No Longer Escaping (ABO) - Chapter 29

After saying goodbye to Ma Zhifeng and Qiao Lan, it was time to go home.

Wan Niang was worried that people in the village might have an urgent need for her while she was away, so she and Yang Lulong hurried back home.

“Miss Wan, thank you for your kindness in taking us in,” Ren Xuemeng said to Wan Niang from inside the carriage.

She was close to giving birth, and Wan Niang was worried about her.

As a doctor, she could also help with the delivery.

Besides, no inn would be willing to accept a pregnant woman giving birth in their establishment.

Wan Niang was not a cold-hearted person, so she let them stay at her home for a while.

“Where are you from?” she asked, looking at Ren Xuemeng’s belly.

There was no way they could be homeless after the baby was born.

Moreover, with their clothes and the amount of money they had, they didn’t look like poor people wandering around.

“My wife and I are both from Yan City in the north.”

“Yan City? That’s so far away?” Wan Niang was shocked.

“Are you… on a trip?”

At the mention of this, Ren Xuemeng couldn’t help but sigh.

“My wife’s father is a great general who guards the frontier.

He’s probably very strict with her…

Whenever he comes back from the military camp, he checks on her swordsmanship.

She’s not a lazy person.

She practices her swordsmanship every day, and I see it with my own eyes.

But she never seems to meet his standards.

One night… I was woken up by her packing her bags, and it was me… who insisted on going with her…”

She paused, stroking her pregnant belly.

“It was only after we left that I realized… I was pregnant.”

“…” Wan Niang frowned.

They were grown adults, but they left home because of something like this…

“How did you two meet?” Wan Niang asked.

With Feng Aoshuang’s personality, she found it hard to believe that anyone would be willing to marry her.

“Actually, my wife… she’s really not like this…

My family and hers have some history, so we grew up together.

When she was a child, she was a very kind person.

She loved to laugh and made me happy.

Whenever I was sad, she was the first to notice and comfort me…”

She smiled and stroked her neck.

Wan Niang saw a necklace made of shells on it.

“We often played by the river, and she picked up some small shells and made me a necklace.”

“But that was her when she was a child…”

Her words caused Ren Xuemeng to sigh again.

“After she came of age and became a Qian Yuan, we didn’t see each other again.

During that time, I only heard from a few servants who had been to her house that she was taken to the military camp by her father to be trained.

I don’t know what happened, but when we saw each other again… her personality had completely changed, and we became a married couple…”

Wan Niang listened carefully to her story.

It seemed that something happened to Feng Aoshuang during her time in the military camp that made her the person she was today.

Feng Aoshuang was driving the carriage, and Yang Lulong was sitting next to her.

The two of them were as far apart as they could be, as they both disliked each other.

There was silence on the way.

Yang Lulong got bored.

Thankfully, she had some small tools with her.

She had picked up a stone before they left and now took it out and started to polish it with her tools.

Feng Aoshuang, who was driving the carriage, had her attention caught by her actions.

She glanced at Yang Lulong.

“Hey! You!”

She called out to her impolitely.

Yang Lulong didn’t want to talk to her and pretended she didn’t hear her.

“Hey! You with the last name Yang!”

“Can you show some respect, Miss Feng?” Yang Lulong was so annoyed that she stopped what she was doing and said to her.

“Miss… Yang?”

“What is it?” Yang Lulong no longer looked at her.

She stared at the stone in her hand and polished it with a small file.

“Catch this.”

She threw a jade pendant at her.

“Make it look like a shell!”

Yang Lulong caught the jade pendant and examined it in her hand.

A large ‘Feng’ character was engraved on it.

“What?”

“I said, make it look like a shell.”

Yang Lulong pouted unhappily.

“Eighty taels!”

“What?! That’s so expensive! Are you a bandit?”

“Take it or leave it!”

“Fine! Fine! Eighty taels it is! If it’s not good, I won’t give you a single cent!”

“I’m not doing it anymore.” Yang Lulong was annoyed.

She pretended to throw the jade pendant back at her.

“Fine, fine! I’ll give you forty taels as a down payment when we get to your house.

I’ll give you the rest when you’re done.”

“Fifty taels first.”

“Fine, fine!” Feng Aoshuang said impatiently.

Feng Aoshuang’s surrender finally made Yang Lulong feel relieved.

She was also pleasantly surprised that she had successfully negotiated the price.

It seemed that she knew how to haggle now.

The corners of her mouth turned up, and she happily blew away the dust from the stone.

As soon as they got out of the carriage, Feng Aoshuang told Ren Xuemeng to give Yang Lulong fifty taels.

Wan Niang quickly declined, saying that it was too much.

Yang Lulong, however, quietly told her to accept it.

Wan Niang patted her and whispered, “How can you ask them for money?”

It was so embarrassing.

“It’s not that… She asked me to make something for her, and this is my payment.”

“What are you making?”

“This…” Yang Lulong took out the jade pendant.

It was the jade pendant that Feng Aoshuang had on her waist.

Wan Niang looked at it and saw that it was indeed very valuable.

It was reasonable for Yang Lulong to charge this much.

She didn’t decline anymore and accepted the money.

Wan Niang and Yang Lulong hadn’t locked the door when they left, making it easy for Xiao Hua and Er Ni to come help take care of the animals at home.

They happened to run into them as they were coming to feed the puppies.

“Auntie Wan!”

Xiao Hua ran over and hugged Wan Niang.

“Did you bring back any goodies from the city, Auntie Wan?”

Her big eyes were filled with anticipation.

Wan Niang lovingly pinched her cheek.

“You little glutton, of course I did.”

She then told Yang Lulong to take out the pastries from her bag and gave them to the two children.

Er Ni held the pastry in her hand and didn’t eat it.

She just stared at Feng Aoshuang.

Feng Aoshuang also looked down at the little girl.

Suddenly, Er Ni imitated her.

She frowned, and her expression was exactly the same as hers.

When Feng Aoshuang saw this, she was stunned.

Her furrowed brows finally relaxed.

“Are you a hero?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you two a couple too?” Xiao Hua came over to join in the fun, looking at Feng Aoshuang and Ren Xuemeng.

“Yes,” Ren Xuemeng said, smiling as she stroked her little head.

“You look so fierce,” Er Ni said innocently, staring at Feng Aoshuang.

“I…”

She didn’t know how to answer.

It was her first time dealing with a child.

“Are you going to have a baby?” Xiao Hua stared at Ren Xuemeng’s belly.

“Yes,” Ren Xuemeng said, looking at Xiao Hua and smiling gently.

Perhaps because she was about to be a mother, she was radiating a maternal glow.

She stroked the little girl’s head and pinched her cheeks.

“Can I touch it?”

“Of course.”

She bent down and let Xiao Hua’s little hand touch her belly.

While they were getting along well, Feng Aoshuang and Er Ni were still in a standoff.

“Is that a sword?”

“Yes.”

“Can I touch it?”

“No.”

“Hmph… you’re so stingy…” Er Ni crossed her arms and pouted.

Feng Aoshuang was speechless.

She was the one who usually rendered others speechless, but now it was her turn not to know what to say.

Wan Niang helped Ren Xuemeng and pointed at Feng Aoshuang, saying to Xiao Hua, “This auntie needs to rest.

Why don’t you go play with that auntie over there?”

“Okay…” Xiao Hua reluctantly took her hand back and went to join Er Ni.

“Do you specifically catch bad guys?”

“No.”

“Do you know martial arts?”

“Yes.”

“I want to see.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Just because.”

Feng Aoshuang was still being pestered by Er Ni, and now Xiao Hua joined in.

“I want to see too!”

“Show us, please.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“No means no! Do you hear me?!”

Annoyed by the questions, Feng Aoshuang’s voice raised a few octaves without her realizing it.

This immediately scared them.

She thought they wouldn’t bother her anymore, but Xiao Hua’s mouth started to turn down, and tears welled up in her eyes.

“Oh no…” Er Ni looked at her and shook her head helplessly.

Xiao Hua was about to cry again.

“Wuwu… wah~~~”

When she started to cry, Feng Aoshuang panicked.

She quickly squatted down to comfort her.

“Don’t cry.

Please don’t cry…”

Her way of comforting her was wrong, and Xiao Hua cried even harder.

Ren Xuemeng wanted to go help, but Wan Niang stopped her.

“Just let her practice for when she has to take care of her own child.

It’s fine.”

“Can someone please make her stop crying?” Feng Aoshuang yelled at them helplessly.

“Whoever made her cry has to comfort her,” Yang Lulong said, crossing her arms and holding back her laughter.

“My little ancestor… can you please stop crying…”

“Wuwuwuwu…”

“I’m begging you to stop crying…”

But Xiao Hua showed no signs of stopping.

“Oh my goodness…”