The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

After a night of light rain, the bamboo forest was still dripping, and one would easily get wet walking through it.

Surely one would catch a cold in such weather.

Lady Wen, who indeed had not brought a rain hat or straw coat, whispered in self-blame, “I can’t believe I forgot.”

Even if she hadn’t forgotten, she and her daughter didn’t possess straw coats. Such clothing was only worn by servants in their home.

Yingbao said, “I’ll go back and get two rain hats for you.”

Having said that, she ran back to pull out two rain hats from the mule cart and handed them to Lady Wen and her daughter.

These two rain hats were a bit damaged, but still usable. In fact, Yingbao had pulled them out from her secret stash in the hideout under the guise of fetching them from the mule cart.

“Thank you, Yingbao.” Lady Wen and her daughter put on their rain hats and indeed, the droplets could no longer reach them.

First thing in the morning, more than two hundred bandits ascended the South Slope. They broke down the door of the Jiang family house and rummaged through it, but they found nothing.

Their leader was not angry but circled the house, remarking, “The Feng Shui here is excellent—it’s a good place.”

With a sigh, the bandit leader said, “It’s a pity it’s not the right time; I would love to settle here.”

Soon, one of his followers reported, “General, we’ve found a lot of grain and quilts in the fields.”

“Oh?” The leader was interested and decided to have a look.

He watched as his follower lifted a pile of straw to reveal a hiding place filled with big hemp sacks of grain and quilts.

The leader smiled, “So much grain? It seems the people on this slope are wealthy.”

He then ordered, “Go and search around, there might be more hidden stuff.”

“Yes, sir!”

The bandits began to search around and soon arrived near the bamboo forest.

But the bamboo forest was dense and they couldn’t see clearly into it, so the bandits dared not enter.

However, there seemed to be a small path leading inside, meandering with tracks left by carts.

One of them rushed back to report to the leader, while the rest waited outside cautiously.

Jiang Sanlang, who had come to scout, retreated deep into the bamboo forest and urgently instructed everyone to go into the forest: “The bandits are coming in, you guys prepare some things and hurry into the forest.”

Chunniang asked anxiously, “What about the mule cart?”

“Leave the cart here, take the mule.” Jiang Sanlang put two sacks of grain on the mule’s back and urged, “Hurry up, they’re coming.”

The whole Jiang Family immediately picked up their belongings and went into the forest.

Lady Wen ordered her servant to lead their horse too. The horseback was loaded with their grain and bedding. She and her nanny, as well as her daughter each carried things in their arms, leaving the carriage behind and followed the Jiang family into the forest.

As Chunniang walked, she kept looking back at the mule cart. There was still a lot of grain on it. Seeing it left behind was heartbreaking.

Yingbao also felt sorry for the grain on the mule cart. Noticing that others hadn’t yet reacted, she suddenly ran back, climbed onto the mule cart and swiftly collected all the leftover grain. She then quickly ran back before her mother found out.

“What did you run back there for, child?” Jiang Erlang, who was at the rear, scolded her.

Yingbao: “I went back to fetch something.” She showed her uncle the bag she had.

Jiang Erlang picked up his niece and hurried to catch up with the group: “Don’t run around! If the bandits catch you, they’ll treat you as a little lamb to cook.”

“Okay,” Yingbao obediently responded.

At that moment, Jiang Sanlang came back from the front, took his daughter from Jiang Erlang and gave her to his wife. He said to his brother, “We’ll take the rear, big brother and father, together with Dacheng, are leading the way.”

Jiang Erlang nodded and kept vigilantly pacing backwards while walking.

By then, the bandits had entered the bamboo forest and quickly found the nook where the Jiang family had camped.

“General, should we pursue inside?” A bandit asked.

The leader examined the mule cart and carriage racks, smiling faintly, “Of course we should. What a big fat sheep, it would be a pity to let them get away.”

“Yes!” Receiving the orders, the bandit immediately summoned dozen of his accomplices to pursue. But they had not gone far when they suddenly stepped on a few ropes. The ropes snapped, triggering the bamboo poles attached to them which sprung up, firing a few bamboo arrows. Two of the bandits were shot down in an instant.

The bandits cried out in pain, curling up on the ground.

“There’s a trap!” One of them shouted. “Fetch a long bamboo pole to clear the path ahead.”

The bandits were frightened and dared not advance. They waited nervously for the others to return with a bamboo pole to guide their way, which slowed them down significantly.