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

Two soldiers who were close to Jiang Ce couldn't stand it any longer, so they angrily whipped their horses and rode off to find Sun Wuyin and demand an explanation.

Upon hearing this, Sun Wuyin merely frowned deeply and replied with a simple "I understand" to brush it off. In any case, he already had the money in his hands, and keeping Jiang Ce around would only be a burden.

If Song Qingqian were to cause Jiang Ce's death, he would have ample reason to punish her. For an exiled convict with a murder charge on his conscience, it would be a pipe dream for her to try and escape unscathed.

Seeing that there was no way to achieve anything, the two officers and soldiers could only silently return to their posts. After all, Sun Wuyin was still the leader in this exiled unit.

As darkness fell, the light rain quickly turned into a torrential downpour. The rain was exceptionally fierce, as if it were being hurled haphazardly from the sky, scattering countless threads from the dark clouds, gradually stitching the sky and the earth together.

Fortunately, Song Qingqian and her companions had a two-horse carriage, so the road wasn't too slippery. Apart from being a bit cold and damp, they didn't experience any other discomfort.

Those exiled personnel and soldiers without horses suffered greatly, getting completely soaked.

The ground was so slippery that it was difficult to walk forward or even stand up. Everyone was covered in thick mud.

Just then, Huo Chong, carrying two children in his arms, caught up with their carriage and pleaded:

Is the young mistress of the Lu family here?

Song Qingqian lifted the curtain and glanced at him before turning her gaze to the two children in his arms.

One boy looked slightly older than Xiaoyuer, while the other little girl had just learned to walk and was trembling uncontrollably.

"Young Madam, please have mercy and take in my two nephews for now. If this continues, they will surely die."

"How about this as payment? If it's not enough, I... I can do all the hard work for you. I'll take care of all the dirty and tiring chores in your house from now on."

"Young Madam, I beg you."

After Jiang Meier's outburst, Huo Chong knew that the chances of Song Qingqian softening her heart were slim, but he really had no other choice.

The eldest brother was already overwhelmed with protecting his mother and sister-in-law. If he didn't come up with a solution, the two children would really not survive.

Song Qingqian glanced at the ten taels of silver in her hand, then pushed it back to him, sighing as she spoke:

"Give me the two children. You helped my husband before, so this is just returning the favor."

"Thank you... thank you."

Besides expressing his gratitude, Huo Chong didn't know what else to say.

This dignified man, standing seven feet tall, actually shed tears at this moment. Rainwater mingled with his tears as they fell, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Looking at his disheveled appearance, Song Qingqian nodded with a pang of sadness and comforted him:

"Leave the child here for now, you go back and take care of your family."

"Thank you, young mistress, thank you."

Huo Chong bowed deeply to Song Qingqian before turning to help his mother.

The old lady looked at the two children with heartache and said, "Such young children have suffered so much by being exiled."

"Who says otherwise? This little girl seems to have a high fever; her body is so hot."

Bai touched her daughter's head and spoke anxiously.

Song Qingqian took out a blanket from the storage cabinet and suggested, "Mother-in-law, why don't you and sister-in-law take off their clothes and wrap them in the blanket to warm up?"

Seeing the two children sighing with regret, she quickly took out two packets of cold granules from her spatial storage while she was getting something, dissolved them in warm water, and fed them to the two children.

Lu Xieyue asked in confusion, "Third sister-in-law, why are you helping them? Is it just because Huo Chong carried Third Brother? But you gave him money back then, so the matter is even."

Song Qingqian smiled faintly and explained, "Because Huo Chong is an upright person, the more difficult the times, the clearer one's true nature becomes."

"Although Huo Chong is young, he is responsible and knows how to seek benefits for his family. Once he has the opportunity to turn his life around, he will definitely achieve something great. He might even be of help to us in the future."

Lu Xieyue nodded, but felt a little melancholy. They were already exiled; could they ever turn their lives around?

She overheard these people whispering that even if they went to the barbarian lands, what good would it do? They would still become laborers, with endless work for the rest of their lives.

"Third sister-in-law, Jiang Ce has fainted. What if he dies?"

Lu Lanyue spoke with concern, saying that Jiang Ce was, after all, a soldier, and if he died, they would definitely be implicated.

Song Qingqian smiled and said nonchalantly, "It's just that I fainted, I won't die, don't worry."

"But…"

"Don't you trust your third sister-in-law? When have I ever said anything I wasn't sure about?"

Song Qingqian smiled and patted her shoulder, and Lu Lanyue nodded silently.

"Young lady of the Lu family, please... please help me! My youngest son is dying. Could you let him into your carriage to take shelter from the rain?"

An old woman's voice, trembling with sobs, drifted in. Song Qingqian lifted the curtain and saw that there were at least thirty or forty women chasing after the carriage.

Each of them was protecting a child on their side; the older ones were around seven or eight years old, while the younger ones were still in swaddling clothes.

Song Qingqian sighed and instructed, "Lu Yunqi, stop the carriage. We can't move it now."

As soon as the carriage stopped, some women knelt down before Song Qingqian, holding their children.

They all wept bitterly, pleading, "Miss Lu, please! Please save my youngest son, give him a chance to live..."

"Although we were indeed timid and cowardly before, and didn't lend a helping hand because we were afraid of being implicated, but... but we didn't harm you either..."

"As long as you're willing to help my youngest son, this old woman will repay you by working like a slave for you..."

"Young Lady Lu, I beg you, please have a compassionate heart and wake up..."

After the old woman finished speaking, she grabbed her youngest son and kept kowtowing to Song Qingqian in the carriage.

Many women, seeing this, also started kowtowing. They had pleaded with Sun Wuyin, but he didn't care about their lives at all.

Since Song Qingqian is willing to help the Huo family, she certainly won't stand by and watch them die... Although it's a bit unreasonable, they really have no other choice but to be here.

Song Qingqian jumped off the carriage, ignoring the mud on her feet, and tried to help the leading women up, but they refused, kneeling and pleading incessantly.

Song Qingqian explained helplessly, "I know you are in a difficult situation, and I am not truly heartless enough to stand by and watch people die, but as you can see, our carriage cannot hold so many children."

"Don't rush, wait a moment, let me think of another way."

After Song Qingqian finished speaking, she looked around and saw a dark, dense mass of people with nowhere to take shelter from the rain. But if the exile caravan continued like this, something bad would happen sooner or later.

She quickly took out a rain cover from the back of the carriage and then took out a floor mat.

Seeing that Lu Yunqi seemed hesitant to help, she simply shoved the rain tarp into his hand and instructed him:

"You use the roof of the carriage to secure it with wooden stakes around the perimeter, and I'll lay out the mats."

Lu Yunqi nodded, then asked, "But Sun Wuyin didn't order the exile team to stop. Will we be punished if we stop here without permission?"

"It's okay, I'll go say hello."

Seeing Lu Yunqi struggling to pull a huge tarpaulin by himself, the women pushed their children in the middle and went to lend a hand.

Some even called their husbands over to help secure it, and in no time, a place to shelter from the rain was set up.