A lucky little peasant girl is reborn and brings prosperity to her entire family.

When Song Yanyan was brought back to this house, her forehead was soaked with cold sweat, and her face was completely pale.

Luo Jinyu knew those secret methods of tormenting people, and with a hint of pleasure and excitement, she looked down at the half-dead Song Yanyan.

Luo Jinyu thought Song Yanyan would break down and cry out.

However, Song Yanyan just gave her a cold look with a pale face, not wasting any effort on insults or anything, and closed her eyes to conserve her energy.

Mei Niang stood to the side, smiling alluringly: "Sister, this is just a small punishment to teach you a lesson. If you run away again, next time it won't just be a hundred needles."

She covered her mouth and giggled, "You wouldn't want to know."

Song Yanyan curled up on the ground, her eyes closed and she didn't say a word.

Mei Niang yawned and instructed those around her, "Keep an eye on her. If anything happens, have someone come and tell me."

The two newly appointed old women bowed their heads and replied, "Yes."

The two old women in front almost caused a serious mistake because they fell asleep while on guard duty. Mei Niang had them dragged out, gagged, and had one of their fingernails pulled out as a minor punishment to serve as a warning.

So much so that the two old women who had just changed shifts didn't dare to blink; one stared intently at Song Yanyan, and the other stared intently at Luo Jinyu.

The room was quiet.

Song Yanyan suddenly spoke, her voice weak but very clear.

She asked Luo Jinyu, "Where was the little maid who was with you when you ran away?"

Luo Jinyu's expression turned somewhat unpleasant. She pursed her lips tightly, and her voice was tense: "Why are you asking so many questions!"

Song Yanyan understood and closed her eyes again.

She had originally thought that perhaps the little maid would discover that Luo Jinyu had run away and quickly inform Madam Xiao.

But judging from Luo Jinyu's reaction, the little maid is probably in grave danger.

Moreover, it's likely that Luo Jinyu was the one who made the move.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have reacted this way.

Song Yanyan was so weak from the pain that she didn't even bother to judge Luo Jinyu anymore and closed her eyes again.

Luo Jinyu seemed to be provoked by Song Yanyan's attitude. With red eyes, she whispered, "What do you mean! I didn't mean to! That little maid saw that I was trying to escape, and I lost my grip in the struggle... If you were in my situation, you certainly wouldn't have done any better than me!"

Song Yanyan didn't open her eyes, but simply replied softly, "I won't be in your situation."

Luo Jinyu's breakdown worsened.

Luo Jinyu stepped forward excitedly, seemingly trying to grab Song Yanyan's collar, but the two old women who had been watching them immediately stepped forward and separated them.

The old woman said, "The manager has instructed that you two are not allowed to have any physical contact."

Luo Jinyu froze, turned around angrily, and lay down on the bed.

The next day, shortly after sunrise, Song Yanyan, Luo Jinyu, Song Pan'er (who had slept in the servants' quarters overnight), and two other girls they had never seen before were all locked in a carriage.

Meiniang sat in the carriage, looking at this and that with admiration, her heart filled with joy.

To ensure safety, she fed all five girls, including Luo Jinyu, drugs that would make them drowsy. In addition, just in case, she had the girls' hands and feet tied up and their mouths gagged.

Song Yanyan felt dizzy and weak all over, and wanted to sleep.

"If you behave yourself, you'll suffer less." Meiniang said meaningfully.

Song Yanyan kept her eyes closed and didn't speak. She bit her tongue, even drawing blood, to keep the last vestige of her consciousness.

When the carriage reached a small village, they changed their mode of transportation.

This time, they replaced it with a wooden crate.

Song Yanyan was placed alone in a small wooden box. The box was somewhat broken, with a few gaps at the bottom, which reduced the risk of suffocation.

Song Yanyan could feel herself being lifted onto some kind of dilapidated cart.

The gap "just happened" to align with a wide gap on the cart. Song Yanyan, with her hands and feet bound, was curled up inside the box and could see the road below through those broken gaps.

At first, it was a rugged path, but as the cart bounced along, it eventually became a smooth official road.

The driver joked with his companion, "It's Meiniang who's in charge; she's got guts. Dianzhou would never have imagined that we'd dare to launch a surprise attack and go back to Dianzhou."

The accomplice chuckled a few times: "Of course! Dianzhou has some big clients. Those investigating the case all thought we left Dianzhou and fled towards the capital, but who would have thought we'd wander around the countryside and come back to Dianzhou?"

"Hehe, Steward Meiniang has really made a fortune with this. Don't underestimate this little old cart. What's on it is goods worth over a thousand gold pieces... This deal will surely bring us a substantial reward. I reckon it'll be enough for us to live a life of luxury for a year."

The two of them talked for a while about how they would squander the reward money. One of them wanted to go to a brothel and get intimate with the most popular courtesan, while the other wanted to buy a few handsome young servants. Song Yanyan felt nauseous listening to them.

After a bumpy ride for most of the day, the car soon came to a stop at the city gate of Dianzhou.

However, the soldiers guarding the city gate only briefly opened the top box and inspected the cart loaded with "cloth" before letting it pass.

Song Yanyan also wanted to make some noise, but although she was forcing herself not to fall asleep, she had no strength left in her body.

The road surface had been transformed into a stone-paved road, and the cart creaked and groaned loudly.

Even if she makes a fuss, it probably won't attract much attention.

"Have you ever seen the person in the painting? Almond-shaped eyes, oval face, and a small mole at the corner of their eye..."

"Never seen it before, never seen it before."

The conversation vaguely reached Song Yanyan's ears.

Song Yanyan bit her tongue hard again to clear her mind.

Almond-shaped eyes, an oval face, a small mole at the corner of her eye... Isn't this one of the other two girls who were captured?

So, is this the girl's family looking for her with others?

Song Yanyan's mood brightened.

But she was currently powerless, her mouth was gagged, and her hands and feet were bound. How could she transmit a message?

With a determined heart, Song Yanyan struggled with all her might inside the box, turned over, and with all her might, used her long fingernails, which she had grown a bit over the past two days, to carve a deep scratch on the back of her hand.

Song Yanyan swung quickly and urgently, and blood soon seeped from the back of her hand.

Song Yanyan pressed the blood on the back of her hand close to the gap in the box, letting the blood flow down through the gap.

Blood fell silently from the middle of the cart, drip, drip.

When Song Yanyan could no longer feel the blood flowing from the back of her hand, she steeled herself and made another cut.

One way, two ways, three ways...

Song Yanyan didn't know how many cuts she made on the back of her hand. She only felt that the entire back of her left hand was burning with pain, and there was no good flesh left.

After an unknown amount of time, Song Yanyan, unsure whether it was due to excessive blood loss or the medication, felt her mind becoming somewhat hazy. Suddenly, she heard a cold, stern voice:

"Stop the cart in front!"