Shen Qingwan’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.

She strode forward, grabbed Lu Wenzhi by the collar, and lifted him off the ground.

Lu Wenzhi’s face turned pale with shock. “Shen Qingwan, what are you doing? Let me go!”

“Where did you take the children?”

Shen Qingwan’s voice was icy, each word laced with killing intent.

“I told you, I haven’t seen them! What does your missing child have to do with me?” Lu Wenzhi retorted.

“You wicked woman! Let go of my father! If you dare to hurt him, I’ll beat you to death!” Lu Mingxuan, like a small cannonball, charged at Shen Qingwan, clawing and hitting her.

Without hesitation, she lifted her leg and kicked him to the ground.

“Xuanxuan! My son!” Li Qiujun screamed in fright and rushed to help her child up.

Lu Mingxuan cried loudly in pain. “You wretched woman! You deserve to be a widow! My father said we should sell off those two useless money-draining brats first, and then sell you next! He said he’d sell you to the lowest kind of brothel!”

The crowd gasped in shock.

How could a seven-year-old child speak such vile words?

Clearly, he had overheard the adults and was merely repeating them.

The third son and his wife not only insulted their sister-in-law behind her back, but they even plotted to sell their own niece and sister-in-law. It was utterly inhumane.

“Xuanxuan, what nonsense are you talking about?” Li Qiujun panicked and quickly covered her son’s mouth.

Lu Wenzhi hadn’t expected his child to blurt out everything.

He became flustered. “Children talk nonsense! Don’t take it seriously!”

Shen Qingwan had no patience for his lies. She swung her fist and punched Lu Wenzhi square in the face. “Where are the children?”

Old Master Lu trembled with rage after hearing his grandson’s words.

He never imagined that his youngest son would actually sell his own niece—and even plan to sell his sister-in-law.

“You beast! Where are Xiaoyu and Xiaochen? Where did you sell them?” The old man stormed over and slapped Lu Wenzhi across the face.

In all his years, this was the first time Old Master Lu had ever struck his son.

Lu Wenzhi looked at him in disbelief.

“Father, they’re just useless burdens! Selling them is no big deal! We can trade them for some food and have fewer mouths to feed. Isn’t that a good thing? Besides, they might have a better life elsewhere than staying with us,” Lu Wenzhi argued.

Before he could say another word, Old Madam Lu slapped him hard. “You ungrateful wretch! What nonsense are you spouting? Have we ever let you starve in this house? If not for your sister-in-law, you’d have been drinking northwest wind by now! Those children never ate your food—how could you be so heartless to sell them?”

Lu Wenzhi scoffed. “They were a burden anyway. Selling them was just a matter of time.”

Seeing that he still refused to confess, Shen Qingwan grabbed Lu Mingxuan by the throat and lifted him off the ground.

“Guh… help…”

“Xuanxuan!” Li Qiujun shrieked in terror, rushing forward to snatch her son back, but Shen Qingwan kicked her aside.

Lu Wenzhi panicked as he saw his son’s face turning blue from lack of air. “You wretched woman! Let go of my son!”

Shen Qingwan remained calm, but her grip tightened. “I’ll ask one last time. Where are the children?”

“I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you! The two kids were sold to human traffickers! They’re under the big locust tree over there! Shen Qingwan, please, let go of my son! He’s going to die!”

Li Qiujun was on the verge of tears, regretting their foolishness.

They had thought Shen Qingwan wouldn’t dare to fight back—but they were gravely mistaken.

“If I don’t get my children back, none of you will live,” Shen Qingwan declared coldly.

She then flung Lu Mingxuan to the ground and sprinted away to find her children.

Li Qiujun hurriedly checked on her son. Seeing that he was still breathing, she finally let out a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, Lu Wenzhi was still reeling from Shen Qingwan’s terrifying gaze.

At that moment, he had no doubt—if the children weren’t found, she would truly kill them all.

Bai Yong’an had initially been an outsider in this affair, but seeing how desperate Shen Qingwan was, he decided to follow and help.

He might be able to contribute somehow.

Zhou Huiniang was also worried that Shen Qingwan wouldn’t be able to find the children alone, so she urged Lu Wenguang to go along and assist.

Old Master Lu and Old Madam Lu watched anxiously.

Meanwhile, the villagers pointed and whispered about Lu Wenzhi.

He couldn’t even lift his head in shame.

“That third son of the Lu family is truly heartless! How could he sell his own niece?”

“Exactly! And did you hear what that child said? Those words obviously came from an adult! The eldest daughter-in-law has taken care of the family so much on this journey, yet this is how they repay her?”

“Disgusting! What kind of man is he? They haven’t even run out of food yet, and he’s already trying to sell his own family members!”

“Village Chief, you have to do something! We don’t even know if those poor kids can be found in time.”

The village chief snapped out of his shock. “Dajiang, Dahe, take some men and help find the children!”

His two sons immediately nodded and gathered some young men from the village to join the search.

Lu Wenzhi, realizing that the villagers’ attention was elsewhere, secretly signaled to Li Qiujun.

Together, they hurriedly carried Lu Mingxuan onto Shen Qingwan’s donkey cart, then dragged Xiaojun off the cart.

“Third Uncle, what are you doing?”

Lu Xiaojun, confused, cried out as her uncle took her off the cart and placed Lu Mingxuan and Lu Minghao on it instead.

Li Qiujun, seeing that Lu Xiaojun was in the way, shoved her aside.

Then, she and Lu Wenzhi climbed onto the cart and drove off in a panic.

Zhou Huiniang heard her daughter’s voice and turned around—only to see Li Qiujun push her child and flee with the donkey cart.

“This is bad! Lu Wenzhi is escaping!”

The villagers also noticed and shouted in alarm.

“Father! Mother! Third Brother stole the donkey cart!”

Zhou Huiniang’s loud cry made everyone turn their attention toward the escaping cart.

The village chief was the first to react. “Chase them down! Stop them!”

Old Master Lu was so furious he couldn’t even move.

He never thought his precious youngest son would abandon his own parents like this.

Lu Wenzhi, though not an expert at driving donkey carts, knew enough to make it run faster.

Li Qiujun, fearing they would be caught, slapped the donkey’s hindquarters hard.

The animal neighed in pain and bolted, leaving their pursuers far behind.

No one had expected Lu Wenzhi to be so shameless as to steal Shen Qingwan’s cart and run away.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingwan was still focused on finding her children, completely unaware that Lu Wenzhi had escaped.