Divorced woman with child travels through time

After Wang Erniu left, Brother Nie immediately arranged for people to patrol the estate. He also found Uncle Di, who was in charge of building the walls, to reinforce the inner walls of the courtyard. He also dug traps, marking the chosen locations and notifying everyone to be careful, with the secret to be kept. He even specially installed two traps in Chen Wenfang's room and carefully taught Chen Wenfang how to use them and what precautions to take. Chen Wenfang had no objections and let him make all the decisions. Only Ma Liu, who remained, was truly amazed. These men under Boss Wang were all incredibly capable, hiding their true abilities, and arranging everything so meticulously…

Deep in the mountains, Wang Erniu, who had been walking for most of the day, led a few people along a path, their steps uneven. The further they went into the mountains, the taller the grass became. Since no one had walked there for a long time, the grass had grown wildly. However, this also had its advantages, as the traces of their passage were very obvious.

"Second Brother, there's a small path here, this should be it!" Li Huanqiu, who was leading the way, exclaimed. He was tall and slender, but very agile.

"Let me see!" Wang Erniu walked over, and Chu Yi also squeezed to the side of the path. Li Huanqiu and Lü Xiong, however, consciously spread out on both sides, each serving as an observation post.

Wang Erniu squatted down and looked at the leaves on the trees beside him. He picked one, smelled it, and then looked at the fallen branches. He said, "It shouldn't be too far. You should walk quietly and not talk unless necessary. Keep your voices down, or you might run into someone." Everyone nodded. Only Chu Yi was very excited and tightened the sleeve arrow hidden on his arm.

The group slowed down, slipped into the bushes one by one, and jumped off the path. This time, Wang Erniu led the way, while Lü Xiong brought up the rear.

After walking for about an hour, it got dark. Chu Yi was exhausted and hungry, and was about to give up, but he held back his words. Wang Xiaoguang noticed this and was about to say something when Wang Erniu whispered, "Watch out! Take cover!" He then jumped up and climbed up a dense tree and hid. Li Huanqiu and Lü Xiong also quickly rolled into the grass. Chu Yi was a little slow to react, but Wang Xiaoguang pulled him up, and the two of them rolled down the slope and then around to the grass on the other side.

The first-year student quickly covered his mouth and slowed his breathing.

Then he heard a conversation between two men from a distance.

"Big Fatty, you said Chen's... is it really delicious?" The voice was a little far away and not very clear.

"It must be delicious. I heard it from the boss. Forget the snacks, just the dishes at Chen's are amazing. They're incredibly delicious, fragrant and spicy. I heard they're cheap too, and the place is always packed. There are even storytellers. It's so lively..." A fat young man walked over with a look of longing.

"Really? How delicious is it?!" the short, spiky-haired man asked, swallowing hard. Small fry like them didn't even get a chance to eat at the feast, let alone have a chance to eat big chunks of meat.

Big Fatty gave him a disdainful look and shouted, "Do you know what chili sauce is? The three small jars that Old Liu found when he robbed things last time?"

"I know, I know, that's delicious! You pour it over noodles, mix it up, and it's fragrant, spicy, and flavorful. You don't even need meat in the noodles; it's already delicious," said the man with the fried hair. "It's a pity there wasn't enough!"

“Yes!” Big Fatty said with some regret, “Actually, if we were in town, we could eat this every day. I heard it’s not expensive, only a few coins a jar.”

"If it weren't for...we might have..." the man with the spiky hair said cautiously in a low voice, looking at the fat man. He didn't finish his sentence.

"Shh!!" Fatty looked around and whispered, "Forget it, we're already back too late today. Let's hurry back, or Fourth Master will yell at us!" The two stopped talking and quickly walked away.

After a long while, making sure the two men were far away and wouldn't turn back, Wang Erniu jumped down from the tree. The others climbed out as well, following far behind. It was completely dark, and the two men in front were carrying torches; you wouldn't know there were people behind unless you looked closely.

Wang Erniu and his companions followed behind by moonlight. When they got hungry, they would take out mooncakes or dried meat from their bags to eat. After walking for about an hour, the two in front finally stopped, sat down, lit a fire, heated some steamed buns, and started eating. Chu Yi also got a chance to sit down and rest. Wang Erniu then leaned over and listened to the two talking. He had overheard bits and pieces of their conversation along the way. They were from Yunlei Mountain, which was not far from Dayao Mountain. The mountain was not as large as Dayao Mountain, but it had a steep and high main peak. The reason why the bandits of Yunlei Mountain had been able to stay was because of this easy-to-defend territory. Moreover, the reason why they had not been wiped out was that they heard that the leader of the bandits was a very good person. He was a chivalrous outlaw who usually robbed the rich to help the poor and had a good reputation. Therefore, people kept coming to join him. These two fat brothers were among them.

For some reason, after the new third and fourth leaders took over this year, their treatment deteriorated, and they committed more evil deeds. They not only demanded money but also wanted people. They never robbed empty-handed, and since the robberies weren't always on time, they were difficult to catch.

Big Fatty waited for the steamed bun to heat up, took a bite, and exclaimed, "So delicious! Thank goodness for white flour steamed buns!" He thought to himself, "Otherwise, I would have run away long ago." He only became a bandit because he was too lazy to work, but he didn't expect being a bandit to be so difficult. Running up and down mountains every day, his legs were almost broken. Now he was just waiting for the Mid-Autumn Festival to go and rob Wangjia Village with everyone. He'd heard that the people in that village had really good food, with braised pork every day, although he'd never tried it.

Wang Erniu and the others opened their bundles and started eating. The sweet and creamy red bean paste mooncakes were worth it the moment they entered their mouths. For such delicious food, they had to protect Wangjiazhuang. Chu Yi thought bitterly that they had to kill as many thieves as possible; only then would the hardship be worthwhile.

The two men ate a few steamed buns and continued on their way. The others followed, and after walking for another half an hour, they crossed a forest and arrived at the foot of a mountain. Looking up from the foot of the mountain, they could clearly see lights shining in a hollow on the mountainside, which must have been the bandits' lair. Seeing the two men start to go up the mountain, Wang Erniu waved his hand and told Li Huanqiu to go to Lijia Town to report and inform the officials to take men to Wangjia Village to ambush them. He then led the other three men up the mountain.

"Second brother, be careful!"

"You be careful too!" Erniu whispered.

"Hmm!" Li Huanqiu clasped his hands in a fist salute and left.

They had only walked for the time it takes to burn an incense stick when they came to a slope again. Wang Erniu stopped and said, "Xiaoguang, you and Chuyi wait for us here. There's a sentry over there that you probably can't avoid, so don't go any further."

“Okay!” Wang Xiaoguang pulled Chu Yi along carefully and squatted down among some dark rocks and bushes.

Wang Erniu and Lü Xiong, relying on their superior skills and daring, evaded two groups of sentries, one visible and one hidden, and followed the bandits up the mountain like ghosts. Once inside, they didn't make any rash moves, but found a place to hide quietly. They waited until all the bandits had drunk themselves into a stupor and gone to rest before carefully splitting up to check their numbers and weapons. Once they had figured out the situation, they descended the mountain under the cover of night. However, on their way down, Lü Xiong, who had taken the path to avoid the hidden sentry who had come up the mountain, unexpectedly ran into someone.