Chapter 28: She Won’t Even Spare Her Own Mother

Thinking about how that family had treated the original host, Jiang Wan didn’t even leave them a single hair behind and quickly left the room.

This manor wasn’t exactly small—most likely bought by Song Jiaojiao using her dowry. At this hour, no one was moving about the estate anymore. Jiang Wan first went to Song Jiaojiao’s room.

Song Jiaojiao had already gone to bed. There wasn’t much in the room since she didn’t stay here often, but there were plenty of her personal belongings.

Jiang Wan clicked her tongue and cleaned out all the valuable jewelry. Then she went to the manor’s kitchen. There wasn’t much grain, fruit, or vegetables—but she didn’t leave a single item behind.

Her biggest gain came from the cellar, which had a considerable stockpile of food. This was clearly Song Jiaojiao’s emergency stash.

One hundred jin each of white rice, brown rice, and flour, hundreds of jin of sweet potatoes, and other items. Jiang Wan didn’t hold back at all—she swept it all clean.

“Stockpiling mission completed: 90%,” the system announced.

The system’s voice put her in a great mood. She did regret not being able to raid Song Jiaojiao’s dowry, but still happily returned to her room and lay down to rest.

The next morning, Jiang Wan was woken up by a scream in the distance. Others had already started getting up.

Madam Song (the second wife) recognized the voice as her daughter’s and was too flustered to check her own luggage—so naturally, she didn’t realize all her gains from the previous night had been looted by Jiang Wan.

The rest of the Song family saw the calm look on the second wife’s face and assumed that she had indeed received the items Song Jiaojiao had sent.

By the time Jiang Wan had lazily washed up and stepped outside, Officer Ren Bang had already gathered everyone with a stern face.

“The manor owner is missing some valuables. Whoever took them, fess up and step forward!”

As soon as the words dropped, everyone’s eyes widened in shock. They were practically starving—where would they find the strength to steal anything?

Most had collapsed into sleep the moment they lay down and hadn’t even dared think of running.

Madam Song (second wife) looked anxiously toward the manor, while the people from the second and third households had their own suspicions but kept quiet for their own selfish reasons.

No one stepped forward to confess. Ren Bang was getting angry—not just at them, but also at the manor owner.

Early that morning, the lady of the house had claimed that some jewelry and valuables were missing. But in Ren Bang’s eyes, how could a group of exiles possibly have the ability to sneak into the main house and steal that much?

He didn’t believe it for a second. Yet the lady was stubborn and insisted it had to be them.

Ren Bang even started to suspect that she had planned this from the beginning—no wonder she so “kindly” let them stay the night.

“Officer, the lady said that if no one confesses, we’ll need to search everyone,” said a farmer, who had come to pass on Song Jiaojiao’s message.

Ren Bang grew angrier. “Do you think these people are capable of sneaking into your lady’s room without anyone noticing?”

There was a hint of threat in his tone—if that were true, the lady’s reputation would surely suffer.

The farmer didn’t dare respond and muttered, “I’ll go ask the lady again.”

With that, he turned and left. Ren Bang snorted and coldly said to the group, “Get ready to leave!”

He wasn’t doing this to protect the exiles—he simply hated delays. Ren Bang had always prided himself on being the most punctual escort officer.

Sure enough, the farmer soon returned with Song Jiaojiao’s instructions: they were free to go.

She had lost the loot and couldn’t come forward to confront them—she had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill in silence.

Jiang Wan was beaming as she left the manor, walking with a light step. In fact, she even thought, Sigh, I wouldn’t mind more enemies of the original host showing up.

It seemed she quite enjoyed this “cleaning out someone’s entire warehouse at the drop of a hat” persona. It was thrilling.

As they left the manor grounds, Song Jiuli whispered suspiciously to the main wife, “Mom, why does Second Aunt look so weird?”

“That manor likely belongs to Song Jiaojiao,” the main wife replied calmly. She wasn’t stupid—she could piece things together. As for the rest, she didn’t know and didn’t care.

She knew Song Jiaojiao’s personality—if she were going to help anyone, it certainly wouldn’t be the first household.

“What?!” Song Jiuli’s eyes widened in shock. “Then why didn’t she come out to see us?”

She had remembered Song Jiaojiao as gentle and caring. Who would’ve thought she now avoided them like the plague?

The main wife rubbed Song Jiuli’s head. “Li’er, you need to understand. Given our current status, everyone wants to stay far away from us.”

Song Jiuli fell silent. Though she was naïve and simple, she wasn’t completely stupid—she just had trouble accepting it.

If it were her own family being exiled, she’d risk her life to see them one last time.

Her mood grew complicated. Compared to her, the second and third households were clearly thinking in sync—they were expecting food soon.

Everyone thought Song Jiaojiao must’ve sent them food and silver, and they assumed life would be a bit easier now.

Jiang Wan sneered inwardly. Food? Sorry, I took it all.

But still, Song Jiaojiao had said she would “deal with her.” Jiang Wan didn’t know what she planned, so she stayed on high alert.

She was glad she had followed her instincts last night—otherwise, she might have been the one getting set up.

At first, she thought the scheme only targeted her. That was, until she saw a pack of wolves. Jiang Wan cursed under her breath.

This Song Jiaojiao is vicious—she doesn’t even spare her own mother! Must’ve lost her mind after getting robbed.

Awooooo…

The wolves’ howls drained the color from everyone’s faces. Ren Bang gripped his knife tightly.

“Yuan’er,” the main wife called out with a trembling voice, turning to Song Jiuyuan. He narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t worry about me. Just run!”

“No, Big Brother! If we run, we run together!”

Song Jiuchi stepped backward while carrying Song Jiuyuan on his back, not daring to make any sudden moves for fear of provoking the wolves.

At the front, there were seven or eight wolves, all eyeing them hungrily. Jiang Wan stealthily drew a dagger from her spatial inventory and slipped it into her sleeve.

Song Jiuli, scared out of her mind, clung to Jiang Wan’s sleeve. “S-sister-in-law…”

“You take Mother and run when I say so,” Jiang Wan muttered, eyes narrowed. Tch, looks like I went too easy on Song Jiaojiao last night. Should’ve just ended her.

Thankfully, she had left a trap behind in the room before leaving—Song Jiaojiao would be in for a rough time soon.

“M-my legs are numb…” Song Jiuli whimpered with teary eyes, terrified out of her mind.

Everyone was inching backward cautiously. Ren Bang’s face was tight, his forehead beaded with sweat. Though not the first time he’d encountered wolves, it never got easier.

Awooooo…

The wolves howled again. Shen Qian’s legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground. “Ahh!”

Her scream broke the tense silence. Jiang Wan cursed inwardly. Idiot!

Sure enough, the wolves suddenly charged at them. Terrified, the group scattered and started running frantically.

The officers didn’t even try to restrain the prisoners anymore—everyone was running for their lives.

Just then, Shen Qian shoved Song Jiuli aside and ran off, while the already-weak-legged Jiuli fell flat on the ground.