Yan Ruyu took one last look at the Yan Manor and left with her bag.

Mrs. Yan was very meticulous. Not only did she prepare a bag for her, but she also put the travel pass to reveal her identity in the bag. However, it was not her true identity, but a servant’s. With her current situation, it was more beneficial for her to pretend to be a servant to leave the city.

“Have you seen this person?”

As soon as Yan Ruyu left the alley of the Yan Manor, she saw a guard of the Young Master Manor holding a portrait and asking passers-by. The woman in the portrait was none other than Yan Ruyu.

Yan Ruyu never expected Yan Jiuchao to move so quickly. Even now, she has yet to come back to her senses. A few days ago, she was still the daughter of the Marquis Manor, the only woman Yan Jiuchao had ever touched, and the biological mother of the three little masters. However, in the blink of an eye, she had become a street rat who was hiding.

Yan Ruyu took a deep breath and clenched her fists unwillingly.

“Whoever hands over the woman in the portrait will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver!” The guard of the Young Master Manor shouted.

Yan Ruyu did not dare to stay any longer. She hugged her bag tightly and lowered her head to blend into the crowd.

The only thing she could do now was to leave the city as soon as possible. She chose the west city gate where there were the fewest people. However, when she reached the city gate, she realized that there were also several guards from the Young Master Manor standing there! Her portrait was pasted everywhere, and everyone who left the city, regardless of gender, had to be interrogated.

It seemed that she could not leave the west city gate. She then went to the north city gate, which had also been sealed off by the guards of the Young Master Manor. There was no need to look at the south and east gates to guess that the situation was the same as here.

Yan Ruyu was angry and anxious. She was angry that the man was so heartless and anxious that the defense was so tight. She was afraid that she would not be able to leave the city so easily.

Yan Ruyu could only return to the city first. She planned to find an inn to stay in and think of a way when it was dark. What she did not expect was to meet an acquaintance on the way to the inn—Bai Tang, the daughter of the White Jade Restaurant.

Bai Tang had pretended to be sick for so long and had finally “improved” under the treatment of the masters and divine doctors. Although she could not “recover” immediately, she did not have to lock herself in her room every day. She took advantage of the time when her father was out for business to sneak out.

Bai Tang had been idle at home for too long and had yet to hear about the incident in the Capital. She did not know that Yan Ruyu’s matter had been exposed. Therefore, even if Yan Ruyu was standing in front of her now, she would not have any doubts. Yan Ruyu did not think so.

In Yan Ruyu’s opinion, Bai Tang and Yu Wan were close. Once she discovered her, she would definitely alarm the nearby guards and arrest her to the Young Master Manor.

Yan Ruyu hurriedly turned around and went to the other side of the street. However, she was in a hurry to shake off Bai Tang and accidentally bumped into another noblewoman.

“Ouch!” The noblewoman fell to the ground from Yan Ruyu’s collision.

“Miss, are you alright?” A maidservant helped her up.

The person who was knocked to the ground was Yan Ruyu’s former best friend, the daughter of the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, Miss Li.

Miss Li went to the Yan Manor to look for Yan Ruyu today. She had heard the rumors about Yan Ruyu and wanted to visit her to ask if they were true. If they were true, she would cut ties with Yan Ruyu in the future. If they were fake, she might be able to help Yan Ruyu come up with ideas. However, just as she left the house, she was knocked down by a poor village woman and even her newly bought rose crisp was knocked over.

Last time, she was humiliated in front of a village girl. She had yet to vent her anger. Today, she was offended by a lowly commoner again. Miss Li was so angry that she walked forward and slapped Yan Ruyu!

“B*tch! Don’t you have eyes when you walk? You even dare to bump into me! Do you want to die!”

Miss Li, who had always tried her best to curry favor with her, actually slapped her on the street. A ferocious glint flashed across Yan Ruyu’s eyes.

“What? You’re not talking? Are you a mute?” Miss Li looked coldly at the peasant woman who was covering her face with her hand. “I want to see if you also have a foxy face. You b*tches only know how to seduce men!”

Miss Li went to grab Yan Ruyu’s face, but Yan Ruyu instinctively took a step back.

“You still dare to dodge?” Miss Li grabbed her wrist.

Yan Ruyu pinched her fingers and knelt down with a thud. She lowered her eyes and said, “I offended you, Miss. It’s my fault. I apologize to you here. I hope you can be magnanimous and forgive me.”

Miss Li snorted coldly and retracted her hand. “That’s more like it! Since you know your mistake, I won’t make things difficult for you. Kneel for me for an hour and sincerely repent. Don’t think about slacking off. I’ll get someone to watch over you!”

Yan Ruyu tensed up in humiliation. She was the daughter of a marquis, she didn’t expect that one day she would be punished to kneel on the busy street to reflect on her mistakes. She glanced at Miss Li’s guard and gritted her teeth.

Miss Li meant what she said and really left two guards to watch over her.

“Shadow Guard, should we arrest her?”

In an alley not far away, a guard from the Young Master Manor pointed at Yan Ruyu’s back. They had long discovered Yan Ruyu’s traces, but they had never captured her.

In the carriage, Shadow Thirteen shook his head. “No need. Let her kneel. Have you found the person you were looking for?”

“Found it,” the guard said.

“Where is he?” Shadow Thirteen asked.

The guard pulled a thief over and said to Shadow Thirteen, “He’s from this street. He has more than ten brothers under him who specialize in stealing. This is your Master Thirteen. Hurry up and kowtow to him!”

The last two sentences were directed at the little thief.

The little thief was considered a rather decent local ruffian in this area. Although he did not have the ability to have a hundred responses with one call, it was not a problem to deal with a few officials. Unexpectedly, he was beaten down by the guards of the Young Master Manor in one move.

The little thief hurriedly kowtowed to Shadow Thirteen. “Greetings, Master Thirteen! Master Thirteen, you’re a magnanimous person. Let me go! I won’t dare to pilfer anymore!”

“How can that be?” Shadow Thirteen said.

The little thief was stunned.

Shadow Thirteen said indifferently, “Once I introduce you to the business and it’s done, I’ll pretend I’ve never seen you today.”

The little thief’s eyes darted around.

The guard kicked him. “Did you hear him?”

“Yes, yes, yes… I heard you!” The little thief nodded vigorously. “Master Thirteen, feel free to instruct me! I can even commit murder and arson!”

Shadow Thirteen sneered. “There’s no need to kill anyone. Just do what you usually do later.”

The little thief was stunned. “Uh… yes! Yes! I’ll do it! I’ll do a good job!”

An hour later, the Li family’s guards left, and Yan Ruyu was finally free.

Yan Ruyu was spoiled and had never suffered like this. When she stood up, her legs were swollen and her knees were almost crippled.

However, she could not stop. The people from the Young Master Manor might investigate at any time. She had to stay in the inn as soon as possible. Fortunately, the inn was not far away and she could probably pass the night safely.

With this thought in mind, she endured the pain in her lower limbs and stood up with the help of the wall. She walked towards the inn step by step, but when she passed by an alley, she was suddenly pulled into the alley by a dirty palm. Yan Ruyu’s face turned pale. “Ah—”

The dirty palm quickly covered her mouth. The owner of the palm threatened fiercely, “Shut up! Otherwise, I’ll kill you!”

Yan Ruyu looked at the other party in horror. The other party was a little thief with a pockmarked face. The little thief covered her mouth with one hand and held a knife to her neck with the other. Behind the little thief stood seven to eight fierce brothers.

This was a group of desperadoes. Yan Ruyu did not dare to shout anymore.

The little thief let go of the hand that was covering her and only pressed the knife against her. Then, he gave his brothers a look, and they went to pull the bag in Yan Ruyu’s hand.

Yan Ruyu’s expression changed. “I’ll give you the silver! All of it!”

As she spoke, she took out the ingots and banknotes from her bag. There were more than a thousand taels. The little thief’s eyes turned green. So much silver. Damn it! He had earned a lot!

“Big Brother, there’s also jewelry!” A brother reminded him.

Yan Ruyu’s eyes flashed. She had already given them so much. Why were these people still not satisfied and wanted her jewelry?

“Do you have any jewelry? Hand it over!” The little thief pressed the tip of his knife against Yan Ruyu’s neck.

Yan Ruyu could not defeat this group of people, so she could only take out the makeup box hidden in her clothes.

The little thief opened it and took a look. Good heavens, it was all gold!

“Is there any more?!” The little thief shouted.

Yan Ruyu wanted to cry. “No… I’ve given it all to you…”

“What is this?” The little thief tapped the other small bag in the big bag with the tip of his knife. He heard a crisp sound coming from under the knife and thought to himself, Could it be a valuable jade item?

It was no wonder that the little thief was so suspicious. It was really because this woman’s family background was too rich. She looked like an inconspicuous peasant woman, but she could take out a thousand taels of silver and a box of gold jewelry. Who knew if she had any other treasures on her?

The little thief reached out to take the small bag, but Yan Ruyu hugged it to her chest.

“Eh?” The little thief looked at her strangely. Previously, when she handed over the silver and gold jewelry, she did not hesitate. Could it be something more precious than gold and silver since she’s protecting it?

It had to be!

The little thief pressed the dagger against her again. “Give me the thing! Otherwise, I’ll stab you to death!”

Yan Ruyu was so anxious that her eyes turned red. “I’ve given you the silver and jewelry… I beg you… Don’t touch this… It’s worthless… It’s useless even if you take it…”

“Why are you protecting it when it’s not worth anything! Who are you kidding!” The little thief reached out to snatch it.

Yan Ruyu refused to let go. She turned around and protected the bag tightly in her arms.

The little thief was so angry that he stood up and kicked her.

Yan Ruyu fell forward from the kick. Even so, she did not let go of the thing in her arms. She used her wrist as a cushion. A layer of skin on her wrist had worn off, revealing red flesh.

When the little thief saw how protective she was, he became even more convinced that there was something good in the bag.

“You guys, hold her down!” The little thief ordered, and the brothers swarmed up and grabbed Yan Ruyu’s hands and feet.

Yan Ruyu aimed at a hand that was reaching for her and bit it hard!

“B*tch!” The man who was bitten slapped her.

Half of Yan Ruyu’s head was numb from the slap. The bag in her arms was finally snatched away by this group of people.

“Big Brother, here!” The subordinate handed the bag to the little thief.

Yan Ruyu pounced over like a crazy woman, but her brothers pressed her to the ground. She shouted at the top of her lungs, “Give it back to me! Give it back to me—”

“Help—help—”

“Someone help—”

She could no longer care if she would be captured by the guards of the Young Master Manor. She could not let them touch her things. They were her children, her children! Unfortunately, no one came even though she was shouting her lungs out.

The little thief opened the bag. “Oh? Two jars?”

“You’re not allowed to touch my things! Get your dirty hands off it!” Yan Ruyu screamed.

The little thief smiled evilly. “So what if I touch it?”

“You dare?” Yan Ruyu shouted.

The little thief clicked his tongue and took off the jar lid. He frowned. “What? A jar of ashes?”

Yan Ruyu panicked and did not dare to threaten him anymore. She trembled and said, “It’s ashes… Not silver… It’s worthless… Don’t touch it…”

“Who has so little ashes? Do you think I’m stupid?” The little thief frowned.

Yan Ruyu’s tears fell. “It’s… it’s the children’s ashes… They… they’re still young… I’ve given you all the silver… I’ve also given you the jewelry… Please return the ashes to me… return my children to me…”

The little thief panicked when he heard that it was ashes. Just as he was about to return it to her, he suddenly thought of something. He took out his dagger and stirred the urn.

Yan Ruyu’s expression changed!

Clank!

The little thief’s dagger touched something. The little thief snorted coldly and overturned the jar, causing the ashes to fall. At the same time, a golden lock fell out.

“There’s indeed good stuff!” The little thief’s eyes lit up. He stepped on the ashes and picked up the longevity lock. “I knew you were dishonest!”

“Return it to me… Return the thing to me!” Yan Ruyu reached out to snatch it.

The little thief kicked her to the ground. Then, he stretched his demonic claws towards the second urn. This time, he did not spend any effort to overturn the jar and directly shattered it on the ground.

Yan Ruyu broke down! She pounced over like a lunatic and knelt on the ground. She picked up the ashes on the ground with her hand and wrapped them in her dress.

“It doesn’t hurt… It doesn’t hurt… Don’t be afraid… I’ll bring you home… I will bring you home now…”

Her tears fell in big drops. But she didn’t cry. She couldn’t cry.

The ground was so cold. Her children were so cold. She needs to bring them home…

Whoosh—

It was the little thief who found a bucket of swill from somewhere and mercilessly splashed it on the two children’s ashes.