Chapter 2800: Chapter 2801: Pre-Wedding Upheaval
There was a joyous occasion at home, and everyone was exceptionally happy. Bai Ruozhu took Lanlan and the other girls to the town to shop, and they also bought gifts for Lanlan’s trousseau.
Lanlan wore a smile on her face every day, just like all girls before their wedding.
Sometimes Bai Ruozhu looked at her in a daze, wondering if she was watching Lanlan get married or Ruolan.
Two days before the wedding, Jiao Ling quietly called Bai Ruozhu to the Peach Forest.
"Auntie, do you have something to discuss with me in private?" she asked.
Jiao Ling seemed uncomfortable, and after a long while, she finally said, "Do you think Lanlan can consummate the marriage with Chenfeng?"
Bai Ruozhu was momentarily stunned, but she quickly understood her aunt’s feelings. Let alone her aunt, she herself wasn’t sure; she didn’t know if the Phoenix Poisonous Insect would harm Chenfeng because of such matters, she knew too little about it.
"Both are deeply in love and young, how could there not be a bit of something? I’m just afraid something might happen. I haven’t been able to sleep well these past two days," Jiao Ling said with a sigh.
Only then did Bai Ruozhu notice the faint blue under her eyes. She had been so busy arranging the wine feast that she hadn’t noticed her aunt’s emotions.
"Take it slow, everything will get better," she said, hugging her aunt’s shoulders.
Jiao Ling’s eyes reddened, "I just fear something might happen. Lanlan’s life has been hard since birth, I’m just afraid she..."
Ominous words dared not be spoken, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t linger in the heart.
Bai Ruozhu thought for a long time without finding a solution, so she could only comfort her aunt with a few words and accompany her back to the main building.
Despite the worry on Jiao Ling’s face, the moment she returned to the bamboo house, she immediately put on a smile, not wanting Lanlan to notice anything.
Bai Ruozhu watched, her heart aching, pitying the universal love of parents. Her aunt was truly having a hard time.
Bai Ruozhu single-handedly took over the arrangements for Lanlan and Chenfeng’s wedding banquet, which reminded her of the time back in Mountain Village, when her second brother had won the scholar’s examination and held a banquet in the village.
It was also tables of running water banquet, and she was in charge of the cooking, just like a few years ago.
In the blink of an eye, it was the night before the wedding, and Bai Ruozhu and her family began preparing some of the ingredients in advance.
"Ruozhu, you go to sleep first. You’ll be the busiest tomorrow, having to work all day," Jiao Ling urged Bai Ruozhu out of the kitchen.
Thinking about getting up before dawn, Bai Ruozhu decided to go back to her room and rest.
"Dad, I want to sleep with Mom." In the other room, Little Dengdeng was not pleased.
"Don’t fuss, your mother needs a good night’s sleep as she’ll be busy all day tomorrow." Jiang Yichun, afraid Bai Ruozhu wouldn’t rest well, took the child to the adjoining room, saying he would take care of him for the night.
At that moment, Bai Ruozhu chuckled twice, expressing doubt, but thinking about it, letting the man experience the hardship of caring for the child at night was necessary.
That night she slept very well, but Jiang Yichun had faint blue under his eyes.
Early the next morning, Bai Ruozhu started busying herself in the kitchen, and Lanlan was called up to have her hair done.
Bai Ruozhu was busy in the smoky kitchen when she suddenly heard a scream.
"Lanlan!" Her heart tightened, and she rushed to Lanlan’s room.
She saw Jiao Ling fainted on the ground, with a trace of blood on her neck, and Lanlan, who was dressing up, was missing!
"What happened?" Jiang Yichun and the others also rushed in.
"Lanlan was taken away, you guys go after her, I’ll save Auntie first," Bai Ruozhu quickly said.
Fen Jiu looked at the unconscious Jiao Ling, his mind in a mess, "Ruozhu, your aunt, she still..."
Bai Ruozhu gave him a push, "Uncle, go save them, Auntie loves Lanlan the most."
Fen Jiu snapped back, glanced at Jiao Ling, and chased after them.
The one who took Lanlan was probably Gufeng, and with fewer people, they couldn’t beat him.
Bai Ruozhu quickly checked Jiao Ling’s injuries; the neck wound wasn’t deep, no major arteries were hit, she could still be saved.
But it was troublesome that Jiao Ling had been infected with poisonous insects, fortunately she had the golden finger bone left by Luan Xin.
She took out the finger bone and called out Furball, and after a while, it drove out the poisonous insect.
The poisonous insect ended up in Quanxin’s mouth, and it hummed contentedly, "Master, hurry up and chase, there must be a lot of delicious things."
"Grandma, Auntie is fine now, you take care of her. If she wakes up, tell her Lanlan is fine, we’ll definitely find her," Bai Ruozhu said to Jiao Yunyun.
"Child, you be careful too." Jiao Yunyun’s tears wouldn’t stop. From her daughter to her granddaughter, why were they all so unfortunate?
Bai Ruozhu called out Xiaohei, and rode it in pursuit, but she was tracking not Lanlan, but Jiang Yichun, because Xiaohei was familiar with Jiang Yichun’s scent.
She suddenly regretted not letting Xiaohei stay with Lanlan more often before.
"How is it?" She caught up with the others and asked.
"There are no traces beyond this point, we don’t know how he came in, but it’s definitely Gufeng, just don’t know if he’s alone or has other accomplices," Jiang Yichun replied.
"The area of the mountain is too large, we can only split up to search, otherwise it will be too slow," Fen Jiu suggested.
Bai Ruozhu hurriedly shook her head, "No, it’s too dangerous, this way we won’t be able to save Lanlan, and we might even lose someone else."
"Then what should we do? If we delay, Lanlan might lose her life!" Fen Jiu called out in urgency, Gao Zhou beside him patted him on the shoulder, calming him a bit.
Bai Ruozhu communicated with Quanxin, "Can you find them? Didn’t you say there were great supplements?"
"I need to get out to sense them, but I may not last long outside," Quanxin said.
"Try it first, if you can’t stand it, return to the space," she said.
"Then be mentally prepared, if someone else sees me and wants to compete with you for me, I won’t care," Quanxin hopped a bit, "I don’t mind, at worst I’ll find another place to stay, you might face big trouble though."
"Stop the nonsense, rescuing people is priority!" She slapped Quanxin out of the space.
The sudden appearance of the object startled everyone, Bai Ruozhu quickly explained, "Let it try to find first, if not, we’ll think of another way."
Quanxin seemed leisurely, yet suddenly it flew far away; the others didn’t know what it was, nor did they have the mood to ask more, and hastily followed behind.
...
In a mountain cave, Lanlan was harshly thrown inside, her crying had ruined her makeup.
"I killed my mother, I’ll fight you to the death!" she gritted her teeth and charged, but was no match for Gufeng, who slapped her aside.
"Be quiet, or you’ll end up a widow," Gufeng sneered, glancing inside the cave.
Lanlan instinctively looked over, only to be frightened out of her wits: Chenfeng was tied to a frame inside, and there were numerous iron chains and torture devices, the cave a mysterious setup.
Chenfeng’s head sagged unconscious, but his iron arm protectors had been removed, his snake arm having torn through his sleeves, slowly writhing.
