Confiscating property? A stunningly beautiful substitute bride empties the national treasury and is

"grown ups…"

The old woman wanted to try again, but seeing soldiers enter, she had no choice but to shut her mouth, sigh, and leave.

As Song Qingqian stood outside the abandoned temple, a sudden chill ran down her spine.

The old bricks and tiles were covered with the marks of time. She looked up and saw Aunt Xue coming out. The two passed each other without saying a word.

Song Qingqian was quite surprised by Aunt Xue, but considering her background, in this era where the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children is paramount, it was both unexpected and expected that the Yu family would push her out first.

Song Qingqian followed the soldiers inside, and when she looked up, she saw a Buddha statue more than three meters tall directly in front of her. She was completely stunned.

The Buddha statue on the throne was terrifying in appearance, with bluish-purple skin, bared teeth, and a ferocious look. This was no Buddha; it clearly resembled a demon.

The Buddha statue was covered in spider webs. Song Qingqian saw a huge black spider hanging near the Buddha's ferocious eyes, which was truly terrifying.

The offering table under the Buddha statue was already dilapidated. Sun Wuyin sat on the prayer mat, staring at her intently, his filthy thoughts clearly visible in his eyes.

"My lord, what brings you here?"

Song Qingqian glanced at him indifferently.

"Why are you standing so far away? Come closer, I can't see you clearly."

Sun Wuyin smiled wickedly. The thought that Lu Jingchuan had never touched her made him even more smug. He was determined to destroy everything Lu Jingchuan had built with his own hands, and Song Qingqian was the beginning of that.

"If you have something to say, then say it. If not, I'm leaving. This place is unclean, and I'm too unfortunate to be here."

"What's so scary about it? It's just a broken rock. Come closer, let's discuss Vice General Jiang's matter."

Song Qingqian shook her head: "Jiang Ce brought this on himself. What does it have to do with me? Does it mean that it's my fault for taking my things?"

Sun Wuyin said seriously, "It's wrong of him to steal, but..."

"Alright, your words are enough, sir. I won't hold it against you. Let's just drop this and call it a day. Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?"

Song Qingqian interrupted him directly, saying, "Since there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Sun Wuyin hurriedly stood up. Why was the person leaving before he could even get to the point?

Song Qingqian silently counted in her mind: One, two, three!

A scream rang out, and Song Qingqian looked closely and saw that the large spider had indeed fallen and hit Sun Wuyin on the head. The spider's hand bit a large gash on his head.

Sun Wuyin pulled the thing off his head and, upon closer inspection, discovered it was a spider larger than his palm. Startled, he quickly dropped it.

"Help...help...it's a poisonous spider!"

"Young lady of the Lu family, you...you mustn't go!"

"My lord, I'll go and fetch a doctor for you!"

As Song Qingqian finished speaking and lifted her leg to leave, she put the spider into her spatial storage. This thing is great; it's excellent for making poison.

Screams continued behind her. Song Qingqian walked briskly out of the temple, then spoke worriedly to a nearby soldier:

"Your superior officer has been bitten by a giant spider! Quickly call a doctor, or the poison might take effect..."

As she spoke, Song Qingqian gestured exaggeratedly:

"Hey, you wouldn't believe it, that spider was almost the size of two of my fists! It was really scary..."

Before Song Qingqian could finish speaking, the soldiers rushed inside in a panic. The Huo family matriarch, who was closest to the temple, asked in confusion:

"Are there really spiders that big?"

Song Qingqian nodded: "This is the first time I've seen this either. I guess it has been cultivating for decades or even hundreds of years. Its eyes are all red. I wonder if it has cultivated into a spirit."

"My God, no wonder the yin energy here is so heavy. Let's go, let's find another place. What if that spider demon escapes?"

The matriarch of the Huo family hurriedly urged her two sons to lead the family to the very edge of the area.

Seeing the Huo family leave, the other families looked at each other in bewilderment. In a short while, all the families who had been resting at the foot of the temple moved away.

"Third Sister-in-law, are you alright?"

When Lu Lanyue saw her come out, she hurriedly went to greet her. Her third brother had urged her several times, and she dared not relax for a moment.

"fine!"

As Song Qingqian spoke, she chuckled softly and whispered some gossip in Lu Lanyue's ear, causing Lu Lanyue to gasp in shock.

After a long pause, she said nervously, "It's good that you're alright. My third brother was so worried, afraid that you would be bullied by that Sun Wuyin."

"He can't bully me, I'm the one who can bully him."

Song Qingqian smiled gently, and as she passed the Yu family, Aunt Xue unconsciously turned her head away.

After hesitating for a long time, Bai pulled Song Qingqian aside and instructed her:

“Sister-in-law, please don’t be angry. Second Brother just went to the soldiers to ask for steamed buns, but the soldiers wanted money, which he didn’t have. So I secretly gave him three taels of silver. He still has a long road ahead, and if we don’t take care of him, he’ll really starve to death. I… I really can’t bear it…”

"Sister-in-law, it's your money, you can do whatever you want with it, you don't need to tell me."

"But...but I'm afraid you'll be angry..."

Song Qingqian was both amused and exasperated. She explained, "Sister-in-law, you two have been friends for so many years. It's perfectly reasonable for you to help him. Besides, I only said that we can't give him our food, not that we can't help him."

“I just want him to know that all the kindness his family members show him is not something he is entitled to. Helping him is a favor, not helping him is their right.”

"If he only knows how to enjoy himself and not how to give, then there's absolutely no point in being nice to him. You can give him a little kindness and observe him slowly. If he continues like this, then let him fend for himself. If he really changes, wouldn't that be great?"

"That's good. I was so conflicted for so long."

"Did the officer give you any trouble?"

Song Qingqian shook her head.

Bai said anxiously, "That's good. You didn't know that the Jiang family's young concubine's daughter was taken away by the officials while you were away. Such a large family, yet not a single person dared to stand up and stop it. It's truly heartbreaking to see."

"Which one?"

"That Jiang Chun'er is only sixteen years old. It's a real pity that her aunt died so young."

Bai sighed as she spoke, "She was also a girl with a tragic fate."

Song Qingqian pondered for a long time before she finally recognized the person. The girl was tall and thin, and always timidly hid behind the second wife of the Jiang family.

The second wife had been oppressed by the first wife of the Jiang family for a long time and had never been able to get ahead, so she had no say. The second wife and her husband seemed to be kind-hearted, otherwise, how could the illegitimate daughter of the first wife be so close to the second wife?

Which way did you go?

Bai pointed to the woods behind them and explained, "There's about a stick of incense burning!"

"These beasts!"

No sooner had Song Qingqian finished speaking than a soldier's shout rang out unexpectedly.

The exiles were about to gossip when they were blocked and turned away.

Song Qingqian turned around and saw the second wife of the Jiang family wiping away tears, while the first wife and her family members were all expressionless, and Jiang Meier even had an evil smile on her lips...

"Sister-in-law, this is not our business. Go back to sleep."

Song Qingqian reminded her, and Bai sighed and went back. The two Lu sisters shrank back in fear beside the old lady.

The old lady's face was also very ugly. After all, she had only heard about this kind of thing before, and it was the first time it had happened to someone she knew. It was really hard for her to accept.

The fifth matriarch of the Lu family and her husband embraced and wept bitterly. The thought that their lost daughter might also suffer the same fate made them unable to control their tears, and even breathing was painful.

"Outrageous! These beasts are utterly lawless and should be severely punished under military law!"

Lu Jingchuan's face contorted with rage. He slapped the wheelchair under his men's feet. He was truly unable to move his legs; otherwise, he would have executed these beasts on the spot.

After settling everyone in, Song Qingqian climbed a tree and landed on the nearest one in the blink of an eye.

A horrific humiliation unfolded before her eyes, and Song Qingqian sighed through gritted teeth.

The woman lay naked on the ground, her eyes closed, her life hanging in the balance. A dozen or so soldiers surrounded her, all of them incredibly excited and looking extremely arrogant…

Lu Jingchuan was right; such beasts shouldn't live. Song Qingqian quickly threw down a sleeping pill, and soon the soldiers were completely unconscious.

Song Qingqian jumped down from the tree, walked over, kicked away the soldier who was lying on top of Jiang Chun'er, picked up her clothes and put them on Jiang Chun'er.