced at the children and the donkey carriage again. This carriage was plain and unremarkable; the donkey and carriage together might be worth only a few taels of silver.

Was it really worth such a large group to rob them?

Could they be after something else? She was reasonably attractive, but surely not enough to warrant such attention.

Hong Xiaoduo thought that if they truly intended to target her, it was more likely they wanted to capture the seven children.

After all, they were clean and looked exceptionally precious.

Or perhaps not—if they tied up the one adult and seven children and sold them, they might fetch a good price.

Behind them, the riders looked at their leader with perplexity, utterly baffled by his orders.

Why assign Sanjin to keep watch on a lone young woman with seven children, and why were they trailing so slowly?

The subordinates were full of doubts but dared neither speak nor ask, fearful their mounts might give out from impatience.

At this speed, they were barely faster than standing still.

“Master, they’ve stopped,” Sanjin gathered courage to report after a nudge from his companion.

“I’m not blind; I see that,” Mu Zitao said gruffly.

Thinking it over, he realized the donkey carriage’s owner must have stopped deliberately...