Ahead on a gentle slope, an elderly man nearing sixty was struggling to pull a two-wheeled cart laden with goods of unknown contents.
The cart’s wheels seemed stuck in a rut. The man’s shoulders strained, the veins on his neck bulging, yet the cart remained immobile. He dared not let go, fearing it might slide back and topple its load.
Seeing this, Chen Shiyi hurried over and gave the cart a push.
Having worked since childhood, she was strong.
Together, they finally managed to free the cart, leaving Chen Shiyi drenched in sweat.
Catching her breath, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and prepared to leave.
The old man called out to her, his weathered, calloused hands offering a large sweet potato.
Chen Shiyi was genuinely taken aback.
“There’s no need. I didn’t help much. You should keep it for yourself.”
The old man smiled kindly.
“Take it, child. Don’t refuse.”
With trembling hands, Chen Shiyi accepted the sweet potato, deeply moved.
“Thank you.”
Indeed, good deeds do bring good rewards.
The muddy road made progress difficult, and even the guards found it hard to complain.
On this exile journey, orders from above were strict: they had to cover fifty li each day and reach the exile destination within twenty-five days, or risk losing their heads.
It was a grueling task—the journey was too short, the time too limited, leaving little room for personal gain, and few perished along the way.
Moreover, this group was explicitly ordered not to be mistreated, and those exiled to Fangling were not to be provoked.
As dusk approached, they still had about ten li to cover.
It seemed they would have to rest where they were and make up the distance the next day.
Finding a relatively flat spot, the Wen family gathered around a campfire.
Several womenfolk broke dry branches and scraped mud from their shoes, the clinking of their chains echoing with each movement.
Exhausted and resentful, they vented their frustrations on their footwear.
The guards resting nearby, annoyed by the noise, shouted angrily.
“Make any more noise, and you’ll go without dinner!”
Instantly, the clinking of chains fell silent.
Wen Zhiheng’s shackles were sealed and could not be removed. He leaned against a dry tree trunk, resting with his eyes closed.
Occasionally, he would glance at the Wen family, his gaze shifting to the maidservant who had gathered firewood on her own and sat by a separate campfire, seemingly unwilling to interact with them.
She fumbled with the large sweet potato she had received from the old man earlier and tossed it into the fire to roast. Suddenly, a voice called out to her.
“Why are you throwing away food?”
Chen Shiyi looked up to see the young lady of the Wen family, her face filled with pity and disbelief at the action.
Wen Zhiyuan quickly stepped in to explain.
“Rou’er, roasting a sweet potato means cooking it in the fire, not discarding it.”
Hearing this, the young lady’s face flushed with embarrassment and shame.
Chen Shiyi remained silent, tending to the fire and stoking it to burn brighter.
Dinner was meager—each person received only two small, dark wheat cakes, hardly enough to fill their stomachs.
Soon, the sweet aroma of the roasted potato wafted through the air, eliciting audible swallows from the exiled group, one after another.
Chen Shiyi peeled the roasted sweet potato and took a careful bite. It was sweet and piping hot, warming her entire body as she swallowed, bringing immense comfort.
Suddenly, a soft, gentle voice whispered in her ear.
"Sister, I want some too."
Chen Shiyi looked up and saw the little boy called Rui'er standing before her, his eyes gleaming green with greed, drooling.
She peeled off half from the other side and handed it to Rui'er.
"Be careful eating, mind it's hot."
"Thank you, sister."
Rui'er cautiously took two bites, then lowered his head and whispered.
"Sister, can I give Grandma a bite?"
Chen Shiyi hadn't expected Rui'er to ask this. She glanced toward the Wen family.
Truthfully, she was unwilling. Sometimes, giving and giving leads from initial gratitude to later entitlement.
Naturally, she also didn't want to hinder a child's filial piety toward his grandmother.
"These are yours now. Who you give them to is up to you."
She took a deep breath, rubbing her wrists and ankles sore from the chains, when she heard footsteps approaching closer and closer.
Chen Shiyi looked up and immediately stood.
The official across from her sized her up, frowning slightly.
"Did you make those ropes?"
Chen Shiyi still felt somewhat timid facing these officials. In the capital, the kind ones were officials, the fierce ones were clerks.
Before, in town, when she followed Lü Erniang to the market and encountered clerks collecting fees, they would bow and scrape.
Lü Erniang, such a fierce person, would be as docile as a house cat in front of these people, showing just how formidable they were.
Chen Shiyi trembled with fear.
"Yes!"
"Make a few more. We'll need them tomorrow."
After speaking, he turned to leave, but Chen Shiyi quickly called out.
"Sir, but…"
The official turned back, his face darkening.
"What? Unwilling?"
Chen Shiyi hurriedly waved her hands.
"No, it's just…"
The official interrupted her, pointing at the Wen family as he asked.
"Are you with them?"
Chen Shiyi reluctantly nodded.
"If you finish the ropes, I'll remove your handcuffs and leg chains. Work peacefully, and you won't be mistreated."
Upon hearing this, Chen Shiyi was so overjoyed her heart nearly leaped out, but…
"Sir, making the ropes requires cutting grass. I don't have a knife…"
Without a knife, it would take a long time to pull the grass by hand. No matter how skilled she was at weaving or how long she endured, she couldn't produce so many ropes by tomorrow.
The official couldn't simply hand the knife directly to Chen Shiyi. He frowned, walked forward, and seemed to discuss the matter with the other officials.
After a while, the official walked back toward Chen Shiyi and handed her a curved knife, though it was unclear where he got it from.
This time, Chen Shiyi worked with great enthusiasm.
In the past, when she worked poorly and Lü Erniang was in a good mood, she would only curse a few times. But if Lü Erniang was in a bad mood, going without food was considered light punishment—the soft bamboo whip in the corner would lash at her, stinging her heart. In that household, no matter how well she worked, she never received a word of praise.
But now it was different. The work she did herself would benefit her.
If she just endured tonight, tomorrow those painfully tight handcuffs and leg chains would be removed.
The torch stuck nearby flickered in the wind. Chen Shiyi diligently cut the grass, and while weaving the ropes, a slight smile curled at the corners of her mouth as she softly hummed a tune from her hometown.
After toiling through the night, as dawn broke, she finally turned the pile of dried grass into ropes one by one.
Chen Shiyi's bloodshot eyes looked at his own reddened right palm, where several spots had already broken the skin. His left hand, burned and bandaged, still had the gauze neatly wrapped around it, which at least prevented new injuries.
It's fine, there have been far more painful times than this before.
Thinking that he would soon be able to remove the shackles from his hands and feet, Chen Shiyi felt that staying up all night was not the least bit difficult.