But how could she bear to abuse six young children?
Perhaps she had been harboring resentment about becoming a stepmother for a long time, which led to such drastic actions.
Regardless, Lou Qing was in a good mood now that the bothersome person was gone.
She and Shen Si could finally be together openly!
As for what the villagers thought, she didn't care. Once Shen Si's legs were healed, they would leave and return to the capital. He would be his great general, and she would be her Qingluan Princess.
She would then ask the Emperor to grant them marriage, and they would hold a grand wedding, which would serve as a justification for their forbearance during this period.
"Host, where are we going?" Little Spoon pondered that no suspicious individuals had appeared in this world, and she didn't know where the host's cub was.
Qiao Ci looked at the sky, the scorching sun beating down on the earth, and replied, "To the capital."
In the plot, Shen Si, who had voluntarily resigned from his position as general, was able to reclaim his military command due to two consecutive years of drought, which had made the surrounding nations covet the grain-rich country of Chuyun.
Especially the Di kingdom, located near Chuyun, which relied on sheep and cattle herding. After two years of no harvest, they boldly invaded Chuyun, burning and looting the surrounding populace.
At this time, Shen Si, who had already followed Lou Qing back to Chuyun to become a consort and whose legs had healed, was reappointed as general by the Emperor, leading the three armies to conquer the Di people.
"Ah, isn't the host going back to her maiden home?" Little Spoon asked curiously. Since divorced women usually return to their maiden homes, was it okay for the host to go directly to the Chuyun capital?
"I have no mother, so how can I have a maiden home?" Qiao Ci had no intention of returning. After the original host's mother passed away, her scholar father remarried a stepmother.
With a stepmother, there was also a stepfather. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been married off to Shen Si, a cripple with six children.
As soon as the original host married, her father had said that a married daughter was like spilled water, and she should come back less often and focus on being a good wife and mother.
"Then, are we going to look for the cub?" Little Spoon asked cautiously.
"Whatever happens, happens."
In every world, the cub would appear on its own. They seemed to have established a connection.
This was good, as he would appear on his own, and she would recognize him at a glance.
After Qiao Ci left, Shen Si's home fell into disarray.
His leg injury worsened, and Lou Qing had to perform surgery on him again. The six siblings at home were left unattended, and only then did they realize the benefits of having a stepmother.
Lou Qing was completely incapable of taking care of children. Shen Si, with no other options, had to ask the villagers for help.
However, the villagers now had opinions about their family. Out of humanitarian reasons, they helped for two to three days, providing food but nothing else.
When Shen Si and Lou Qing returned, the children began to complain, saying that the food their neighbor made was not good and that she looked down on them. They even said it would have been better if the former stepmother were still there.
These words were overheard by a neighbor, who immediately became displeased and started scolding them as ungrateful wretches. The commotion attracted other villagers to watch.
"No wonder Qiao Ci would rather divorce you than stay. Your family are such ungrateful brats. Even an immortal would find fault with them."
"Shen Si, you haven't given me any money, nor have you helped me. You leave for two to three days, and with a few words, you hand over your six children to me. We're not related, so I won't say anything more. But look at the children in your family. I was doing this out of kindness, and now I'm being badmouthed behind my back!"
"This is like asking for food and complaining that the bread is cold!"
Shen Si felt a bit guilty at first, but when he heard her speak so harshly, he became unhappy. "What do you mean by 'asking for food'? Is it appropriate to say such things in front of the children? If you want money, tell me, and I'll give it to you. They are still children. If you say this, it will leave scars on their hearts, and I won't let you off!"
The neighbor aunt, furious, lunged to grab Shen Si's face, but she was stopped by the surrounding villagers.
This incident caused a huge stir.
After consideration, the village chief decided to have them move. There was an empty plot of land at the end of the village, and they planned to have them move there.
At this moment, Lou Qing stepped forward and said with full confidence, "Shen Si has just undergone surgery and cannot make any strenuous movements. We will stay here for half a month and then leave, never to return to this place!"
Although the village chief did not understand what surgery was, he still urged the villagers to allow them an additional half-month.
Shen Si's dark eyes were gloomy, and he issued a threat: "Don't regret this!"
Seeing his arrogance, the villagers couldn't help but roll up their sleeves. They suddenly felt a bit envious of Qiao Ci for beating him before she left.
After everyone had left, Lou Qing sighed, "If I hadn't left the palace without permission and brought some people, it would have been better. We wouldn't have to endure such humiliation from them."
"Qing'er, it's not your fault. It's my incompetence. I failed to protect you all. Don't worry, once my legs are healed, I will never let you down!" Shen Si said, quickly comforting Lou Qing, seeing the disappointment on her usually resolute and strong face.
"Once your legs are healed, we'll return to the capital! When the news of our wedding reaches here, let those villagers who looked down on us with their dog-like eyes see who is not to be offended," Lou Qing said, clenching her fist, already envisioning the scene of being proven right.
They didn't believe she was Qingluan Princess?
Sorry, she actually was!
She used to think the princess's identity was nothing, but in ancient times, it was a symbol of power. Without doing anything, she could gain the admiration and reverence of the masses.
It seemed she would have to utilize it well from now on.
Without Qiao Ci, the all-capable housekeeper, Lou Qing took on her role.
To gain Shen Si's sympathy, she took on all the chores herself.
She used to find teaching the children to do fun things, like folding paper cranes or making egg crepes, enjoyable. Now, however, she only found it troublesome.
It seemed she had to return quickly, and then servants would take care of these demanding children.
Qiao Ci arrived at the imperial city and set up a stall to tell fortunes, posing as a woman.
Initially, people were just curious. As more people gathered, those who found Qiao Ci to have exquisite features would take out money and ask her to divine their marriage prospects.
Qiao Ci solemnly had him draw a lot, then looked at him and said profoundly, "A man's fate lacks wealth but shows hardship. His first wife will die, and he will have no further marriage prospects."
At this moment, someone accompanying the fortune-seeking man exclaimed, "This is too accurate! His first wife died of illness!"
"Go, go. Little Taoist priest, is there any way to resolve this?" The man's expression became much more pious.
"Do more good deeds, and perhaps it can be resolved." This person's fate had no marriage prospects; it all depended on whether he could grasp the only chance he had.
Upon hearing this, the man immediately threw down a silver ingot and dragged his friend home.
The onlookers murmured among themselves:
"This young girl, is she truly capable?"
"Are she and those two men colluding?"
"Why not you go and try your luck? If it's not accurate, you don't have to pay."