The Child Is Missing

Su Li slammed the table, her expression turning stern. "Tang Shi has sinister intentions towards Yin Dou. If we don't deal with her this time, there will be a next time. If we don't get rid of her, there will be endless trouble! Fourth Uncle, it's daytime now, so we shouldn't act rashly. Although Yin Dou hasn't suffered any loss, if even a little rumor spreads, it will hurt Yin Dou's reputation and inevitably bring idle gossip. Anyway, Tang Shi won't escape. Tonight, let's send someone secretly to Tang Shi's house and quietly take her out without anyone noticing, then hand her over to you for punishment!"

"Good. Tonight, I will make sure to kill that wretched Tang Shi!" Yuan Jie said angrily, glaring fiercely.

Meanwhile, Liu Ru hurriedly carried a child out of Wu Caiwei's room, her face still pale from fright but showing a faint hint of delight.

She had been worried because there were always many people around Wu Caiwei's son, making it hard to swap her own son with Wu Caiwei's. But unexpectedly, Tang Shi caused such a big commotion that everyone was distracted, leaving only her and the wet nurse.

When the wet nurse went to the latrine, Liu Ru took advantage of the moment to swap the two children and hurriedly carried the little clown out the door.

Everyone thought nothing was wrong with Tang Shi, as they were used to her noisy behavior. Seeing no excitement, people scattered to their own business. Many women in the village had never seen the little clown before, so those who originally came to see the child continued their visits.

Several women entered the room and, seeing no adults but only a child lying on the bed, wondered where the adults had gone, just as the wet nurse returned.

"Ah, why did Liu Ru leave? She promised to watch the baby until I finished at the latrine," the wet nurse complained.

At this moment, a group of village women surrounded the child. One auntie smiled and said, "It's fine, the child is doing well and even smiling at us!"

The wet nurse looked down at the bed, saw the women surrounding the child, noticed the child's little arms waving a bit, and heard the giggles. She smiled and said, "That's right, I just went out for a quick bathroom break. It was fast, and nothing happened. You all play with the baby, I'll pour you some tea."

"Alright, we're just thirsty," one woman said with a gleam in her eyes, glancing at the wet nurse as she went to the next room to make tea.

One auntie in the village looked at that woman and casually asked, "Which family is this young lady related to? She looks unfamiliar."

The woman, in her early twenties, had a crescent-shaped hairstyle and a shiny forehead. She smiled somewhat unnaturally and said, "I'm visiting relatives. I happened to come to the village for a feast, and my aunt brought me here."

The villagers responded with an "oh," as visiting relatives and attending village feasts were common occurrences. Bringing relatives to eat at feasts was very normal in the countryside, so no one thought much of it.

But who would have thought, just as everyone was watching the child fall asleep and gathering around the table to drink tea, the woman with the crescent hairstyle took advantage of the distraction, picked up the child, hid the baby under her wide skirt, and walked out.

Meanwhile, the wet nurse and several village women were discussing child-rearing and didn't notice that someone had stolen the child. It was only after a while that they realized the child was missing.

The wet nurse immediately panicked and rushed out, grabbing Wu Caiwei, who was entertaining villagers, and cried, "Madam Wu, something's wrong, the child is missing!"

"What do you mean the child is missing?" Wu Caiwei was stunned for a moment.

An auntie from the same village who had run over with the wet nurse hurriedly said, "Oh no, we were all watching the little clown together just now. Then the child fell asleep, and we sat nearby talking. Before we knew it, the child was gone! Oh, I just remembered, the woman with the crescent hairstyle came in with us. She looked unfamiliar and said she was visiting relatives with her aunt. The child is missing, and that crescent-haired woman is gone too. Maybe she stole the child!"