Transmigrated as a Peasant Girl with Prophetic Dreams: Using My Space to Become the Richest Person - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Nearly Kidnapped

Yang Shuang felt a wave of despair. Despite the crowd of people watching, not a single person had come to her rescue.

“Please, I beg you, save me! I don’t know her!”

Yang Shuang continued to plead with the passersby, but the woman glared at her with venomous eyes. “I am your mother-in-law! You dare say you don’t know me?”

“No! You are not my mother-in-law!”

“Fine! You despise our family for being poor, and you want to run away with your lover, so now you won’t even acknowledge your own mother-in-law!”

The woman turned to the onlookers and cried out, “Everyone, look at this! This treacherous woman wants to marry a rich man because she looks down on our poverty. Now she won’t even recognize me!”

“Oh, what sin did we commit to marry such a person into our family? To pay for her wedding, we spent every cent we had! Now that she’s running off with someone else, what is my family supposed to do?”

As the woman wept bitter tears, the onlookers became even more uncertain.

“No! That’s not how it is! She’s lying, I really don’t know her!” Yang Shuang was terrified, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. “Please, help me, someone help me!”

“Hah! Where is your lover? You were waiting for him just now, weren’t you?” The woman pointed at the two bags of grain. “Look, everyone! Her lover must have given her these. Otherwise, a girl looking like her—how could she possibly afford to buy grain?”

The crowd looked at the grain on the ground and then at Yang Shuang’s tattered clothes. Suddenly, they began to believe the woman’s story. Indeed, dressed like that, how could she afford so much food? The grain must have come from an improper source.

“Young lady, you should just go back with your mother-in-law. Once you’re married, how can you have such divided loyalties?”

“Exactly. Your mother-in-law hasn’t had it easy, spending so much to bring you into the house. If you run away like this, it’ll be the end of her family.”

“You look like a decent girl, how could you do such a thing? Hurry back with her.”

Triumphant, the woman pulled at Yang Shuang with even more force. Yang Shuang resisted desperately. No! I can’t let her take me! I have to wait for Xue’er. When she gets back, she can prove this woman is lying!

“Come back with me! Stop fighting! My son is waiting for you at home; he’s worried sick!”

“No! Let me go! I came with my sister. When she returns, everyone will know I’m not lying! I really don’t know you!”

“Bah! What sister? Who knows if that ‘sister’ isn’t just someone your lover hired to help you escape?”

“I’m not going with you! Let go!”

The woman had thought Yang Shuang would be an easy target since she looked so thin. She didn’t expect the girl to be so strong; no matter how hard she tugged, Yang Shuang managed to dig her heels in and pull back. The two were locked in a literal tug-of-war, neither yielding an inch.

Just as they reached a stalemate, Yang Xue returned.

From a distance, Yang Xue saw Yang Shuang struggling with a woman, surrounded by a crowd of spectators. She knew instantly that something was wrong. She sprinted forward. Regardless of the details, the situation clearly looked unfavorable for her sister.

Without a single word of explanation, Yang Xue delivered a flying kick. Caught off guard, the woman took the hit and tumbled to the ground, immediately wailing in pain.

Seeing Yang Xue, Yang Shuang felt as though she had found her backbone. Her body went limp with relief. Thank goodness she had held out until her sister returned.

“Xue’er, this person is trying to drag me away!”

Yang Xue set down her two back-baskets and looked coldly at the woman on the ground. “Who are you? Why are you trying to take my sister?”

Seeing another girl arrive, a flash of greed sparked in the woman’s eyes. Her four sons were all still bachelors. If she could get both of these girls home, all four of her sons would have wives! Before long, she’d be holding grandsons.

The way the woman looked at Yang Xue—as if she were a piece of merchandise—made Yang Xue incredibly uncomfortable.

Yang Xue stepped forward, intending to haul the woman up for questioning, but the woman scrambled to her feet as if injected with adrenaline. “Look! Look, everyone! The lover really did send someone to help her!”

Yang Xue frowned. What is this nonsense?

Yang Shuang, still shaken, whispered to Yang Xue, “This person insists I’m her daughter-in-law and that I have a lover. She wants to kidnap me. I told her I was waiting for my sister, and she said “you were sent by the lover.”

Yang Xue narrowed her eyes. This tactic was a classic kidnapping scheme. It seemed human trafficking was a constant plague, regardless of the era.

“My sister is your daughter-in-law? When did my sister get married? How come I didn’t know?”

The woman shouted, “Don’t you try to deny it! My family paid a huge price to marry her!”

“Oh? Then what is my sister’s name? Where is her maiden home? How many people are in her family?”

At these questions, a clear look of guilt flashed across the woman’s face. “That… what business is it of yours? You’re with the lover, why should I answer you?”

Yang Xue rolled her eyes and turned to the crowd. “She is a human trafficker. Who will help me go report this to the authorities?”

However, the crowd remained motionless. Yang Xue felt helpless; she didn’t know where the magistrate’s office was, otherwise she would have dragged the woman there herself.

Hearing the mention of the authorities, the woman began to panic. “Report? Why would you report me? You, an agent of a home-wrecker, have the nerve to mention the officials?”

The woman lunged forward, trying to grab both Yang Xue and Yang Shuang. “Both of you are coming with me! We’re going to settle this!”

But as the woman reached out, Yang Xue caught her hand, twisted her arm with force, and sent the woman screaming in pain.

Holding her firmly, Yang Xue looked at the onlookers. “If you won’t help, just tell me where the county yamen is. We’ll take her to the report her ourselves.”

Seeing that Yang Xue was serious about involving the law, the crowd’s suspicion shifted back toward the woman. They began pointing the way toward the yamen.

Seeing that she was truly about to be handed over to the law, the woman became frantic. “Let go! Let go of me! You brat, helping someone kidnap my daughter-in-law—have you no shame?”

“Whether I have shame or not, you’ll find out once I bring you before the magistrate.”

“Let go! I won’t go to the yamen! Let me go right now! I have four sons! If you don’t release me, my sons will never let you get away with this!”

Yang Xue smirked. “Then let your four precious sons go visit you in the dungeon.”