Ye Yunniang's words brought tears to the eyes of many women present. As mothers themselves, they understood. They looked at the bandit with disgust.
Some men who had initially looked at Ye Yunniang with lustful eyes now felt ashamed.
The Wang family and Niu Dajiao were not among those moved. They watched wide-eyed, already thinking about how to spread malicious rumors about Ye Yunniang tomorrow with added details.
Ye Yunniang kept her eyes fixed on her son as her hands continued to undo the buttons on her clothes.
"Hurry up," the bandit urged.
Gritting her teeth, Ye Yunniang undid the buttons one by one.
The bandit stared excitedly at Ye Yunniang's movements when suddenly his body swayed.
He was just about to speak when pain shot through his neck and leg simultaneously.
Li An leaped onto the bandit, his small arms wrapping around the man's neck, biting down with all his might.
Li Ping, though small, threw his arms around the bandit's leg, driving the awl in his hand deep into the man's calf.
"Ah—I'll kill you all!" The bandit pressed the dagger harder.
"Pan'er!" Ye Yunniang lunged forward, gripping the blade of the dagger tightly. Blood streamed down the blade.
Thud!
Tie Xiong flew into action, kicking the bandit unconscious with a single kick and catching the falling Li Pan and Li An.
"Yunniang, your hand is bleeding, let go quickly!" Chunyao ran over, frantic.
Coming to her senses, Ye Yunniang released the dagger and clutched Li Pan to her.
"Pan'er, Pan'er..." Ye Yunniang cried out anxiously.
"Mother, I'm fine. I'm alright." Li Pan gasped for air, his body shivering from the cold air.
Ye Yunniang held Li Pan tighter.
"Mother / Mother." Li An and Li Ping rushed over, huddling fearfully around Ye Yunniang.
"An'an, Pingping, are you hurt?" Ye Yunniang looked at them anxiously.
Meanwhile, Tie Xiong tied up the bandit securely and called for someone to fetch the patrolling constables from the main street.
"The doctor is here, the doctor is here..." Chef Jin came running in, pulling the physician along.
"Doctor, please look at the children first." Ye Yunniang ignored her own injuries, urging the doctor to attend to her three children.
"See to mother first," Li Pan protested unhappily.
"Pan'er, don't move, you're bleeding again. Doctor, please look at Pan'er quickly," Ye Yunniang insisted.
The doctor bandaged Li Pan first, then checked Li An and Li Ping to confirm they were unharmed. Only then did Ye Yunniang extend her hands for the doctor to see.
Her once smooth, fair hands were now covered in wounds.
There were blisters from the charcoal brazier's heat and deep cuts from gripping the dagger. Because Ye Yunniang had held on so desperately, some wounds were down to the bone.
"Mother~" The three children, seeing Ye Yunniang's injuries, couldn't hold back their tears.
Chunyao and the others watching nearby also couldn't help but shed tears.
"Mother isn't in pain," Ye Yunniang said with a smile, comforting her children.
"Mother is lying, how could it not hurt?" Li Ping, who usually spoke the least, sobbed.
"Once Doctor Uncle applies the medicine, mother won't hurt anymore." Ye Yunniang wanted to reach out and touch her son, but seeing her bloodied hands, she held back.
"Mother~" Li Ping wanted to throw himself into Ye Yunniang's arms but was held back by Li An. "Mother's hands are hurt, she can't hold you."
Li Ping hugged Li An and cried.
After Ye Yunniang's hands were bandaged, the constables arrived.
Tie Xiong and the constables took the bandit away.
The others, seeing there was nothing more to do, returned home, leaving the Xu family, Chunyao, Chef Jin, and a few others in the courtyard.
"Yunniang, you should take the children inside first," Chunyao suggested, noticing Li Pan and the others constantly rubbing their eyes.
"Alright." Heart aching for her children, Ye Yunniang led them into the main room.
"I'll keep an eye on things here for Yunniang. You two should go back and rest," Chunyao said to Liang Maimiao and Xu Damai.
"Wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. I'll stay and help tidy up," Liang Maimiao said, glancing toward Ye Yunniang's room, where some areas were blackened from the charcoal fire.
Chunyao saw it too and walked over to close the door. "Yunniang's room... it's better to let her clean it up herself."
Liang Maimiao was about to say something when Xu Damai gently tugged at her.
After Ye Yunniang had soothed the three children to sleep, she came out and saw Chunyao and Liang Maimiao cleaning the courtyard, while Chef Jin and Xu Damai were repairing the door that had been kicked in.
Ye Yunniang wanted to step forward and help, but Chunyao and Liang Maimiao stopped her.
"Your hands are injured, go back inside and rest. We'll handle this."
"Go rest, your hands mustn't do any work right now."
Ye Yunniang couldn't possibly let Chunyao and Liang Maimiao clean up for her while she went to sleep.
"Ye Yunniang, now's not the time to stand on ceremony with us," Liang Maimiao said, using her full name.
"The children had quite a fright tonight. You should stay with them more," Chunyao also advised.
Suppressing the heat rising in her nose, Ye Yunniang gave a soft "Mhm" and went back inside to watch over the children.
She entered the room but soon rushed out again, her voice panicked. "The children have fevers!"
"I'll fetch the doctor," Chef Jin said, turning to go call the physician.
The doctor came quickly, administered acupuncture to the three children, prepared medicine, and fed it to them.
Finally, when the children's fevers had subsided, Ye Yunniang herself developed a fever.
When she opened her eyes, daylight streamed in from outside.
"You're awake." Chunyao, who had been keeping watch, noticed she was awake and helped her sit up.
"Sister Chunyao, where are the children?" Ye Yunniang looked around.
"Maimiao took them to the noodle stall for breakfast," Chunyao said, pouring a cup of water and helping Ye Yunniang drink.
"Sister Chunyao, I've really troubled you all last night," Ye Yunniang said, not expecting to have fallen ill and causing Chunyao and Liang Maimiao to take care of her.
"We're neighbors. Everyone faces difficulties sometimes; helping each other is only right," Chunyao said politely, though in her heart she knew that if not for Second Master Jiang, she wouldn't have been able to help so much.
Unaware of Chunyao's thoughts, Ye Yunniang kept the kindness of Chunyao, Liang Maimiao, and all those who had helped last night firmly in her heart.
Once she was better, she would definitely visit each one to express her gratitude.
After drinking her medicine and eating a bowl of noodles brought by Liang Maimiao, Ye Yunniang felt much better.
She got up to see Chunyao and Liang Maimiao off.
Pushing open the door to the side room, she saw the marks left by the charcoal fire—some areas were blackened, with signs of burning and water splashes on the wood.
The room hadn't been cleaned. Ye Yunniang carefully grasped a broom with her bandaged hands to sweep.
A small hand took hold of the broom handle.
"Mother, I'll do it." Li An took the broom.
"Mother, you sit down. We'll handle it." Li Pan, with a bandage wrapped around his neck, came in carrying a small bucket.
Li Ping followed behind his brother, holding a rag.
"Mother, I'll help clean."
"Let's do it together." Ye Yunniang, not using her hands but guiding with her arms, worked alongside her three children to clean the side room.
They swept out the dirt from the room, along with the fear that had settled in their hearts.
Ye Yunniang had Li Pan open the drawer and take out the money box. She took the children to the general store to order brown sugar, pastries, eggs, rice, and other goods.
Packing them into separate portions, Ye Yunniang took the children to each household that had helped her family that night, thanking them for their assistance.
For the Tie family, Ye Yunniang added two jars of wine.
For the Jin and Xu families, she added two cuts of meat.
As they were leaving the Xu family's home, they saw three women and a child walking toward their house with aggressive purpose.
