“What’s going on?” Wang Shi looked toward the door, her expression tense, afraid it was the officers outside coming for them.
“Mother, I’ll go see.” Shang Yueli put down her bowl, turned, and opened the door. Outside stood Jiang Xia and her son.
Mu Shicai’s clothes were disheveled, tear streaks stained his face, and his nose wasn’t even wiped clean.
His grimy finger pointed into the room as he complained to Jiang Xia: “Mother, the fat daughter-in-law from the main branch is eating meat behind our backs!”
Jiang Xia’s face fell. “Sister-in-law, isn’t it a bit unfair for your main branch to do this?”
“We’re outside suffering so much we can barely stand, and you’re holed up here eating all by yourselves!”
Mu Shicai, unbearably hungry, pushed past Shang Yueli who was blocking the doorway. Spotting the chicken legs on the table, his eyes lit up. He reached out to grab one and stuff it into his mouth.
Before he could succeed, Mu Yunsheng kicked him squarely, sending him flying out of the room.
Mu Shicai landed hard, his bottom aching. He simply lay on the ground, rolling around. “Mother, I want meat! I want meat!” Spoiled by Jiang Xia since childhood, he believed there was nothing that throwing a tantrum couldn’t solve.
Mu Yunsheng’s face was dark. He gently rubbed Shang Yueli’s lower back, asking if she was alright.
Shang Yueli: “I’m fine. I dodged quickly; he didn’t touch me.”
Jiang Xia: “Mu Yunsheng, Shicai is still your cousin! How can you bully your younger brother over this outsider!”
“My brother?” Mu Yunsheng sneered coldly. “Mu Shicai has repeatedly shoved my pregnant wife. I’m being lenient by not cutting him down.”
“Furthermore, Shang Yueli is my properly wedded wife, carried in an eight-bearer sedan chair. If we’re talking about outsiders, that would actually be you.”
After all, he was a man who had led troops in battle. A single glare from him sent Jiang Xia stumbling backward in fear.
“Yun, Yunsheng ah, Shicai is still young and doesn’t know any better. Please don’t hold it against him.”
Shang Yueli leaned lazily against Mu Yunsheng’s chest, feeling delighted inwardly: It feels so good to have a man backing you up!
She gently stroked her abdomen and said: “Auntie, your Shicai is twelve years old and still ‘young’? Then my baby is only three months old, so isn’t that even younger?”
“The baby says your Shicai deserves a beating, so my husband kicked him.”
“My baby is still young and doesn’t know any better. Please don’t hold it against them either.” Shang Yueli playfully winked at Jiang Xia.
“Your child isn’t even born yet, how can it talk?” Jiang Xia was utterly confused by her words.
Before Shang Yueli could respond, the officers arrived.
“What’s everyone crowding around for here? Hurry to the front courtyard for assembly!”
Shang Yueli let them go first. Before leaving, she secretly stored all the delicacies from the small kitchen into her space!
Time doesn’t flow inside the space; food goes in as it is and comes out unchanged.
Shang Yueli felt the treasures now filling her space and breathed a sigh of relief.
With these things, the exile journey would be much more bearable.
It was getting late. Shang Yueli hurried to the front courtyard for assembly.
The head officer, Gu Mang, had his men distribute a coarse hemp garment to each of them.
While changing clothes, Mu Yunsheng secretly gave Shang Yueli a soft undergarment.
Mu Yunsheng: “Wear this underneath; it’ll be more comfortable.”
As he spoke, Mu Yunsheng had Shang Yueli sit down and took off her shoes.
“What are you doing?” Shang Yueli asked, puzzled.
Mu Yunsheng pressed his lips together, took out a pair of finely made shoe inserts from his robe, stuffed them into her shoes, and personally helped her put them on.
“The journey will be arduous. If you grow tired, just let me know and I’ll carry you.”
“Oh, where did these shoe pads come from?” Shang Yueli took a few tentative steps, feeling as if she were walking on clouds—remarkably comfortable.
Mu Yunsheng glanced at her slightly rounded belly and suddenly chuckled, “Same as you—hidden in my stomach.”
“Huh?”
Shang Yueli looked at his flat abdomen, then down at her own, her face flushing crimson in an instant.
If it weren’t for the need to plausibly retrieve items from her space, she wouldn’t have been foolish enough to actually stash things inside her clothing.
“It’s getting late. We should set off.”
“Alright.”
By the time they emerged, everyone had changed into their travel attire.
Noticing how Wang Shi and Xiao Fu moved with light steps, Shang Yueli guessed they must have padded their shoes too.
Of course—the Mu family had learned of the impending house confiscation before the imperial guards arrived. How could they not have made some preparations?
The guards shackled the men’s hands and feet, while the women and children were simply bound at the wrists with hemp ropes.
The moment they stepped beyond the general’s estate, they were swarmed by a dense crowd of commoners.
“Treacherous dogs! Traitors!”
“May your entire family die horribly!”
Rotten cabbages and spoiled eggs rained down upon them like worthless trash.
Mu Yunsheng pressed his lips into a tight line, raising his arms to shield Shang Yueli against his chest, allowing the projectiles to strike his own body.
“Pah! What a damned general—and to think I once believed in you!”
“Traitor! Why don’t you just die? You bring nothing but misery to others!”
Shang Yueli felt little emotional connection to the scene, having only recently transmigrated into this world.
But Mu Yunsheng…
She pressed her ear against his chest. His once-steady heartbeat had unknowingly grown frantic, then gradually calmed again beneath the torrent of abuse.
For some reason, Shang Yueli’s own heart ached in response.
Peace was forged by generals, yet those same generals were never permitted to witness that peace.
Mu Yunsheng had slain enemies on battlefields, defending his homeland—now he faced the spittle and curses of his own people over fabricated charges. How profound must his despair be?
Noticing the redness around Shang Yueli’s eyes, Mu Yunsheng leaned down and plucked a cabbage leaf from her hair.
Weariness etched his features as he forced a faint smile, teasing her: “My lady, with this cabbage, we need not fear hunger on our journey.”
Shang Yueli knew he was trying to lighten her mood, but she couldn’t muster even a trace of laughter.
After exchanging a few brief words, they fell silent.
Perhaps exhausted from the earlier turmoil, the Mu family traveled without speaking, the only sounds being occasional muffled sobs.
After walking about five kilometers beyond the city walls, Shang Yueli spotted several figures gathered near a roadside pavilion—well-wishers seeing them off.
“You have one incense stick’s worth of time.”
With this announcement, the guards untied the ropes connecting the prisoners.
Lin Zhiman immediately darted toward a familiar figure upon spotting him.
“Cousin, where are my things?”
“Here, everything’s in here.” Her cousin handed her a mud-stained bundle, perplexed. “You’re being exiled—why bother with so many books? They’re dreadfully heavy.”
Lin Zhiman urgently unwrapped the bundle. Seeing the jewelry still inside, she sighed in relief. Ignoring her cousin’s remarks, she clutched the bundle and scurried back to the procession.
Mu Tairan watched her petty behavior with disgust, turning away to spare himself the irritation.
After all, his two children’s maternal families had also sent supplies—he hardly needed her meager contributions!
The third branch’s wife, Jiang Xia, also had relatives waiting.
They’d given Mu Shicai a generous amount of jerky, though noticeably little money.
Lin Zhiman shook her head lightly. “Has the Jiang family fallen so quickly? You can’t even afford travel expenses now? Tch!”
Jiang Xia rolled her eyes so hard they nearly disappeared, stubbornly retorting, “Our Shicai loves jerky! He doesn’t care for those vulgar things!”
“Right, son?”
She turned around only to see Mu Shicai already munching on the jerky. Quickly praising him, she said, “Our Shicai is so wonderful! Eat more meat to grow strong. In the future, you’ll surely achieve great things and trample all those who look down on us under your feet!”
Mu Shicai ignored her, his eyes suddenly widening into perfect circles. He stopped eating and stared blankly ahead.
Lin Zhiman and Jiang Xia followed his gaze, their eyes filled with nothing but envy…