After being a widow for half my life, I found out that my husband was not dead.

The night was dark and I couldn't see the way forward.

A carriage was speeding along the official road, and now Zi Jin was driving the carriage.

In the car, Jin Yan put a soft pillow behind Liu Yunxiang. Seeing that her face was getting worse and worse, she couldn't help but asked worriedly: "Girl, do you want Zijin to stop the car so that you can relax for a while?"

Liu Yunxiang's stomach felt tight and he felt nauseous. The bumps in the car made it even more uncomfortable, but he still shook his head after hearing this, "No, tell Zijin to hurry up."

Aunt Yan was sitting aside, reciting Buddhist scriptures with her eyes closed. It seemed as if everything was gone and nothing in the world had anything to do with her.

The carriage dared to stop in front of an ancestral hall in the mountains hidden among layers of trees when dawn was approaching.

In her current situation, even if she really wanted to go north to find someone, she would have to give birth to the child before she could leave. And as soon as she disappears, there will be many people looking for her, including several forces in the palace, the East Factory, and the court, so she has to hide first.

And the main reason why she left with Aunt Yan was that here, out of the control of these people, her life and death were up to her and no one else.

The ancestral hall that Aunt Zhang pointed out to them, the Zhang family's ancestral hall, is relatively hidden because it is in the mountains and forests with sparsely populated areas. And she can send some things up every now and then. When it's time to give birth, there are also midwives in their village.

Liu Yunxiang was helped out of the carriage by Jinyan and looked at the ancestral hall in front of him. He said it was an ancestral hall, but more like two thatched houses.

"Girl, please wait outside for a moment while I go in and clean up." Jin Yan said.

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a bang inside.

The master and servant looked at each other, and Zijin went in with his sword in hand. After walking around inside for a while, he nodded to Jinyan.

"Maybe it's a mouse or something."

Liu Yunxiang couldn't help but get goosebumps, "Then clean up."

Jin Yan smiled, "Yes, I know."

This ancestral hall is not too dirty or messy. It should be cleaned by the Zhang family who occasionally go up the mountain to worship. There are many spiritual tablets placed in the open room at the entrance. There is a room to the west with a fire pit. Aunt Zhang said it was for the descendants of the Zhang family who went up to the mountains to spend the night.

She handed over the grain store business to Zhang Qi, and many young and middle-aged people in the village worked with him, no longer hunting for a living, and everyone's life became better and better.

Zijin went to find dry firewood, burned the kang with smoke, cleaned the two rooms inside and outside, and spread the bedding on the kang. When the kang was warm and the smoke from the smoke dissipated, he let Liu Yunxiang in.

There is a shed outside the ancestral hall for cooking.

No one has been here for a long time, and I don't know if there are any cooks inside. Jin Yan didn't have any hope, but when he went inside, he found that there were people there, and it was very... clean.

Could it be that someone came to the ancestral hall to cook in the past two days?

Jinyan didn't think much, took a bag of rice from the carriage and started cooking.

The lunch meal is simple, a plate of green vegetables, a plate of pastrami slices, and rice.

The west room was warm, and the dining table was placed there, making it convenient for Liu Yunxiang to eat with them. Although this place is shabby, eating here is much safer than eating at home. After all, there are not so many eyeliners outside watching their every word and action.

A few people were eating when they suddenly heard a cry, like a child's cry, but they couldn't hear it anymore.

"Is it... a mouse?" Jin Yan raised his eyebrows.

As soon as she finished speaking, she cried again, sharp at first, and then turned into a whimper, as if she was crying so hard that her mouth was covered.

Zijin stood up hurriedly and walked towards the place where the sound came from. It was an east wall with a dusty coarse cloth hanging on it. Zi Jin used his sword to open it, and there was a secret door behind it.

Zijin looked back at Liu Yunxiang, and then knocked with the hilt of his sword.

There was no movement inside, and no more crying.

Liu Yunxiang coughed dryly and said to Zijin, "Maybe I heard wrongly. Come back."

Zijin responded, then turned around and walked back, walked a few steps, stopped, and continued to stare at the secret door.

After a while, the door slowly opened, and a woman ran out with a child in her arms. Zi Jin jumped up and blocked the door.

The woman panicked and quickly begged for mercy: "Please have mercy on all the kindhearted people. I am living outside with my child. It is freezing cold and I really have no place to stay. So I am staying in your ancestral hall for a few days."

The child in the woman's arms was only seven or eight months old. He was crying in her arms as if he was very hungry.

The woman's hair was disheveled, blocking her face, but her voice sounded somewhat familiar. Liu Yunxiang looked at Jin Yan, and Jin Yan also noticed it, got up and walked towards the woman.

When I walked up to him, I turned my head and said in surprise: "Aunt Li!"

The woman was agitated and wanted to run away subconsciously, but was blocked by Zi Jin.

"Aunt Li, it's us." Jin Yan said helplessly.

This Aunt Li killed Xie Zixuan. They girls felt sorry for Brother Dong and asked her to take the child and escape quickly. In fact, the Marquis did not report to the official. It was too ugly to spread the news, and the Marquis was subsequently deprived of his title and was in trouble, so he only asked the family guards to pursue him for a few days. If no one was found, it was fine.

But it was clear that Aunt Li was afraid of being caught, so she fled and hid, and her life was really difficult.

Aunt Li looked up and saw Jin Yan, and was stunned for a moment. Then she turned her head and looked towards the west room. When she saw Liu Yunxiang, she breathed a sigh of relief and then collapsed to the ground.

There is a very narrow dark room behind the secret door. There is no sunlight inside, and it is damp and cold. Liniang spread a layer of hay on the ground, which was where she and her son lived.

Jin Yan went in and took a look. It was really not a place where people lived.

At this time, Liniang was sitting at the dining table with her child in her arms. She was trying her best to stuff food into her mouth to feed her son. Both mother and son were very hungry.

After dinner, Jinyan told Aunt Li that there was no official report in the Hou Mansion. Aunt Li was happy at first, then cried, holding her son in her arms and crying very sadly.

"I was confused at the time, why did I kill him?"

"I regret it, I really regret it."

"If he was still here, my son and I wouldn't be like this."

It is indeed not easy for a woman to raise a child, but it is a bit sad to pin her hopes on a scumbag. Of course, she didn't sympathize with Liniang's misery. She just saw that Brother Dong was already seven or eight months old, but he was very thin and coughed all the time. She was afraid that he might not be able to survive.

She was also going to be a mother, and it was really uncomfortable to watch.

"Why don't you go back to your hometown?" Liu Yunxiang asked.

Liniang wiped away her tears and said, "The journey is long and I am penniless..."

Liu Yunxiang glanced at Brother Kang again, sighed, and said to Jinyan, "Give her some money."

"Girl!" Jinyan was unwilling.

Liu Yunxiang caressed his belly, "I think it's a blessing for this child."

Jinyan turned around, took out a banknote from his inner pocket, and gave it to Liniang with a dark face.

"How did you treat my girl before, and what is my girl doing to you now? If you have a conscience, go back to the temple and pray for my girl and my young master."

Liniang took the banknote and knelt down to Liu Yunxiang with her child in her arms.

While he was uttering words of gratitude, from the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of several soft little jackets among the bundles piled at the end of the kang.

Her brother Kang's coat was torn and his hands and feet were cold. He cried from the cold, especially at night, and cried all night long.

She sounded heartbroken.